Tiger Cubs win board battle in second half to beat Clovers

CLOVERDALE - After a frigid first half of play, the Greencastle Tiger Cubs heated up in the second half and pulled away to a 41-26 WIC victory Saturday night in Cloverdale behind six three-pointers and dominating the boards in the second half.

Points were at a premium in the first half. Two baskets from Amalia Haga gave the Clovers a 4-2 early lead. Madi Plew and Aleeyah Johnson then put the Cubs back out front with back-to-back buckets.

Only one more point would be scored in the opening quarter, a free throw from Syrie Ford, made 6-5 Greencastle after one.

The scoring didn’t pick up in the second either. The Clovers took their last lead of the night after a basket and a free throw from Emily Mann.

Greencastle retook the lead when Sarah Simmerman came off the bench to knock down a three. Evie Briones then knocked down a three ball to make it a four-point game. Mann would get a late basket to pull Cloverdale within two at the half.

“We really competed tonight, maybe the best we have all year, especially on the boards,” said Clover coach James Wade as the Clovers outrebounded Greencastle in the first half by five.

Mann came out and scored a quick bucket to start the second half, but the Cubs came out with a different mindset in the second half.

The visitors started dominating the boards and became much more aggressive on both ends, using a 9-0 run, ending with a three from Briones, to give them some breathing room.

Greencastle led by as much as 12 after another Briones three and looked to pull away. Cloverdale answered with a three from Gracie Lee and free throws from Mann and Sarah Nichols to keep it within reach at 27-20.

Mann scored again to make it a five-point game to start the fourth. Seven-straight points from the Cubs stretched the lead back out to 34-22 as Plew hit a three while baskets from Bailey Brown and Briones keyed the stretch.

Greencastle got a pair of free throws from Ali Dobbs, another Brown basket inside and finished with another three ball from Plew to go on to the 41-26 victory.

“I changed up the defense, trying to get some more intensity. We also spread it out more and got better looks, started attacking more, got more confidence and more intensity. It was a much better second half,” said Tiger Cubs’ coach Jessica Lenihan.

Briones led the way scoring for the Cubs on the night with 12 and Madi Plew added 10.

Greencastle outrebounded Cloverdale 31-23, 21-8 in the second half. Aleeyah Johnson cleared the glass with nine boards with Bailey Brown also with eight.

A pair of home games are coming up for the Cubs as they face North Montgomery on Tuesday and Dugger Union on Wednesday.

The Clovers were led by Mann with a game-high 13. Mann also grabbed seven rebounds and Sarah Nichols chipped in six off the glass.

The Clovers will next host West Vigo Tuesday before playing host to Cascade on Friday.

Team Stats

Individual Stats

Scoring - (G) Briones 14, Plew 10, Brown 8, Simmerman 5, Johnson 4, Dobbs 2; (CL) Mann 13, A. Haga 7, Lee 3, Nichols 2, Ford 1

Rebounding - (G) Johnson 9, Brown 8, Dobbs 7, Briones 6, Plew 5; (CL) Mann 7, Nichols 6, A. Haga 5, Lee 3, G. Haga 1, McSwine 1