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Greencastle offense can't get rolling against Stars
The Tiger Cub boys' basketball team wasn't outsized like it usually is, when it faced Western Boone at McAnally Saturday. The Tiger Cubs just couldn't stop the athletic senior Riggs Baxter, who scored 28 points in the 56-50 Greencastle loss.
Greencastle was in good shape at the start of the game, taking an 11-3 lead early. Junior Ryan Coble was hot early knocking down three from long-range. It was short-lived however. A few alley-oop layups and a free-throw by the Stars had the game tied at 11 shortly into the second quarter. From there, a 17-5 second quarter gave the visitors a 26-16 point lead at halftime.
"For some reason offensively we are struggling right now," GHS coach Troy Greenlee said. "We are struggling to put the ball in the basket. We are struggling to get opportunities that we had early in the year. It's one of those things that we can't really pinpoint why."
Senior Brody Bollman came alive in the second half. After scoring only four in the first half he gave the Tiger Cubs six in the third quarter and six in the fourth. Greencastle adopted a more physical defensive game to combat the scoring of Western Boone's Riggs. GHS held him to three points in the third quarter.
"I thought in the second half we did a great job at battling," Greenlee said. "Our kids really fought. They had the intensity that we need to have to be able to compete. We just weren't able to to get it done."
Even after giving its best scoring effort in the fourth quarter with 24 points, Greencastle was unable to make a comeback. Freshman Colin York who had been unusually quiet all game, made two threes, a two-pointer and a free throw to give him his eights points. Another five points from senior Colyn Foxx and three foul shots from senior Calvin Hughes played its part to keep the game competitive, but in the end the Starts went 12-of-14 from the foul line and they retained their lead for the win.
"Free throw line was a big key," Greenlee said. "They were 16-of-17 from the line. We missed too many one-and-ones. In a game like that its huge. Defensively I thought we played well at times but offensively we are still struggling."
GHS will have a week off before its plays Putnam County Rival North Putnam on Friday.
Greenlee will be expecting his team to fight for wins for the rest of the year in order to prepare the players for the stiff competition it will see in sectional.
"We're going to have to battle like we did in the second half," Greenlee said. "We're also going to have to fix some of the things we do offensively. There's no magic bullet, though I wish there was. We just need to get better every day in practice. Just so we can figure out what to do to improve our team."
At Greencastle
Western Boone 9 17 7 23 --56
Greencastle 11 5 10 24 --50
Individual Stats
Western Boone (56) Baxter 11-14 6-7 28, Hodgen 4-6 3-4 14, Westmoreland 1-2 6-6 8, McMann 2-4 4, Hayer 1-2 2,
Greencastle (50) Bollman 8-19 0-2 16, Coble 3-10 2-2 11, York 3-8 0-1 8, Mitchell 2-6 5' Foxx 2-4 5, Hughes 0-0 3-4 3, Gerard 1-1 0-2 2
3-point shooting-- Western Boone 3-9 (Hodgen 3-6, McMann 0-1, Prickett 0-1, Hayes 0-1) Greencastle 7-21 ( Coble 3-8, York 2-6, Mitchell 1-4, Foxx 1-2, Bollman 0-1) Fouls -- Western Boone 16, Greencastle 17 Rebounds -- Western Boone 24 (McMann 5, Hodgen 5, Baxter 5, Prickett 4, Westmoreland 3, Hayes 2) Greencastle 21 (Bollman 7, Coble 4, Foxx 4, York 3, Mitchell 1, Gerard 1, Hughes 1) Assists -- Western Boone 6 (Hodgen 3, McMann 2, Westmoreland 1) Greencastle 7 (Coble 3, Foxx 1, York, 1, Mitchell 1, Hughes 1) Steals -- Western Boone 4 (Hodgen 2, McMann 1, Hayes 1) Greencastle 7 (Bollman 4, Coble 2, Warmoth 1)