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Greencastle girls top Monrovia 39-34 for second-place WCC finish
Greencastle's girls' basketball squad cemented second place in the WCC Friday night after grinding out a 39-34 win over Monrovia.
Tiger Cub coach Brad Key said the end result was what mattered for the squad.
"It wasn't the prettiest game out there tonight," Key said. "Our last three or four games have been exciting and that one wasn't.
"But good teams find a way to win bad games. That wasn't a great game but we're a good team and we found a way to be on the winning side."
The final WCC meeting between the two squads saw both teams having to figure out one another's defense all night.
Monrovia's size meant that attacking the interior would be difficult for the Tiger Cubs, who finished the game with four two-point baskets.
Conversely, the Bulldogs were pressured all over the court and were forced into 16 turnovers and few points outside the paint.
The visitors held a 9-5 lead after a quarter of play but a 12-4 run between Alex Basile and Paige Bragg late in the second period allowed Greencastle to take a slim 17-16 lead into halftime.
Key said pressuring Monrovia was a gamble that paid off more often than not.
"I thought our guards did a good job of putting pressure on them and creating turnovers," Key said. "We tried to speed the game up because that's a big basketball team.
"We tried to not let them set up in the half court because when we did, they hurt us. Sometimes the pressure worked and sometimes it didn't."
The lead swung back and forth in the third quarter after three-pinters by Callan Taylor and Allison White were canceled out by three straight Krystal Smith baskets. Three late free throws gave the hosts a meager 29-27 edge heading into the fourth.
Another Taylor three early in the fourth gave the Tiger Cubs some breathing space at 32-28 and the lead reached its largest margin at 36-29 with two and a half minutes remaining.
A Smith basket and a three-point play by Meredith Knieper cut the lead to one but the Bulldogs would not score again as the hosts got four free throws from Basile and White to salt away the game.
Key said that while Friday night's game bucked some recent trends, the squad was getting hot at the right time.
"We've been on a run of good games since we played Cascade," Key said. "We've gotten good games against Covenant Christian, Northview and North Putnam.
"We wanted to end the season on a winning note. Twelve wins is a pretty good season and you want to be playing your best basketball late."
A rematch with Danville to open sectional play awaits the Tiger Cubs and Key said the squad would need to be at the peak of its game to defend its sectional crown.
"There are some things we've learned tonight to prepare for on Monday before we play Danville. Aside from tonight, we've been knocking down shots lately and we have a better idea of how to attack them."
At Greencastle
Monrovia 9 7 11 7 -- 34
Greencastle 5 12 12 10 -- 39
Scoring
Monrovia -- Smith 17, Keen 6, Delph 6, Knieper 5, Whitaker 0, Hunter 0, Nay 0, Longere 0; Totals -- 12-43 FG, 2-9 3-FG, 8-15 FT
Greencastle -- Basile 11, Taylor 8, A. White 5, Bragg 5, D. Stoltey 5, M. White 4, Lenihan 1, Bridgewater 0; Totals -- 10-54 FG, 6-21 3-FG, 13-22 FT
Rebounding (Offense) Monrovia 24 (6); Greencastle 30 (15). Assists Monrovia 9; Greencastle 7. Steals Monrovia 6; Greencastle 9. Blocks Monrovia 1; Greencastle 3. Turnovers Monrovia 16; Greencastle 13
Next Game: Greencastle travels to Danville for the first round of IHSAA Class 3A Sectional No. 27 play Tuesday.