GHS wins county

The Greencastle Tiger Cubs dominated the championship game of the Putnam County Classic Saturday knocking off North Putnam 61-43.

Greencastle stormed out of the gates and never looked back. The Tiger Cubs built and sustained their lead all night with great shooting beyond the arc.

The Tiger Cubs were 10-of-18 from behind the line with senior Erick Burgeson leading the way with 4-of-6. North Putnam seemed out of its game plan as it settled for many long shots which resulted in them shooting 6-for-21 from the three-point line.

Greencastle lost the opening tip to the Cougars but that was the only momentum the Tiger Cubs lost.

Kendall Faust, who led Greencastle with 15 points, hit a long three to make the score 15-2 in favor of Greencastle. Greencastle had a 19-2 lead with 3:15 left in the first quarter on the great shooting from Faust, Burgeson and Brennan Burks. Burks hit a three to give Greencastle the 19-2 lead and closed the quarter out by hitting a fade away three to give the Tigers a 25-5 advantage.

Faust started the second with another long three to give the Tiger Cubs a 28-5 lead. North Putnam finally got on the board with two free throws from Jake Mullis with 4:52 left.

Griffen Dahlstrom gave North even more momentum when he hit a three with 2:53 on the clock to make the score 34-17 in favor of the Tiger Cubs. Greencastle hit some key free throws to end the quarter. Faust closed Greencastle's scoring in the first half hitting 2-of-2 from the foul line to make it 40-22.

In the second half, Greencastle continued to dominate the Cougars with great play on both ends of the court. North Putnam opened the quarter with a three from Mullis to bring the score to 40-25. North's Brayden Dahlstrom had to exit the game after receiving a cut to his head during a rebound with 6:57 on the clock.

North saw another three from Greencastle's Burgeson find the bottom of the twine to give the Tiger Cubs a 52-26 advantage. North closed the third quarter with five straight points coming on a short jump shot from Griffen Dahlstrom and a three from Mullis to make the score 52-31.

Both teams found it hard to score to begin the fourth quarter until the Cougars Brayden Dahlstrom grabbed a rebound and took it coast-to-coast for the two. Mullis stole a pass and put the ball in to make the score 52-35.

With 4:50 left, Greencastle's Zach Smiley rocketed an inbounds pass to Burks for a lay-in and give the Green-

castle fans one more thing to roar about. Faust hit three free throws as the game came to a close and Burgeson hit his fourth three-pointer to give Greencastle the championship.

"We wanted to come out and have our defense create some opportunities," Greencastle Coach Troy Greenlee said after the contest.

"Once we get the lead, we need to learn how to play and keep the pressure on to get what we want accomplished."

Greencastle will host Cloverdale this Friday at 7:30 p.m. while the Cougars will host Crawfordsville this Friday at 7:30 p.m.

At Greencastle

North Putnam (43) -- Brayden Dahlstrom 4-11 2-2 11, Griffen Dahlstrom 2-5 1-1 5, Mullis 6-12 3-5 18, Trent 0-2 2-2 2, Schreiber 0-0 0-0 0, Hedrick 2-8 0-0 6, Alcorn 0-0 1-2 1, Blaydes 0-0 0-0 0. Totals FG 14-28 FT 9-12 TP 43

Greencastle (61) -- Burgeson 5-8 0-0 14, Faust 4-8 5-6 15, Richardson 3-7 0-0 7, Smiley 0-4 0-0 0, Burks 4-7 3-4 13, Evens 3-3 0-0 8, Miller 0-2 1-2 1, Marshall 0-2 3-4 3, Walker 0-1 0-0 0. TotalsFG 19-42 FT 12-15 TP 61

3-Point shooting - North Putnam 6-21(B. Dahlstrom, Mullis-3, Hedrick-2), Greencastle 10-18 (Burgeson-4, Faust-2, Richardson, Burks-2, Evens)

Next Game - Greencastle will host Cloverdale this Friday at 7:30 p.m. while North Putnam will host Crawfordsville this Friday at 7:30 p.m.