GREENFIELD — To say Greenfield-Central came out cold at home Wednesday would be an understatement.
The Cougars struggled from the opening tip against Lawrence Central, starting 1-of-10 from the field and never really finding their shooting touch throughout the game.
While her teammates struggled around her, junior guard Hannah Farrell kept them in the game. She scored all 10 of the Cougars first-quarter points and either scored or assisted on every point scored by her team in the first half.
It wasn’t enough. Despite another huge game from Farrell, the Cougars fell to the visiting Bears, a 58-51 home defeat that drops Greenfield-Central’s record to 3-5 for the season.
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Lawrence Central controlled the game from start to finish, employing a full-court press that the Cougars never could fully figure out.
With a seven point lead heading into the fourth quarter, the Bears were content to then slow things down on offense, playing keep-away for most of the quarter.
The Bears had one possession last 50 seconds, never taking a shot before the Cougars stole the ball away. Greenfield-Central’s comeback attempts simply ran out of time.
“Lawrence Central did a good job of putting pressure on us,” Greenfield-Central coach Bradley Key said. “They were able to substitute five in at a time. We don’t have that luxury. It is what it is. That was our second game in two nights. We don’t play a lot of back-to-back games, and with the team where we’re at, we just don’t have a lot of experience on the floor.”
The Cougars fell on the road Tuesday to Chatard, despite another big game from Farrell. She scored 30 points and had 11 rebounds in that contest.
She was equally impressive Wednesday, scoring 35 points to go with nine rebounds, four steals and three assists. She was aggressive, trying to force her team back into the game and drawing foul after foul.
Farrell finished 16-of-17 from the free-throw line.
“Hannah’s doing a lot for us right now; 35 points is amazing,” Key said. “We’re looking for Hannah to be more of a vocal leader, truthfully. She does a lot of great things, but that’s one thing that she can work on.”
With a young team overall, the Cougars couldn’t keep up with the experience of the Bears leaders. Seniors Kalyn Williams and Charlize Turner led the way for the visitors, scoring 17 and 16 points respectively.
After Harrell, the Cougars got six points from Addie Hill, four from Brooke Herrell and a pair of points from three other players.
“Sometimes you do your best teaching after some losses,” Key said. “We’ve got to focus on some things before we play again Saturday. I think our effort’s been better. I think our effort is getting better. Our girls just have to keep learning to fight, play as a team. I think we’re getting there. Winning is hard. Sometimes it takes a while to figure out how to do that.
“Film will show a lot of things of what we need to do. We’ll learn and get better. You wanna be better towards the end of January, and we’ve got a ways to go.”
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Lawrence Central 58, Greenfield-Central 51
Lawrence Central;11;15;16;16;—;58
Greenfield-Central;10;14;11;16;—;51
Lawrence Central (2-5): Kalyn Williams 7 1-2 17, Charlize Turner 7 2-2 16, Baijing Zinnerman 1 0-0 2, India Perry 2 0-0 4, Jaliah Nailor 4 2-3 10, Madison Guyse 0 0-0 0, Da’Naria Washington 3 0-1 6, Haley Ragonesi 0 0-0 0, Aliza Clark 0 0-0 0, Simone Carter 1 0-0 3. Totals: 25 5-8 58.
Greenfield-Central (3-5): Hannah Farrell 9 16-17 35, Lydia McIntire 0 2-3 2, Addie Hill 3 0-0 6, Crystal Peterson 1 0-0 2, Keryna Barrett 0 0-0 0, Samantha Kihega 1 0-0 2, Brooke Herrell 2 0-0 4, Kylie Rodgers 0 0-0 0. Totals: 16 18-23 51.
3-point goals: Lawrence Central 3 (Williams 2, Carter), Greenfield-Central 1 (Farrell).
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