Second half surge lifts Mounties past Tiger Cubs

Wednesday, November 14, 2012
Greencastle's Jessica Lenihan scores over a trio of Southmont defenders during Tuesday's game. The Tiger Cubs lost the contest 63-51.

After picking up two big wins over the weekend, the Greencastle girls' basketball team hosted Southmont in its home opener Tuesday. Things didn't go the Tiger Cubs' way, as the Mounties rallied in the second half to pull off a 63-51 win.

Following a solid first half that saw them take a 10-point lead, 33-23, into halftime, Greencastle went cold in the second half and allowed Southmont to mount a charge.

"The first thing is, as a coach, I kind of let the third quarter get a little too hectic," GHS head coach Bradley Key said. "I tried letting us play through it thinking it's a good learning lesson. We just didn't play through it very well and they cut the lead in half at the end of the third and kind of steamrolled downhill from there."

In that third quarter, Southmont outscore GHS for the first time in the game, 12-8, and clearly shifted the momentum in its favor. Fouls quickly started to add up for the Tiger Cubs, which deprived them of key players being able to be on the court.

"We got some quick fouls," Key said. "Rayleigh Amis on the bench hurts us defensively a lot. Callan Taylor had to be in and out because of fouls, so we just have to play a little bit smarter and some of that's on me. In practice we have to be more cognizant of what's a foul and what's not a foul. We kind of let them play too much.

"We as coaches have to do a little bit better job of making sure they understand what's a smart play and what's not a smart play."

With Taylor, Amis and Shelby Earl spending extended minutes on the bench, Southmont took advantage.

After trimming the deficit to 41-35 in favor of Greencastle, Southmont found another gear and pushed past GHS. In the final frame, the Mounties outscored the Tiger Cubs 28-10 to earn the victory.

Greencastle continue to play aggressive on both ends of the court, but just couldn't get anything to flow.

"I can't fault our effort," Key said. "I thought we did play hard. I don't know what the rebounds were, but I've got a feeling it's in their favor. At least the second half.

"And to their credit, Southmont has a couple bigs that are good players. (Cali) Welti, she's a good player and plays under control, something we need to do a better job of."

As bad as the second half went, Greencastle first half was solid and had them in control at the break. Jessica Lenihan scored 11 of her 17 points in the half and as a defensive unit, Greencastle was able to force Southmont into some poor choices.

"The first half we did a good job of getting out after them," Key said. "We knew they had some turnover issues in their first game they played, so we were trying to do the same thing. And we did, but in doing that we picked up a couple fouls, so we had to kind of lay off that.

"I tell the girls, there's going to be one cheap foul called, but you can make sure that the other one, you have to stay away from it. That's where we could be a little smarter."

With the Tiger Cubs' foul troubles, it allowed for players to come off the bench and get some extra minutes. Taylor Stoltey came in and helped Greencastle keep up it defensive pressure.

"I thought Taylor Stoltey did an excellent job coming off the bench and playing aggressive and getting touches. Alex Basile, defensively, gets so many touches and allows us to do a lot of things. But we have to bring a couple other people along," Key said.

Greencastle will look to rebound against Cloverdale in the second game of the Putnam County Tournament Friday at South Putnam. The game is slated for an 8 p.m. start.

At Greencastle

Southmont 12 11 12 28 -- 63

Greencastle 17 16 8 10 -- 51

Individual Scoring

Southmont -- Welti 23, Chadd 14, Al. McKinsley 12, Aa, McKinsley 10, Shelton 2, Strauser 2. Totals: 23-57 FG, 17-26 FT, 63 TP.

Greencaslte -- Lenihan 17, Taylor 9, Earl 6, Amis 6, Smiley 4, Bridgewater 4, T. Stoltey 3, Basile 2. Totals: 18-58 FG, 13-23 FT, 51 TP.