Van Buren County Drops Quarterfinal Heartbreaker To Greenfield

State Tournament coverage presented by Risher Roofing

Story by Noah McKay

The Van Buren County Eaglettes dropped a heartbreaker in the quarterfinal round of the Class 1A state tournament.

The Eaglettes saw a six-point lead evaporate in the final 65-seconds, dropping a 41-40 decision to Greenfield in a rematch of last year’s Class 1A title game.

“It’s upsetting, but it doesn’t take away from anything that these kids have been able to accomplish,” said VBCHS head coach Tyler Sapp. “There’s 74 teams that would rather be us right now. Punching our ticket to get here is a huge accomplishment.”

Much like the other UC teams in Murfreesboro, the Eaglettes suffered a slow start, falling behind 8-2 before a Cara Mills layup cut it to four. The Lady Jackets answered with a 7-0 run before Netherton made a layup to make it 15-6 at the end of one. 

The Eaglettes offense found its stride in the second. Mills and Netherton combined for 10 straight points as part of a 14-0 run as VBCHS took a 20-17 lead. Netherton added two more buckets late in the frame and the Eaglettes led 25-21 at halftime.

Netherton stretched the lead to 31-23 early in the third with three jumpers, before a late Greenfield three made it 35-28 after three. 

Greenfield scored the first six points of the fourth quarter to cut the VBCHS lead to 35-34. Netherton made a layup and Ellie Grissom added a three to stretch the lead to 40-34 with 1:19 remaining. Two Eaglette turnovers along with a three by Miss Basketball finalist Rayanna Fisher with 22 seconds to go gave GHS a 41-40 lead. One final Eaglette turnover in the final seconds was enough to send the Lady Jackets back to the semifinals.

“It’s tough. Everybody’s good down here,” said Sapp. “You’ve got to play flawless. Four really good teams went home tonight. It’s going to be that way every year.”

Netherton led the Eaglettes with 20 points. Mills scored nine points with 12 rebounds. Grissom scored seven points. Laura Gammon and Emma Gammon each scored two. 

The Eaglettes (28-5) featured a senior class of Shaylynn Ross, Ellie Grissom, Emma Gammon, Addacyn Emery and Cara Mills. They reached the state tournament three times in the last four seasons.

“Their impact has been huge,” said Sapp. “I just told them ‘you leave a legacy at Van Buren County high school that’s never been done before. It will probably will never be done again at the school. People are going to remember their names forever.”