Greencastle picks up first win, keeps Bucket in stroll over Cloverdale

Greencastle's Taygan McRoberts looks for a passing option during the second half of Saturday night's Bucket game at Cloverdale. McRoberts was one of three Tiger Cubs in double figures on the night as the visitors used several big scoring runs to pick up their first win of the season at the expense of the Clovers 63-37.

Banner Graphic/TRENT SCOTT

CLOVERDALE – An early Putnam County Bucket game was nearly over before it ever got going Saturday night at Cloverdale.

Holders Greencastle started the game with a 14-0 run, withstood a quick start to the second half form the Clovers and answered with an 18-0 run through the end of the third quarter into the fourth as the Tiger Cubs picked up their first win of the 2023-24 boys’ basketball season 63-37.

“This unit will continue to grow as the year goes on,” Greencastle head coach Bryce Rector said. “Our ability to get better looks improved tonight and that’s going to continue to get better as the season goes on.

“We played unselfishly as a team. It was fun to watch.”

“We weren’t big enough for the moment,” Cloverdale head coach Karl Turk said. “We became a smoother unit when we decided to do what we do.

“The first couple of stanzas saw guys breaking plays off and improvising because of a lack of poise. The first three minutes of the second half was the most telling; we talked in the locker room about doing certain things on offense and we did exactly that, getting the results we expected to yield.

“We have got to build some consistency into what we do,” Turk added. “There’s a certain mental stamina that has to be built up and we don’t have that right now.”

After a slow shooting night in the opener against Crawfordsville, Cody Evans started the night with a three and bookended the 14-0 start with a basket off a block on the other end.

In between the buckets, Nathan Sutherlin hit a free throw and a three, Judah Amis added a free throw and Sam Gooch scored twice.

Eli Kelley finally got Cloverdale on the board at the free throw line before Houston Jobe hit a three.

Evans answered with a three of his own as the visitors took a 19-6 lead into the second quarter.

After a Tayt Jackson basket to start the period, the Tiger Cubs ran off a quick 9-0 run as Evans hit a three and added a layup while Amis scored on the inside and Gooch scored off a steal.

Connor Sullivan and Noah Betz traded threes while Amis hit two free throws for the final points of the half as Greencastle led 33-12 at the break.

Having played a game already this season was beneficial according to Rector as the Tiger Cubs were quicker not only physically but mentally as well.

“First games are always hard and we were lucky to have a game ahead of what Cloverdale had,” Rector said. “They’ll continue to improve as the year goes on and it’s difficult to come out in that first game; we had the benefit of playing an athletic Crawfordsville team already.”

Cloverdale came out firing to start the second half as Betz, Zach Thomas and Jobe hit threes to cut the lead to 12 at 33-21.

Betz answered the next two Tiger Cub threes with baskets but when the Clover senior next scored, the hosts were staring at a 32-point deficit.

Taygan McRoberts hit Greencastle’s third-straight three before Gooch scored the next four points and Sutherlin added a free throw to make it 47-25 after three quarters.

Ian Williamson and Evans scored before McRoberts added the final five points of the 18-0 run, adding two more free throws to finish with 10 points, joining Evans and Gooch in double figures with pair scoring 18 and 11 points respectively.

“We knew (Cloverdale) could hit some shots and said the only way they were going to get back into the game is to throw in some threes,” Rector said about the start of the second half. “We were really bad offensively in that same stretch.

“Sam took over a little bit after that and had a good game off the bounce, creating for his teammates. Our shot selection in the last four minutes of the third quarter was really good and when you take good shots, you’re going to score eventually.”

Betz led Cloverdale with 17 points while Thomas scored seven points late to finish with 10 points though Turk said the opener was a bit of a reality check for the team.

“There are times in practice when guys maybe aren’t focused or things come too easily playing against the JV defense,” Turk said. “When things didn’t go to script in a varsity game, we mentally deconstructed.

“Next week, we hope to have the consistency of purpose throughout practice and in everything we do. The play may be open after three passes but we need to go ahead and run it to eight passes just to make sure all the gears are in synch.”

Scoring

Greencastle (13-29 2FG; 9-21 3FG; 10-18 FT) — Evans 18, Gooch 11, McRoberts 10, Amis 8, Sutherlin 5, Williamson 4, Sullivan 3, Simmerman 2, Stephens 2

Cloverdale (5-19 2FG; 7-27 3FG; 6-13 FT) — Betz 17, Thomas 10, Jobe 6, Kelley 2, Jackson 2

Statistics