Tri-West pushes pace in second half to outlast Greencastle

LIZTON – Riding a four-game winning streak into Saturday night, Greencastle looked to avenge an 19-point loss to Tri-West at McAnally Center last year.

Though the Tiger Cubs led throughout the first half, an 18-9 third quarter for the Bruins would be enough to turn the game around as the hosts won 58-53 on non-conference boys’ basketball action.

Greencastle started off with a 7-0 lead thanks to a Taygan McRoberts three and baskets from Sam Gooch and Codey Evans.

Max Robertson got Tri-West on the board before McRoberts hit a pair of free throws.

Back-to-back three-point plays by Landon Gardner and Jimmy Sorgi trimmed the gap to one but Gooch scored on a putback to give the visitors an 11-8 lead after a quarter of play.

Nathan Sutherlin scored to start the second quarter before but the gap was back down to one again after baskets from Sorgi and Drew Miller.

Evans hit a jumper and Gooch scored on a drive before Anthony Adams hit a three to make it 20-13.

The Bruins notched three free throws before Gooch scored his third putback of the half to make it 22-16.

Tri-West trimmed the gap to two in the final 30 seconds after a pair of Tiger Cub turnovers were converted into layups, leaving the visitors with just a 22-20 lead at halftime.

Robertson tied the game to start the second half with Gooch scoring three times in reply to Bruin baskets, the last giving Greencastle its final lead of the night at 28-27.

Robertson gave the hosts the lead for good off a Wes Ward steal, the latter following up with a basket before Miller stole the ensuing inbounds pass for a three-point play.

Gooch pulled two points back with a pair of free throws but Sorgi replied with a three-point play while Parker Anderson added a late free throw to give Tri-West a 38-31 lead after three quarters of play.

The Tiger Cubs would pull to within three early in the fourth off a pair of Gooch baskets and an assist to Adams but six-straight points from the Bruins took the lead back out to nine at 46-37 and the visitors would not get closer than five points the rest of the way.

Gooch would see a 31-point, 10-rebound double-double go for naught as Miller scored 17 points, Sorgi added 15 points and Robertson chipped in 10 points for the hosts.

Scoring

Greencastle (17-29 2FG; 4-14 3FG; 7-9 FT) — Gooch 31, Evans 8, McRoberts 5, Adams 5, Sutherlin 4

Tri-West (18-32 2FG; 1-8 3FG; 19-26 FT) — Smith 17, Sorgi 15, Robertson 10, Gardner 9, Ward 6, Anderson 1

Statistics