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Cubs rout Cascade 73-45 in Windlan’s debut
CLAYTON — New Greencastle girls’ basketball coach Tod Windlan knows his first Tiger Cub team will be a work in progress for a while.
Blending the returning players with the newcomers, and getting them all to understand their roles and obligations won’t be an easy task.
Fortunately for Windlan, the Cubs had enough talent and depth at Cascade on Thursday night to pick up a dominant 73-45 win over the Cadets in the season opener for both teams.
The Cubs came out of the gates strongly, scoring 23 first-quarter points and connecting on 4 of 6 from 3-point range.
Senior Seelye Stoffregen hit a pair of those, while junior point guard Madison Rogers and freshman reserve Mia Shields added her first of three treys on the night.
“I thought they hit some shots early that got us in a hole, but I was glad we were able to fight our way out of it,” Windlan said. “The style we play kind of wore them down.”
The Cubs displayed a large repertoire of defenses of both the man-to-man and zone variety, both halfcourt and fullcourt.
Windlan utilized a starting lineup of Stoffregen, Rodgers, sophomore Ella Shields, junior Allison Stevens and senior Jalyn Duff, with Mia Shields, seniors Bailey Shuee and Kameelah Ray and sophomore Sydney Doan frequently coming in to spell the starters.
Cascade got three straight baskets, including a trey, from junior Taylor Norris to take a 10-5 lead midway through the opening period.
The first Stoffregen trey, followed by a pair of free throws and a basket by Duff, put the Cubs ahead at 12-10.
Cascade hung around for a little while, still leading at 15-14 on a basket by sophomore center Halle Cansale.
The Cubs scored the final nine points of the period, in just 51 seconds, on a Mia Shields trey, a Duff steal turned into a layup, a Stoffregen free throw and a Rodgers trey to give Greencastle a 23-15 lead at the first stop.
“We have a lot of things we have to work on, but overall I thought our bench was outstanding,” Windlan said. “Mia Shields had a really good game, and really everybody who came in did some good things for us.”
Duff led the Tiger Cubs with 19 points, only taking a pair of 3-point attempts but spending a lot of time driving to the basket and cashing in at the free throw line.
“She’s just a true competitor,” Windlan said. “We had a fundraiser, and she kept asking me if she had the most sales. When you have a point guard who is that competitive, it’s just great for your team.”
Greencastle took a 38-26 lead into halftime, getting points from six different players. Windlan was not happy with one particular aspect of that period.
“We didn’t attack the basket as well in the second quarter,” he said.
Greencastle opened the second half on a 10-2 run, getting a pair of baskets from both Stevens and Duff to go with an Ella Shields basket.
Cascade clawed back within 48-37 with a 9-0 run of its own, but the Cubs got a pair of Mia Shields treys in the final 1:04 of the third period sandwiched around an Ella Shields basket for a 55-37 lead at the last stop.
The Cubs then dominated the final period by an 18-8 margin over the tiring Cadets, getting points from six different players led by six from Duff.
Mia Shields scored 15 in her first varsity game, and while no other Tiger Cubs hit double figures they got solid support from Ella Shields with nine, Stevens with eight and Stoffregen with seven.
Carly Gibbs led Cascade with 11 points and was the only Cadet in double figures.
“I’m pleased overall with how we played,” Windlan said. “We won the rebound battle, and we competed hard for 32 minutes — that’s what I’m all about. For our first game, and on the road, it was a pretty good night for us.”
Windlan was not surprised at his team putting up so many points in its first quarter of the season.
“If you look at the teams I’ve coached over the past 15 years, we do score a lot of points,” he said. “A lot of it is off our pressure, running the floor in transition and shooting good shots. That’s where this team has to get a little bit better, in getting a good shot every possession.”
Once the game was clearly out of reach in the final period, the Tiger Cubs became a little more patient on offense and were able to wait a little longer for good shots.
“We were trying to work for a good shot, and the worst thing you can do is take a quick three,” he said. “We were trying to work on some things at that point. They went man-to-man at the end of the third quarter, and we ran our open post offense really well.”
The Tiger Cubs will take to the road again on Saturday as the battle the Edgewood Mustangs.
Windlan saw them defeat West Vigo on Tuesday night, and liked what he saw.
“Edgewood has a nice team,” he said. “They pressured the ball pretty well the other night. I think we’re probably similar in a lot of ways, and it will be a fun game for us.”
GREENCASTLE (73) — Duff 5-9 9-10 19, Stevens 4-7 0-0 8, E.Shields 3-9 3-7 9, Stoffregen 2-5 1-2 7, Rodgers 2-3 0-0 5, M.Shields 6-8 0-0 15, Shuee 1-3 0-0 3 ,Ray 0-0 0-0 0, Doan 2-3 1-2 5, Trigg 1-1 0-0 2, Zellers 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 26-46 FG, 14-21 FT, 73 TP
CASCADE (45) — Carson 3-11 1-2 8, Gibbs 5-11 0-0 11, Norris 3-6 0-0 7, Cansale 3-5 1-7 7, Schmidt 2-7 0-0 4, Mahan 2-8 0-2 5, Guetig 0-2 3-4 3, Short 0-1 0-0 0, Mayes 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 18-51 FG, 5-13 FT, 45 TP
| Greencastle | 23 | 15 | 17 | 18 | — | 73 |
| Cascade | 15 | 11 | 11 | 8 | — | 45 |
3-point shooting — Greencastle 7-17 (Duff 0-2, Stevens 0-1, E.Shields 0-1, Stoffregen 2-5, Rodgers 1-1, M.Shields 3-4, Shuee 1-2), Cascade 4-15 (Carson 1-1, Gibbs 1-3, Norris 1-1, Schmidt 0-3, Mahan 1-7). Turnovers — Greencastle 15, Cascade 19. Rebounds — Greencastle 30 (E.Shields 8), Cascade 20 (Cansale 7).
In other action:
• North Vermillion 43, North Putnam 42 — At Cayuga, the Cougars held a slim 34-33 lead after three periods but the Falcons were able to pull out the win.
North Vermillion led 14-7 at the first stop and 24-22 at halftime.
North Putnam freshman Kyla Willis had eight of her team-high 17 points in the first half, adding seven more in the fourth quarter.
Brie Miller, another freshman, added nine for the Cougars while junior Dana Tennis and senior Payton Lyons each had five.
North Putnam outscored the Falcons from the field, but the hosts connected on 13 of 27 free throws to just 6 of 13 for North Putnam.
The Cougars will play at Crawfordsville on Tuesday.
NORTH PUTNAM (42) — Tennis 2 0-0 5, Sims 0 0-0 0, Young 1 1-3 3, Osburn 1 1-2 3, Lyons 2 0-0 5, Willis 7 3-5 17, Miller 4 1-3 9. Totals 17 FG, 6-13 FT, 42 TP
NORTH VERMILLION (43) — Balding 1 1-2 4, Dowers 3 5-8 12, Crowder 6 1-5 14, Chevrout 2 0-0 5, Ellis 1 2-5 4, Norris 0 2-2 2, Steinbrenner 0 2-5 2. Totals 13 FG, 13-27 FT, 43 TP
| North Putnam | 7 | 15 | 12 | 8 | — | 42 |
| No. Vermillion | 14 | 10 | 9 | 10 | — | 43 |
3-point goals — Tennis, Lyons, Dowers, Chevrout, Balding, Crowder.