The Greenfield-Central bench erupts as their teammate Braylon Mullins scored and was fouled on a play in the third quarter against New Castle at Greenfield-Central High School on Friday, Feb. 18, 2022. (Richard Sitler/Daily Reporter)
GREENFIELD — One wasn’t enough for the red-hot Greenfield-Central Cougars this weekend.
After losing at Pendleton Heights, 54-50, in overtime on Jan. 28, the Greenfield-Central boys basketball team has won eight straight games, including a sweep during its back-to-back weekend this past Friday and Saturday.
The Cougars (14-7) opened up this weekend with a statement victory at home against Hoosier Heritage Conference foe Class 3A No. 8 New Castle, 73-64, on senior night.
Greenfield-Central improved to 4-3 in HHC play with the win and handed the visiting Trojans their second-league loss, which helped secure Mt. Vernon’s repeat and outright conference title after the Marauders defeated rival New Palestine on Friday night.
The Cougars HHC-finale victory marked the program’s eighth win in 10-overall home contests this season. Greenfield-Central hosts the 4A Sectional 9 tournament next week, opening against Anderson on Wednesday, March 1, at 7:30 p.m.
Junior guard Dylan Moles set the pace for the Cougars against New Castle on Friday, totaling a game-high 33 points on 12 of 15 shooting, including a trio of 3-pointers.
Moles went a perfect 6-for-6 from the foul line and added three rebounds with four assists and two steals.
Senior Rashawn Street had 12 points with four 3-pointers. Joey Roland and Adam Lester each finished with six points. Braylon Mullins had seven points, Tyler Kerkhof had five and Rune Carpenter-Jones provided four.
The Cougars converted 10 of 17 attempts from beyond the arc with two from Lester and another by Kerkhof.
Kerkhof hauled in two rebounds, Mullins grabbed three and Carpenter-Jones wrapped up four.
The Cougars had 14 assists overall (Roland 3, Kerkhof 3, Mullins 3, Carpenter-Jones 1) and eight steals (Mullins 2).
Saturday’s road win at Martinsville required an early comeback as Greenfield-Central trailed 12-6 after the first quarter.
A 20-point second powered the Cougars ahead 26-24 by halftime. G-C outscored the host Artessians 30-25 to preserve its eighth-consecutive victory.
Mullins led the Cougars with a game-high 22 points on 61 percent shooting. He also led the team in rebounds with seven.
Moles finished with 20 points and three rebounds. Roland chipped in seven points and three rebounds. Carpenter-Jones had two points and four rebounds.
Kerkhof contributed four points.
The Cougars will look to conclude the regular season with another win at home on Wednesday against visiting Plainfield at 7:30 p.m.
Dragons win on senior night
The New Palestine boys basketball team used a stingy defensive effort in the second half to beat visiting Whiteland, 66-52, Saturday on senior night.
The Dragons and Warriors played a back-and-forth first half, but after surrendering a 3-pointer to open the third quarter, the Dragons finished the period on a 14-5 run to take an eight-point lead, then scored the first four points of the fourth to push the edge to double digits.
The Dragons are now 16-6 on the season and finish the home schedule with a 10-1 mark. They conclude their regular season Friday at Greenwood.
After falling behind 37-36 on the first possession of the third, the Dragons responded with a 3-pointer from Blaine Nunnally, a basket by Ben Slagley and a free throw from Steele Brasfield to take a 42-37 lead.
Brasfield later hit back-to-back shots to open the fourth to push the lead to 12. Whiteland cut the lead no closer than eight the rest of the way as the Dragons’ stinginess on defense and their ballhandling was able to run large amounts of clock while hitting several layups. Stephens capped a 90-second possession with an inside shot. The Dragons pushed the lead as high as 16 at 64-48.
Brasfield led the way with 16 points. Stephens added 13 points and Blaine Nunnally 12. Nine different Dragons scored points.
In addition to the three double-figure scorers, Slagley scored eight points and Damon Hockett seven. Bryant Nunnally and Eian Roudebush scored three points each. Matthew Barada and Logan Strong scored two each.
Prior to the game, the Dragons honored their five seniors – Barada, Brasfield, Hockett, Strong and Jaret Whitaker. Over their four years in the program, the Dragons have gone 62-36 and have won two sectional titles and a conference title.
Royals win big at Union
The Class 2A No. 12 Eastern Hancock Royals ran wild during their Mid-Eastern Conference season finale with a decisive 83-12 victory at Union (Modoc) on Friday.
The Royals improved to 15-5 on the season and 7-2 in the MEC. The win marked Eastern Hancock’s second straight and seventh in eight contests.
Eastern Hancock wasted little time jumping in front of Union, leading 20-5 after the first quarter and 50-8 by halftime.
The Royals had a trio of double-digit scorers led by Edric Miller’s game-high 24 (8 of 14 shooting at 57 percent). Jacob Spaulding had 14 points and Silas Spaulding finished with 11.
Grant Gray added eight points, followed by six from Landon O’Neal and five from Zach Arnold and Cyrus Burton. Isaac Lewis and Jayden Stine each had four points apiece. Cole Rainbolt chipped in two.
The Royals buried 14 jumpers from beyond the arc in 36 attempts, led by Miller’s six. O’Neal, Gray and Jacob Spaulding each dropped in two 3-pointers. Arnold and Silas Spaulding each had one.
Burton and Rainbolt tied with a team-high nine rebounds. Miller, Jacob Spaulding and Gray each hauled in five boards. Stine had four and O’Neal had three.
Jacob Spaulding dished out nine assists. Burton recorded four. Jacob Spauling also had a team-high five steals, tying with Lewis. Silas Spaulding post four steals. Rainbolt and Arnold each had two.
The Royals host 4A Pendleton Heights tonight at 7:30 p.m. and end the regular season on Friday at home against Hagerstown.
