Those who came out to this match saw some high-energy, back and forth basketball. Shields closed out the first quarter ahead by 22-20,  but the Tigers stole the lead back before half to make it 37-35.

Shields outscored the Tigers 14-8 in the third to take the lead back to go into the fourth quarter 49-45.

However, the fourth quarter turned it back in Greenville’s direction, with the Tigers outscoring and out defending Shields to end up by four, 65-61.

Coach Jerome Harris said his team played flat, but he’s glad to get the win.

“It took a total team effort,” Harris said. “We just need to continue to play better and get more continuity going. Some younger kids really stepped up though, and Malik Ruffin lead us to the victory on both offense and defense.”

Malik Rufffin led the Tigers in scoring, tallying 18 total points, followed by Za’darius Smith with 15. Shields is ranked No. 4 in Class 1A.

GIRLS

J.F. Shields 65 – Greenville 54

The Greenville girls didn’t walk away with the win Thursday night, but they did mount a second half comeback to cut Shields final lead to 9. At half, the Tigers trailed 39-17.

The third quarter had little effect on Shields lead, only increasing by one. In the fourth quarter, however, the Tiger offense came alive. Lakeidra Savage scored 13 of her total 17 points, with teammate Jasmine Morris scoring 7 of her own.

The fourth-quarter scoring flurry made the score more respectable, but it wasn’t enough for the W.

Coach Jerome Harris said that Shields historically has a good basketball program.

“I think they have won like 43 games in a row,” Harris said. “They are born to play basketball in that town.”

Still, Harris said, had a few things gone differently, the game could have ended with a Greenville victory.

“We missed a total of 26 layups,” Harris said.

“If we would have played the first half like we played the second half, we could have won this game by 10 points.”