DUNCAN – Dre Terry made the second of two free throws with 0.8 seconds tonight as Greer beat Byrnes 64-63 in a non-region boys basketball game.
Terry missed the first free throw to set up the high-pressure second one with Byrnes’ crowd standing and cheering loudly for him to miss. “I went too fast on the first one,” Terry said. The shot bounced off the back of the rim.
The second free throw swished through. “It felt good to hit that second on,” the sophomore guard said.
“It’s always good to beat Byrnes even all the way down to checkers,” Greer Head Coach Jeff Neely said. “We knew they were very athletic. “
Greer is 3-1 and play its next two game at home vs. Travelers Rest Thursday and Riverside Friday. Both games are 7:30 p.m.
Greer and Byrnes traded leads throughout the game aided by sub par shooting. Greer shot 43 percent and Byrnes 31 percent. “We won a close game and didn’t play well.”
D’Anta Fleming was on target from the 3-point range as he kept the Yellow Jackets within range. His back-to-back threes 21 seconds apart in the fourth quarter gave Greer the lead for good. He nailed a three at 2:25 to give Greer a 60-58 advantage and another three 22 seconds later for a 63-58 lead. Byrnes tied the game at 63 on Shy Williams' field goal with 27.7 seconds remaining.
“I don’t think the game would have been that close if we had made our free throws,” Greer Head Coach Jeff Neely said. The Yellow Jackets came into the game making 77.8 percent of its free throws after three games. Tonight Greer was 13-29, making 44 percent free throws.
Leading Greer scorer Labrian Shiflet had a sub par night shooting. He made only one three point goal and missed shots from underneath the basket, mid-range and beyond the three-point arc. Shiflet made only six field goals.
“I tried to get him into the game but his shots just wouldn’t fall,” Terry said.
Shiflet led Greer scorers with 20 points and Terry and Fleming added 14 each.
Byrnes’ Shy Williams scored 19 points, almost all underneath the basket as he frequently muscled past Greer defenders. Keith Anderson added 12 points.
Neely was pleased to see his team pick up the slack left by Shiflet. “The guys stepped up,” Neely said. “Flemming hit the threes to bring us back.”
GREER 64, BYRNES 63
GREER: Dre Terry 5 3-10 14, D’Anta Flemming 5 0-1 14, Eddie Ballenger 0 0-0 0, Josh Gentry 0 0-1 0, Scott Williams 1 0-0 2, Labrian Shiflet 6 7-10 20, DaQuan Thomas 3 -7 7, Zack Smith 3 0-0 7, Thomas Thornton 0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 23 13-29 64.3-point goals: Terry 1, Flemming 4, Shiflet 1, Thomas 1, Smith 1. 3-point goals: Terry 1, Fleming 4, Shiflet 1, Thomas 1, Smith 1. Fouls: Terry 3, Ballenger 1, Gentry 3, Shiflet 2, Thomas 1, Smith 3.
BYRNES: Malik Brewton 1 2-5 4, Mike Miller 3 1-3 7, Zacourrious Morton 2 0-0 4, Shy Williams 9 1-4 19, Caleb Horton 0 0-0 0, Keith Anderson 6 0-2 12, Lorenzo Norman 0 0-0 0, Javison Brown 0 0-0 0, Syverico Jones 3 0-0 8, Charlendez Brooks 4 1-2 9. TOTALS: 22 5-16 63.3-point goals: Jones 2. Fouls: Brewton 3, Miller 3, Morton 2, Williams 3, Brooks 5.
Greer 20 9 23 12 – 64
Byrnes 20 12 22 9 – 63