Tiger Cubs end 2011 with win over Warriors, 56-53

Thursday, December 29, 2011
Greencastle's Nate Christy drives hard during Wednesday's game against Danville.

DANVILLE -- The Greencastle boys' basketball team gave fans a late Christmas present, earning a hard-fought win over a tough Danville squad 56-53, Wednesday.

The win moved the Tiger Cubs to an impressive 6-1 to close out the 2011 portion of their season and ready to move into the New Year on a roll. The win marked the first time since 1997 that the Tiger Cubs had beaten Danville in the regular season.

"Danville's always a tough place to play and we knew with the way they play also, it would be tough because they pressure the ball and make it tough to get the ball where it needs to be," GHS head coach Troy Greenlee said. "We kind of challenged our guys this week to be able to handle that and I thought they did a pretty nice job for the most part."

Nick Hutcheson had a monster game for Greencastle, scoring 22 points and grabbing 17 rebounds. Trevor Huber added 10 points, with Hayden Stuckwisch scoring nine. Jesse Tesmer scored seven and Brad Haussin six, with Nate Christy chipping in six points in the win.

Greencastle jumped out to a 19-9 lead in the first quarter over the Warriors to seize a sizeable edge. Danville was able to chip away at the lead, but the GHS advantage as too much for the Warriors to overcome.

The tandem of Huber and Haussin provided a defensive spark for the Tiger Cubs and Huber was able to knock down some timely shots to assist in the GHS win.

"I thought Trevor and Brad were really good defensively tonight and that's one thing we really challenged our guys to be more actively defensively," Greenlee said. "I thought both of those guys did a really nice job defensively.

"Trevor got his hand on a lot of balls just being active in help defense and those kinds of things. He was also able to hit some big shots for us, some big free throws and hit some big shots toward the end to really put us over the top," he said.

Anytime a coach has a big man go for 22 points and 17 rebounds, it's a good thing. Greenlee said teams aren't making it easy for Hutcheson to get his point either.

"The amazing thing about that is that team are really keying on him. He's being active enough around the basket to get open number one and our guys are getting the ball to him and he's putting it together under the basket. He had a solid game for us," he said.

Greenlee noted what impressed him most with Hutcheson's game on Wednesday was the fact the senior took control at the end and went up and got every rebound. He also said the team as a whole put in an impressive effort as well.

"I thought the guys really stepped it up tonight. Again, it's hard to win there. We feel pretty fortunate," Greenlee said.

The Tiger Cubs will travel to Speedway Friday for a 7:30 p.m. tip.

At Danville

Greencastle 19 13 12 12 -- 56

Danville 9 12 15 17 -- 53

Individual Scoring

Greencastle -- Hutcheson 22, Huber 10, Stuckwisch 9, Tesmer 4, Haussin 6, Christy 5.

Danville -- Motes 32, Just 5, Detty 2, Stevens 2, Thurston 4, Ross 6, Amor 2.