‘Comfortable with the uncomfortable’: Greer survives against Indian Land, 47-45

Mikey Williams scored an efficient 18 points in Greer’s first-round win over Indian Land.

Greer head coach Devin Liferidge knows the Jackets sometimes don’t make it easy on themselves.

But somehow, they always find a way to make it work.

Greer took down Indian Land 47-45 on Wednesday night in a back-and-forth first-round playoff matchup. For the Jackets, it was their seventh win of the season by four or fewer points.

“I think at this point, we’re comfortable with the uncomfortable,” said Liferidge. “We made the right plays down the stretch. It wasn’t perfect, but we had composure when things didn’t go right and stayed in it.”

Sophomore guard Mikey Williams had 18 points in the win. It was Williams’ sharp shooting—specifically from three-point range—that kept Greer battling back-and-forth with the Warriors all game.

Williams bounced back from a tough region title game against Riverside on Feb. 9 where he shot just 4-16 from the field. Against Indian Land, he was 6-10, drilling three of his four attempts from long range.

“Losing to Riverside and not getting the first seed hurt,” said Williams. “But it put a chip on our shoulder and everybody else’s on the team. We came in ready to outwork everybody as the [No. 2 seed.]”

“When Mikey is in attack mode but also under control and not settling for shots, he’s as tough to guard as anyone,” said Liferidge.

The Jackets came out stinging against Indian Land, jumping out to a 9-0 first-quarter lead thanks to Williams and Amare Anderson. The Warriors clawed back into the game from then on, closing the gap to 26-21 at halftime.

At the end of the third quarter, Indian Land took a 34-33 lead with a 32-foot buzzer-beating three-pointer from star sophomore Mike Jones.

In the fourth quarter, the Jackets locked down on defense and took the lead back at 42-39 with an and-one from Brayden Lytes. The Warriors didn’t go away, and with 20 seconds on the clock, Indian Land got the ball back down just two.

Jones—who scored a game-high 24 points—pulled up from the left wing for three. Airball. The Warriors captured the offensive rebound under the basket and attempted a putback. Off the rim, no good. Another Warrior offensive rebound—this time by senior guard Sincere Rasul.

Before Rasul could even go up with the ball, Greer guard Zayn Valentine ripped the ball straight out of his hands. The final buzzer sounded.

It wasn’t easy, but again, Greer had somehow found a way.

The win set up a second-round rematch with Greenville. Last year, the Red Raiders ousted Greer from the playoffs in the same round. Earlier this year, a buzzer-beating layup from Isaiah Henry gave Greer its first win at Greenville in four years.

“If we won tonight, we knew we’d be going [to Greenville],” said Liferidge. “We never have to get up for that game. It’s a rivalry game. They know us; we know them. There’s history in this one, but we have a tremendous amount of respect for Coach [Mike] Anderson and what he’s done over there.

“It’s going to be a good one. We’re looking forward to the challenge.”

THE SCORE BY QUARTERS
Indian Land 9 11 14 11 - 45
Greer 12 13 8 14 - 47

GREER STAT LEADERS
Mikey Williams - 18 points
Amare Anderson - 14 points
Isaiah Henry - 6 points
Zayn Valentine - 4 points