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Tiger Cubs end season 18-5
The Greencastle Tiger Cub girls' basketball team matched up with the Class 3A 10th-ranked Lebanon Tigers in a semi-final game of the girls' IHSAA high school basketball sectional at Western Boone High School. The Cubs facing the state's second leading scorer in Kristen Spolyar, saw their season end Friday night 59-40. Greencastle f season with an 18-5 record.
"That was fun. I had fun coaching this game and particularly this team," Greencastle head coach Bradley Key said.
The final margin of 19 points does not do justice to the entertaining ball game that was played. Lebanon jumped out to an early lead and tried to put the game away in the first quarter. The Tigers scored 21 points in the first quarter, all from Spolyar and Brooke Montgomery. The Tiger Cubs trailed 21-12 at the end of the period.
"I am really, really proud of this team. It's really hard to emulate what they (Lebanon) do in practice. They have one of the best scorers in state history and then their point guard hit shots early," Key said of the first-quarter deficit.
The Tiger Cubs kept fighting and clawing and keeping within striking range. Lebanon used a 9-0 run to try put the game away in the second quarter, but Greencastle fought through it to keep the halftime score to a manageable 36-20 deficit.
Lebanon's full-court press sped the game up and the Tiger Cubs failed to hit some shots, but otherwise handled the Tiger press pretty well.
"We handled the press pretty well. We had a couple of mistakes against it, but played it pretty well." Key said.
Lebanon opened the second half with a 7-2 spurt to look like it would put the game away, but the Tiger Cubs had other plans.
"It got bad, but we just kept fighting and fighting and cut it to nine to make it a ball game. The final score was not indicative of how we played the game," Key said.
Nailah Ray came off the bench in the third quarter and keyed a big run for Greencastle. The Tiger Cubs cut the lead to nine points late in the quarter, and kept contact with the state-ranked Tigers and only trailed 45-33 at the end of three quarters.
"Nailah Ray played really well. She was the difference maker in our run in the third quarter," Key said.
Lebanon's Spolyar began to wear the Cubs down in fourth quarter. The senior, who will finish second in all-time scoring in the state of Indiana, opened the quarter with a three-pointer and hit six free throws down the stretch to end Greencastle's excellent season.
"Lebanon had to work for everything they got tonight. Spolyar is a great player and they hit free throws when they had to," Key said.
Spolyar led all scorers with 31 points and Montgomery added 14 for the Tigers. Bethanie Burgeson led the Tiger Cubs with 12 points.
"I thought our seniors played with so much heart. We fought the whole game. Bethanie Burgeson played one of her best all-around games she has played. Paige Bragg and Allison White just refused to let us give up or quit," Key said of his seniors who played their last game.
At Western Boone
Greencastle 12 8 13 7 -- 40
Lebanon 21 15 9 14 -- 59
Tiger Cub scoring 17 5-9 40 (Barker 3 0-0 3 8, Burgeson 5 1-2 3 12, Smith 1 2-2 1 4, Bragg 0 0-0 2 0, White 2 1-2 1 5, Stevens 2 1-2 1 5, Ray 4 0-1 4 8) Three-point shots (Barker 2, Burgeson 1)
Tiger scoring 20 15-19 59 (Allen 1 0-0 1 2, Montgomery 6 0-0 2 14, Heffron 2 2-2 4 6, Cadle 0 4-6 4 4, Spolyar 10 9-11 1 31, Reed 1 0-0 1 2, Harker 0 0-0 3 0) Three-point shots (Montgomery 2, Spolyar 2)