GHS girls even record at 4-4 with fourth consecutive win

Wednesday, November 23, 2016

By STEVE FIELDS, For the Banner Graphic

After opening the season with four straight losses, the Greencastle Tiger Cubs have evened their record at 4-4 with four straight victories.

The Tiger Cubs overwhelmed Crawfordsville 62-33 Tuesday night at McAnally Center behind stellar floor game from guard Jalyn Duff and a solid all-around defensive effort.

“We’re just starting to gel now. I thought (winning) the county tourney was really a turning point for us of starting to understand each other and tonight it showed a little bit more,” Greencastle coach Brad Key said.

Claire Gillen paced the Tiger Cubs’ biggest offensive performance of the season with 15 points, followed by Gracie Smith with 12 and Nailah Ray with 10. Nine of the 11 Tiger Cubs who played scored.

Duff had one of those games where statistics don’t tell the story. The sophomore collected eight points and four steals, but she also passed out, unofficially, 10 assists. Duff to Gillen was a common play throughout the night.

“It’s probably the best game we’ve seen her play. (Duff) let the game come to her a little bit more than she has in the past. She’s a tremendous passer, a good floor general. She’s going to get everyone else shots. She did a tremendous job of running the floor and finding people in the right spots. She’s going to get better and better for us as the year goes on,” Key said.

Crawfordsville (3-4) was paced by Lauren Kellerman, a freshman, with 11 points.

Greencastle scored the first nine points of the game, Gillen netting five points inside, Shue two and Duff getting a layup off a steal. The Tiger Cubs led 14-4 after one quarter and extended their lead ot 31-16 by halftime with Smith netting six and Duff four in the second period.

Greencastle’s very active half-court zone defense never let Crawfordsville get into its offense. The Tiger Cubs stole the ball 17 times with Duff (4 steals), Gillen (3), Smith (3) and Seelye Stoffregen (3) picking the Athenians apart.

“I thought we did a good job covering up the outside and taking away the inside. Gracie Smith and Bailey Shuee have done a really good job of being up top putting pressure on the ball,” Key said.

Greencastle outscored Crawfordsville 22-5 in the third period to break the game open. Ray came off the bench to score eight points and Gillen had six in the third quarter and the Tiger Cubs led 53-21 going into the final eight minutes of play.

The Tiger Cubs go for their fifth straight win on Nov. 29 at Tri-West High School.

Crawfordsville (33) -- Castro 1-4 2-2 4, Lynas 0-0 0-0 0 Laskowski 2-6 0-0 5, Kellerman 4-12 1-2 11, Francis 3-6 0-0 7, Livesay 0-1 0-0 0 Walbert 2-5 0-0 4, Barnett 1-1 0-0 2, Utterback 0-0 0-0 0, Tomlinson 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 13-35 FG, 3-4 FT, 33 TP.

Greencastle (62) -- White 2-5 2-5, Shuee 2-5 0-0 4, Gillen 6-10 3-6 15, Smith 5-12 2-6 12, Duff 4-7 0-0 8, Nally 1-4 0-0 2, Ray 4-7 2-4 10, Stoffregan 2-9 0-0 4, Robinson 0-1 1-2 1, Stevens 0-0 0-0 0 Weliever 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 26-60 FG, 10-23 FT, 60 TP.

Crawfordsville 4 12 5 12 – 33

Greencastle 14 17 22 9 – 62

3Pt. FG: Cville 4-16 (Kellerman 2-8, Francis 1-2, Laskowski 1-3, Livesay 0-1, Castro 0-2), GHS 0-8 (Duff 0-1, Shuee 0-2, Stoffregen 0-2, Smith 0-3). Total fouls: Cv 14, Gc 7. Fouled out: Walbert. Technical fouls: Greencastle (Nally). Turnovers: Cv 25, Gc 11. Rebounds: Cv 30 (Laskowski 6), Gc 30 (White 6, Gillen 5). Steals: Cv 5 (Laskowski 2), Gc 17 (Duff 4, Gillen, Smith, Stoffregen 3).