For the Daily Reporter
TRAFALGAR — Greenfield-Central got back into a boys basketball game it was apparently out of Friday night at Indian Creek.
Down by 21 points on four occasions in the second quarter, the Cougars scrapped its way to within four early in the fourth before losing, 69-61.
Few things went as planned for coach Lukas Haworth’s squad early on. Greenfield-Central fell behind 13-0 to start the game, then spent the remainder of it making plays to make it interesting.
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“That’s kind of the mark we’ve made as a team right now. Even whenever it’s ugly and things are going wrong, we’re a team that still fights,” Haworth said. “That’s why we give ourselves a chance to win.
“The sooner we figure out how to put that together for 32 minutes, the effort is going to turn into a result we want. Overall, I’m happy with how the guys kept fighting.”
The process was methodical as the Cougars battled back to close to within four (56-52) on junior forward Gavin Rose’s 3-point sequence with 5:06 to play in the fourth.
“Obviously, anytime you’re ahead like that at halftime, it’s hard to kind of get out of the gate,” Indian Creek coach Drew Glentzer said. “We had a lot of good looks in the second half that we missed, but defensively we were terrible to start the quarter.
“Our defense is what fed our offense early, and we didn’t do that in the second half. But (G-C) is a team that is very dangerous. Against Connersville, they were down 15 and ahead by five in the same quarter.”
Once Greenfield-Central closed to within four, the Braves responded with a 9-0 run to put the game away. Senior Cooper Britt started it with a reverse layup to go along with another hoop, while guard Xavier Ferris made 5 of 6 at the free throw stripe to make it 65-52 with 1:56 showing.
Senior forward Jace Russell led a balanced attack for Indian Creek with team-highs of 22 points and seven rebounds. Three of his teammates also produced double-figures in points — Britt’s 18, Isaiah Lacey’s 11 and Ferris with 10.
The Braves made 17 of 28 field goal attempts in the first half to bolt to a 45-27 lead with the 6-foot-3 Russell accounting for 15 of the points.
Greenfield-Central (0-6) didn’t help its own cause, committing 14 of its 23 turnovers before halftime. Undeterred, the Cougars staged their furious comeback to make the game interesting.
Sam Hunt, the Cougars’ lone senior, led the way with 12 points. Scoring 11 apiece were junior guards Brady Mundell and Jacob Cochran.
Hunt feels Greenfield-Central is getting closer to playing to its potential. It gets another opportunity tonight when the Cougars host Mooresville.
“We are close. We’re taking steps every day,” Hunt said. “We don’t look at the past, we look at the future. We’re trying to learn from our mistakes and we’re not going to dwell on them.”
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Indian Creek 69, Greenfield-Central 61
Greenfield-Central;7;20;17;17;–;61
Indian Creek;20;25;9;15;–;69
Greenfield-Central (0-6): Gavin Rose 2-4 3-3 7, Chris O’Connor 1-2 0-0 2, Brady Mundell 5-10 1-2 11, Caleb Mundell 3-8 1-2 8, Jacob Cochran 4-12 0-0 11, Sam Hunt 4-7 1-1 12, Caleb McIntire 0-1 0-0 0, Gavin Robertson 2-3 2-3 8, Will Van Duyn 1-2 0-0 2. Totals: 22-49 8-11 61.
Indian Creek (6-3): Isaiah Lacey 4-8 3-7 11, Jace Russell 9-15 3-6 22, Cooper Britt 8-15 1-2 18, Zach Pugh 3-7 0-0 8, Xavier Ferris 1-5 7-8 10, Dakota Day 0-0 0-0 0, Mason Britt 0-1 0-0 0. Totals: 25-53 14-23 69.
3-point goals: Greenfield-Central 9 (Hunt 3, Cochran 3, Robertson 2, C, Mundell), Indian Creek 5 (Pugh 2, Russell, Ferris, C. Britt). Rebounds: Greenfield-Central 28 (Rose 8), Indian Creek 22 (Russell 7). Turnovers: Greenfield-Central 23, Indian Creek 10. Total fouls: Greenfield-Central 18, Indian Creek 8.
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