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OV dominant in WIC title victory
SPENCER — Greencastle’s Bradley Key knew his team would have to play well to beat Class 3A No. 5-ranked Owen Valley in the championship game of the Western Indiana Conference playoffs on Friday night.
The Patriots had beaten the Tiger Cubs 50-22 in the same gymnasium in November, and have an impressive roster of athletes talented on both ends of the court.
The Tiger Cubs took an early 5-2 lead, but 10 first-quarter turnovers forced by OV pressure led to the hosts scoring the final 15 points of the opening period and cruising to a 65-31 victory.
“I just told the girls it was going to take a tremendous effort to beat them, and we would have to play really well,” Key said. “They played really well, and we didn’t play tremendous. That’s a recipe for not winning big games like this.”
The Patriots took advantage of their tall defenders with unusually long arms to create turnovers and fast break opportunities, and when forced to settle for halfcourt possessions they used a patient attack and 11 of 26 3-point shooting to be an insurmountable opponent.
“That’s a really good team, and they moved the ball really well,” Key said. “We were trying to get out on them, but they worked the ball well. You have to give them credit.”
After holding a 17-5 lead at the first stop, the Patriots extended that lead to 33-12 at halftime.
The Patriots were held to just 12 points in the third period, but all of them came on 3-pointers. Junior standout Dazia Drake, who hit just 2 of 6 shots in the first half, hit 3 of 6 from 3-point range in the period.
Greencastle continued to struggle from the field, and was limited to just six third-period points, giving Owen Valley a 45-18 lead at the final stop.
Drake hit three more treys in the fourth period, as Owen Valley extended its lead to 65-22.
Greencastle scored the last nine points of the game, getting three from Duff and six from Allison Stevens.
Drake finished with 23 poitns to lead all scorers, while Payton Cattorini added 18 for Owen Valley and Abigail Herrington had 12.
Stevens paced Greencastle with nine, while Seelye Stoffregen had eight.
The Tiger Cubs won’t have much time to lick their wounds, as they travel tonight to play Western Boone — the team which eliminated them from sectional play a year ago.
“Our free throws were bad again [9-20, including 0 of 7 in the first half],” Key said. “We’re going to have to toughen up if we want to win a sectional. We had 13 turnovers in the first half.
“If we cut down on those turnoers, and hit some free throws, it’s a lot closer game.”
The Stars feature standout guard Madison Jones, who is the state’s seventh-leading scorer.
“Tonight is a game where Western Boone is a good team with a great player,” Key said. “I would like to see us bounce back and compete tonight, and get ready to compete for the sectional.”
GREENCASTLE (31) — White 2-6 0-1 4, Duff 1-3 2-3 4, Stevens 3-4 3-7 9, Stoffregen 3-7 0-2 8, Shuee 1-10 4-4 6, Nally 0-4 0-0 0, Robinson 0-0 0-2 0, Trigg 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 10-33 FG, 9-20 FT, 31 TP
OWEN VALLEY (65) — Drake 8-16 0-0 23, Herrington 4-10 0-0 12, Cattorini 6-13 6-7 18, Godwin 2-3 0-0 4, Miller 0-0 2-2 2, Schafer 1-2 0-0 2, Johnson 0-2 0-0 0, Richardson 1-1 0-0 2, Farris 1-1 0-0 2. Totals 23-49 FG, 8-9 FT, 65 TP
Greencastle 5 7 6 13 — 31
Owen Valley 17 16 12 20 — 65
3-point shooting — Greencastle 2-15 (Stoffregen 2-5, Shuee 0-4, Nally 0-4, Duff 0-2), Owen Valley 11-26 (Drake 7-14, Herington 4-8, Cattorini 0-2, Schafer 0-1). Turnovers — Greencastle 21, OV 11.
WIC Playoffs
Championship
Owen Valley 65, Greencastle 31
Third place
Indian Creek 49, Northview 24
Fifth Place
South Putnam 49, Cascade 41
Seventh Place
Cloverdale 54, Sullivan 42
Ninth place
Edgewood 39, North Putnam 33
11th Place
Brown Co. 40, W. Vigo 11