Leaving no doubt, Greer dominates Greenville in playoff rematch

There’s a picture sitting on Greer head coach Devin Liferidge’s desk. It’s been there for just over a year. Liferidge sees it nearly every day.

The photo — taken a year ago — is of now-senior point guard Brayden Lytes.

Lytes is sitting silently on the hardwood gym floor at Greenville High, staring up at the scoreboard. Through tear-stained eyes, Lytes is seen basking in the sadness of the Jackets’ second-round playoff loss to the Red Raiders last year.

That defeat ended Greer’s 2022-23 season.

“I still have that picture in my office,” said Liferidge. “He was just heartbroken.”

“I’ll never forget that feeling,” said Lytes. “My teammates were crying, everybody was so down and disappointed in themselves. But Coach Liferidge told us after that game, ‘We’ll be back.’

Liferidge was spot on.

And this time around, Greer flipped the script.

With a wire-to-wire 60-45 win over Greenville on Saturday night, the Jackets took out Greenville and advanced to the Class 4-A quarterfinals.

Same opponent as last year. Same gym. Same playoff round.

But a different Greer. And a much different result.

“They sent us home last year, so obviously this game was personal,” said Liferidge. “We knew coming in that this wouldn’t be easy. I’m just so proud of our guys.”

“Losing to them in this exact same round last year hurt,” said Greer star guard Amare Anderson. “But coming back in here and getting the dub in this tough environment, man, it feels great.”

THE RUNDOWN

Greer couldn’t have started the game any hotter. They led 16-4 after the first quarter.

The Jackets ran out to such a big lead thanks largely to center Bradyn Durrah. Durrah drilled two huge three-pointers and two putback layups in the game’s first eight minutes. He had 10 points after the first quarter alone.

“That was a great way for us to start the game,” said Durrah. “After that, I couldn’t feel any pressure. It was just freedom from that point on.”

Greer jumped out to a lead as big as 15 points and carried a 27-14 advantage into halftime. They managed to lead by as many as 26.

“We knew it wasn’t going to end the same as last year,” said Durrah. “We knew we were going to come in here and take care of things.”

Towards the end of the game, Greer guard Mikey Williams nearly took a defender out of his shoes with a nasty crossover. He stepped back and drained a three from the right corner.

Not long after, Williams lofted an alley-oop to Amare Anderson. Anderson grabbed it in the air and slammed it home with authority.

It was just that kind of night.

Both Williams’ crossover and Anderson’s slam dunk sent Greer’s traveling student section into a frenzy and was a microcosm for a game where Greer left no doubt.

Just as they said they would.

“Our pregame speech Coach [Liferidge] gave to us was to ‘Leave no doubt,’” said Lytes. “No more ‘would’ve, could’ve, should’ve.’ That’s what it was last year. We had the chance to win and get revenge tonight. That fueled us the whole game.”

“It’s crazy. I mean, we obviously wanted to win our region, but I feel like this was the right path for us,” said Durrah. “It’s like a story. We’ve been on the same exact path as last year — beating Indian Land in a close game and now coming back here to Greenville. Everything just fell into place perfectly.”

NEXT UP

Greer’s playoff journey carries on. And even better news for the Jackets? It comes back home on Thursday night.

Greer will face off against Lancaster at 7 p.m. on Thursday at home after Lancaster took down No. 1 seed North Augusta.

It will be the last home game of the season for Greer, as both the upper state championship and state championship will be held in Florence, should the Jackets advance.

“Honestly, we owe our fans one,” said Liferidge. “We’ve sold out our building twice this year and lost both of those games. We owe it to our city to win one in front of them.

“It’s going to be electric. There won’t be an empty seat in that building. We’re excited to get back home and give our fans a show.”

THE SCORE BY QUARTERS
Greer 16 11 19 14 - 60
GVL 4 10 11 20 - 45

GREER STAT LEADERS
Mikey Williams - 15 points
Amare Anderson - 14 points
Bradyn Durrah - 14 points
Isaiah Henry - 7 points
Zayn Valentine - 6 points