Tiger Cubs withstand late Patriot push to win Jenni Marietta State Farm Classic

A 12-point halftime lead shrank several times to a single point during the championship game of the Jenni Marietta State Farm Classic Monday night but Greencastle withstood each Terre Haute North rally in the second half to claim the title 52-48.

Banner Graphic/TRENT SCOTT

BRAZIL – The championship game of the Jenni Marietta State Farm Classic between Greencastle and Terre Haute North had the classic trappings of a tale of two halves crammed into three quarters.

A nine-point lead after a quarter of play and 12-point halftime lead for the Tiger Cubs all but disappeared eight minutes later, setting up a tense, gripping final period in which the Patriots did made several runs but never tied or took the lead as Greencastle took home the title from Monday night with a 52-48 win.

“Our first half was pretty good,” Tiger Cub head coach Doug Greenlee said. “We took some things away from (Terre Haute North) early but in the third quarter, they started to attack the basket and did some different things defensively, too.

“We just couldn’t score that period, even though we had some good looks. It got down to a point a couple of times but we held on.”

Greencastle (11-4) only trailed once in the finale at 1-0 following a Hallie Hayes free throw, quickly jumping out to a 7-1 lead after two baskets from Gloria Brewer and an Emma Hunter three.

Drives from Jetta Harmon and Hayes knocked the gap down to 7-5 before Brewer and Evie Briones added threes with a late Brewer basket handing the Tiger Cubs a 15-6 lead after a quarter of play.

Not everything had gone as smoothly as a nine-point lead would suggest as Greencastle was 6-of-21 from the field, though aided by 13 rebounds in the quarter, while Stephane Morales and Ali Dobbs both picked up two early fouls.

Terre Haute North (7-11) did not fare much better at shooting in the second quarter, going 3-of-16 from the field, but continued to get Morales and Dobbs into further foul trouble as both players picked up their third fouls in the period, leading to seven free throw attempts in the frame.

Much like in the field, however, the Patriots didn’t get many to fall, only going 3-of-7 at the line, while Hunter and Brewer continued to get shots to fall, scoring 11 of the team’s 13 points in the quarter, as Greencastle led 28-16 at halftime.

A response from Terre Haute North was expected and it came quickly as the Patriots nearly doubled their halftime total in the first four minutes of the second half.

After a putback basket from Hunter, Aubrey Ervin got the rally going with a three, followed by a Harmon drive and a jumper and three from Preslee Michael to cut a 14-point lead down to five. Hunter hit a three but Michael answered with another trey while Harmon drove to the hoop again and Hayes added two free throws, making it a one-point game at 33-32.

“(Terre Haute North’s) aggression toward the hoop and us not knowing what to do when they drove it at us paid dividends for them,” Greenlee said about the Patriots’ aggression coupled with the foul trouble the team had at that point. “It got them back in the game.”

A late basket from Hunter made it a three-point game after three quarters, at which point the scoring became tied to Brewer and Michael for their respective teams.

The pair traded off the next 26 points, each basket seemingly changing the momentum of the contest as Brewer scored inside, converted a three-point play, hit a three, a jumper and added two free throws while Michael scored off a steal, hit two threes, hit a jumper and scored twice on drives, the latter making it a one-point game again at 47-46.

Yet Terre Haute North, despite having opportunities to take the lead, could never find the basket to do so as Briones knocked down two free throws, as would Brewer, while Hunter added a connection at the stripe to make it 52-46.

The Patriots finally ran out of steam and could only get a late jumper from Rebecca Gore in the closing stretch as the Tiger Cubs withstood every push to win the title.

“A couple of times in timeouts, we mentioned to the kids that we still had the lead,” Greenlee said about the team keeping their composure down the stretch. “We just had to suck it up a little and gets some stops.

“Things went our way. Our kids were exhausted; both teams were exhausted but the kids stuck it out and the girls got two nice wins today.

“This was a big win for the girls because they could have folded,” Greenlee added. “A more inexperienced team might of but we’re figuring out ways to win.”

Scoring

Terre Haute North (13-37 2FG; 5-14 3FG; 7-13 FT) — Michael 25, Hayes 8, Harmon 6, Ervin 6, Gore 2, Jensen 1

Greencastle (11-34 2FG; 5-21 3FG; 12-23 FT) — Brewer 30, Hunter 15, Briones 5, Dobbs 2

Statistics