Patriots knock off Tiger Cubs

WEST TERRE HAUTE -- Zeros on a basketball scoreboard are never a good thing.

And a zero hanging on the visitor's side of the scoreboard for nearly 10 minutes is very bad, but that's exactly what the Greencastle girls' basketball team saw Wednesday evening.

The Tiger Cubs were held scoreless by Owen Valley for nearly 10 minutes in the opening round of the Class 3A West Vigo Sectional Thursday en route to a 75-30 loss.

Greencastle finished its season with a 1-20 record.

Heading into the game, GHS coach Glen Hile knew how tough the fourth-ranked Patriots were in transition.

"They anticipate the pass very well," Hile said after Wednesday's loss. "They took advantage of our ball handling. They are a good ball club."

Greencastle started the game with the tip and proceeded to stall. The Tiger Cubs managed to hold the ball for more than one minute before a turnover resulted in an Owen Valley basket.

Then Owen Valley started its own version of stalling with senior guard Samantha Stahl.

Stahl scored eight of her game-high 28 points in the first frame, mainly on layups created from turnovers.

"We wanted to try to hold onto the ball early," Hile said. "Once they got ahead by eight, we had to get away from what we wanted to do."

Greencastle called a timeout after the Patriots started the game on an 8-0 run, but the bleeding didn't stop as the Patriots proceeded to take a 23-0 lead into the second quarter.

Owen Valley's Heather Gonser extended Owen Valley's lead to 25 with the first basket of the second frame, before Greencastle's Becky Grivas finally put the Tiger Cubs on the board at the 6:56 mark of the period with a two-pointer.

Still, the Tiger Cubs headed into the locker rooms at halftime trailing 43-10.

"We understood at halftime that we had to go out and play as hard as we can," Hile said. "That says a lot about these girls. When they relaxed, the played a little better."

The Patriots maintained its lead throughout the third period and extended to 40, 61-21, early in the fourth quarter after a bucket by Callie Matsel.

Greencastle had some fight left in it, however, as senior Lauren Robertson continued to drive to the basket, drawing fouls.

"Lauren was the one person we had who could actually drive and create a shot," Hile said. "She did a good job of creating offense. She gave it her all in her last game."

In her final game, Robertson finished with a team-high 12 points, to go along with two rebounds and one assist.

As a team, Greencastle was 10-of-31 from the field and 9-for-16 from the line.

"We had a hard time getting into everything," Hile said.

The Tiger Cubs also got six points from Olivia Miller and four from Grivas and Grace Fisher each. Kelsey Hennette also finished with two points and a game-high eight rebounds while Greencastle's scoring was capped with one point each from Tennille Burgeson and Kelsey Wainman.

With only one player graduating, Hile said prospects look good for the Tiger Cubs, but the team needs to focus on improving in specific areas.

"We've got to be better shooters," he said. "And we have to become better ball handlers. We have to be better skills players."

At West Terre Haute

West Vigo Sectional

First Round

Greencastle 0 10 10 10 -- 30

Owen Valley 23 20 19 16 -- 75

Greencastle -- Robertson 3-11 5-10 12, Grivas 2-6 0-0 4, Hennette 0-1 2-2 2, O. Miller 3-7 0-0 6, Fisher 2-6 0-0 4, Nobles 0-0 0-0 0, Burgeson 0-0 1-2 1, J. Miller 0-0 0-0 0, Earhardt 0-0 1-2 1, Beck 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 10-31 FG, 9-16 FT, 30 TP.

Owen Valley -- Stahl 13-17 1-1 28, H. Gonser 6-9 0-0 12, N. Gonser 2-6 0-0 4, Sweatman 2-4 1-1 5, Gillaspy 5-8 0-0 12, Matsel 5-11 0-0 11, Deatrick 0-1 0-0 0, Henson 1-2 1-3 3, Harrell 0-0 0-0 0, Lanham 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 34-60 FG, 3-5 FT, 75 TP.

3-pt. FG -- GHS 1-4 (Robertson 1-3), OV 4-11 (Gillaspy 2-5). Rebounds -- GHS 20 (Hennette 8), OV 22 (H. Gonser 5). Blocks -- GHS 1 (Hennette), OV 2 (H. Gonser, Sweatman). Assists -- GHS 6 (Fisher 3), OV 23 (Stahl 6). Steals -- GHS 3 (Grivas, Burgeson, Fisher), OV 14 (Stahl 5). Total Fouls -- GHS 10, OV 12. Fouled Out -- Fisher (GHS). Turnovers -- GHS 33, OV 12.

Next Game -- Owen Valley will face Sullivan in the sectional semifinals Friday. Greencastle finished its season with a 1-20 record.