Tiger Cubs celebrate coach Key's 100th game with victory

Greencastle sophomore Paige Bragg drives to the basket during a game earlier this season. Bragg had a career-best 15 points in her first varsity start on Thursday. (Banner Graphic/GRANT WIEMAN)

The Greencastle girls' basketball team hosted the Rockville Rox Thursday night knowing it was GHS head coach Bradley Key's birthday and his 100th game as a coach. Key celebrated by his team winning 72-47.

The Tiger Cubs (7-4) have had a good start to the season. The Rox (1-7) were coming in searching for a win. It was not able to happen tonight with the Cubs being too tough.

"I thought we played really tough tonight. I thought we played with a purpose," Key said, "Paige Bragg, a sophomore, started the night, and I though she did really well. I was really proud of our team."

The game started out with Greencastle stopping the Rox from getting the ball to the inside. The Cubs played a zone and forced them to make outside shots and get points off turnovers. The Rox only had two points in the paint against the zone in the first half.

"That's what you want. I was a little upset towards the end when they started splitting it. The other night (against Edgewood) I felt we weren't real active. We wanted to change that and correct it for tonight," Key said.

The Rox started off man-to-man defense against Greencastle, but that quickly went to a zone with the Cubs getting too many easy shots.

Rockville's zone seemed to phase GHS none as the Tiger Cubs found junior forward Jessica Lenihan in the middle where she was made 7-of-12 shots. She had 16 points on the night total.

"It definitely helps the fact we practice against man-to-man, but it's definitely a step forward and good practice, especially with a tough schedule ahead," Key said.

Despite the good defense from GCHS, the Rox were still able to put up a fair amount of points with their outside shooting. They made 7-of-23 3-point attempts on the night including three each from senior Meghan Bullington and junior Megan Gordon.

The Tiger Cubs went n at half with a comfortable 21-point lead.

The second half was replayed much of the way the first was. GCHS was still able to get easy shots, and they forced the Rox to hard, outside shots.

The Tiger Cubs played a very solid, clean game. They only committed 11 turnovers and six fouls the entire game.

The good play was not only a result of the starters for Greencastle. They were able to get quality play from the whole bench, which helped keep them energized.

Key thinks this is a great sign for his team. Junior Madison Trout stepped in and provided some big minutes off the bench for the Cubs, as well as classmate Lauren Bridgewater. They do not lose a lot when they go to their bench and that is a good advantage, especially come mid-January when injuries can plague teams, Key says.

With a little over five minutes left to play coach Key unloaded the bench, and let some of his more inexperienced team get a shot. Sophomore Kaylee Evans was able to make the most of it with five points and a rebound.

The Tiger Cubs will look to extend their streak with another big win this season when they travel to Bloomington South (7-1) Saturday night to partake in a showdown with the Panthers at 7:30 p.m.

At Greencastle
Rockville................8 10 14 15 -- 47
Greencastle..........21 18 20 13 -- 72