GMS eighth grade basketball roundup

BRAZIL -- In boys' basketball action Thursday night, the GMS eighth graders traveled to North Clay and split a pair of games with the Knights.

In a contest that came down to the wire, the A team jumped out to a 10-6 lead after one quarter. In the opening frame, Cole Edgar hit all four of his field goal attempts, en route to scoring eight of his game-high 17 points. The second quarter saw the home team battle back to within one, 17-16 at the end of the first half.

In the second half, the Cubs came out with full court pressure that created numerous turnovers allowing them to extend their lead to 27-20 heading into the fourth. Once again, the home team would not go away, chipping away at Greencastle's lead, but they never got any closer than the three point margin of victory, 40-37.

Greencastle was led in scoring by Cole Edgar with 17 points, followed by Ryan Coble and Jacob Lewis with eight points each. In the rebounding category, Brandon Gierke led GMS with seven, followed by Edgar with five. Assisting the Cubs were Coble, Edgar and Zach Wilkerson who dished out four each.

Defensively, Wilkerson recorded four steals and Lewis had three blocked shots.

The win brings the A team record to 9-1 on the season.

In the B game, both teams had trouble finding their mark in the first half as the score was knotted at three after one quarter, and at seven after two. Extremely cold shooting contributed to the Cubs woes as they only managed 3 of 17 shooting from the field in that first half. In the third quarter, both teams began to heat up as the home team pulled ahead scoring 13 to the Cubs nine. The fourth quarter saw another 13-point outburst from the Knights as they extended the lead to the final score of 33-25.

Jacob Sanders led Greencastle in scoring with eight, followed by Peyton Walker with five. Walker also was the leading rebounder with seven, four of which were on the offensive end.

Brayden White was the leading assist man with four, and he also managed five steals on the evening.

The loss was the first on the season for the B team, dropping their record to 2-1.

GMS scoring -- Sanders 8, Walker 5, White 4, Lamb 3, Rossok 2, Kessler 2, Owens 1.

On Wednesday, the GMS eighth grade boys basketball team traveled to South Vermillion Wednesday and came away with a hard fought 34-26 victory.

Poor shooting hampered the Tiger Cubs as they only managed nine field goals on 36 attempts from the floor through the first three quarters of play. In the final stanza, however, the Cubs got energized as Ryan Coble and Jacob Lewis each scored six points. The visitors outscored the Wildcats 16-2 to cap off a wild and exciting finish.

Greencastle was led in scoring by Coble and Cole Edgar with 12 points each. Edgar was the leading rebounder with eight, while Coble handed out five assists.

Defensively, Coble and Brandon Gierke had four steals each, with Brayden White contributing three.

GMS scoring -- Coble 12, Edgar 12, Lewis 6, Gierke 2, Sanders 2.

The GMS eighth grade basketball team got back to its winning ways by downing the Tuttle Trojans, 37-13 Monday.

The visiting Tiger Cubs jumped out to an early lead and never looked back as Ryan Coble scored eight of his game-high 10 points in the first half. The Cubs took a 17-8 lead into the locker room, then opened things up in the third quarter, outscoring the home team 14-2.

Pressure defense by Greencastle created numerous turnovers, led by a game-high eight steals by Coble. The Cubs also got good board work by Brandon Gierke and Cole Edgar who pulled down six rebounds each. Edgar and Gierke also chipped in with eight and six points, respectively.

GMS scoring -- Coble 10, Edgar 8, Gierke 6, Lewis 4, Wilkerson 3, Lamb 2, Walker 2, Sanders 2.