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Greencastle advances in Jenni Marietta State Farm Classic; face Terre Haute North in final
BRAZIL — Opening up the semifinals of the delayed Jenni Marietta State Farm Classic at Northview Monday morning, Greencastle faced one of the few new sectional opponents not on the schedule in Parke Heritage.
The Wolves, who came in having defeated four of the other six teams in the Class 2A Sectional No. 44 field, were looking to advance to the final for a second-straight season but the Tiger Cubs put an end to those plans, taking a 14-point lead into halftime and stretching it into a 59-35 win.
Parke Heritage (11-4), a team known for its pressing across the court, struggled to inflict its usual brand of chaos onto Greencastle (10-4) and began to fall behind early on as Evie Briones scored six-straight points for the Tiger Cubs after Stephanie Morales got the team on the scoreboard.
Gloria Brewer added seven-straight points of her own while keeping the Wolves’ Emma Simpson off the scoresheet in the opening period.
“I felt like our perimeter defense was pretty good overall,” Greencastle head coach Doug Greenlee said as the Wolves were held without a make from behind the arc. “Gloria did a great job of taking away some of Simpsons’ strengths.
“We played hard for four quarters this morning and this was a big win for us.”
Raegan Ramsey scored six of Parke Heritage’s eight points in the quarter but Greencastle held a 17-8 after the opening period.
Emma Hunter closed the first eight minutes and started the next set with baskets, eventually adding a pair of threes as the lead continued to blossom.
Simpson, averaging 18.5 ppg, was held to a solitary basket in the opening half while Ramsay added two more to reach halftime with 10 points but, without the usual points off of turnovers, the Wolves could not match the Tiger Cub scoring output, trailing 31-17 at the break.
Brewer and Hunter traded off points throughout the third quarter, Hunter scoring seven points and Brewer six, accounting for all 13 Greencastle points in the period.
Simpson became a more active presence, scoring six points in the period, but with Parke Heritage beginning to wear down with no reward for its pressing style, the Tiger Cubs used Hunter’s late three-point play to take a 44-27 lead into the final quarter of play.
Brewer and Simpson had a one-on-one contest for much of the fourth quarter with each player scoring six points in the period, though the Wolves couldn’t cut into the lead, especially after sending Greencastle to the foul line 10 times in the last few minutes, where Brewer and Briones were a combined 7-of-9, helping to close the door on the first game of the day.
The Tiger Cubs will play the winner of Northview and Terre Haute North in the final of the Jenni Marietta State Farm Classic. Full details of the final will be available at bannergraphic.com.
Parke Heritage 8 9 10 8 35
Greencastle 17 14 13 15 59
Scoring
Parke Heritage (15 2FG; 0 3FG; 5-8 3FG) — Ramsay 14, Simpson 14, Benjamin 4, Jenkins 2, Perkins 1
Greencastle (17 2FG; 4 3FG; 13-18 FT) — Brewer 25, Hunter 19, Briones 9, Plew 4, Morales 2