Greencastle dominates in season opener

Tuesday, November 11, 2014
Greencastle's Bethanie Burgeson drives into the paint during the third quarter. She led the team with 16 points. (Banner Graphic/JAY LOCKETT)

It was an old-fashioned beatdown at McAnally Center when the Owen Valley girls' basketball team visited Greencastle Tuesday night. The season opener was blown open quickly and Greencastle held control for a 72-26 win.

"I'm really happy with the girls," GHS coach Bradley Key said. "We had a scrimmage Saturday and we felt like we got a lot of open shots but we didn't hit any. So we were anxious to see what would happen today. Give credit to our girls they came out and played really hard."

The game started in the Tiger Cub favor as Greencastle jumped to an 8-0 lead. Senior Callan Taylor snatched a couple of steals in the opening minutes and capitalized. That lead to some defensive pressure and easy buckets for the Tiger Cubs in the early minutes of the game.

"Callan Taylor has been a starter for me for four years now," Key said. "She has a high motor and kind of leads that way. She was able to get some pressure on people and everyone else chipped in."

Rebounding also played large early on and the Tiger Cubs were making rebounds on both ends of the floor. That led to put backs on the offensive end and stops on the defensive end. Greencastle pushed its first-quarter lead to 19-8.

"I think getting a good start really helped us," Taylor said. "It got our confidence up and everything kept rolling."

Greencastle kept the defensive intensity up in the second quarter and certainly kept rolling. Senior Jessica Lenihan and junior Allison White as well as senior Lauren Bridgewater used their height to polish off most defensive stands with a rebound.

Lenihan led the way with nine rebounds while senior Delanie Stoltey had six. Owen Valley only managed four points in the second quarter to Greencastle's 23.

"I thought the effort was outstanding," Key said. "We talked and there were a lot of jitters before the game. I just told them to do things that we can control. We can talk. We can be good teammates. We can help on defense and effort you can always control."

On the offensive end junior Bethanie Burgeson sprang to life. After hitting a three-pointer in the first she hit a pair in the second. The Tigers Cubs went into halftime up 42-12.

"Bethanie came in and knocked down three threes," Key said. "She was a JV player last year. It was fun to see her get into that varsity mix. I thought (junior) Paige Bragg did a lot of things that may not show up on the stat sheet. She's a vocal leader for us."

The second half was more of the same. Greencastle looked to control the clock, take the ball inside to score and play good defense. It succeeded on all counts.

White was able to get to the foul line three times in the second half, including a three-point play in the third and the Tiger Cubs never let the Lady Pats feel comfortable on offense.

Owen Valley didn't score in the double figures for any quarter.

"I dressed 12 tonight," Key said. "Everyone that played, played outstanding. We were able to get some extended minutes for girls who haven't played as much. I'm really happy with everyone that played.

"It was fun to see the JV players out there. (Freshman) Brynne Shuee, this is her first game ever. You could see some nerves. She ended up scoring two points for us. It was a good start to the year."

Greencastle will next play back-to-back road games, first on Friday at West Vigo then on Saturday at Beech Grove.


At Greencastle

Owen Valley 8 4 7 7 -- 26

Greencastle 19 23 11 19 -- 72

Individual Stats

Burgeson 16 pts, 2 reb, 2 asst; Lenihan 14 pts, 9 rebounds; Taylor 12 pts, 2 reb, 4 asst; White 9 pts, 5 reb; Bragg 7 pts, 1 reb, 2 asst; Trout 4 pts, 4 reb, Bridgewater 3 reb, 1 asst; Paul 4 pts, 1 reb; Stevens 2 pts, 2 reb, Smith, 2 pts, 1 reb, 1 asst; Shuee 2 pts;

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