Tiger Cubs tame Cougars to advance to county championship

Saturday, November 23, 2013
Greencastle senior Melody White hauls in a rebound during the second half against North Putnam on Friday. (Banner Graphic/GRANT WIEMAN)

The Greencastle girls' basketball team entered the 2013 Putnam County Tournament with more wins (two) than the rest of the county schools combined. With a win in Saturday's championship game, they'll finish the tournament the same way.

The Tiger Cubs (3-1, 0-0 WCC) beat North Putnam 53-24 on Friday to advance to the county championship game for the sixth-consecutive year.

Greencastle took control of the game in the opening minutes, starting ahead 8-0 before North Putnam attempted a quality shot and lead 11-4 after the first quarter.

"We got some good steals early on in our press and that kind of helped us get out to a lead," GHS coach Bradley Key said. "The goal is to get better every game and I thought in aspects of this game we got better."

North Putnam found a little offense in the second quarter when sophomore Taylor Nauert returned to the game after picking up two early fouls. As the team's only starting forward surrounded by four guards, Nauert helped the Cougars break the press and spaced the floor offensively to allow NPHS to dribble-drive to the basket.

Nauert picked up her third foul midway through the second quarter and Greencastle took command again.

The Tiger Cubs closed out the first half with a 26-12 lead. Junior Callan Taylor had nine points and four steals at the break on 4-of-8 shooting. She also had two assists.

Junior Lauren Bridgewater had eight points and three rebounds at halftime.

"I thought Callan played really well," Key said. "I thought Callan's shot selection was much better than it has been. She did a good job of both running the floor and in general."

North Putnam got quality shots, a result of getting stops defensively, to start the third quarter, but the team struggled with open layups going against the much taller Tiger Cubs.

"It comes down to shooting," Lawrence said. "We worked on finishing layups in practice and got the blocking pads out and finishing with contact."

Greencastle pulled away with a 16-4 quarter and a 16-9 rebound advantage in the third. Senior Melody White led the Tiger Cubs with 12 rebounds, including six in the third.

"She's doing a good job of squeezing it," Key said. "Melody does a good job of adding some size for us. At times we need that. Offensively she's coming along, but she definitely adds another element."

North Putnam showed modest improvements in the game, reducing its turnovers and playing a more established offense than they had in the first few games of the season.

They were still unable to play consistently near their peak.

"We went back to our old selves and stopped trying to find the right pass and just turning and throwing the ball," Lawrence said. "I thought we did a decent job rebounding-wise."

Senior Madison Asbell led the Cougars in scoring for the fourth-straight game to start the season. She had six points and eight rebounds. Junior Kaitlin Mindiola had five rebounds and one assist off the bench for NPHS.

Bridgewater led the Tiger Cubs with 14 points. She also had five rebounds. Taylor finished with 11 points, six assists and six steals. Senior Alex Basile had four points and four assists.

GHS is hoping to regain the Putnam County title it last won in 2010.

The Tiger Cubs had won three straight before finishing runner-up to South Putnam for the past two years.

"Tomorrow night hopefully we clean it up a little bit," Key said. "We definitely want to cut the nets down tomorrow. ... Basile and Melody deserve that. Bas' has been a part of two hard county losses. We'd like nothing more than to make sure and send her and Melody out with the championship."

The championship game between Greencastle and Cloverdale (1-3, 0-0 WCC) will be Saturday night following the consolation game.

North Putnam will face South Putnam (1-3, 0-0) in the consolation game that is scheduled to begin at 6:30 p.m.

Madison Trout



2013 Putnam County Girls' Basketball Tournament
North Putnam.....4 8 4 8 -- 24
Greencastle.......11 15 16 11 -- 53

Team stats

_GCNP
FGM-FGA19-5212-51
FTM-FTA11-200-6
3PM-3PA2-170-9
OR-DR-total14-30-4413-22-35
Assists117
Steals133
Blocks32
Turnovers1523
Fouls1013

Individual scoring
North Putnam (0-4): Asbell 3-10 0-0 6, Land 2-12 0-0 4, M Smith 2-11 0-0 4, Nauert 2-3 0-0 4, Wiatt 1-5 0-2 2, Evans 2-9 0-0 4, Mindiola 0-1 0-4 0, B Smith 0-0 0-0 0, Laffin 0-0 0-0 0.

Greencastle (3-1): Bridgewater 5-10 2-2 14, Taylor 5-10 1-3 11, Lenihan 3-6 3-4 9, A White 2-5 3-6 7, Basile 1-6 2-2 4, M White 2-6 0-3 4, D Stoltey 0-7 0-0 0, Trout 2-2 0-0 4.

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