Tiger Cubs using Southmont experience to ready themselves for Forest Park

Friday, February 17, 2023
Greencastle’s Ali Dobbs gets a shot up in traffic during practice ahead of Saturday’s IHSAA Girls’ Basketball Shelbyville Semi-State. The Tiger Cubs will be looking for their first-ever semistate title when they face Forest Park at 10 a.m. With a win, the team would advance to the final at 8 p.m.
Banner Graphic/TRENT SCOTT

As with any unknown situation, there were bound to be nerves going into the IHSAA Girls’ Basketball Southmont Regional last week.

Leading by 19 points at halftime was a surefire way to calm most of them but Greencastle also came out of its 58-38 win against Union County learning several lessons about postseason basketball ahead of the IHSAA Shelbyville Semi-State this Saturday.

A week of practice to learn about the Patriots gave the team plenty of time to work out what it wanted to accomplish at Southmont but, with no regional experience prior to the game, it was uncharted territory the team had to cross and conquer.

“It was fun,” Senior guard Emma Hunter said about playing in the regional. “It was nerve wracking in the first quarter but then we got up and I was fine until the third quarter, then I was nervous again.”

“I was very nervous and a lot of people could tell by my facial expression,” Junior center Madi Plew added. “Coming into the regional, we had prepared a lot but it was still nerve wracking because it could be your last game and none of us wanted that, so we left everything on the court.

“Coach Greenlee goes out, scouts a lot of teams and knows a lot about basketball. That’s how we’ve made it so far.

“It was kind of scary,” Junior guard Evie Briones said. “I, personally, didn’t get the hang of it until halftime, at which point I got it in my head.

“My expectations were higher for regional. (Union County) was upbeat but even when we got up at halftime, their girls will still laughing with each other.”

A 28-9 lead at halftime during the regular season would have meant a comfortable second half was on the cards.

Not in the postseason.

Union County scored 18 points in the third quarter, tripling its halftime score, and eventually got the lead back to single digits briefly in the fourth quarter before the Tiger Cubs finished with a flurry to make it a 20-point spread.

It was an experience that the players said was important going into the semistate, one that taught them no one was out of it until the final horn.

“That really helped us,” Senior forward Stephanie Morales said. “When we were playing Union County and we were up 19, you could tell they were desperate in the third quarter, doing whatever they had to.

“It was a nine-point game at one point and it was scary because you start to think, ‘What if we lose from here?’ Going into Forest Park, who cares if we’re up 20? We need to be up more because teams are going to come back.”

“It’s definitely different,” Junior guard Ali Dobbs said about the second half. “We got a little bit tired but (Union County) came out and hit some shots, something they hadn’t done in the first half.

“They didn’t try to shoot the ball as much; they drove the ball more to the rim.”

“We knew they would come back with little runs,” Senior guard Gloria Brewer added. “We just had to keep playing our game, keep our heads and finish it strong.”

“Having it closer makes it a little more exciting for everybody. It’s a lot better knowing that your going to win earlier on, though.”

Saturday, Greencastle takes on possibly its toughest task of the season against defending 2A state champions Forest Park, a team with the experience and know-how after its run to the finals in 2022.

Playing against a squad that won’t flinch regardless of the situation will be a challenge but one that Greencastle was ready to take up.

“Greenlee keeps saying we need to get the first punch in,” Briones said. “Every time we get the first shot in, we have a really good game.

“Mentally, we know it’s going to be a tough game but I don’t know if we’re ready for how back-and-forth it will be. We haven’t had many close games recently.”

“We just need to go in the game staying positive,” Plew added. “Some of the teams we’ve seen, if they get down, start to argue with each other right away.

“We don’t want to be like that. Before each game, we always pray and always want to be on good terms with each other. This is my favorite team and it feels like we’re a family.”

“We just have to go out and play our game,” Brewer said. “(Forest Park) drawing us, they are probably pretty happy about it; they aren’t excepting us to come in and compete with them and they will come in very confident.

“We just have to go out, show them who we are and put up the best fight we can.”

Among the challenges for the team will be the front court duo of Amber Tretter and Carley Begle, a challenge both Plew and Morales said they needed to be smart in.

“When guarding (Faith Wiseman), we had to block her out because that’s how she would get her points,” Morales said. “I’ve just got to play amazing defense and block them out completely because that’s where a lot of points come from.”

“Most of the other teams we’ve played this year don’t have big players in the post like we’ve seen the past couple of weeks,” Plew said. “(Stephanie) and I have been learning how to deny the ball and overall just not foul at all.

“If they get a foul call, that’s easy extra points for them and we can’t allow that.”

“We ran through a lot of (Forest Park’s) offenses,” Dobbs added. “We practiced with our assistant coach Naira (Caceres Martell) because she’s a really good basketball player.

“Having her there to help run through everything helped us learn about a team we don’t know a lot about because they’re so far away from us.”

Along with playing a new team for a second week in a row, Greencastle will be playing in a new environment at Shelbyville.

The Tiger Cubs practiced at the semistate site on Wednesday and, after playing on the road last week, several players said they were comfortable taking the show on the road and taking on some of the best teams in the state on Saturday.

“Playing at Southmont gave me more confidence because winning by that much against a team we’ve never seen before and never heard of until the regional gives me a boost and makes me want to have a third quarter the entire game,” Briones said. “It makes me excited.

“We’re going to a huge gym and the win gives me adrenaline.”

“I feel like we do a lot better with away games, so that helps me feel a little more comfortable,” Hunter said. “We lost three times at home this year and only one away game, so I feel that makes us more comfortable away.”

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  • Good luck to the Lady Tiger Cubs. I will be with you in spirit.

    -- Posted by momma-j on Fri, Feb 17, 2023, at 4:15 PM
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