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Cascade rolls to WIC title, 67-43
Tiger Cubs cold from field in loss
Timing is everything, many people believe.
In basketball, there are some games in which teams do not need to play their best in order to win.
Friday night was not one of those times for the Greencastle Tiger Cubs, as it was going to take a stellar performance to beat the Class 2A No. 8-ranked Cascade Cadets in the Western Indiana Conference championship game.
The Tiger Cubs shot a chilly 32 percent from the field and were no match for the high-powered Cadets, who recorded a 67-43 win.
“Cascade does a good job of speeding up the game,” Greencastle coach Bradley Key said. “We have been able to do that to other teams this year and control the tempo, but in this game they controlled the tempo.”
Key noted that Cascade has at least six talented players who command attention.
“We told our kids that when you play someone as good as they are, you can’t let up for a play off or they are going to burn you,” he said. “We played pretty good defense for a while, then we would give up an offensive rebound or give up a wide-open shot in the corner. Things like that can’t happen.”
The Tiger Cubs hit just 6 of 16 shots in the first quarter and 5 of 21 in the second quarter, which complicated things even more.
“Our shots didn’t fall early, and that kind of put a damper on some momentum,” he said. “That’s a skilled basketball team, and we’re not on their level yet. They are very well coached and are very unselfish.
“We were not up to par in this game.”
The Tiger Cubs opened up the game on a 5-0 run as Claire Gillen hit a free throw and a basket sandwiched around a Rose White basket.
Cascade responded with a brief surge to take its first lead at 8-7 on an Olivia Bryant basket.
Greencastle’s Bailey Shuee hit a basket with 5:11 left in the first quarter to give the Tiger Cubs their final lead at 9-8.
Cascade ran off 12 straight points in 2:12, getting a pair of treys from Hannah Rasnake and baskets from three other players.
Nailah Ray scored the final two baskets of the first quarter for Greencastle to put the Tiger Cubs up 20-13 at the first stop, and hit the first basket of the second quarter to cut the gap to 20-15.
The Cadets methodically expanded their lead to 32-21, getting two baskets each from Makayla Collier, Rasnake and Emelia Bryant (one of a set of triplets playing for the Cadets).
Cascade held a 36-23 halftime lead, but Greencastle got the first two baskets of the second half from Gillen to cut the gap to 36-27 with 6:43 left in the third quarter.
Cascade then un- leashed a 3-point barrage over the rest of the quarter, getting two treys each from Rasnake and Collier to pull away to a 52-35 lead at the final stop.
The fourth quarter saw Gracie Smith hit a pair of treys for three-fourths of the team’s points in the period.
Cascade, meanwhile, poured in 15 more points to cement the win.
The Tiger Cubs will host Western Boone tonight in a girls’-boys’ doubleheader.
The Stars will be Greencastle’s first-round opponent in the Lebanon sectional on Jan. 31.
CASCADE (67) — Collier 7-10 1-3 18, Walker 5-10 2-2 12, E.Bryant 4-8 1-2 9, Rasnake 6-14 0-0 16, O.Bryant 2-6 2-2 6, Hostetler 2-3 0-0 4, S.Bryant 0-0 0-0 0, Norton 0 0-2 0, Gross 0 0-0 0, Church 1-1 0-0 2. Totals 27-52 FG, 6-11 FT, 67 TP
GREENCASTLE (43) — Gillen 5-13 1-3 11, Smith 4-11 0-0 10, White 2-6 0-0 4, Shuee 2-7 0-0 4, Duff 2-6 0-2 4, Ray 5-13 0-0 10, Stoffregen 0-4 0-0 0, Robinson 0-2 0-2 0, Nally 0-0 0-0 0, Stevens 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 20-61 FG, 1-5 FT, 43 TP
Cascade 20 16 16 15 — 67
Greencastle 13 10 12 8 — 43
3-point shooting — Cascade 7-18 (Collier 3-5, Walker 0-2, E.Bryant 0-1, Rasnake 4-7, O.Bryant 0-2), Greencastle 2-21 (Smith 2-6, Duff 0-2, Shuee 0-5, Ray 0-1, Stoffregen 0-4, Robinson 0-2, Stevens 0-1). Turnovers — Greencastle 17, Cascade 9.
Next game — Greencastle (12-8) hosts Western Boone tonight. Cascade improved to 15-4.