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Greencastle bounces back, wins at home
After the Greencastle girls' basketball team took its first loss of the season Saturday, Tiger Cub fans were anxious to see how GHS would respond. They were not disappointed to see a Greencastle team set a defensive tone early and finish with a convincing 50-26 win over Southmont Tuesday.
"It was defense," GHS senior Jessica Lenihan said of the first half. "We kind of slacked a lot of effort on defense Saturday. So we were focused on our effort and making sure it was there. We wanted to protect the middle, block out and get rebounds."
The first half was all about Greencastle as the Tiger Cubs scored 13 in the first quarter and 18 in the second, while the Lady Mounties were unable to break 20 points.
"I thought we took care of the ball really well tonight," Greencastle coach Bradley Key said. "Saturday we had a lot of silly unforced turnovers. Tonight we did a great job of slowing things down. Our book had us for only one (first-half) turnover. That's excellent. That's definitely what you want as a veteran team."
The defensive battle continued for Greencastle who was able to limit the scorers of Southmont whilst working through its own woes. While the Tiger Cubs struggled to score they were able to keep Southmont from ever seriously threatening their lead.
"We didn't really switch up much," Key said. "We wanted more of the same. We had a little problem scoring in the third quarter but all correctable mistakes. I thought we got a lot of good shots tonight. We just have to make sure we are finishing. Even tonight there were some times that we didn't finish. But overall I thought we played well. Our guards took care of it and found the open person."
The fourth quarter went the Tiger Cubs' way as they nearly doubled the Mounties' score. Lenihan led the way in scoring with 14 points while Paige Bragg scored eight.
Greencastle hit six three-pointers and went six-of-11 from the foul line.
"There are a lot of things that we have to get corrected to be a sectional championship team," Key said. "The good thing is we've got a lot of time for that. Defensively we are letting people get some easy shots. We are letting them get into the lane. A couple shell drills and we'll be able to correct that."
The Purple Pride will be off until the Putnam County Tourney begins on Friday when Greencastle and North Putnam face off in the first rivalry game for Greencastle.
"After the game we talked about how we have North Putnam Friday night," Key said. "Really we are kind of focusing on what we do. We have to take care of the ball. A lot of crazy things can happen when you are in that South Putnam gym. It's a close space. The crowd is normally rocking. It's a different atmosphere. So we've got to make sure we are ready for that."