GHS drops first game of the season

CRAWFORDSVILLE -- Catch and shoot for an easy two.

That's all Crawfordsville's Betty Elliott had to do all Tuesday night.

The 6-foot, 1-inch senior was 13-of-15 from the field, all layups, scoring 26 points to lead the No. 6 Class 3A Athenians to a 80-60 win over Greencastle in non-conference action.

Many of her layins came off the press break, which Crawfordsville worked to perfection at times.

"We worked on something like that in practice," Elliott said. "In practice I was that open, but I didn't think I would be like that in the game.

"Their post is 6-foot (Chelsea Samuels) and she was up with the guards on the press breaker the whole time, so I was just open a lot."

Elliott was just a part of Crawfordsville's scoring ease, as the Athenians shot 58 percent from the field in the win (34-of-58).

"Defensively, we are learning as we go," Greencastle coach Brad Key said. "The way we play, teams are going to score a lot of points because we will give up some layups, but we have to learn to defend.

"We tried to focus on (Alex) Gasaway from putting up a bunch of numbers. We did, but someone else beat us."

The Athenians started strong, heading out to a 10-2 lead in the first three minutes of the game. The Tiger Cubs (4-1 overall) inched back into the contest and tied the game at 23-all in the second quarter on a three-pointer by Mallory Miller with 3:22 left in the half. Miller finished with 24 points -- 14 coming in the first half -- yet Crawfordsville (4-1) held a 34-30 lead at the break.

The backbreaker was in the third quarter, as the Athenians used a 12-2 run to open up a 36-35 contest midway through the third stanza to give Crawfordsville its first double-digit lead of the game.

"It's funny how that went," Crawfordsville's Darren Haas said. "My assistant David Pierce just talked about how we need to play better in the third quarter.

"We are dead-even with opponents in the third quarter and we are doing well in the other three. I lit a little fire to the girls at the half and they came out and did it."

From there, the Tiger Cubs could only respond with long-range hopes, shooting 7-of-13 from the three-point line in the second half. They trailed 60-47 after the third and were outscored 20-13 in the final quarter.

"If you had told me we would give up 60 in the game, I would have said we would have been in trouble," Haas said.

Along with Elliott's 26 points and six rebounds, senior Alex Gasaway chipped in 15 points and 11 rebounds, while junior Courtney Hamilton had 10 points and seven boards.

"We see strides from her (Hamilton) every day," Haas said. "I think if she keeps going like that, we are going to have a player on our hands."

Along with Miller's 24, Greencastle was led by Taylor Pruitt, who scored all 13 of her points in the second half while Tennille Burgeson led the team with six rebounds. The Tiger Cubs shot well, connecting on 21-of-45 shots (46 percent).

Crawfordsville is off until Tuesday, where they will head to Fountain Central. The Tiger Cubs will host Tri-West the same night.

At Crawfordsville

Greencastle 11 19 17 13 -- 60

Crawfordsville 16 18 26 20 -- 80

Greencastle

Nobles 1-3 0-0 2; Burgeson 1-5 0-0 2; Miller 9-16 3-3 24; Nichols 3-3 0-0 6; Samuels 2-3 2-5 7; Babington 0-2 2-2 2; Brotherton 0-1 0-0 0; Wainman 0-0 2-2 2; Pruitt 5-11 1-2 13. Totals 21-45FG 10-14FT 60TP .

Crawfordsville

Justus 3-6 0-4 7; Stevens 2-2 0-0 5; McKinney 0-1; Grundy 3-5 0-1 6; Wethington 0-0 1-2 1; Gasaway 5-11 1-4 15; Barr 1-2 -0 2; Hamilton 3-8 4-8 10; Johnson 2-5 2-2 6; Elliott 13-15 0-0 26. Totals 34-58FG 9-21FT 80TP .

3-point goals -- Greencastle 8-19 (Nobles 0-1; Burgeson 0-1; Samuels 1-1; Babington 0-1; Brotherton 0-1; Miller 5-8; Pruitt 2-6); Crawfordsville 3-6 (Justus 1-3; Gasaway 1-2; Stevens 1-1). Rebounds -- Greencastle 23 (Burgeson 7); Crawfordsville 30 (Gasaway 11, Hamilton 7).

Fouls -- Greencastle 16; Crawfordsville 13. Fouled out -- none.

Turnovers -- Greencastle 33; Crawfordsville 23.

Next game -- Greencastle hosts Tri-West Tuesday at 6:30 p.m.