Ashley Green could have easily taken the night off.

Instead, the Selma High School senior point guard returned the care shown to her by her teammates with one the best games of her career.

Hours after her uncle’s funeral, Green scored a career-high 30 points in the Lady Saints’ 60-44 win over the rival Southside Lady Panthers in the Selma High gym.

Green’s uncle, Arthur Smith of Selma, passed away last Sunday after a bout with cancer. Green’s teammates attended the funeral Saturday.

“My teammates showed me a lot of love today,” said Green, who scored 13 points in the first period as the Lady Saints built a 20-7 lead. “They told me to go out an play my best game. I wanted to give them back some of the love they showed me.”

The Lady Panthers showed no love to their counterparts. Southside rallied in the second half with a tightened defense and key baskets to close to within a point at halftime, 26-25.

But Green continued her assult on the Southside defense with four buckets and three free throws in the third period as the Lady Saints regained a double-digit lead, 41-31.

“It’s kind of hard to play when you go through something like that,” Selma coach Anthony Harris said. “Ashley felt like she had to play.”

Green said she decided to compete because of something she was told by her uncle before he passed away.

“He told me to play ball,” she said.

Green’s gutsy performance helped hold off the Lady Panthers despite Southside’s intense defense in the second half.

Southside coach Matthews Williams was pleased with his team’s performance despite coming up short.

“We played with a lot of intensity like I want,” Williams said. “We pursued the ball with intensity and we played the game like I want them to play it.

“We got a little relaxed on defense in the fourth quarter, but otherwise we played really well.”