Byrnes bounces back, hands Greer first loss of season
Evan Enos (left) played a substantial role in the Rebels’ win over the Jackets with his rebounding and paint presence.
After dropping three of its last four games, Byrnes (5-3) came into Friday night’s clash against Greer looking to make a statement.
They did just that, coming away with a dominant 61-46 win at the Hive to hand the Jackets (10-1) their first loss of the season.
“Greer’s freaking good, 10-0 coming into tonight. This is a huge win against a great team,” said Byrnes head coach Layne Fowler. “I needed to see us get back to playing like us, and I feel like we really did that tonight.”
The Rebels put on a defensive clinic for the duration of the game, limiting the Jackets to just under 35 percent shooting from the field and Greer’s lowest point total in a game this season.
Junior big man Evan Enos was the star of the show on both sides of the ball, coming up with a game-high 14 points and several key offensive rebounds, as well as shutting down the Jackets from getting easy buckets in the paint.
“We had a couple of rough games, getting out rebounded as a team,” said Enos. “But I knew we had to go foot to the gas in this one and get every single rebound that came my way. They got physical with us last time, so we got physical with them this game.”
After dropping the first game of the season series to Greer — and following it up with two losses in a row to Riverside — the Rebels desperately needed momentum heading into Christmas break.
They got it by beating a team who, before Friday night’s clash, seemed unbeatable to many.
The Rebels outplayed the Jackets at their own game, getting up and down the court quickly and preventing Greer from setting up defensively. After taking a beating to Greer the first time they played, Fowler knew adjustments needed to be made.
“We wear the name ‘Runnin’ Rebels’ with pride. We want to get the ball out. We’ve got guys that can make plays in transition,” said Fowler.
“This one’s huge to get us back on track. Now we’ve just got to keep it going.”
THE SCORE BY QUARTERS
Byrnes 20 12 14 15 - 61
Greer 13 4 13 16 - 46
STAT LEADERS
Byrnes
Evan Enos - 14 points
Will Fowler - 11 points
Kayzzin McDowell - 11 points
KJ Stephens - 9 points
Greer
Zayn Valentine - 13 points
Amare Anderson - 12 points
Bradyn Durrah - 8 points
Mikey Williams - 7 points