Dec. 6—With county foe South Decatur in the gym Thursday, the Class 3A No. 1 Lady Pirates hit the hardwood looking for an eighth straight win to open the season. Greensburg jumped out to a 19-5 lead and cruised from there, winning 66-17.
Greensburg opened the scoring with a lay-up by Greensburg’s Mylie Wilkison. A right-corner 3-pointer by Leah West pushed the lead to five. South got on the board with a left baseline jumper by Paige McQueen at the 5:22 mark of the first quarter.
Greensburg went on a 10-0 run, all scored by Claire Larrison. Larrison had a drive to the bucket, a 3-pointer, a traditional three-point play and bucket off the Aly Powers assist in the run to extend Greensburg lead to 15-2.
Following a South timeout, Paige McQueen completed a traditional three-point play to cut the deficit to 10. Greensburg closed the quarter with a bucket by West and rebound put-back by Wilkison to lead 19-5 after one quarter.
Larrison’s rebound bucket got the Lady Pirates going in the second quarter. South answered with a bucket by Dalilah Martin. Another Larrison putback started a Greensburg 17-2 run. Wilkison followed with a short jumper and Powers scored on the fastbreak. West then found Wilkison on the break for a 29-7 Greensburg lead.
South’s Martin scored to slow the run, but a left-wing 3-pointer by Wilkison was followed with a Mary Harmon fastbreak bucket off the Emma McQueen assist. Larrison’s assist to West capped the run with Greensburg on top 38-9.
After a Taylor Somers free throw for South, Emma McQueen stole the ball and dished to Powers for the easy bucket. Four points from West around another Taylor Somers free throw ended the first half with Greensburg leading 45-11.
The third quarter scoring started with a short jumper by South’s Taylor Somers. Buckets by Greensburg’s Powers and Larrison started the running clock for the remainder of the game. The Lady Pirates outscored South 16-3 in the third quarter and 5-3 in the fourth quarter en route to the win.
For the game, Greensburg shot 53 percent from the field while South shot 19 percent. South was 0-for-3 from beyond the 3-point arc. The Lady Pirates connected on 7-of-16. The Lady Pirates forced 24 turnovers and committed 10 turnovers.
For the Lady Pirates, Larrison led in scoring with 24 points. Wilkison was next with 17 followed by West 12, Powers six, Harmon four and Kahlen Adams three. Larrison had a team-high eight rebounds. Harmon dished out a team-high seven assists.
For South, Paige McQueen had seven points. Martin and Taylor Somers both scored four points. Makayla Somers added two points, three assists and five rebounds.
The 8-0 Lady Pirates travel to Evansville North Saturday to face No. 2 Silver Creek (6-0). Tip-off is scheduled for 2 p.m. EST (1 p.m. CT). The Lady Cougars drop to 5-4 heading into Saturday’s home contest with 6-1 Oldenburg Academy. The junior varsity tip is set for noon.
Oldenburg Academy 53 North Decatur 50The Lady Twisters trailed visiting North Decatur for three quarters Thursday, but a 14-8 run in the fourth quarter rallied Oldenburg Academy to the 53-50 win.
Oldenburg improves to 6-1 on the season. North falls to 5-2.
After falling behind early 2-0, the Lady Chargers took a 4-2 lead and never trailed again in the first half. North led 14-11 after the first quarter and 31-24 at the half. OA outscored North 15-11 in the third quarter to cut the deficit to 42-39 heading to the final eight minutes where the Lady Twisters continued their rally.
Madi Allen led the scoring for North with 17 points. Kelsey Haley scored nine points. Jo Whitaker and Carmen Thackery both had eight points. Ally Whitaker scored six points and Clare Kinker had two points.
In the game, North hit 6-of-8 free throws. Oldenburg connected on just 4-of-13.
The Lady Chargers are back in action Tuesday, hosting Class 2A No. 5 Eastern Hancock (8-0).
The junior varsity Lady Chargers outscore OA 20-4 in the second half to post 31-24 the road win.
Stats for North included Brynlee Green nine points, Sarah Moeller seven points, Jewel Verseman four points, Norah Amberger four points, Grace Nobbe three points, Brooklyn White two points, Libby Crawford two points and Jessie Biltz two rebounds.
Contact Aaron Kirchoff at aaron.kirchoff@greensburgdailynews.com.
