Tiger Cubs lose physical battle to feisty Danville Warriors, 58-51

Greencastle junior guard Alex Basile steals the ball from Danville junior Chelsea Gould in the fourth quarter of the game on Tuesday. Basile had five total steals and finished with a team-high 12 points. (Banner Graphic/GRANT WIEMAN)

The Danville girls' basketball team is starting to make a habit of frustrating its' Putnam County foes.

After winning at South Putnam by three last week, the Warriors topped Greencastle on Tuesday, 58-51.

The Tiger Cubs fell behind early, at times in the first quarter struggling to cross midcourt. They turned the ball over 15 times in the period.

They responded in the second quarter. GHS closed the gap to 21-18 at the half and had zero turnovers.

Senior Rayleigh Amis and sophomore Jessica Lenihan had eight of the teams' 10 points in the second quarter, combining for four-for-seven shooting.

"Danville a good job, in the first half especially, of pressuring us up front; getting some easy steals that lead to easy baskets," GHS coach Bradley Key said. "Our girls did a good job of fighting back. Only being down three at half was a pretty good accomplishment."

The teams traded buckets for most of the third quarter, though GHS never got closer than one.

They traded fouls, as well.

The Tiger Cubs had six in the quarter and the Warriors had seven.

Amis and Danville's leading scorer, sophomore Allie Lake, each picked up their fourth foul in the period.

When the dust settled, the Warriors took a 38-33 lead into the fourth.

Danville opened the final frame on a nine-two run in the first two minutes, but the Tiger Cubs kept scratching for a lead.

The closest they came was seven points.

Junior Alex Basile made five-of-six shots in the period, but her team-high 12 points weren't enough.

"We told her, we know she can score, but she's got to believe in herself," Key said. "In that fourth quarter she stepped up and kept us in the game a little longer."

Key called one final timeout, down seven with 6.8 seconds remaining.

GHS got a steal, but junior Shelby Earl's shot from the wing missed wide and the ball rolled harmlessly out of bounds.

"They did play hard," Key said. "I don't think we really gave up at any point in time. We put ourselves in bad positions.

"Every day we've got to get better for February and hopefully that game is an experience that we can learn from."

Greencastle will play Cloverdale on Friday at 6 p.m.

At Greencastle
Danville -- 14 7 17 20 -- 58
Greencastle -- 8 10 15 18 -- 51