Tiger Cubs hold off charging Cougars in junior varsity action

Saturday, January 28, 2012

ROACHDALE -- Once again riding the hot hand of Holden King and the inspired effort of Lane Winslow, the Greencastle boys' junior varsity basketball team defeated North Putnam 50-39 on the road Thursday.

Greencastle jumped out to a quick 9-2 lead only to see the Cougars fight back and take an 11-10 lead after the first quarter.

A nip-and-tuck second quarter with both teams working tenacious half-court defenses, saw North Putnam take a 20-17 lead in the waning moments. Greencastle went on a 7-0 run to end the half and never trailed again.

"I went into the locker room and told the players that we were ahead, but I was not a happy coach," head coach Doug Hudson said. "Two keys we put on the board prior to the game were rebounding and giving no second shots."

Hudson said North Putnam had the Tiger Cubs' number in regards to rebounding the first half. He noted if you give a team multiple chances, it's going to make it tough.

"I challenged them to give no offensive rebounds the second half," Hudson said. "I knew that was virtually an impossibility, but we were much better the second half in giving them only one shot per possession.

"I also though we were better defensively as we only forced four turnovers the first half but eight in the second."

He also gave kudos to North Putnam's head coach and the team's readiness to play.

"We must give a lot of credit to Coach Merkel and his team as they played extremely hard and never quit. That is a testament to all of the North Putnam staff and their players. It only proves that they understand how to play and subsequently will win quite a few games. We play them in the County tournament and I am sure they will be ready," Hudson said.

All players dressed for Greencastle saw some action and eight made it into the scoring column.

"One thing we stress is the team concept," Hudson said. "Tonight two of my starters who have been playing extremely well struggled, but we had other players step-up and fill the void. If we can continue to get production out of 8-9 players a game, we will continue to win games."

Winners of four straight, the young Tiger Cubs now stand at 6-5 for the season. They are also 4-0 in the WCC with a chance to win the conference outright next week at Monrovia.

"Next Thursday will be a big game for us. A chance to win the conference outright, although at the JV level will be a challenge, but one we are ready to face," Hudson reiterated.

King led all scorers with 16 for the Tiger Cubs and Lane Winslow added nine. Bennett Hazelgrove led the Cougars with 11 and Zach Green added 10.

Greencastle travels to Tri-West 6 p.m. game Saturday.

At North Putnam

GHS 10 14 9 17 -- 50

NP 11 9 11 8 -- 39

Greencastle -- Mitchell 4, Cook 3, Foxx 4, King 16, Bollman 5, Nicholson 5, Hughes 4, Winslow 9

NP scoring -- Flynn 8, Hazelgrove 11, Beaman 2, Z. Green 10, Hall 2, Belcher 4, Riggen 2