Hot shooting leads Tiger Cubs to win

The Greencastle Tiger Cub athletic department will need to invest in new nets for its basketball hoops.

The Tiger Cubs shot a blistering 63 (22-of-35) percent from the field Thursday evening including an almost perfect 10-of-11 from behind the three-point line.

The hot shooting led the Tiger Cubs to a 61-51 victory over the Monrovia Bulldogs and improved their record to 11-5. Monrovia fell to 10-8 on the year.

“More importantly than shooting it well, we got good shots,” Greencastle head coach Bryce Rector said. “That is the key whether the shot you get is a good shot for you. We got good looks and knocked them down.”

Greencastle got off to a hot start. The Tiger Cubs methodically took apart the Bulldogs in the first quarter. They received scoring from all five starters with Colin York and Brody Whitaker each netting five points in the quarter to stake the Cubs to a 17-6 lead heading into the second period.

They moved the ball around well and hit 7-of-10 shots from the field, while Monrovia could only get two field goals and missed all four of their three-point shots.

Greencastle didn’t cool off in the second quarter. The Cubs opened the period with a 13-2 run giving them a 30-8 lead late in the quarter.

Monrovia did finish the quarter on a 6-0 run to set the halftime score at 30-14.

York and Whitaker led the way with a combined 9 points as the Cubs again set the nets on fire, by hitting 6-of-9 from the field. As importantly, Greencastle held Monrovia’s leading scorer, Max Newman, scoreless in the quarter as he had only six points in the first half.

“Gavin (Bollman) and Trey (Wood) did a really good job on him. More importantly was the other four guys on the floor. They did a great of job of sagging and helping when needed and recovering to their shooters,” Rector said.

Monrovia went to a full-court press in the second half and began to chip away at the lead. The athletic Bulldogs forced four turnovers in the third quarter and got Newman untracked, mostly in transition. He scored eight points as the Bulldogs outscored Greencastle 17-10 in the period.

York scored seven of his team-high 21 points in the quarter to keep the Bulldogs from getting too close as the quarter ended with a 40-31 Greencastle lead.

“We’ve got to improve against the press. We had some unforced turnovers out there. We are going to need to shore that up as we get into sectional play,” Rector said.

Greencastle scored the first six points of the final period as Whitaker and fellow freshman Benton Parmley each hit one from behind the arc. That boosted the lead back to 46-31 and then the Cubs were able to finish it out. Most of the quarter was the Benton Parmley show as he hit all three of his shots from downtown and finished the game 5-of-6 from behind the arc and a career-high 17 points.

Again, shooting was key as the Cubs were a perfect 6-of-6 from the field in the game’s final quarter.

“He (Parmley) is a rhythm shooter. We have been working with him on getting his feet in the proper position. He did a great job tonight,” Rector said.

Greencastle also pounded the bigger Bulldogs on the boards. The Tiger Cubs out rebounded them 28-17, with Bollman picking up 15 caroms. Monrovia got very few second shots during the game.

“We expect to win the rebounding battle. All it takes is effort and heart. Don’t get me wrong, there is some skill, but it comes from heart and desire and I thought we had a lot of that tonight,” Rector said.

Newman led all scorers with 22 points, 16 in the second half. Chase McCloud added 12 for the Bulldogs. York led Greencastle with 21 and Parmley had 17, while Whitaker chipped in with 14 points.

“We are really tough when we get a lot of people involved and scoring. It really opens things up for us,” Rector said.

Greencastle has won eight of its last nine games and will host Brown County on Saturday in a matinee game at 1:30 p.m., noon junior varsity start.

MONROVIA (51) – Bantley 0-4 0-0 0, Smith 4-8 1-1 9, McCloud 4-8 2-2 12, Nagel 2-3 2-2 8, Newman 9-21 4-8 22, Sprague 0-0 0-0 0, Newlin 0-1 0-0 0. Burton 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 19-46 FG, 9-13 FT, 51 TP.

GREENCASTLE (61) – C. York 6-11 6-6 21, Whitaker 5-7 0-0 14, Parmley 6-8 0-1 17, Hutcheson 2-2 0-0 4, Bollman 3-6 1-3 7, Wood 0-1 0-2 0, A. York 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 22-35 FG, 7-12 FT, 61 TP.

Monrovia 6 8 17 20 — 51

Greencastle 17 13 10 21 — 61

3-Point Shooting — MHS 6-13 (Bantley 0-2, Smith 0-3, McCloud 2-5, Nagel 2-3, Newman 0-1, Newlin 0-1, Burton 0-1), GHS 10-11 (C. York 3-3, Whitaker 2-2, Parmley 5-6). Rebounds – MHS 17 (Bantley 1, Smith 1, McCloud 4, Nagel 2, Newman 7, Sprague 1) GHS – 28 (Whitaker 4, Parmley 2, Hutcheson 5, Bollman 15, Wood 1) FG Pct. – MHS 41.3, GHS 62.9. FT Pct. – MHS 69.2, GHS 58.3. Turnovers – MHS 3, GHS 14.