Cubs pick up sweep at WeBo

Tuesday, January 23, 2018
Greencastle’s Seelye Stoffregen tips the ball away from Western Boone in Saturday night’s comeback victory.
Banner Graphic/JOEY BENNETT

THORNTOWN — In a pair of games which differed greatly in structure from beginning to end, Greencastle won a doubleheader from Western Boone on Saturday night in high school basketball.

The host Stars hit seven of their first eight shots in the girls’ game in bolting out to a 19-4 first quarter lead, but Greencastle regained its composure and came back for a 48-43 win.

In the boys’ game, the Cubs led by double figures for most of the game, before a wild 33-point fourth quarter effort by Western Boone fell in a 71-65 Cub victory.

Western Boone would have beaten any high school team on the planet in the first quarter, which saw them lead 19-6 at the first stop.

The second quarter, however, was a different story. No one scored for the first 2:23 of the period, but the Cubs ran off 16 unanswered points to close out the half and take a 22-19 lead at intermission.

Rose White had a pair of baskets in that stretch, while Bailey Shuee hit three free throws, Jalyn Duff and Allison Stevens each had a basket and Seelye Stoffregen added a trey and a layup following a steal.

“What a really, really good team win,” Greencastle coach Bradley Key said. “Our defense got us going in the second quarter. Seelye Stoffregen played outstanding, putting pressure on them all night and had some big steals.

“Marin Nally and Bailey Shuee had some big rebounds and big baskets,” Key added. “Jalyn did a good job of running the show as well. You don’t make a comeback like that if you don’t have everyone contributing.”

The teams battled evenly in the third period, with Greencastle still leading by three at 35-32 at the final stop. The Cubs still led 39-36 with 4:14 left, when the Stars got a pair of free throws from Kara Brewer and a trey from standout Madison Jones to jump back in the lead.

White followed with a basket, and Nally hit a huge trey with 1:29 left to give her team the lead for good.

Nally had a key defensive rebound and a big offensive board in the final minutes after Stevens fouled out, and the Cubs iced the game with 4 of 6 free throws in the final 33 seconds.

Foul shooting had been a recent problem for the Cubs, who missed 18 straight over a two-game span last week.

“Our free throw shooting was not great, but it was better than it has been and we hit some big ones down the stretch,” Key said. “Jalyn Duff and Seelye each hit two big ones in the final minutes that were huge.”

White led Greencastle with 14 points while Stoffregen and Shuee had 10 points each.

“That’s great balance,” Key said. “We’re going to have to have that if we want to win a sectional.”

Colin York had seven first-quarter points as the Cubs jumped out to an 18-7 lead at the first stop, and the Cubs extended that lead to 33-18 at the half and seemed in a comfortable position.

The third quarter was relatively even, as well, with the Cubs taking a 46-32 lead into the final period — but there were still 58 points to be scored in the game.

Western Boone had hit just 13 of 30 shots in the first three periods, and just 4 of 12 from 3-point range.

The Stars burned the nets for 10 of 17 shots overall in the final period, including 5 of 8 from long range, and also hit 8 of 10 free throws.

Greencastle coach Bryce Rector was happy with his team’s defense for most of the game, noted a distinct difference in the final period.

Benton Parmley dribbles through traffic on Saturday against Western Boone.
Banner Graphic/JOEY BENNETT

“We definitely had some breakdowns in the fourth quarter,” Rector said. “We were playing our third game in four days, and on the defensive end is where that fatigue shows the most.

“They hit some shots, too, that they hadn’t hit in the first half. Our guys battled through that and showed some mental toughness to hang on for the win, but we can’t give up that many points and expect to win a lot of games.”

York opened the final period with a pair of free throws to put the Cubs up by 16, but Western Boone’s Peyton Young scored his team’s next eight points in about one minute of action and the lead was quickly cut to 48-40 with 6:40 left.

York, who played his normal allotment of 32 minutes, had enough energy left to pour in 17 fourth-quarter points to allow his team to win its sixth straight game.

A pair of Benton Parmley free throws with :27.3 left gave the Cubs a 69-59 lead.

The Stars hit a pair of treys in the final nine seconds, sandwiched around a pair of York free throws.

York finished with 36 points, hitting 10 of 20 from the field and 4 of 8 from long range. He was also a perfect 12 of 12 from the free throw line.

Brody Whitaker added 15 for the Cubs, while Gavin Bollman added 13 points and 14 rebounds.

Jack Hutcheson added five points and eight rebounds, and drew praise from his coach.

“Jack has really been improving over the past 3-4 games in terms of how active he is on the boards,” Rector said. “When he can produce for us, it makes us hard to beat.

“Colin had a great night at the free throw line, and they were riding him pretty hard. Teams are going to do that when he’s shooting it like he is. He’s feeling pretty good out there right now.”

The Cubs (9-4) have already surpassed their win total of last year, which Rector’s first year at the helm.

“This group is happy about how things are going, but they’re not satisfied at all,” he said. “They are a hungry group, always ready to achieve the next goal in line. It’s fun to watch, and that’s why this is such a fun group to coach.

“This team doesn’t care about who scores, they just want to win.”

Girls’ game

GREENCASTLE (48) — Duff 1-5 5-9 7, White 7-13 0-4 14, Stoffregen 2-7 5-6 10, Stevens 2-3 0-0 4, Shuee 3-5 4-6, Nally 1-3 0-0 3, Robinson 0-1 0-0 0, Trigg 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 16-38 FG, 14-25 FT, 48 TP

WESTERN BOONE (43) — Jones 9-18 0-0 22, Raby 0-5 0-0 0, Brewer 3-8 2-2 9, Randolph 1-4 0-0 2, Klingensmith 1-1 0-0 2, Florey 2-6 2-2 6, Reed 1-3 0-0 2. Totals 17-44 FG, 5-13 FT, 43 TP

Greencastle 6 16 13 13 — 48

Western Boone 19 0 13 11 — 43

3-point shooting — Greencastle 2-11 (Robinson 0-1, Duff 0-3, Stoffregen 1-4, Nally 1-3), Western Boone 5-13 (Jones 4-8, Raby 0-1, Brewer 1-5). Turnovers — Western Boone 14, Greencastle 11.

Boys’ game

GREENCASTLE (71) — C.York 10-20 12-12 36, Bollman 6-11 1-1 13, Whitaker 5-9 2-2 15, Hutcheson 2-4 1-2 5, A.York 0-0 0-2 0, Parmmley 0-1 2-2 2, Wood 0-0 0-0 0, Plew 0-0 0-0 0, Sutherlin 0-0 0-0 0, Alexander 0-0 0-0 0, Baxter 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 23-45 FG, 18-21 FT, 71

WESTERN BOONE (65) — Young 6-11 7-10 21, Hendrix 4-10 0-0 8, Morton 7-10 0-0 18, Wright 4-7 1-1 11, Reed 1-3 0-0 2, Hole 1-6 0-0 3, Stoudemire 0-1 2-2 2. Totals 23-47 FG, 10-13 FT, 65 TP

Greencastle 18 15 13 25 — 71

Western Boone 7 11 14 33 — 65

3-point shooting — Greencastle 7-15 (C.York 4-8, Bollman 0-1, Whitaker 3-5, Parmley 0-1), WB 9-20 (Young 2-3, Hendrix 0-3, Morton 4-7, Wright 2-2, Reed 0-1, Hole 1-1, Stoudemire 0-1). Turnovers — Western Boone 9, Greencastle 8.

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