Zellers hits game-winner as Cubs top 4A TH South

Thursday, January 9, 2020
Greencastle’s Anna Zellers defends against Micaela Cox of Terre Haute South on Wednesday night.
Banner Graphic/Joey Bennett

Most basketball teams that shoot 8 for 22 from the free throw line and only score two points in the third period find it difficult to win.

Greencastle’s girls found themselves in that position on Wednesday night against visiting Terre Haute South, trailing 31-19 after three quarters.

Yet, the Tiger Cubs got things together and nearly duplicated their offensive output for the first three quarters in recording a 37-34 win to remain undefeated in 2020.

Greencastle got seven first-quarter points from senior post player Allison Stevens in holding a 9-7 lead at the first stop.

Terre Haute South pulled away in the second quarter, despite a trey and a steal converted into a layup by Greencastle’s Madison Rodgers in the period. Greencastle led 17-16 with 31 seconds left in the half, but Terre Haute South took a 19-17 halftime lead on a 3-pointer by Paityn Shipley with seven seconds left in the half.

South dominated the third period by a 12-2 margin to take the 12-point advantage.

So what allowed Greencastle to somehow pull out this seemingly lost victory?

Part of it was an increased ability to take care of the ball. After making six turnovers in the first quarter and four more in the second quarter, Greencastle made only five in the final two periods to provide more shooting opportunities.

“Our girls work naturally hard, and they have that fight in them,” first-year head Kellie Kirkhoff said. “I could just tell one time in the fourth quarter that they had that look in their eyes and had the energy they were going to go out and play harder.”

Kirkhoff admitted that things weren’t looking great entering the fourth quarter.

“We came out very non-chalant in the third quarter,” she said. “We woke up a little bit and had 18 points in the fourth quarter. We played a little bit harder and scored some buckets.”

A Rodgers basket early in the final period cut the deficit to 31-21, and after South added a free throw the Cubs took off on a 6-0 run to start making things interesting.

Stevens hit a pair of baskets to start the streak and added a free throw, with Rodgers also adding a free throw for just a 32-27 deficit.

South’s Zayda Hatfield, who led her team with 18 points, got her team’s only basket of the final period to put her team up 34-27.

The Cubs scored the final 10 points of the game, on a Stevens free throw and an Anna Zellers basket – which cut the deficit to 34-30.

Zellers missed a trey shortly afterward, with Stevens picking up the rebound, making the basket and adding a free throw for a 34-33 deficit with one minute left.

South, which employed the usually self-destructive strategy of not attacking the basket and just trying to play “keep away” during the final period, missed a one-and-one attempt with 17 seconds left and Rodgers scooped up the rebound.

She pushed the ball upcourt to Zellers, who buried a 12-footer from the left side of the basket to give the Cubs the lead. For insurance, Rodgers stole the inbounds pass and fed to Stevens for a layup at the buzzer – and the celebration was on.

Stevens and Hatfield each had more than half of her team’s points. Stevens led Greencastle with 20, while Rodgers added eight and Zellers had six. Shipley added eight for the Braves, who fell to 7-8 on the season.

The win improved Greencastle to 4-11 on the season and gave the Tiger Cubs a victory over their only Class 4A opponent of the season.

Kirkhoff downplayed the size of the schools in her pre-game preparations, but recognizes the accomplishment her team achieved.

“That’s a big deal,” Kirkhoff said. “We didn’t really talk to the girls about Terre Haute South being a 4A school, because things like that tend to freak them out. We just approached it like another basketball game, and if we played hard and hit some baskets we’d have a chance to win.”

Kirkhoff was also pleased that her junior varsity team also picked up a victory.

“That’s really big for them, too,” she said. “To be 2-0 on any night is a good night.”

The Tiger Cubs will host Northview tonight in a Western Indiana Conference game.

TERRE HAUTE SOUTH (34) – Hatfield 6-144-7 18, Pepperworth 2-10 0-1 5, Shipley 3-8 0-0 8, Cox 0-0 0-0 0, Swan 0-2 0-0 0, Ellis 0-0 0-0 0, Baldwin 1-2 0-0 2, Russell 0-3 1-2 1. Totals 12-40 FG, 5-10 FT, 34 TP

GREENCASTLE (37) – Stevens 7-13 6-13 20, Rodgers 3-10 1-2 8, Chavez 1-5 0-0 2, Doan 0-5 1-2 1, Zellers 3-11 0-2 6, Tomamichel 0-0 0-3 0, Dinn 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 14-43 FG, 8-22 FT, 37 TP

Terre Haute South71212334
Greencastle9821837

3-point shooting –Terre Haute South 5-18 (Hatfield 2-4, Pepperworth 1-5, Shipley 2-5, Swan 0-2, Russell 0-2), Greencastle 1-8 (Rodgers 1-5, Zellers 0-3). Turnovers – Greencastle 15, Terre Haute South 14.