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Tiger Cubs can't contain Charger duo in 62-56 loss
Greencastle celebrated the accomplishments of several of its fall and winter squads Friday night, but most of the attention was on the final home basketball game of the season.
The boys' squad, who will host the sectional this week, went looking for only its second win of 2013 but found the North Montgomery combination of Nathan Rogers and Grant Gaylor too much to overcome in a 62-56 loss.
Rogers, who scored 36 points on the evening, started the game with 12 points in the first quarter.
The hot start that Rogers pushed the Chargers into was held in check by a late scoring push from the Tiger Cubs, who scored 12 of the last 16 points in the quarter to take a 17-16 lead out of the opening period.
Both offenses stalled for the first half of the second quarter, though North Montgomery took a small lead and while both teams ended on positive offensive notes, the visitors held a five-point lead at the break.
The lead exploded to 14 at 40-26 in the opening minutes of the third quarter before Green-castle could muster a reply through a Nick Gilliam three-point play.
Senior Nate Christy hit back-to-back three point shots to cut the deficit back down to five before baskets from Rogers and Gaylor extended the Charger lead back to five at 44-35.
GHS scored the final seven points of the quarter to cut the deficit to 44-42 and after stealing the ball to open the fourth quarter, had a chance to retake the lead.
Nothing came from the possession and Rogers was sent to the line for two free throws. Gilliam hit a jumper on the other end and another steal set Greencastle up for another chance to take the lead.
Again, the Tiger Cubs failed to capitalize and a Gaylor lay-in bumped the lead back to four at 48-44.
Gilliam hit a pair of free throws, followed by back-to-back three point shots from Rogers and Christy that kept the deficit at two points.
As the clock wound down, however, the chances to take the lead dried up after Rogers and the Chargers began to stretch the lead back up to six and then eight points.
Greencastle's shots stopped falling and though the squad kept battling on, the points needed to challenge North Montgomery did not arrive and the Tiger Cubs fell in the season finale.
Greencastle head coach Troy Greenlee said the squad battled but still hadn't solved the same puzzle that has plagued it game in and game out.
"We didn't get off to a very good start, but I was proud of the way the kids battled back," Greenlee said. "We got where we wanted to get until right near the end of the half.
"The first three minutes of the third quarter was the difference in the game," Greenlee added. "We allowed them to build up their lead, which has been our bugaboo all year. I'm not sure what it is. We're just not able to get in the flow offensively and after a couple of defensive lapses were down 10 points.
"I thought the kids battled hard in the fourth quarter but it was déjà vu again tonight, the type of game we've had all season."
Greenlee said that the attack from North Montgomery was hard to stop as Rogers and Gaylor combined for 56 of the Charger's 62 points.
"We knew coming in that Rogers and Gaylor were their big guns," Greenlee said. "We switched some things around at halftime to try to make Rogers work more for his shots.
"Rogers is a great player and when a team keys on one player too much, he dumps it off to another player for an easy layup. It's hard to guard guys who can make their own shot and credit goes to North Montgomery for their play tonight."
With the season complete, Greencastle turns toward sectional play against Edgewood this week.
Hosting the Mustangs on Tuesday, Greenlee said that the squad has a solid fighting character, but needs to keep itself from digging too big a hole against a squad they lost to 59-51 back in mid-January.
"It doesn't matter what time of the game it is, we can't have lapses like we did at the start of the third quarter," Greenlee said. "If we hold North Montgomery there and get a couple of baskets, it's a different ballgame.
"We've crawled back into games but we can't allow situations where we have to continue doing that. We have to stop runs earlier and get our own runs going.
"There's no magic bullet. We've got to be able to play possession by possession and get a little bit better before Tuesday."
At Greencastle
N. Montgomery 16 15 13 18 -- 62
Greencastle 17 9 16 14 -- 52
Scoring
North Montgomery (5-15): Rogers 36, Gaylor 21, West 3, Neal 2. Totals 20-39 FG, 3-8 3-FG, 19-26 FT 62.
Greencastle (3-17): Gilliam 26, Christy 15, Coble 7, Mitchell 3, King 3, Gerard 2. Totals 19-53 FG, 7-28 3-FG, 11-12 FT 52.
Rebounds (offensive)
NM 23 (3), G 11 (3)
Assists
NM 10, G 9
Steals
NM 1, G 7
Blocks
NM 1, G 0
Turnovers
NM 11, G 4
Fouls
NM 15, G 21
Next Game: Greencastle hosts Edgewood in the IHSAA Class 3A Sectional No. 28 at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday.