Evans boys come from behind to beat Greenbrier in opener

Evans needed three quarters to scrub off the rust from its season opener. Everything ran smoothly after that.

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The Knights opened their season on Nov. 25 with a 59-55 win at Greenbrier after trailing the Wolfpack until the fourth quarter.

"It was our first game," Evans coach Kevin Kenny said. "It took us a while to get a rhythm."

The rivals drew a packed house for their last game before Thanksgiving break. The home crowd had plenty to be loud about early on.

The game will not matter in the region standings this year after the Wolfpack's move to Class AAAAA, but both coaches said there was plenty to take from the game.

Greenbrier coach Casey Dees said his team would be better prepared to play in the arenas that make up the Atlanta-centric Region 2-AAAAA.

"You won't see a better crowd than what we saw (Nov. 25)," Dees said. "That's what you come to play high school basketball for."

Dees's team was close to spoiling the Knights' opener.

Greenbrier led from the beginning and pushed their advantage to eight on a Justin Cofer 3-pointer in the second quarter. Evans hung around.

The Wolfpack's advantage was cut to two at halftime and they led by five going into the fourth quarter.

The Knights scored the first 13 points of the fourth quarter to turn the deficit into an eight-point lead.

Evans forward Tony Davis was limited in the final quarter with an ankle sprain and fouled out with 22.8 seconds left and the Knights up three.

Greenbrier's guards continued to penetrate and get to the free-throw line, and two Knights' turnovers in the final minute helped the Wolfpack cut the lead to two.

But with 6.7 seconds left, Evans guard Troy Belton went the length of the court for a layup for the final margin.

"We came out harder," Davis said of the Knights' fourth quarter effort. "We started playing team ball."

Davis finished with 14 points. Both he and Kenny said Davis's ankle sprain wasn't serious and that he would be back on the court this week.

It was good news for the 6-foot-4 junior, expected to be one of the Knights' leading scorers and rebounders.

"He goes hard," Kenny said. "That's why he is who he is."

The Knights played Lakeside on Tuesday and will play Harlem on Friday as their Region 3-AAAA schedule gets started. The Wolfpack's region slate begins Nov. 9 at Union Grove. They play Lakeside on Saturday.

The next installment of the Evans-Greenbrier rivalry won't take place until Valentine's Day 2009. But the Wolfpack are already looking forward to the rematch.

"It should make for an interesting one at the end of the season," Dees said.