Greencastle defense, Gooch's 29 points overpower South Vermillion

There is an old adage in sports that defense wins championships.

If that is the case, the Greencastle Tiger Cub boys’ basketball team is well on its way to getting one.

The Cubs played solid, albeit unspectacular, defense on Thursday night as they defeated the South Vermillion Wildcats 61-50.

The two teams combined for just nine turnovers on the night, but Greencastle played solid defense in forcing the Wildcats into a 31 percent (16-of-51) shooting night while receiving its offense in the form of Sam Gooch, who hit an efficient 14-of-18 from the field to score 29 points in the victory.

The win improved Greencastle to 9-6, while South Vermillion dropped to 8-8 on the season.

“(South Vermillion) is a tough team to guard. They are athletic and every kid can get in the paint. It was a tough matchup. I think the key for us, we preached all week, was to make them take tough shots. We forced them into taking some shots that were not easy and then we came down with the rebound,” Greencastle head coach Bryce Rector said.

The Wildcats started the game getting the best of the Cubs. South jumped out to a 7-2 lead early, but Greencastle battled and got six points from Gooch and five from Taygan McRoberts to offset a pair of three-pointers from Dominic Garzolini.

Greencastle led 13-10 at the first stop in the action.

“I did think we lost a couple of shooters at times, but we recovered well and forced (South Vermillion) into things it didn’t want to do,” Rector said.

Greencastle stretched its lead throughout the second period. The Cubs closed on an 11-2 run with Cody Evans and Gooch doing the heavy lifting offensively.

Again, defense was the key as the Cubs held the Wildcats to 3-of-11 shooting in the quarter.

The hosts received a spark off the bench from Connor Sullivan, who defended well and pulled down five rebounds in the quarter alone to keep South Vermillion from closing the gap. Greencastle went to the half leading 26-16.

“Connor has really improved. If you watch us from early in the season until now, you can see how he has gotten better. I am so pleased with how he has played,” Rector said.

The Wildcats came out in the third quarter and began to find the range from behind the arc. South knocked down three from deep early in the period and cut the lead to four points at 33-29.

Then it became Gooch time.

The sophomore scored the last 10 points of the quarter for the Cubs and sparked Greencastle to re-establish the double-digit lead it held at halftime at 43-33 heading into the fourth quarter.

Gooch repeatedly got into the lane and elevated over the defense for a myriad of twisting shots.

“Sam was great tonight. It is great when you have a kid who is capable of doing (getting shots on his own). It just makes the offense so much easier. It really opens up things. Our supporting cast around him was great,” Rector said, impressed with how efficient his team was with only five turnovers.

Greencastle spent the fourth quarter answering any potential run by the Wildcats. South would cut the lead to nine points a couple of times, but the Cubs would answer each time.

The hosts would take care of the basketball against a full-court press and knocked down their free throws late (7-of-10) as Evans went 5-of-6 from the line and the final score would be set at 61-50.

South Vermillion was led in scoring by Luke Bush with 20 and Garzolini with 18. Gooch led all scorers with 29 and Evans added 14 for the Cubs.

“I like how we are playing. At times we have four sophomores on the floor and we just keep improving,” Rector said.

The Cubs will have a tall task in their next game as they will travel on Saturday to visit Tri-West, who have lost only to either 4A teams or 3A No. 1-ranked Danville.

SOUTH VERMILLION (50) – Bush 5-10 8-13 20, Conder 2-10 2-2 6, Wallace 1-6 0-0 2, Shoults 1-9 0-4 2, Garzolini 6-13 2-2 18, Moulton 0-0 0-0 0, Coleman 1-3 0-0 2, Weir 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 16-51 FG, 12-21 FT, 50 TP.

GREENCASTLE (61) – McRoberts 2-2 0-1 5, Gooch 14-18 0-2 29, Adams 0-0 2-2 2, Sutherlin 4-9 0-0 8, Evans 4-10 5-6 14, Sullivan 1-5 0-0 3, Williamson 0-1 0-0 0, Amis 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 25-46 FG, 7-11 FT, 61 TP.

3-point shooting –SV 6-19 (Bush 2-2, Conder 0-3, Wallace 0-3, Shoults 0-2, Garzolini 4-9), GHS 4-16 (McRoberts 1-1, Gooch 1-2, Sutherlin 0-2, Evans 1-6, Sullivan 1-5) Rebounds –SV 31 (Bush 3, Conder 5, Wallace 7, Shoults 5, Garzolini 5, Coleman 3), GHS – 32 (McRoberts 1, Gooch 7, Adams 7, Sutherlin 2, Evans 2, Sullivan 7, Williamson 1, Amis 1) FG Pct. – SV 31.4, GHS 54.3. FT Pct. – SV 57.1, GHS 63.6. Turnovers – SV 4, GHS 5.