Tiger Cubs reach win column

Greencastle tops Southmont, 55-51

The young, inexperienced Greencastle Lady Tiger Cubs took a step toward growing into a good team Tuesday night at home against the Southmont Mounties. Greencastle won its first game of the season after losing its first four games, using a big second quarter to defeat the visitors 55-51.

“We needed something like that,” Greencastle coach Bradley Key said. “Our girls have been working for three to four weeks and taken several blows along the way. We found out today that Mia (Stevens) tore her ACL. After losing her, we are a young team.

“We’ve got nine or 10 varsity players but only two of them have significant varsity experienced minutes. It’s been a learning curve. They are a great group of girls, who are great to be around and work hard.”

The game started out rough for both teams. The teams combined to turn the ball over 15 times in the first quarter. Greencastle managed to hold a slim 13-12 lead at the end of the stanza. The Tiger Cubs got scoring contributions from six different players in the quarter. The Mounties stayed in the game during the quarter from the foul line. Southmont hit 4-5 free throws as they aggressively went to the basket as Kacey Burton scored eight of her 11 points in the period.

Greencastle’s offense exploded in the second quarter. After allowing the Mounties to start the quarter with a 10-2 run, Bailey Shuee buried Southmont from behind the three-point arc hitting three of four treys during a 20-1 run to end the half.

Claire Gillen did damage inside with eight points, and that set up Shuee’s long-range marksmanship. Greencastle scored 24 points in the quarter and led 37-23 at the break.

“We knew Southmont was going to play hard and they did. We started to knock down some shots in the second quarter,” Key said. “Bailey was playing her first varsity game with extended minutes. We saw in practice that she could knock down some shots. She is a tough kid who will do anything a coach asks. I couldn’t be more proud of her.”

The Tiger Cubs maintained their lead in the third quarter using defensive pressure. Greencastle only scored 10 points in the quarter, but held the Mounties to just eight points as they forced seven turnovers. Again, Greencastle had multiple players step up offensively as they had five players score in the quarter.

The Tiger Cubs headed into the final period with a 47-31 lead.

“One of our strengths is our guard play defensively. We started doing some good things tonight in that respect,” Key said.

Southmont wouldn’t go away in the fourth quarter. The Mounties began to pick up their defensive pressure in the quarter and the Tiger Cubs saw their lead begin to slip away. Southmont went on 10-0 run late in the game to cut the lead to four at 53-49.

Greencastle turned the ball over six times in the quarter and as the lead began to shrink, the Tiger Cubs also began to struggle from the free throw line. Greencastle only hit 2-of-6 from the line including the front end of three one-and-one opportunities.

Shuee finally stopped the run by knocking down two free throws with :17 left to play to ice the Tiger Cub victory.

“We’ve got kids in new spots. They will have to learn how to handle the pressure,” Key said. “We are learning and making mistakes. We won’t be making them in January.

“We’ve got hit some free throws. That has been an issue, but I think it will come around. These kids are getting better.”

Greencastle’s first victory of the season came at the right time, giving them momentum heading into Friday night’s contest against North Putnam in the Putnam County tournament.

SOUTHMONT (51) – Burton 3-11 5-8 11, L. Ward 7-11 0-0 14, Link 3-3 2-2 8, Hess 5-9 2-5 12, McVay 3-12 0-0 6, Redenbaugh 0-1 0-0 0, Remley 0-2 0-0 0, E. Ward 0-1 0-0 0, Knowling 0-1 0-0 1. Totals 21-50 FG, 9-15 FT, 51 TP.

GREENCASTLE (55) – White 2-2 0-0 4, Shuee 5-10 2-2 16, Duff 4-8 0-2 8, Smith 2-5, 1-3 5, Gillen 3-7 5-9 11, Ray 3-4 2-4 8, Stoffregen 0-6 0-0 0, Robinson 0-0 0-0 0, Nally 1-2 0-0 3. Totals 20-45 FG, 10-20 FT, 55 TP.

Southmont 12 11 8 20 – 51

Greencastle 13 24 10 8 – 55

3-point shooting – SHS 0-7, GHS 5-16 (Shuee 4-7, Duff 0-3, Smith 0-2, Stoffregen 0-3, Nally 1-1) FG Pct. – SHS 42.0, GHS 44.4. FT Pct. – SHS 60.0, GHS 50.0. Turnovers – SHS 22, GHS 17.