Tiger Cubs fall to No. 3 Mooresville

Wednesday, January 13, 2010
GHS junior Alyssa Nichols puts up a shot over Mooresville's Aerial Clark in Tuesday's contest. The Tiger Cubs lost the game 71-42 and slipped to 7-6 on the season

GREENCASTLE -- The Tiger Cubs faced off against the No. 3 ranked Class 4A Mooresville Pioneers Tuesday in girls' hoop action, suffering a 29-point loss. With the loss, Greencastle drops to 7-6 on the season.

The Tiger Cubs played the bigger Pioneers tight early, but Mooresville's ability to snag offensive rebounds helped lift them to a 21-9 first quarter lead.

The second quarter played much like the first, with the Tiger Cubs showing flashes of good play, but it was the Pioneers' size and ability to find the hoop that carried them to a 34-17 halftime lead.

"First of all, it's fun to play a team ranked third in the state and kind of see where you measure up," GHS head coach Bradley Key said. "I thought for a while we were right there. We talked tonight about doing the little things right and we did the little things right and then we'd have little breakdowns.

"I told them at halftime, we would play great defense and everything would be fine, we'd block out and the ball would bounce and we'd watch it and they'd attack it and get a lay-up," Key commented. "I told them that the third ranked team in the state was beating us because they were getting free lay-ups, not because they were outworking or outplaying us."

Mooresville came out on fire and began to press the Tiger Cubs, which resulted in the Pioneers outscoring GHS 18-6 in the period and carrying a 52-23 lead into the fourth and final quarter.

The touch that eluded the Tiger Cubs for most of the game revealed itself as the minutes ticked away. Greencastle closed the game by connecting on four consecutive three-point buckets and tied Mooresville in fourth quarter production by scoring 19 points.

Their play in the final quarter was just what the Tiger Cubs needed and what Key has seen from them on the practice court.

"I thought the fourth quarter was good for us," Key said. "I told them not to worry about the score, it's zero to zero, let's go about an try to win this one. Defensively I think we were a little weak, we were a little tired, but offensively it was good to see us get some shots up and be comfortable with our shots. I see it in practice all the time, but Kayla (Nobles), Kate (Babington) and Alyssa (Nichols) all drained threes and they looked good like they do in practice."

Mallory Miller led the Tiger Cubs with 21 points, followed by Nichols with seven and Chelsea Samuels with six.

Greencastle will face South Putnam Friday at 6 p.m.

At Greencastle

Mooresville 21 13 18 19 -- 71

Greencastle 9 8 6 19 -- 42

Individual Stats

Mooresville -- Sharp 20, Callaway 20, Chabra 5, Wellspring 5, Clark 5, Johnson 4, Viles 4, Settle 4, Nelson 2, Fisher 2. Totals: 33-64 FG, 4-7 FT, 71 TP.

Greencastle -- Miller 21, Nichols 7, Samuels 6, Babington 3, Burgeson 2, Beck 2, Wainwan 1. Totals: 15-39 FG, 7-11 FT, 42 TP.

Next game -- Greencastle will face South Putnam Friday at 6 p.m.