Menu
GHS ends two-game skid against Danville
GREENCASTLE -- After two tightly contested losses to Edgewood and Tri-West recently, Greencastle's girls' basketball team was looking to get back to winning ways against Danville Tuesday night.
A hot shooting start for both teams settled down quickly until late in the second quarter, where the Tiger Cubs settled into a groove and scored 23, giving themselves a healthy lead and an easy second half in a 58-40 win over the visiting Warriors.
Both Greencastle and Danville came out of the traps quickly, knocking down a wide range of shots in the opening four minutes of the first period. A lull then fell over the court, as both teams got good positioning and looks but failed to knock down shots.
Leading 15-12 after the first quarter, Greencastle struggled shooting the ball in the second quarter. Persistent pressure on defense paid off later in the quarter, as the Tiger Cubs rattled off 14 points late in the frame to take a commanding 38-17 lead into halftime.
Though 1-5 heading into the contest, Danville did not surrender easily, as the Warriors scored 20 in the third quarter, cutting the once 21-point lead down to 13 heading into quarter number four.
In the final frame, both teams slowed the pace considerably, and though Greencastle only scored eight points, Danville mustered only three points and fell to their sixth defeat of the season.
For Greencastle coach Brad Key, it was a good victory to shake off the last two games.
"We've come off two tough losses and I thought we were hungry for a win. We looked, as a team, to get Mallory [Miller] involved. That was one of our emphasis's. She's a great scorer and we need to make sure she's getting shots up at any rate," Key said.
"And if she's not hitting, we'll rebound the basketball. We've got some great athletes out there. That was the idea tonight and it worked well," Key added.
"I thought our defense also played well throughout the game. Danville knocked down some shots in the second half. They fought most of the game, which is fun to see."
The evening's inspiration was drawn up from the little things that might have changed the outcome in the previous contests against Edgewood and Tri-West.
"We watched both of those films quite a bit and we watched certain parts of them where we feel like, we're in the game and a loose ball was there and we didn't get it, the other team wanted it a little more. Tonight, it was good to see them take that and apply it because we got a lot of loose balls tonight. We went after it," Key said.
"We still have some lapses. We play at a very high rate and it's easy to get tired, it's easy to not keep trying. They did a good job for the most part fighting through it. That was good to see, very good to see," Key mentioned.
"Great job by Alyssa Nichols of punching gaps and getting other people the ball. Alyssa really makes us go, and it's fun to watch her sometimes, for sure."
The conference slate begins Friday when Greencastle hosts Cloverdale in a boys/girls doubleheader starting at 6 p.m. Key wants his squad to be ready to go then.
"We've got Cloverdale coming up next. That'll be our first conference game. So far, the person who's hurt Greencastle the most is Greencastle. We're going to make sure that we review what worked last time and make sure we go out and play our basketball."
At Greencastle
Danville 12 5 20 3 -- 40
Greencastle 15 23 12 8 -- 58
Team Statistics
Shooting -- Danville - 16-51; Greencastle - 22-65
Free Throws -- Danville - 1-2; Greencastle 6-14
Three Pointers -- Danville 7 (Hall 5, Taylor, Elliott); Greencastle 8 (Miller 5, Wainman, Nichols, Amis)
Individual Stats
Danville -- Hall 19; Collier 11; Taylor 3; Elliot 3; Moore 2; Crane 2
Greencastle -- Miller 21; Nichols 9; Samuels 8; Wainman 6; Pruitt 6; Amis 5; Earl 2; White 1
Next game -- Greencastle hosts Cloverdale Friday in a boys/girls varsity doubleheader, starting at 6 p.m.