GREENCASTLE — North Montgomery’s girls’ basketball team ran into a hot-shooting Greencastle squad Tuesday night, falling to the Tiger Cubs 62-41.
Greencastle hit 15-of-25 shots from the floor and 10-of-10 from the line in the first half during the victory over the Chargers on Tuesday night at McAnally Center. The ‘Cubs have now won all four of their games since the calendar rolled over to 2020 and are 6-12 overall. North Montgomery is now 9-9 on the season.
“Obviously we don’t have time to do a lot of shooting drills in practice this time of the season. We’ve got some girls coming in on their own and putting up shots. That really has shown in our games,” first-year Greencastle head coach Kellie Kirkhoff said.
Both teams shot the lights out in the first quarter. There certainly wasn’t a lot of opportunities for rebounds. The Chargers hit 5-of-7 shots, while the Cubs hit 7-of-11 from the field and a 4-of-4 from the charity stripe to take a 20-13 lead after one quarter of play. Allison Stevens had her way inside as she hit both of her shots and got to the free throw line six times, converting them all for 10 points.
“Allison has that ability to dominate each and every game. We are getting better as a team when they double on her, she is looking opposite and we are getting good shots,” Kirkhoff said.
Those other places become evident in the second quarter as Greencastle continued its offensive onslaught. They continued to shoot well with 8-of-14 from the floor and got scoring from several places. Sydney Doan nailed a pair of treys and added a couple of free throws to score eight of her 12 points in the period. Anna Zellers it a three and two, while Madison Rodgers canned a pair of jumpers and the Cubs had a comfortable 43-22 lead at the half.
“She (Doan) has really come a long way. Inside, outside she has got it all and is one of best team leaders, her play has been phenomenal lately,” Kirkhoff said.
Greencastle didn’t quite shoot at the same blistering level in the second half but were still efficient offensively and tough defensively in the third quarter. The Cubs extended their lead to 55-31 after three quarters of play, with Stevens and Zellers combining for 10 of Greencastle’s 12 points.
Defensively, the Cubs really made it hard on the Chargers to run an offense. The pressure the Cubs placed on them forced North into 21 turnovers on the night and then kept them off the boards to limit second chances.
“We actually threw out some different defenses tonight. We don’t normally change it up this much but we wanted to try some things. The girls really got out in the passing lanes, which we don’t always do,” Kirkhoff said.
The fourth quarter saw both teams empty their bench and the play got a little ragged compared to the first three periods, but the big lead by Greencastle held up as the Cubs finished with the 62-41 victory.
Madi Welch led the Chargers with 18 points, while Stevens had 22 for Greencastle. Doan added 14 points and Zellers nine for the Cubs.
“The girls really played well and adjusted to things tonight. They have really come a long way,” Kirkhoff said.
Greencastle will now travel to North Putnam as part of a girls’/boys’ doubleheader to close out Western Indiana Conference play on Friday night. North Montgomery hosts Danville on Friday.
Greencastle 62, North Montgomery 41
North Montgomery 13 9 9 10 – 41
Greencastle 20 23 12 7 – 62
NORTH MONTGOMERY (9-9): Welch 7-11 3-7 18, Moseley 4-16 0-0 9, Dugard 3-4 0-0 6, McClaskey 0-1 0-0 0, Sennett 1-3 1-2 3, Zachary 1-3 0-0 2, Broadwater 1-4 0-0 2, Schroeder 0-0 1-2 1. Totals 17-41 FG, 5-11 FT, 41 TP.
GREENCASTLE (6-12): Rodgers 3-7 0-0 6, Chavez 3-9 0-0 6, Zellers 4-6 0-0 9, Stevens 5-8 12-12 22, Doan 5-10 2-2 14, Brennan 0-0 0-0 0, Tomamichael 1-2 1-2 3, Dinn 1-2 0-0 2, Barnhart 0-1 0-0 0, Garl 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 22-45 FG, 15-16 FT, 62 TP.
3-point shooting: NHS 2-6 (Welch 1-1, Moseley 1-4, McClaskey 0-1) GHS 3-6 (Chavez 0-1, Zellers 1-1, Doan 2-4). Rebounds: NHS 25 (Welch 3, Moseley 1, Dugard 10, McClaskey 3, Zachary 3, Broadwater 1, Schroeder 1) GHS – 27 (Rodgers 4, Chavez 5, Zellers 3, Stevens 7, Doan 1, Tomamichael 1, Dinn 1
Turnovers: NHS 21, CHS 16
