Jonesboro, AR – (JonesboroRightNow.com) – Jan. 18, 2025 – Nettleton narrowly defeated Greene County Tech 86-80 in an overtime thriller at Raider Gym on Friday.
The win moves the Raiders into first place in 5A East, with TJ Whitney leading the way with 26 points.
The Eagles were flying high to start the game. They quickly gained a 5-0 lead, and Nettleton struggled offensively. The Raiders managed two points in the first three minutes. Te’Jay Daley and Ja’Kobe Jamison found back-to-back baskets, and suddenly the offense ramped up.
Jamison found a pair of buckets late in the quarter, including a shot from behind the arc to beat the buzzer. Nettleton held onto a slim 21-19 lead and a bit of momentum from the late shot.
The following quarter saw Nettleton’s offense stagnate once again. After conceding a quick basket, the Raiders committed a turnover, leading to a 3-pt make on the other end. Landon Morton then scored inside for the Eagles, making the score 26-21.
Nettleton could not find a basket until Vince Hardaway’s pair of free throws ended a nearly five-minute scoring drought. Greene County Tech found success from the perimeter, but Caleb Reed-Ellis sunk a pair of deep shots late in the quarter to keep Nettleton afloat, knotting the score 32-32 going into halftime.
Whitney scored all 22 of the Raiders points in the period. He buried two shots from behind the arc and converted three-point plays with successful free throws on two occasions. His efforts helped his team sustain a 25-point quarter from the Eagles, who had success from outside with a trio of makes.
Greene County Tech’s Luke Cancilla buried back-to-back outside shots during one stretch. Whitney was undeterred, taking it straight into the teeth of the defense in response to Greene County Tech’s barrage. Parker Harris drained a deep shot to end the quarter and give the Eagles a 57-54 lead going into the fourth quarter.
The Raiders opened up the quarter with a putback layup from Whitney. His teammates then picked it up as Jamison drove into the lane and scored. Daley then followed suit to score inside, before Jamison grabbed a steal and took it all the way to score in transition.
Greene County Tech committed a backcourt violation and Nettleton capitalized. Despite these mistakes, the Eagles pulled ahead late when Nettleton failed to rebound a miss and Kason Scott buried his second three-point shot of the night to go up 69-66 with under two minutes remaining.
Jamison pulled Nettleton within one, but the team again failed to rebound, this time allowing an inside shot. Phillip Hamilton came up clutch on the other end as he scored in the paint. Still down one, Nettleton had to foul.
Scott made both free throws, and with 19 seconds left, the hosts needed a three-point shot to stay alive. They got just that, as coach Aaron Deaton drew up a play to get Daley open on the left wing and Daley delivered. The Raiders rolled into overtime after the shot.
Nettleton rolled into overtime energetically, getting early scores through Jamison and Hardaway. The crowd quieted when Scott made a deep shot, but the Eagles could not slow down the Raiders’ wave. Jamison scored again, adding to his 18-point night. Nettleton was too much in the extra period and went on to claim victory.
“We had some stretches where we made some mistakes and allowed them to get in transition. That’s two wins in a row now where we’ve had our backs against the wall. When you’re trying to win your conference, sometimes you need to win games you may not deserve to win. We know we’re going to get the other team’s best efforts as defending conference champions, so we must stay locked in,” Coach Deaton said.
Nettleton’s overall record moves to 17-2 with the win. They’ll travel to Batesville to take on the 9-10 Pioneers on Tuesday.