GHS seniors etch name in record book

Wednesday, September 21, 2011
On Tuesday, the GHS boys soccer team defeated Edgewood 6-2 giving its seniors their record-breaking 54th win of their high school career. Pictured along with their head coach Dave Lilly are (from left) Sonney Basham, Jon Good, Mitchell Ball and Brandon Query.

On Tuesday at Dee Monnett Field, the Greencastle boys' soccer team notched its 11 win of the season by defeating Edgewood 6-2. For seniors Sonney Basham, Mitchell Ball, Jon Good and Brandon Query, the victory was much more than that. With the win, the quad of players officially became the all-time winningest senior class in GHS boys' soccer history with 54 wins.

Head coach Dave Lilly was happy with his senior's achievements, but noted with a smile that they're not done yet.

Against the Mustangs, Greencastle was able to mix an aggressive offense and controlled the ball, never allowing Edgewood get its footing. The Tiger Cubs attacked, but found themselves without a goal, but the next 30 minutes found five Tiger Cub goals find their mark.

Starting the scoring for GHS was Basham, who made a move in front the net, causing Edgewood keeper Alex Driver to hit the turf, with Basham walking beside his shot as it trickled into the net unharmed with 30:15 on the clock. Basham added another goal on a corner kick from Query, shouldering the shot in with 23:21 on the clock.

Evan Smith got into the scoring act just 14 second later as he blasted a shot past Driver to put Greencastle up 3-0 with 23:07 remaining. Three minutes later Good added another goal after he rebounded his own header at the 20 minute mark.

Basham scored his third goal of the night with 11:34 to put GHS up 5-0. The Mustangs got on the board just before the half when Derek Allender scored with 2:10 remaining before the half.

Lilly said looking at the teams both squad had faced, he was confident in what the outcome would be Tuesday.

"We felt pretty confident that we would be the better side and I think clearly we were. Giving up a couple goals to them is disappointing and it's just the little things," Lilly said.

The second half didn't feature less scoring, but Greencastle did its damage in the first half and Edgewood was never able to recover.

Less than two minutes into the second half, Marcos Usso, in his first match of the season, scored as he poked a shot past new keeper Zack Allam to put the Tiger Cubs in front 6-1 at the 38:28 mark.

Scoring in his first match of eligibility, Usso, a Brazilian exchange student, will give the team some added depth going into the final matches of the season.

"I think he's going to help us," Lilly said. "We'll have him for (Terre Haute) North and that makes us a little bit deeper off the bench. You need it against those guys. I'm sure we won't be able to go 21 deep on them next week, but I feel better that most of the guys are healthy now.

"We have a week to work and be prepared for them. They're a good side. If we can keep it close, it will be a good match," he added.

Greencastle changed its keeper from Zane Miller to Alex Briones as the time clicked away. Briones withstood some strong shots and with 4:41 on the clock he made a great diving save in front of the goal, but Joe Palacios poked in the rebound for the final score of the night.

"That's why you take those shots. You take hard shots, the keeper does their job and then you try to clean up," Lilly said.

Greencastle will hit the road to face Terre Haute North Tuesday at 5:30 p.m.

At Greencastle

Edgewood 1 1 -- 2

Greencastle 5 1 -- 6

First Half

GHS -- Basham (Smith) 30:15

GHS -- Basham (Query) 23:21

GHS -- Smith 23:07

GHS -- Good (Query)

GHS -- Basham (Davis) 11:34

E -- Allender 2:10

Second Half

GHS -- Usso (Smith) 38:28

E -- Palacios 4:14