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Trio in double figures paces Greencastle past Monrovia
Greencastle methodically and patiently broke open a 12-12 tie after one quarter to record a 60-50 win over Monrovia on Thursday night.
The Tiger Cubs won their fifth straight game to improve to 11-4 on the season.
As anticipated, Monrovia’s Josh Smith and Greencastle’s Brody Whitaker dueled all night long and each standout had seven points in the opening period.
The Cubs took the lead for good with an 8-2 run to start the second quarter. Whitaker scored on a putback of his own missed shot, and followed with an other missed basket.
After Joe Williams hit a pair of free throws for the Bulldogs, Whitaker answered with two charity tosses of his own and Cade Plew added a basket for a 20-14 lead with 4:04 left in the second quarter.
Whitaker added five more points to give him 11 for the quarter and 18 for the first half. Smith was limited to just four points in the second period as Greencastle took a 27-20 halftime lead.
Monrovia opened the second half strongly, getting a Smith basket and a steal and a layup from Jordan Hovious to cut the deficit to 27-24.
Evan Alexander had five points in the third period as the Tiger Cubs extended their lead to 43-30 at the final stop.
Greencastle had meticulously taken care of the ball through three quarters with just eight turnovers, but would see that amount more than double by game’s end.
“I think we got a little tired in the fourth quarter,” said Greencastle coach Bryce Rector, whose team committed 10 turnovers in the final period. “They did a nice job of pressuring us, and we just made some bone-headed plays. Up until that time, I thought we had played pretty well. It was a good win against a sectional opponent.”
Smith had five points and Hovious added three as the Bulldogs cut the Greencastle lead to 47-38 with 5:42 left.
Greencastle then went on a 6-0 run that seemed to put the game out of reach, as Plew had a basket and Benny Parmley added two more for a 53-38 Tiger Cub lead with 3:56 left.
Back came the Bulldogs, as Smith hit a pair of free throws, Andrew Willett hit a trey and Williams added a basket to cut the lead back to eight again with 1:48 left.
Monrovia could get no closer, as Plew hit a pair of free throws and Parmley scored his team’s final five points to allow the Cubs to pull away.
Whitaker, who was absent from school on Tuesday due to illness, led the Cubs with 27 points while Plew and Parmley each added 14.
Williams added 13 for Monrovia, which fell to 13-4 for the season.
Rector especially likes his team’s defensive effort, despite Smith scoring 28 points.
“I thought we were really good defensively,” Rector said. “That’s where we made our money tonight. I thought they missed some open shots that I’ve seen them hit before, as well.
“Smith is really hard to handle,” he added. “I thought Cade’s length did a nice job of affecting him a little bit. We put Brody on him when Cade got in some foul trouble, and I thought he did a nice job. Smith is a really, really nice player.”
Whitaker did not quite equal his most recent homecourt game in which he had 47 points, but Rector was pleased with his play in spite of the illness that affects many players this time of year.
“Brody is obviously pretty gassed, but he was still really good despite not being 100 percent,” Rector. “He did a nice job of handling the ball. He’s really tough to take away because he cuts so well.”
The Cubs will now host Brown County on Saturday afternoon (1:30 p.m. varsity tipoff) in their final tuneup before next week’s Putnam County tournament.
“Our team is really good about taking it one game at a time,” he said. “We work on being good in small segments of games and practices and to not look too far ahead. Obviously, it’s nice to go on a win streak but you just want to win the next game.”
MONROVIA (50) — Smith 11-20 5-6 28, Hovious 2-10 1-2 5, Williams 5-15 2-2 13, Al.Willett 0-1 0-0 0, Bolen 0 0-0 0, Camic 0-1 1-2 1, An.Willett 1-4 2-2 5. Totals
GREENCASTLE (60) — Whitaker 10-21 5-6 27, Plew 5-6 4-4 14, Parmley 5-8 3-4 14, Maier 0-0 0-1 0, Alexander 2-4 0-0 5, Ross 0-0 0-0 0, Cor.Taylor 0-0 0-0 0, Con.Taylor 0-0 0-0 0, Rodgers 0-0 0-0 0, Wilson 0-0 0-0 0, Hutcheson 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 22-39 FG, 12-16 FT, 60 TP
| Monrovia | 12 | 8 | 10 | 20 | — | 50 |
| Greencastle | 12 | 15 | 16 | 17 | — | 60 |
3-point shooting — Monrovia 3-23 (Smith 1-6, Hovious 0-5, Williams 1-7, Al.Willett 0-1, An.Willett 1-4), Greencastle 4-11 (Whitaker 2-5, Parmley 1-3, Alexander 1-3). Turnovers — Greencastle 18, Monrovia 8.