Tiger Cubs roll in win over Mustangs

ELLETTSVILLE – The Greencastle Tiger Cubs showed their teeth and went into Edgewood, dominating the Mustangs for a 53-35 Western Indiana Conference victory in girls’ basketball.

The Cubs got a strong all-around performance from senior newcomer Gloria Brewer and major contributions from almost everyone as they improved to 1-1 on the season as Edgewood dropped to 0-2. The victory also gives the Cubs a 1-0 WIC record.

“It’s a road win and a conference win against a really good basketball program. I was really happy to come down here and get a win,” Greencastle head coach Doug Greenlee said.

The two teams played a tight first quarter. The Mustangs led off the game with a Jaylen Robinson trey and the game went back and forth until the late in the quarter as Brewer hit a twisting, turning layup at the buzzer to give the Cubs a 16-14 first-quarter lead.

Brewer had nine points in the opening quarter, showcasing her shooting from deep with a three and getting inside as well. Edgewood’s Robinson got loose for a pair of threes in the quarter to keep the game tight.

The teams traded a couple leads early in the second quarter but an Evie Briones three-pointer gave the Cubs a 19-17 lead and they would never trail again. Briones and Brewer would each get five points in the quarter, but the key was the Greencastle’s play on the defensive end.

Greencastle went to a 1-3-1 zone and began forcing the Mustangs into mistakes and turnovers. The Cubs forced eight turnovers in the quarter and held the Mustangs to just eight points on 3-of-11 shooting.

The visitors also started getting to the free throw line, shooting 11 in the period as that was indicative of the aggressiveness that the Cubs played with. The Cubs would take a 31-22 halftime lead.

“We kind of lost the one girl (Robinson) early in man-to-man. We didn’t want to go to the 1-3-1 that early, but (Edgewood) runs a good flex offense and we had to. We really played well defensively, we were aggressive, we got a lot of deflections and did some good things,” Greenlee said.

Emma Hunter picked up the offensive in the third quarter for Greencastle as the senior scored eight of her 10 points in the period while Briones continued to snipe away from the outside, adding another five points, as the Cubs turned the nine-point lead into a 13-point lead at 47-34 and slowly pulled away.

The defense continued to smother the Mustangs in the final quarter. Greencastle would limit the Mustangs to just a single point and they would stretch the lead to the final 53-35 margin.

The aggressive Cubs would shoot 20 free throws on the night, knocking down 13, while forcing the Mustangs into 27 turnovers and harassing them at every turn.

“We were aggressive and we did a lot of things that we need to,” Greenlee said.

Edgewood would not register a double-figure scorer, but Robinson and Macey Crider would each score nine points and Madi Bland would get 10 rebounds.

Greencastle would get 18 points, 13 rebounds and seven steals from Brewer to lead the way. Briones added 13 points and eight boards; Hunter finished the game chipping in 10 points.

“She (Brewer) really helped us in controlling the tempo and getting everyone involved. She makes others better. Evie really can shoot the ball and is really scrappy for her size,” Greenlee said.

The Cubs will try for their second-consecutive victory as they will host another WIC foe, Owen Valley, on Tuesday night.

GREENCASTLE (53) — Hunter 4-14 0-3 10, Briones 5-13 1-1 13, Brewer 4-18 9-10 18, Brown 0-0 1-2 1, Morales 1-4 1-2 3, Plew 2-2 0-0 5, Dobbs 1-7 1-2 3, Johnson 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 17-58 FG, 13-20 FT, 53 TP.

EDGEWOOD (35) — M. Bland 2-9 1-2 5, McElhinney 1-4 1-2 4, Robinson 3-9 0-0 9, Crider 3-14 3-6 9, Holmes 2-4 0-0 4, Whaley 1-3 0-0 2, A. Bland 1-2 0-0 2, Yearby 0-0 0-0 0, Richardson 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 15-45 FG, 5-10 FT, 35 TP.

3-point shooting – GHS 6-25 (Hunter 2-7, Briones 2-9, Brewer 1-6, Plew 1-1, Dobbs 0-2), EHS 4-15 (M. Bland 0-1, McElhinney 1-3, Robinson 3-8, Crider 0-2, Holmes 0-1). Rebounds – GHS 44 (Hunter 4, Briones 8, Brewer 13, Brown 3, Morales 6, Plew 1, Dobbs 4, Johnson 1) EHS – 36 (M. Bland 10, McElhinney 2, Robinson 5, Crider 11, Holmes 3, A. Bland 2) FG Pct. – GHS 29.3, EHS 33.3. FT Pct. – GHS 65.0, EHS 50.0. Turnovers – GHS 15, EHS 27.