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Mason picks Tiger Cub pockets as Mounties open season with win
NEW MARKET – The opening game of the 2023-24 girls’ basketball season for Greencastle kept slipping through the team’s fingers Wednesday night at Southmont.
Each time it did, Mountie senior DeLorean Mason was on the other side to collect it as the guard finished with a 30-point, 15-steal double-double for the hosts in a 59-37 win.
“We picked it up in the second half, applied some pressure and it caused some issues, as well as some good things for us,” Greencastle head coach Jessica Lenihan said. “At the start of the game, the girls were nervous as it was the first game and that’s alright.
“But we can’t have our starting guard get two fouls in the first 30 seconds. We don’t have a deep bench and have to be smarter with fouls as it dropped all our plans down the drain.”
Mason’s early pressure was pivotal in shaping the game, getting two fouls on Greencastle’ Evie Briones in the opening 29 seconds.
Shorn of their lead ball handler, the Tiger Cubs struggled to get any offense going as the team committed 11 turnovers in the opening quarter, nine of them Southmont steals, seven by Mason alone.
Despite the loose handle the visitors tied the game at 2-2 off a Bailey Brown basket until Mason got to the rim, scored off a steal and added a late three to give the hosts a 10-2 lead after a quarter of play.
Mason added six-straight points for Southmont midway through the second quarter to answer a Madi Plew jumper and Ali Dobbs three before adding her 15th point to close the half, leaving the Tiger Cubs trailing 22-7 at halftime.
The game exploded into life in the third quarter as Greencastle’s offense cut down on the turnovers and struck from deep as Dobbs canceled out an early Mason three, Plew hit a long jumper and Briones scored her first basket of the night.
Mason sank another three but Briones answered and a Becca Rady jumper briefly made it 30-19.
Steals and scores from Mason and Olivia Gray made it a 15-point game again before another Briones three and a Brown putback trimmed the gap to 10 at 34-24.
“We told the girls we had to have the same confidence we have in practice,” Lenihan said about the strong start to the second half. “We knock down multiple shots in a row; as we release, the girls are sure their shots are going in and we told them we had to transition that confidence into the game.
“What we needed was people to want the ball and not want to get the ball out of their hands as quick as possible, not wanting the pressure to come to them. We needed them to be confident, to take on that pressure and show they could drive past defenders, which they did, and that relieved pressure.”
It was the closest the visitors would be the rest of the night, however, as Southmont would end the period and start the fourth quarter on a 13-0 run, beginning with a Chloe Jenkins putback, a Cheyenne Shaw basket and three points from Emily Link.
Mason scored before two Jenkins free throws and a basket from Molly Williams more than doubled the lead to 23 points.
Greencastle scored seven-straight in reply as Sarah Simmerman had a putback, Briones scored off a steal and Dobbs added a free throw but the Mountie offense kept plugging away in the final minutes to answer any Tiger Cub score.
Briones would finish the night with 16 points to lead the visitors, all scored in the second half, as the only other player to score in double-figures.
Southmont finished the night with 27 steals as Greencastle had 35 total turnovers while the hosts held a 14-7 advantage in assists.
| Greencastle | 2 | 5 | 17 | 13 | 37 |
| Southmont | 10 | 12 | 17 | 20 | 59 |
Scoring
Greencastle (9-22 2FG; 6-24 3FG; 1-4 FT) — Briones 16, Dobbs 7, Brown 6, Plew 4, Simmerman 2, Rady 2
Southmont (20-42 2FG; 4-12 3FG; 7-13 FT) — Mason 30, Link 7, Jenkins 7, Gray 5, Shaw 4, Williams 2, Douglas 2, Kessler 2
Statistics
| … | Greencastle | Southmont |
| D. Rebounds | 16 | 17 |
| O. Rebounds | 11 | 8 |
| Assists | 7 | 14 |
| Steals | 10 | 27 |
| Turnovers | 35 | 21 |
| Blocks | 4 | 3 |
| Fouls | 11 | 13 |