JENNI MARIETTA STATE FARM CLASSIC DAY ONE: Tiger Cubs, Clovers have mirror days with wins over Wildcats, losses to Knights

With Keely McSwine helping to cover South Vermillion's Madison Lund (20), Cloverdale's Emily Mann (left) pokes in for a steal during the consolation round of the Jenni Marietta State Farm Classic Friday night. The Clovers made it two wins in two against the Wildcats with a 48-13 victory, setting up a rematch with Clay City Saturday morning.

Banner Graphic/TRENT SCOTT

BRAZIL – Day one of the third edition of the Jenni Marietta State Farm Classic at Northview High School saw Greencastle and Cloverdale both go 1-1 in similar circumstances.

Both teams cruised past South Vermillion on the day but both teams also suffered losses to the host Knights with the Tiger Cubs in line to play for third place Saturday while the Clovers will play for fifth place.

Northview 70, Cloverdale 20

By virtue of the draw, the Clovers were paired off with the Knights in the opening round and struggled on the offensive end throughout, being stuck in single digits in all four quarters of play.

“Northview just shot the ball lights out,” Cloverdale head coach James Wade said. “A handful of those shots we didn’t get out to, but a lot of them we did and they just were shooting great shots.

“It’s a testament to them and what they do. I talked to (Northview head coach Zach Keyes) before the game and he said he’s got a handful of girls that come in, get shots up and do what they need to do to get better.

“Hat’s off to them because you can tell,” Wade added. “Hopefully we can learn from that and put some extra time in ourselves.”

Brynlee Clark scored nine first-quarter points to get the ball rolling for Northview, which shot 64 percent from the field in the opening frame to build up an 18-4 lead.

A balanced scoring attack from the hosts saw the lead extend to 35-11 by halftime as Cloverdale could not find holes in the Knight defense, getting just three baskets in the period, two from Sarah Nichols and one from Emily Mann.

The Clovers could not take advantage of four trips to the free throw line in the third quarter, missing all eight foul shots, while Northview maintained a balanced attack both in numbers and with shot selection, knocking down three baskets inside and outside the arc to extend the lead to 50-17 at the end of period.

With the running clock in effect throughout the fourth quarter, the Knight reserves capped off the game with a barrage of threes, hitting six of the team’s 14 shots from deep in the last eight minutes with Maggie Krause hitting half of the long-distance shots.

CLOVERDALE (20) — A.Haga 3-11 1-6 7, Lee 0-2 0-0 0, Mann 1-7 2-2 4, Ford 0-1 0-2 0, Nichols 3-6 0-6 6, McSwine 1-2 1-2 3, G.Haga 0-2 0-0 0, Halloran 0-1 0-0 0, Patton 0-0 0-0 0, Harrison 0-0 0-0 0. TOTALS 8-32 FG, 4-18 FT, 20 TP.

NORTHVIEW (70) — R.White 1-7 1-2 3, Schrader 5-8 1-3 13, Stallcop 2-5 0-0 5, Clarke 7-12 0-0 15, Terrell 0-3 0-0 0, Eldridge 0-0 0-0 0, D.White 2-3 2-2 8, Rounds 2-2 0-0 6, DeHart 3-7 0-0 9, Krause 3-7 0-0 9, Spetter 1-1 0-0 2, Dowell 0-0 0-0 0. TOTALS 26-55 FG, 4-7 FT, 70 TP.

3-point shooting — Cloverdale 0-4 (Lee 0-1, Mann 0-1, G.Haga 0-2), Northview 14-36 (R.White 0-6, Schrader 2-4, Stallcop 1-3, Clarke 1-4, Terrell 0-2, D.White 2-3, Rounds 2-2, DeHart 3-7, Krause 3-5). Rebounds — Cloverdale 22 (Nichols 7, Mann 6), Northview 34 (Schrader 5, Clarke, Terrell 4). Turnovers — Cloverdale 25, Northview 12. Total fouls — Cloverdale 6, Northview 19. Fouled out — none.

Greencastle 56, South Vermillion 7

The Tiger Cubs overwhelmed the outmatched Wildcats, starting the game with a 17-0 first quarter and only allowed three baskets throughout the 32 minutes of play.

“(South Vermillion) came in averaging 13 points per game, so we knew we could play relaxed,” Greencastle head coach Jessica Lenihan said. “We played our JV players extended minutes; Ava (Williamson) played all eight minutes of a quarter and she really stepped up in the game.

“It was a good opportunity for those girls to get in there and show us what they had. We were still able to score 56 points, so that was a good outing for them.”

Despite being shorthanded with Aleeyah Johnson unavailable, Greencastle was quick to get the game going as seven different players scored in the opening quarter.

Bailey Brown scored the first point from the line, followed by baskets from Madi Plew, Ali Dobbs, Evie Briones and Brown that made it 9-0.

Though Greencastle struggled at the line in the half, hitting just 3-of-8 foul shots in the quarter, the lead continued to build with further points from Sarah Simmerman, Emily Hunsinger and Becca Rady helping build up the lead to 17-0.

A Brown free throw to start the second quarter was followed by the only basket of the half for South Vermillion, a jumper from Dakota Fonner.

After a free throw from Summer Pettit made it 21-3, Greencastle would score the next 31 points from the middle of the second quarter into until the end of the third quarter when Fonner hit another jumper, leading 28-3 at halftime and 52-3 entering the final period of play, where both teams used reserves to finish out the afternoon.

Scoring

South Vermillion (3-13 2FG; 0-15 3FG; 1-6 FT) — Fonner 4, H. Richardson 2, Pettit 1

Greencastle (17-45 2FG: 5-37 3FG; 7-16 FT) — Dobbs 16, Brown 11, Plew 7, Briones 7, Hunsinger 6, Simmerman 4, Rady 4, Team 1

Statistics

Cloverdale 48, South Vermillion 13

In the second game of the consolation bracket, the Clovers picked up a second win over the Wildcats in a week , starting off with a 13-0 lead and holding the South Vermillion to four points in the second half.

“It was nice to get a win there,” Wade said. “We executed well at times in that game.”

Mann scored eight of Cloverdale’s first 13 points of the game in building the 13-point lead with Nichols chipping in four points during the run.

Veronica Kennedy got the Wildcats on the board though Amilia Haga hit two free throws to end the first quarter and a jumper to start the second quarter to extend the advantage to 17-2.

The Wildcats got threes from Pettit and Kaylee Russell in the second quarter while the Clover offense wasn’t as fluid, getting an additional basket from Haga while Mann and Syrie Ford scored and Gracie Lee hit a three as part of a 26-9 halftime advantage.

Mann added six more points in the third quarter around another Russell three while Ford added a basket and Gracie Haga hit a late three to make it 38-13 after three quarters.

Cloverdale shut South Vermillion out in the final quarter, adding to the lead with baskets from Amilia Haga, Keely McSwine, Nichols and Lee as the Clovers picked up their second win on the season.

Scoring

South Vermillion (1-9 2FGl 3-7 3FG; 2-4 FT) — Russell 6, Pettit 3, Kennedy 2, Fonner 1, Lund 1

Cloverdale (16-39 2FG; 3-15 3FG; 7-16 FT) — Mann 16, A. Haga 8, Nichols 7, McSwine 5, Lee 5, Ford 4, G. Haga 3

Statistics

Northview 56, Greencastle 33

As Northview’s girls’ basketball team was getting itself prepared for Friday night’s Jenni Marietta State Farm Holiday Classic semifinal against Greencastle, the Lady Knights would pop their heads into the gym every so often to see what was transpiring in the other Holiday Classic semifinal between Parke Heritage and Terre Haute North.

Northview witnessed the Wolves dismantle the Patriots in spectacular fashion and knew who would be waiting for them in Saturday’s championship if they could get past the Tiger Cubs.

All they had to do was that – get past Greencastle – to set up the highly anticipated title tilt between the tournament’s co-favorites.

And behind another strong offensive performance from top to bottom, Northview defeated Greencastle by a score of 56-33 to reach the Holiday Classic championship game for the second time in three years.

“I thought we had a little bit of a slow start defensively. But offensively, we were really clicking and shot the ball exceptionally well,” said Keyes. “We’re starting to make shots from the perimeter, which has really opened up our offense. We did what we were supposed to do. We came in and took care of business. Now, it sets up for a really good matchup in [the championship].”

It was the offensive firepower of the Knights – an area they had struggled with at the start of the month – that led the way Friday night.

“What happens is that we had a perfect scouting report: we knew who the leading scorers is, who the shooters are and one or two girls that we don’t focus on as much,” Lenihan noted. “Every time we play a good team, those one or two girls we don’t focus on as much hit every single shot.

“They might be averaging a couple of points a game and find ways to score in double figures against us. I feel like it happens every time.”

Northview put up double figures in each of the first three quarters of the game and had three different players – Reagin White (seven points in the first quarter), Brynlee Clarke (nine points in the second quarter) and Carlee Schrader (11 points in the third quarter) – lead them in scoring in each.

Northview also continued to shoot the ball well from the perimeter, which Keyes informed his group before the game would be crucial against Greencastle’s 2-3 zone.

Its three-point attack was especially deadly in the third quarter when the Lady Knights knocked down more shots (5) than they did in the entire first half (4). That helped the hosts widen their advantage to 23 points and allowed the ninth-year head coach to empty his bench with an eye on Saturday’s championship game.

With the win, Northview will take on Parke Heritage in the third annual Holiday Classic title game. It’s a rematch of the 2021 championship – Northview came back to win by a score of 47-43 – as well as a rematch of the Nov. 14 thriller that saw the Knights defeat the Wolves in the Rock-a-Dome on Schrader’s buzzer-beating bank shot.

Greencastle will face Terre Haute North in the third-place game preceding the championship game at 1 p.m.

GREENCASTLE (33) — Dobbs 5-20 0-0 10, Brown 0-8 0-0 0, Briones 4-14 0-0 12, Rady 0-2 0-0 0, Plew 1-6 1-2 3, Simmerman 3-7 0-0 6, Call 0-3 0-0 0, Hunsinger 0-1 2-2 2, Williamson 0-0 0-0 0. TOTALS 13-51 FG, 3-4 FT, 33 TP.

NORTHVIEW (56) — R.White 3-6 0-0 7, Schrader 5-10 3-3 16, Stallcop 2-10 0-0 6, Clarke 7-10 2-2 19, Terrell 0-0 0-0 0, Eldridge 1-1 0-0 2, D.White 0-4 2-4 2, Rounds 0-1 1-2 1, Spetter 1-2 1-2 3, DeHart 0-4 0-0 0, Krause 0-3 0-0 0. TOTALS 19-51 FG, 9-13 FT, 56 TP.

3-point shooting — Greencastle 4-22 (Dobbs 0-3, Briones 4-10, Rady 0-2, Plew 0-2, Simmerman 0-2, Call 0-3), Northview 9-31 (R.White 1-4, Schrader 3-5, Stallcop 2-9, Clarke 3-6, D.White 0-3, Rounds 0-1, DeHart 0-2, Krause 0-1). Rebounds — Greencastle 26 (Brown 7, Dobbs 5), Northview 39 (). Turnovers — Greencastle 10, Northview 16. Total fouls — Greencastle 15, Northview 10. F