Tiger Cubs survive against Chargers for fourth-straight win

Friday, February 24, 2023
Greencastle's Cole Hutcheson keeps his focus with several North Montgomery defenders keeping tabs on the senior during Friday night's regular season finale. Hutcheson, one of three Tiger Cub seniors honored alongside Boyd Ensley and Carson Taylor, scored the final seven points for the hosts, tying and taking the lead off the Chargers in a 44-42 win.
Banner Graphic/TRENT SCOTT

In a 2022-23 season that has been trying at times, Greencastle has developed a winning formula at the right time of the season.

The Tiger Cubs honored seniors Cole Hutcheson, Boyd Ensley and Carson Taylor Friday as part of senior night with North Montgomery visiting McAnally Center.

Trailing by eight in the third quarter and five midway through the fourth, the hosts put together a 9-0 run to take the lead but had to hang on for a 44-42 win.

“Looking back on the season, some of our major disappointments were losing games like this tonight,” Greencastle head coach Bryce Rector said. “We had six games that were like tonight; we either had a lead or it was close and we had chances to win at the end.

“You take wins like this tonight. We’re on a little winning streak going into sectional play, winning the last five of six, and that’s where you want to be going into sectional play.”

North Montgomery (5-18) got off to the better start as Jarrod Kirsch nailed a pair of threes and Kelby Harwood hit a jumper for an early 8-3 lead.

Cody Evans hit a three for the first Greencastle (6-17) points of the game and added a second around a Cole Hutcheson basket to tie the game at 8-8.

The Tiger Cubs closed the quarter on a 7-0 run as Hutcheson scored at the rim while Sam Gooch added a three-point play and Anthony Adams added a layup, both off of blocks on the other end, for a 17-12 lead after eight minutes.

A methodical response from the Chargers saw the visitors start the second period with a 10-0 run, bookended by a three-point play and three from Drew Norman, flipping the five-point deficit into a 22-17 lead.

Evans finally broke the run but North Montgomery would only allow two points in the frame, taking a 23-19 lead into the intermission.

“We missed quite a few open shots that we just didn’t connect on,” Rector said about the 11-2 second quarter. “We didn’t get to the free throw line and (North Montgomery) took advantage of some of our weaknesses and, combining all of those together, you get a low-scoring quarter.

“The good news was, for only scoring two points in a quarter, we were down four points at the half. This game was won on the defensive end as giving up 42 point took a great defensive effort.”

After a slower second quarter, both teams came out with a quicker tempo to start the second half, a choice that suited the Chargers as Kirsch hit a pair of threes while Hardwood added a layup and a dunk off a steal to stretch the lead to 33-25.

Evans kept Greencastle in it, scoring off a jumper, a drive and a three for seven of his game-high 18 points as the hosts stayed within arm’s reach at 35-30 after three quarters of play.

A trade of baskets between Gooch and Hopkins and threes between Evans and Kirsch left the Chargers still holding a five-point lead at 40-35 midway through the final quarter.

Gooch hit a jumper to cut the lead to three and Hutcheson would score the next seven points, starting with a three to tie the game at 40-40 before taking the lead off a steal and layup, later adding a basket after getting back his own turnover to make it 44-40.

Fouls had been mounting against North Montgomery and the Tiger Cubs were in the bonus with 4:51 to play.

However, the hosts managed to miss all three one-and-one’s, as well as another pair later on, handing the Chargers several chances to get back into the game.

“We just got all the misses out of the way now,” Rector quipped with postseason play around the corner.

Ross Dyson hit a floater just inside the final minute to halve the deficit but Greencastle managed to play the long game, using three fouls as resets and forced a final heave from Harwood with three seconds left that was offline.

Greencastle got a couple of days to prepare for postseason play Tuesday night at Southmont, facing Parke Heritage in the sectional opener.

The Wolves won the meeting at the Wabash Valley Classic 52-38 on Dec. 28 and Rector said another strong defensive effort was needed.

“Parke Heritage is a really good team,” Rector said. “They’re going to take advantage of some of our weaknesses on the offensive end and we have to be able to handle their pressure.

“We’ve got to be able to get out on three-point shooters as they have four very good shooters and I believe they hit seven threes in the first half when we played them. We’ll be prepared for them, watched some film, did some prep work and it’s a big game.

“Playing on Tuesday, you get an extra day of rest and have a familiar opponent waiting for you on Friday in South Putnam,” Rector added. “It’s a really good spot to be in as we hopefully get a win on Tuesday and are playing on a Friday night in the sectional.”

North Montgomery121112742
Greencastle172111444

Scoring

North Montgomery (10-21 2FG; 6-26 3FG; 4-9 FT) — Kirsch 17, Harwood 8, Norman 8, Hopkins 5, Zachery 2, McCoy 2

Greencastle (14-23 2FG; 5-16 3FG; 1-7 FT) — Evans 18, Hutcheson 13, Gooch 11, Adams 2

Statistics

North MontgomeryGreencastle
Rebounds2121
Off. Rebounds71
Assists76
Steals76
Turnovers1011
Fouls1512
Blocks04
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