Greencastle boys drop debut of new coach

CRAWFORDSVILLE — Opening the season on the road Tuesday night, the Greencastle boys’ basketball team fell 54-38 to hot-shooting Crawfordsville.

It was a new look Tiger Cub team without 2015-16 leading scorer Ryan Coble and with new coach Ben Rector on the sideline.

Greencastle (0-1) got out to a hot start, taking a 28-21 lead into halftime on the back of 50 percent shooting in the first half.

“I thought our guys came out and really got after it and competed to start the game,” Rector said. “I cannot say enough about how well they started the game.”

Greencastle started the game with the first bucket on a jumper by junior Colin York and kept the momentum going into a 9-2 lead before Crawfordsville (1-0) could get anything going.

The Tiger Cubs had to deal with the half-court trap of the Athenians in the first half and they handled it exceptionally well turning it over just five times in the half.

Greencastle’s height was on full display on the inside with its duo of bigs between 6-5 sophomore Gavin Bollman and 6-7 senior J.T. Matthews. The two combined for 11 points and 10 rebounds.

The second half was a different story for the Tiger Cubs, as the Athenians started hitting their shots and the Tiger Cubs could not make anything.

The Tiger Cubs were outscored 16-3 in the third quarter, which put them in a hole from which they could not recover.

“I cannot remember a whole lot that I thought we did wrong, we just could not hit shots,” Rector said. “We scored three points in the third quarter and you will not beat anyone in the state of Indiana at the 3-A level scoring three points in a quarter.”

Before fouling out Matthews had nine points and six rebounds. York had 14 points to finish the game.

Crawfordsville pounded the boards despite the height difference, outrebounding Greencastle 35-19. Senior Trent Johnson led Crawfordsville with 16 rebounds.

“He clearly is a good athlete and player,” Rector said of Johnson. “Size is not always indicative of being able to rebound the ball, you have to be tough. At times some of our kids struggled with doing that.”

Despite the loss, the Tiger Cubs turned the ball over just seven times.

“Credit to our guards,” Rector said. “I thought Devin Clar, Nick Costin, Colin York and Alex Costin all did a really nice job with the ball. Our guards did a really nice job handling the basketball. We just missed a lot of shots.”

GREENCASTLE (38) – Colin York 4-12 5-6 14, J.T. Matthews 4-7 1-1 9, Nick Costin 1-8 4-4 7, Jack Hutcheson 1-1 2-5 4, Gavin Bollman 1-4 0-2 2, Alex Costin 1-2 0-1 2. Totals: 12-34 FG, 12-19 FT, 38.

CRAWFORDSVILLE (54) – Devin Guard 5-11 0-0 13, Cameron Harris 4-8 2-2 12, James Gineris 5-11 1-4 11, Daulton Bridgewater 3-5 2-2 8, Jack Sommer 1-3 4-4 6, Trent Johnson 1-5 2-4 4. Totals: 19-43 FG, 11-16 FT, 54

Greencastle 16 12 3 7 - 38

Crawfordsville 11 10 16 17 - 54

3-point shooting – Greencastle 2-12 (Colin York 1-4, Nick Costin 1-7, Alex Costin 0-1), Crawfordsville 5-19 (Devin Guard 3-6, Cameron Harris 2-5, James Gineris 0-2, Daulton Bridgewater 0-2, Jack Sommer 0-2, Trent Johnson 0-2). Turnovers – Greencastle 7, Crawfordsville 7.

Next game – Greencastle (0-1) hosts Danville Nov. 29.