Tiger Cubs lose to Patriots 59-49

The moments just after halftime is a time most take for granted -- except if you're on the court or the sideline. Teams know those first few moments can sometimes make you or break you and the Greencastle boys' squad learned that lesson the hard way.

Greencastle struggled in the opening minutes of the second half Tuesday against Owen Valley and ended up falling to the Patriots 59-49.

GHS head coach Troy Greenlee said people might look toward the end of the game as the deciding factor, but for him it came in the first five minutes of the second half.

"I thought the difference in the game was the third quarter -- the beginning of the third quarter," Greenlee said. "In every game we talk about coming out in that first few minutes of the third quarter and how that's such an important part of the game ... One of our coaches said we got one shot maybe in the first five minutes, and you can't win ball games like that.

"People are going to look at this game and say, 'Well they lost it at the end when they hit free throws or whatever.' Well, I understand that to a point, but I think we lost it in the beginning of the third quarter by not coming out aggressively and doing what we needed to do."

GHS entered the second half trailing by three points, 25-22, and watched as Owen Valley went on an 8-2 run to open a 33-24 lead. Greencastle dug in its heels and responded with four unanswered points of its own, which including a timely three-point bucket from senior Nate Christy, to trail 33-28 heading into the final period.

The action to begin the final eight minutes was fast and furious. Greencastle junior Holden King knocked down a three-pointer, only to have Owen Valley respond with a three-point play of its own. Tiger Cub junior Luke Brotherton returned the favor on the next possession, converting a slicing layup and a free throw.

Greencastle continued to fight hard, but Owen Valley knocked down its free throws in the final stretch of the ball game to pull out its 10-point victory.

"Our guys hung in there and battled and battled, but when you put yourself in that situation, it's going to be tough. And it was," Greenlee said. "Instead of having the situation where we're the ones kind of being chased and them chasing us, we we're the ones chasing. And when you give a team like that chances to go the free throw line and they hit them, you kind of feel helpless. There's not a whole lot you can do.

"Hopefully it's a learning process," Greenlee added. "We can take what we learned tonight, what to do what not to do, and carry that into sectional."

The Tiger Cubs came out scrappy and stuck shot-for-shot with the Patriots. After battling the Patriots to a nine-all tie at the end of the first quarter, and trading points for much of the second quarter, Greencastle found itself behind by three going into halftime.

Sophomore Brody Bollman led GHS with each of his nine points in the first half, with freshman Ryan Coble adding six. Senior Nick Gilliam led Greencastle on the night with 11 points.

The Tiger Cubs will close its regular season this Friday hosting North Montgomery with varsity action set for 7:30 p.m.

At Greencastle
Owen Valley 9 16 8 26 -- 59
Greencastle 9 13 6 21 -- 49