MOORESVILLE — Greenfield-Central didn’t win the battle at Mooresville, but it hopes impressive performances like the one against the Pioneers at the Curry Center Friday will lead to some wins down the road.
The Cougars dropped to 3-6 with the 66-62 non-conference loss to the Pioneers, who presented a tall order, literally, in both clubs’ initial boys’ basketball game of the 2020 portion of the schedule.
Mooresville started three players 6-feet, 5 inches or taller and was coming off a title at the Lebanon Holiday Tournament, where the Cougars went 1-2 and finished fourth. Greenfield-Central had just one starter (Tyler Antic) over 6-3. The win for the Pioneers gives them a 7-4 overall record.
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Brady Mundell scored with 1:38 remaining to cut Mooresville’s lead to 64-61. The Pioneers followed by missing three straight front ends of one-and-bonus free throws, but the Cougars were unable to get any closer than two points.
Mundell hit 1 of 2 free throws with seven seconds remaining to cut it to 64-62, but Mooresville’s 6-6 Ty Wright hit two from the stripe to finish the game’s scoring.
“I didn’t get hired for moral victories, but I did tell every single one of those kids wearing blue I am proud to be their coach,” first-year Greenfield-Central coach Luke Meredith said. “I love coaching here and I love the young men of Greenfield-Central and the way they represent our boys’ basketball program.
“(Mooresville is) a tough match up. They start 6-6, 6-6, 6-5 and like to run their 1-3-1 (zone). Our game plan was be able to attack gaps and try to make and take corner 3’s. I thought a turning point, positively for us, was when they had to match up with us and get away from the zone. They’re a talented team.”
Greenfield-Central kept it close, taking advantage of some dead-eye first-half shooting.
Mooresville led 16-8, after one, but Greenfield-Central answered with 5 of 6 shooting from three-point range in the second quarter. The Cougars hit 7 of 12 from downtown in the first half. Gavin Robertson, Caleb Mundell and Dylan Moles had two three-pointers each. Jake Cochran also hit a trey.
The Pioneers began shutting down the Cougars long-range shooting in the second half, but Brady Mundell and Cochran started driving to the basket and were either converting or getting to the free-throw line.
Brady Mundell had 15 of his game-high 19 points in the second half. He hit 5 of 9 from the field and 5 of 8 at the line in the final two periods. Cochran had one of G-C’s three second-half 3-pointers and hit 5 of 6 at the free-throw line.
Four Cougars scored in double figures. Following Brady Mundell, Cochran scored 13. Caleb Mundell had 11 and Robertson scored 10. Moles wasn’t too far behind with nine.
“We have Mt. Vernon. We have New Castle, Shelbyville, Connersville, Westfield. We have very talented teams coming up on our January slate,” Meredith said of the upcoming schedule. “I told our guys, it’s not going to happen overnight. We have to keep getting better every single day. If we play the way we played tonight, we’re going to be just fine. I know we came up short, but I’m proud to be their coach and proud with the way we competed. That’s what Greenfield-Central basketball is all about.”
The Pioneers also had four in double digits. Wright led with 18. Dane Stevenson hit four 3-pointers and scored 14. Six-foot-5 center Luke Fowler scored 12 and Zach Woodson came off the bench to score 11.
Greenfield-Central had 10 three-pointers. Mooresville had nine.
“Coach Meredith is doing a really good job. They’re playing really, really hard and the kids seem to be buying in,” Mooresville coach Bobby Carter said. “They’re hanging their hat on playing hard and they’re dangerous.”
The Cougars are back in action Friday, Jan. 10, hosting Hancock County and Hoosier Heritage Conference rival Mt. Vernon.
