Taylor scores 18, but GHS can't overcome Panthers

The Greencastle Tiger Cubs welcomed 4A powerhouse, the Bloomington South Panthers, to Greencastle on Saturday night and gave them a battle they were not expecting.

"This is the most proud I have been of them all year long. I thought we played with intensity and purpose. This year we have a good record but I did not feel like we were playing to the potential we could play," Greencastle coach Bradley Key said. "Tonight was the first night that I thought that we played really good basketball."

The Panthers (8-2) were coming into face the smallest team they will all year but definitely not the worst. They already have wins over Castle, Southport, Tech and Terre Haute North, all very big, very good schools. For the Tiger Cubs (9-4), have wins over no 4A teams and the biggest team they had faced all year was Owen Valley.

That being said, senior Callan Taylor tried to prove that the Tiger Cubs could hang with the bigger schools and that she did.

Taylor was all over the court and played exceptionally well at the point guard position on offense and as one of the leaders in the Tigers Cubs zone on defense.

"I thought Callan Taylor played unbelievable," Key said.

Greencastle got out to a quick lead in the first and led at halftime by seven, 33-26.

"In the second half we stopped scoring. Bloomington South, give them credit, they cranked up the pressure. I think that they realized that we were here to play," Key said. " I was proud that we never gave up."

The Panthers would implement a full-court press which would hurt the Tiger Cubs mightily but they still prodded through it to hold a four-point lead at the end of three quarters.

"The press did cause some problems but we can look at the film and see what different things we can do," Key said.

The fourth was really when the press started working for the Panthers as they got multiple fast break looks and the inside game of junior Cherise Otter who had 13 points and the outside shooting of senior Annie Gillard who poured in 23 points became too much for the Tiger Cubs as in the fourth as the Panthers pulled away to win by seven.

The Tiger Cubs played great defense all night in their zone with junior Bethanie Burgeson up top getting 11 deflections and creating five steals on the night.

"I thought it was really good, minus Gillard was able to find some holes and she is a very good player. When we made a mistake she made us pay," Key said.

Taylor scored 18 points on the evening, had an assist, stole two passes and coupled that with five rebounds to lead the team in scoring and tie for the lead in rebounds.

"Everything runs through her and I thought she played a very good game for us. Especially attacking, that is the type of play we want to see out of her all the time," Key said. "She played great."

The Tigers Cubs can build on this game for the future even though it was a loss since they showed that they can hang with any team they are presented with.

"Tonight we saw the type of play as a coaching staff you want to see. Going into break there's a light at the end of the tunnel," Key said. "I am very happy with the group right now."

At Greencastle

Bloomington South 8 18 9 18 -- 53

Greencastle 13 20 6 6 -- 45

Bloomington South (53): Gillard 8-14 3-4 23, Otter 5-7 2-4 13, Bomba 3-5 0-0 7, Grabowski 1-7 3-5 5, Bivins 2-3 0-0 4, Towell 0-0 1-2 1, Blackwell 0-2 0-2 0. Totals: 19-38 (6-19) 9-17, 53.

Greencastle (45): Taylor 7-13 4-4 18, Stoltey 4-9 3-5 13, Lenihan 3-6 0-1 6, Burgeson 2-6 0-0 5, Bridgewater 1-4 0-0 2, White 0-2 1-2 1. Totals: 17-40 (3-13) 8-12, 45.

Rebounds (-offensive)

BSHS (23-11): Bivins 7-1, Gillard 6-3, Otter 6-3, Blackwell 2-2, Grabowski 2-2.

GHS (18-9): Taylor 5-3, White 5-3, Stoltey 3-0, Burgeson 2-1, Bragg 1-0, Bridgewater 1-0, Lenihan 1-0.