GMS eighth graders pick up wins

Tuesday, January 17, 2012

ROCKVILLE -- The Greencastle eighth grade boys' basketball team traveled to Rockville last Tuesday evening and returned home with a pair of wins.

In the first game, Rockville opened up in a trapping half court defense that caught the Tiger Cubs off guard, jumping out to an 11-6, first quarter lead. The visitors made the necessary adjustments in the second quarter and outscored the Rox 13-3, to take a 19-14 lead heading into the locker room.

In the third stanza, it was the home team's turn to go on a run of their own as they pulled back ahead of the Tiger Cubs.

Rockville outscored the visitors 17-8, and held a four point advantage going into the final quarter. From that point on, as has been in many contests this season, it was all Greencastle as they went on a 14-4 run to seal the 41-35 victory.

Again, it was the defensive pressure that enabled the A team to run its record to 11-1 on the season. Zach Wilkerson and Ryan Coble had five steals each in the contest, followed by Cole Edgar and Jacob Lewis each with three. Brandon Gierke was high point man with 18, followed by Edgar with eight and Wilkerson with four.

Lewis gathered five rebounds on the evening followed by Coble, Edgar and Gierke with four each. Brayden White and Wilkerson dished out three assists each.

In the second game, the Tiger Cubs jumped out to a 9-1 lead and never looked back, outscoring the Rox in every quarter. Greencastle took a 19-6 lead into halftime, then cruised to a 34-15 victory over the Rockville squad.

In the game, Greencastle used its height advantage to dominate the backboards with Anthony Rossok pulling down nine rebounds, followed by Peyton Walker with five and Jacob Sanders and Dylan Owens with four each. Rossok also hit double digits in scoring with 11, followed by Jacob Sanders' eight and Brayden White with seven. Rossok also dished out three assists for the evening.

The win pushes the B team record to 3-1 on the season.

Defensively, Jacob Sanders blocked two shots while Rossok and White recorded two steals each.

On the prior Thursday, the A team came back from a big early game deficit to charge past the visiting Patriots and seal the victory. The long holiday break was evident as the Tiger Cubs connected on only one of eight field goal tries in the first quarter and finished the period down 6-2 to the visitors.

After going down 11-4 early in the second, GMS began finding their mark hitting four of six from the field, closing the half down 15 to 12. Both teams played evenly in the third quarter with the Greencastle outscoring their opponents 9-8.

The Tiger Cubs came alive in the decisive fourth, taking the ball more aggressively to the basket, drawing numerous fouls and foul shot opportunities.

In the final quarter, Brandon Gierke sank all six of his free throw attempts, followed by Ryan Coble's 3-of-4 from the line and one field goal. GMS outscored Owen Valley 17-3 in the final stanza for a final score of 38-26.

The Tiger Cubs were led in scoring by Coble's 15, followed by Cole Edgar and Jacob Lewis who both chipped in 8 each. Edgar and Gierke both pulled down six rebounds, followed by Lewis with five. Defensive pressure by Greencastle's guards were pivotal in the game with Coble and Zach Wilkerson combining for six steals on the evening. Coble also dished out four assists in the game.

Greencastle scoring

Rockville

GMS A team -- Gierke 18, Edgar 8, Wilkerson 4, Lewis 3, Coble 2, Rossok 2, White 2, Sanders 2

GMS B team -- Rossok, Sanders 8, White 7, Walker 4, Lamb 2, Owens 2

Owen Valley

GMS A team --Coble 15, Edgar 8, Lewis 8, Gierke 6, Wilkerson 1.