Greencastle's Nally gets career best in loss

The Greencastle area has been freezing cold over the past few days, but inside McAnally Center the Terre Haute South Braves warmed it up considerably, particularly freshman guard Zayda Hatfield.

The Braves hit 8-15 shots in the first period and Hatfield hit 5-of-7, with two coming from long range. Greencastle’s Marin Nally matched her with a hot-shooting night of her own. The senior bombed away to hit seven three-pointers and finish with a career-high 23 points. The Lady Tiger Cubs lost a girls’ high school basketball game to the Braves 60-45. Greencastle fell to 9-5 on the season, while Terre Haute South improved to 9-8.

“They’ve got two really good players. We knew the game plan. We left #4 (Hatfield) open some and she hit some tough shots, too,” Greencastle Head Coach Bradley Key said.

Hatfield scored 13 first quarter points to stake the Braves to a 19-10 first quarter lead. The Cubs struggled offensively early as they only managed to hit three first quarter field goals. The Braves attacked the Greencastle defense and repeatedly found Hatfield for open jumpers. Seelye Stoffregen paced the Cubs with four first quarter points.

South kept attacking in the second period. The Braves spread the scoring around a little more, but Hatfield still led them with five points in the quarter. Greencastle’s Nally kept the Cubs within striking distance by hitting a pair of treys in the period. Rose White chipped in with four points and the Cubs trailed 34-23 heading to the intermission.

Greencastle made some adjustments at halftime, but the Braves turned to senior Taylor Pepperworth to find their points. Pepperworth scored 10 of her 23 points in the third quarter as South extended their lead to 49-32. The Braves hit 6-of-12 shots in the quarter and pressured Greencastle into 3-of-10 shooting and seemed to be in control heading into the final period.

“In the second half, Pepperworth took over. We didn’t do a good job of stopping them, those things happen though,” Key said.

Greencastle wouldn’t go away even though down by eighteen. Nally hit two more three’s early in the quarter and the Cubs were able to cut the lead to seven, 52-45 on a Nally layup with 2:06 left to play, but the Braves scored the last eight points of the game to set the final margin at 60-45.

“We could’ve given up easily. Marin hits those threes and gets us back into the game. Defensively, we started being more active and making plays on the ball. I’m proud of the fight back that we had,” Key said.

Pepperworth scored 23 points for the Braves, while Hatfield had 21 in support.

“This was the best we’ve shot all year. Zayda is a really fun kid to coach. The kids shot well due to their practice. They stay after and take extra shots,” Terre Haute South head coach Richie Adderley said.

Nally was the only Cub in double figures with 23 points on 8-of-14 shooting, 7-of-13 from behind the arc.

“We see it in practice. We see it a lot, no one on our bench was surprised. Tonight, she (Nally) was feeling it,” Key said.

Greencastle must get ready quickly as they host Northview tonight n a Western Indiana Conference showdown. Both teams are 3-0 in the Western Division and the winner is in the driver’s seat to pick first place in the division.

“It’s a big game. Northview is a really good team. It’s going to be a battle. We will have to play well,” Key said.

TERRE HAUTE SOUTH (60) – Hatfield 8-11 1-1 21, Pepperworth 9-17 3-4 23, England 4-9 0-1 8, Russell 0-2 0-0 0, Etling 3-7 0-0 6, Stuck 1-1 0-0 2, Cox 0-0 0-0 0, Dillion 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 25-48 FG, 3-5 FT, 60 TP.

GREENCASTLE (45) – Stoffregren 1-7 3-4 5, White 3-4 1-1 7, Nally 8-14 0-0 23, Shuee 2-5 2-2 7, Stevens 1-3 0-0 3, Duff 0-5 0-0 0, Robinson 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 15-39 FG, 6-7 FT, 45 TP.

Terre Haute South 19 15 15 11 – 60

Greencastle 10 13 9 13 – 45

3-point shooting – THS 6-9 (Hatfield 4-5, Pepperworth 2-4), GHS 9-26 (Stoeffregen 0-5, Nally 7-13, Shuee 1-3, Stevens 1-1, Duff 0-4). Rebounds – THS 28 (Hatfield 2, Pepperworth 2, England 7, Russell 3, Etling 8, Cox 1) GHS – 21 (Stoeffregen 2, White 3, Nally 5, Shuee 3, Stevens 2, Robinson 1) FG Pct. – THS 52.1, GHS 38.5. FT Pct. – THS 60.0, GHS 85.7. Turnovers – THS 14, GHS 14.