Basile, Taylor trump Eagles in 57-23 win

Greencastle senior Alex Basile attempts a hook shot over South Putnam's Ariel Higgins (21) and Aubrey Nichols (20). (Banner Graphic/GRANT WIEMAN)

The Greencastle girls' basketball team came out fired up for its game against South Putnam on Friday and took their emotion out on the Eagles in a 57-23 win.

The Tiger Cubs (8-6, 2-0 West Central) had lost their previous game, on Jan. 4 at Owen Valley, and they carried that memory into a blitzing, aggressive full-court press that forced turnovers and frustrated the hosts.

"I'm really happy with the way that they approached the game tonight," GHS coach Bradley Key said. "We had a tough loss to Owen Valley that it felt like we made some mental mistakes and then we had that long snow so we had to kind of bask on that for a while without even getting to talk. ... We got back, got some things together and I really like the enthusiasm some of my girls played with."

Greencastle junior Callan Taylor outscored the Eagles by herself, finishing with 24 points, and senior Alex Basile finished with six points, four rebounds, 10 assists and eight steals.

That duo was particularly motivated to get back on the court after a long break, extended by the storms last week that cancelled not just games, but practice, Key said.

"I think they were a little hungry," he said. "They see there isn't a whole lot of time left. This is Alex's last time playing South Put. so I'm sure there's a little extra oomph there and I thought Alex played an outstanding first half, and then Callan did a good job."

The Eagles (3-11, 0-2 WCC) played Greencastle mostly even for the first quarter, tying the game at 7-all when junior Katelyn Lady hit a 3-point shot with 2:15 left in the period, but Greencastle's press picked up its intensity.

South Putnam's half court defense stifled Greencastle, and its half court offense created shots when it could get into a set, but the attempts were rare as turnovers started to compound.

"I thought we shut them down in their half court offense," SPHS coach Bill Merkel said. "We're not an offense juggernaut to come back from that (deficit). ... We didn't want to give them anything inside and we knew they were going to hit a couple 3s."

The Eagles kept GHS junior Jessica Lenihan scoreless and allowed her only two rebounds, but sophomore Allison White and senior Mellody White picked up on the boards.

Greencastle increased the intensity of its traps as they got more into the flow of the game, Key said, scored the final four points of the first quarter then ran off a 21-2 second quarter to take a 32-9 lead into halftime.

The Tiger Cubs had 20 steals in the first half and forced 37 turnovers in the game as they kept their full court press on as the lead expanded until the end of the first half.

"Everybody knows we just don't have any (ball-handling) guards," Merkel said. "Aubrey (Nichols) tries her darndest out there. ... If we could have just gotten to beat the press and get it down to our big girls, I thought we'd have them."

With a secure margin, Greencastle backed off to start the second half and worked deliberate plays and experimented with new lineups.

Melody White anchored the team's defense, grabbing five rounds and blocking two shots. Allison White led the Tiger Cubs with nine rebounds in the game.

"I thought Melody White played unbelievably," Key said. "The last two weeks in practice Melody has done a great job of playing up-and-down and making us better. What a great attitude and what a great kid, and then came out tonight and just played awesome."

Nichols led the Eagles with eight points, going three-for-six from the field. Senior Amanda Barnes had 14 rebounds and three points. Sophomore Katie Hewitt had eight rebounds and two blocks.

South Putnam plays at Monrovia on Friday at 6 p.m. Greencastle hosts Cascade Friday at 6 p.m. Its game against Brown County, scheduled for Saturday, has been postponed.

Greencastle (57): Taylor 7-16 8-9 24, Basile 2-9 2-2 6, Bragg 2-11 2-6 6, A White 2-8 0-0 4, Lenihan 0-2 0-0 0, Stoltey 2-4 0-0 5, M White 2-7 1-4 5, Bridgewater 2-4 1-2 5, Trout 1-3 0-0 2, Burgeson 0-1 0-2 0, Evans 0-0 0-0 0. Total 20-63 14-25 57.
South Putnam (23): Nichols 3-6 2-2 8, Lady 2-6 0-0 5, Dobson 1-4 1-2 3, Barnes 1-6 1-5 3, Hewitt 1-6 0-0 2, Modglin 1-5 0-0 2, Arnold 0-4 0-0 0, Higgins 0-3 0-0 0, Schroer 0-1 0-0 0, Carmichael 0-0 0-2 0, Erickson 0-0 0-0 0. Total 9-42 4-11 23.

Team stats