CHARLESTON -- A delay to the beginning of the game Friday night at the Tiger Center didn't slow down the early-season momentum from the Charleston Lady Tigers.
Charleston junior Baylee King finished with a game-high 23 points to lead the way in a 53-35 victory against Greenland in a Class 3A-1 West Conference matchup.
"She does all the little things that this team needs," Charleston coach Jason Rucker said. "She makes plays that go unnoticed. She was a big part of the offense tonight."
The game was delayed by an hour after water from the ceiling started to drip on the court just above one of the three-point lines. The drip rate started at about a drop per five second and slowed to a once per minute rate as players warmed up, Charleston officials said.
"In this conference the only way you will be successful is to steal games on the road," Greenland coach Alan Barton said. "We didn't do that today. We aren't going to blame it on the conditions or anything. We just didn't play like we practice."
Greenland (6-5, 1-1) was led by senior Fiona Wilson, who scored a team-high 18 points.
Defending state champion Charleston (10-0, 3-0) was able to take a 24-12 lead into halftime with the help of some outside shooting in the second quarter.
The Lady Tigers held just a 6-2 lead after the initial quarter but was able to extend that out quickly after that. Charleston hit four 3-pointers in the second quarter with one each from King, Brooke Groen, Payton Rucker and Raegan Oldridge.
Charleston used a 7-0 run to take a 13-4 lead early in the second quarter with a pair of free throws from Alexis Grandison. A steal and then a layup from King pushed the edge out to 21-7 for the Lady Tigers.
Baylee scored the initial 11 points of the game for the Lady Tigers and had 13 first-half points.
Greenland didn't make a field goal in the first quarter but found more rhythm on offense in the second quarter putting together a 10-point quarter. Wilson scored eight of the team's 12 first-half points.
"They have a great ball club," Barton said. "I feel like we had the best player on the court (in Wilson), but we didn't have enough players step up around her. Sometimes they had four players guarding her."
Greenland used a 10-0 run near the end of the third quarter to cut the Charleston advantage to 37-27 with a three-point play from Destiny Jackson.
Charleston then scored the final four points of the third quarter then outscored Greenland 8-3 to open the final quarter to push the lead back out to 49-30.
"We know Greenland has a great tradition and a great player in Wilson," Rucker said. "We knew they were going to make some shots and make a run. We took back control after that."
Charleston 53, Greenland 35
Greenland 2 10 15 8 -- 35
Charleston 6 18 17 12 -- 53
Greenland (6-5, 1-1): Wilson 18, Jackson 7, Campos 3, K. Wilson 3, Yeargan 3, Hill 1.
Charleston (10-0, 3-0): King 23, Green 9, Groen 6, Rucker 6, Grandison 6, Oldridge 3.
Boys
Charleston 63, Greenland 30
Charleston broke up a tight game with a big third quarter to take control en route to the big win.
The Tigers exploded for a 35-point third quarter and didn't look back after that in a Class 3A Region 1 West Conference matchup.
The Tigers led only 19-14 at halftime.
Charleston (6-2, 3-0) was led by sophomore Trenton Goodson and junior Kaleb Fisher each scoring a game-high 14 points. Goodson and Fisher were a big part of the third quarter, scoring 17 of the 35 points in that span.
Greenland's Luke Osburn finished with a team-high nine points for the Pirates (1-6, 0-2).
Charleston opened the final quarter with a 7-0 run to push its edge out to 61-20.
Sports on 12/15/2018