Tiger Cubs fall to Braves in second round

TERRE HAUTE -- The Greencastle Tiger Cubs fought hard Thursday in the second round of the Wabash Valley Classic, but not hard enough to beat Terre Haute South.

The Braves defeated Greencastle, 45-34, on their home court to advance to today's semifinal against Northview.

"Our kids gave it a great effort," Greencastle coach Troy Greenlee said. "There's no denying that. But South just wouldn't let up, and we couldn't keep up."

Greencastle was within five points of the Braves with less than three minutes remaining, but ended up sending the Braves to the free throw line six times in the final two minutes.

The Tiger Cubs were still within five points with less than a minute remaining in regulation, but a pair of free throws from THS junior Trevon Childs sealed the deal.

With the game already out of reach, the Braves scored four points in the final 10 seconds, including an alley-oop slam from 6-foot-2 junior Zach Odum to put the final exclamation point on the game.

GHS trailed by only three points at the end of the first quarter, 15-12, but couldn't get their leading scorer, junior Brennan Burks, going offensively in the early going.

Burks, whose 20 points against Rockville Wednesday led all scorers in the Tiger Cubs' tournament-opening win over Rockville, was held to two points in the first quarter and had only six points at the half.

He finished the game with a team-high 13 points.

But the Tiger Cubs used a balanced attack to stay in the ball game, as Kendall Faust and Zac Remsburg each contributed a three-pointer in the quarter, and Greencastle went into the halftime break trailing by two, 24-22.

Late in the third quarter, Burks finally found an offensive spark, scoring five points in the last two minutes of the period to bring the Tiger Cubs within three, 29-26, as the period came to a close.

The Braves pushed their lead to five early in the fourth quarter on an inside bucket from Will Uzzell.

South's lead remained at five until Childs' free throws made it a seven-point game, giving the Tiger Cubs their fourth defeat of the year.

South controlled the battle of the boards, pulling down 32 rebounds in the contest compared to 23 for Greencastle.

Uzzell and Odum led the Braves with seven rebounds each. Burks paced Greencastle with five.

Erick Burgeson had eight points Wednesday, including a pair of three-pointers. Remsburg and Faust each finished with three points, and Michael Richardson scored two.

Greencastle (5-4) will now face Marshall today at 4 p.m. with the winner to play Saturday for fifth place in the tournament.

At Terre Haute South

Wabash Valley Classic

GREENCASTLE (34) -- Burks 13, Burgeson 8, Evens 5, Remsburg 3, Faust 3, Richardson 2. 13 FG 1 FT 34 TP.

TERRE HAUTE SOUTH (45) -- Vicars 15, Sturghiss 14, Odum 8, Engle 4, Childs 4. 18 FG 8 FT 45 TP.

3-point shooting -- Greencastle 4-17, Terre Haute South 5-19. Rebounds -- Greencastle 23 (Burks 5), Terre Haute South 32 (Uzzell, Odum 7).

Next Game -- Greencastle (5-4) will go up against Marshall today at 4 p.m.