Motter, Newby lead Warriors past Tiger Cubs 53-40

Greencastle junior Callan Taylor challenges the defense of Maleha Motter (right) and Hannah Newby (left) during the second quarter on Tuesday. (Banner Graphic/GRANT WIEMAN)

DANVILLE -- The Greencastle girls' basketball team struggled with the quickness, physicality and size of Danville on Tuesday, losing on the road 53-40.

Warriors sophomore forwards Hannah Newby and Maleha Motter provided the biggest punch, combining to score 38 points. Motter also brought in six rebounds, had six steals and four blocks.

"You've got to give credit to Danville," GHS coach Bradley Key said. "They've been turning teams over left and right. ... (Motter) is a great player. When we finally started stopping her, the Newby girl started driving down the lane."

Greencastle (5-3, 0-0 WCC) struggled initially to adjust to the Warriors (4-3, 0-0 Sagamore) full court press. They started a quicker lineup than usual, hoping to negate some of the Danville advantages, but the Warriors forced six turnovers in the opening quarter and held the Tiger Cubs to just two points.

With three solid, defensive-minded guards leading the trap and two mobile forwards on the front, the Warriors provided GHS with a personnel challenge. Going small allowed Danville easy access inside, but matching with two forwards left the Tiger Cubs short of a ball-handler and press-breaker.

No matter the lineup, GHS lacked a third scoring threat beyond juniors Callan Taylor and Jessica Lenihan.

"We're relying a lot on Callan Taylor and Jessica Lenihan to score, and we need someone else to help them out because only putting up 40 in a game with the squad we should have is not where we want to be," Key said. "I'm not overly happy with the production we're getting from a lot of people."

Taylor had 15 points on 11 shots and Lenihan 13 points on 10 shots, but the rest of the Tiger Cubs combined to shoot 2-for-26. GHS was 0-for-13 from 3-point range in the game.

Greencastle eventually figured out a solution to the Warriors' full court press, inbounding to Taylor and clearing out, but Danville's half court defense kept the Tiger Cubs out of the paint by collapsing and double-teaming anyone who tried to drive to the basket.

Greencastle's best scoring route, for much of the game, was to force the Warriors into turnovers and capitalize with fast break points. This worked until midway through the third quarter, when both teams started getting called for a high volume of fouls.

Trailing by just four points entering the final quarter, the Tiger Cubs tried to turn up their defensive intensity, but the result was allowing Motter open lanes to the basket.

If the GHS defenders caught her, she passed to Newby on the opposite block or kicked it out to junior Allie Lake.

The Warriors were 9-of-10 from the field in the fourth quarter and pulled away with an 18-8 run.

Lake finished with nine points, three assists and four steals. Newby had 18 and seven rebounds.

"That's what we need to do," Key said. "When we have our one-two punch, we should have three or four come in, but we didn't shoot very well and if we want to beat good teams, and Danville is a good team, then we need to shoot better."

Sophomore Allison White led the Tiger Cubs with 11 rebounds, including her team's first six of the game.

Danville is the host of Greencastle's sectional coming up later in the season, and Key said he is hoping for a more pleasant result the next time his team makes the trip.

"I'm disappointed in our production, but not our effort," he said.

The Tiger Cubs travel to Cloverdale (3-5, 0-0 WCC) on Friday in a rematch of the Putnam County Tournament championship game, which GHS won 51-41.

Greencastle (40): Taylor 5-11 5-7 15, Lenihan 5-10 3-6 13, Basile 0-6 5-5 5, A White 1-5 2-2 4, Stoltey 1-10 0-0 2, Bragg 0-1 1-2 1, M White 0-3 0-0 0, Bridgewater 0-1 0-0 0, Trout 0-0 0-0 0. Total 12-47 16-24 40.