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Greencastle wins its second consecutive Putnam County Championship
The Tiger Cubs are champions again after controlling their game over Cloverdale and winning 61-29. Greencastle jumped to a big lead early and continued scoring to secure its second consecutive Putnam County Championship.
Coach Bradley Key wanted senior Jessica Lenihan's role to be increased so she could become a force on the inside. On Saturday he got his wish and Greencastle was the beneficiary.
Some early turnovers by Cloverdale, who for a while had trouble getting across half-court, led to quick pass-and-score situations for Greencastle and Lenihan.
She made four of the team's first seven field goals in the first quarter and this put the Purple Pride up 17-4.
"I thought we came out with a lot of energy," Key said. "That's what you want. You want to make sure that the nerves aren't going to get you. I thought we worked the ball well. We went to Jessica Lenihan early. That seemed to be key for us. We knew we had a bit of a height advantage."
Senior Callan Taylor said that inside scoring was the Tiger Cub response to a Clover zone.
"They were playing a zone," Taylor said. "So we look high to low. That was open so we gave it to her and she can score."
Cloverdale wasn't put off for long as the three-pointers finally began to fall in the second quarter. Juniors Kimmy Winders and Haley Hamm each hit a pair to get the scoring going for the Clovers.
"At the beginning of the game they went on a run and made us a little hesitant," Clover coach Matthew Langdon said. "I thought in the second quarter we woke up and we started to see some things that we've done early in the year, like shooting with confidence."
But while Cloverdale was able to score 20 points in the second, Greencastle continued its steady scoring. Junior Bethanie Burgeson, Greencastle's long-range specialist, made three three-pointers in the half while senior Delanie Stoltey combined a three and a two to help Greencastle to 36-24 halftime lead.
"Everyone can go to different spots and we keep moving the ball," Stoltey said. "We were able to beat the zone because of ball movement. Our coach always says that ball movement beats a zone. That definitely helped us in getting inside."
The second half of the game was all about Greencastle and junior Allison White who score nine of the team's 11 third-quarter points. Taylor scored the other two.
"Come second half we were able to get it to Allison White," Key said. "I thought she played outstanding. We've been talking to her in practice about how we'll need her to do certain things. She definitely came to the party in the third quarter. It was fun to watch."
The Tiger Cub championship bid ended with an aggressive defense that didn't allow a single Cloverdale point in the fourth quarter.
"We just dug ourselves a hole. Some of our energy went down and Greencastle is too good of a team to have that," Langdon said. "I still saw sparks of what we've been doing. I don't look as this a a step back as long as our girls can forget about this and move on.
"That'll be key next week at practice. Are we thinking about the Greencastle loss or the Eastern Greene game?"
Cloverdale will have a full week to practice before its next home game against Eastern Greene while Greencastle will take on Crawfordsville.
The Clovers and the Tiger Cubs will meet for a rematch at McAnally on Dec. 12.
Greencastle will enjoy its second straight county championship but its seniors are keeping their eyes on the ultimate prize.
"It feels awesome," Lenihan said. "It's a good feeling but we have to keep playing hard, keep attacking and get ready for sectional."
At South Putnam
Putnam County Championship
Cloverdale 4 20 5 0 -- 29
Greencastle 17 19 11 14 -- 61
Individual Stats
Greencastle
Lenihan 10 pts, 8 reb, 3 stl, 3 asst; White 13 pts, 9 reb, 2 stl; Burgeson 11 pts, 3 stl, 3 reb, 3 asst; Taylor 6 pts, 4 asst, 2 stl, 2 reb; Bridgewater 6 pts; Stoltey 5 pts, 3 reb, 3 stl, 2 asst; Trout 5 pts, 2 stl, 1 reb, 1 asst; Bragg 2 pts, 5 reb, 3 asst;
Cloverdale
Hamm 13 pts, 1 reb; Winders 8 pts, 5 reb, 1 asst; Stevens 4 pts, 3 reb, 1 asst; Worthington 2 pts 4 reb, 2 asst, 1 stl; Dorsett 2 pts, 2 reb, 2 asst, 1 stl; Pieper 5 reb; Walker 1 reb; Huge 1 reb