Pruitt's 23 leads Greencastle over Bruins

Wednesday, November 30, 2011
GHS senior Taylor Pruitt scored 23 to lead the Tiger Cubs over Tri-West Tuesday.

For three quarters hard-nosed defense and the inside scoring of Taylor Pruitt kept the Greencastle Tiger Cubs close to the visiting Tri-West Bruins.

When Hannah Wainman found her shooting touch in the fourth quarter, the Tiger Cubs started rolling toward 51-48 victory in high school girls basketball at McAnally Center.

The 5-foot-10 Pruitt used her right-hand flip shot and running hook for 23 points, on 11-13 shooting from the floor, pulled down a game-high 14 rebounds and made three steals.

Wainman was 0-for-5 shooting from the floor through three quarters, but scored 10 points on 4-6 shooting and finished with a double-double of 10 points and 10 rebounds. She also had two steals.

"I told Hannah (Wainman) and Taylor (Pruitt) before the game, our seniors need to will us through this. They need to make sure they won't let their team lose and I thought tonight they did exactly that," Greencastle coach Brad Key said.

Tri-West was led by Lauren DeSutter with 21 points on 10-19 shooting.

This was a frustrating game for the Tiger Cubs. They played without second-leading scorer Shelby Earl, who was ill.

Then the Tiger Cubs turned the ball over 26 times, 17 in the first half, a number coach Key wrote on the board at halftime. And they were winning the hustle points, owning a 47-32 rebounding advantage.

"You know what I liked about that game? Man, my girls played hard. They played hard from the get-go. We came out and played really tough-nosed basketball," Key said.

"Did we make mistakes? Yes we did, but kept battling and defensively is what kept us in the game."

A Pruitt lay up at the buzzer gave Greencastle a 12-10 lead going into the second quarter. Greencastle's Jessi Covert tied the score 18-18 with two minutes left in the first half, but Tri-West scored the final two buckets to lead 22-18 halftime.

Tri-West took a 24-18 lead to open the second half. Pruitt got the Tiger Cubs' offense rolling with three straight baskets in the lane. She tied the score 26-26 with 2:35 left in the period.

A three-pointer by Erynn Beck and free throw from Callan Taylor tied the score for Greencastle 30-30 going into the fourth quarter.

Just 15 seconds into the final period, Wainman scored her first basket and Greencastle never trailed again. Wainman hit a two and a three to give the Tiger Cubs a 39-34 lead.

With 3:05 to play Alex Basile stole the ball and passed to Wainman put the Tiger Cubs ahead 46-40.

"Alex Basile had a great game defensively. We had her playing a little out of position, but she plays like a big player," coach Key said.

Tri-West's DeSutter kept the Bruins' hopes alive with a deuce and a trey to make it a three-point game.

Free throws by Pruitt and Wainman provided the winning margin when Tri-West's last-second three-point attempt rolled off the front of the rim.

Greencastle shot 44 percent (22-50) from the floor while holding Tri-West to 35 percent (22-63).

At Greencastle

Tri-West 10 12 8 18 -- 48

Greencastle 12 6 12 21 -- 51

Tri-West (48) -- Allen 2-9 3-4 7, Ricks 1-8 0-0 2, O'Neal 1-5 0-0 2, DeSutter 10-19 0-0 21, Hill 6-12 0-0 12, Moser 1-7 0-0 2, Waldeck 0-1 0-0 0, Brown 1-2 0-0 2. Totals 22-63 FG, 3-4 FT, 48 TP.

Greencastle (51) -- Beck 1-8 1-2 4, Wainman 4-11 1-2 10, Pruitt 11-13 1-4 23, Taylor 2-7 1-2 5, Basile 3-7 1-3 7, Covert 1-4 0-0 2. Totals 22-50 FG, 5-13 FT, 51 TP.

3 Pt. Goals: TW 1-9 (DeSutter 1-6, Hill 0-2, Waldeck 0-1), GHS 2-11 (Beck 1-3, Wainman 1-5, Taylor 0-1, Covert 0-2). Total fouls: TW 15, GHS 7. Fouled out: Hill. Turnovers: TW 12, GHS 26. Rebounds: TW 32 (Moser 7, Ricks 6), GHS 47 (Pruitt 14, Wainman 10, Basile 10, Taylor 5, Beck 3, Covert 1, Team 4). Steals: TW 16 (Moser 5), GHS 7 (Pruitt 3, Wainman 2, Beck 1, Basile 1).

JV game: Tri-West won 46-12.

Next game: Greencastle (4-4) will host Edgewood.