Taylor leads Tiger Cubs past Tri-West 44-40

Greencastle junior Callan Taylor leaps for a layup against Tri-West on Tuesday. Taylor had 20 points in the Tiger Cubs' win. (Banner Graphic/TRENT SCOTT)

The Greencastle girls' basketball team beat Tri-West 44-40, defeating the Bruins for the second time in head coach Brad Key's five year tenure.

Greencastle junior Callan Taylor had 20 points to lead her squad in scoring, but her role as a team defender was important as well.

Key said that the squad did a better job of playing with a potential sectional opponent Tuesday night.

"We've been letting teams get easy shots to open games and tonight I felt we made them work for a lot of their shots," Key said. "Defensively, Alex Basile was outstanding at getting her hands on the ball and Callan Taylor played outstanding.

"They are in our sectional and the whole sectional is good. They handled Crawfordsville pretty well and we struggled against them in our last game so I was happy with the way the team bounced back tonight and pleased with the effort."

Greencastle started the game by scoring the opening eight points through a Basile three, a three-point play by Taylor and a basket by Lauren Bridgewater.

Neither team shot particularly well in the opening frame but the hosts led 10-4 after the break and extended the lead 10 at 14-4.

Tri-West Center Karen Jones then moved to the forefront of the game, punishing the Tiger Cubs inside to score 12 points in the quarter and rally the visitors to an 18-17 lead with a minute left in the half.

Key said the defense on Jones was a little lax early in the game.

"Jones is a really good player," Key said. "She was going to get her points but we got greedy and stepped away from her."

Taylor knocked down a three at the halftime buzzer to restore the lead for Greencastle at 20-18, matching Jones' 12 points in the first half.

Jones led the Bruins to a brief 24-22 lead to open the second half and scored 10 more points in the frame.

Greencastle had an offensive answer to Jones in Jessica Lenihan, who scored all 10 of her points in the third quarter to help the hosts extend their lead by the end of the quarter to 36-33.

Key said that the contribution from the Tiger Cub center was critical for the team's confidence.

"Lenihan was huge there," Key said. "What I liked about it was that she was very calm about it. When we feel pressured, we go to her. Those were 10 very important points."

The Tiger Cubs then found a way to defend Jones and kept her off the scoreboard as both teams cranked up the defensive pressure.

Taylor scored six in the frame to help keep Tri-West at bay while the defense only allowed the Bruins to score seven points, including a late three, to preserve the 44-40 win.

Key said that the defense increased the pressure on the Bruins and was something the squad would need to continue to do against Edgewood Saturday.

"We did a better job of rotating down low on Jones," Key said. "That's something we had not had to do yet and it was a good learning experience for us. Hopefully we can use that to our advantage in later games.

"We've got tough games coming up against Edgewood and Danville and conference starting in a week against Cloverdale. We've got our work cut out for us but hopefully this is a learning point for us."

Tri-West (40):
Jones 22, Meyer 8, Headlee 4, Jobe 4, VanDyke 2, Johnson 0, Sprecher 0. Total 17-51 FG; 1-11 3-FG; 5-6 FT.