FORTVILLE — Dylan Moles put his team on his back until he got hit in the head.
The Greenfield-Central four-year starter, headed to play collegiately next year at Marian University, rallied the Cougars to a 51-46 win over rival Mt. Vernon Friday.
He left the game after receiving a cut to the head, but he’d done enough to get the Cougars a big Hoosier Heritage Conference win and the league’s traveling trophy.
The Cougars are 8-1 overall and 2-1 in the HHC. Defending league champion Mt. Vernon is 7-5 overall and 3-1 in the conference.
“They asked me before the game, ‘what’s the ball with all the logos on it?’” Greenfield-Central fourth-year coach Luke Meredith said of the trophy displayed on the scorer’s table prior to the game. “… Before I got this job, we went two years without winning a conference game.”
It’s in the Cougars hands now.
Early, it didn’t look like the trophy would be leaving Fortville any time soon.
Not until Moles, a 6-3 guard, helped turn the game around.
His steal and fade away 15-foot jumper with 2:45 left in the third quarter gave Greenfield-Central its first lead of the game, 30-29. The Cougars had trailed by double digits in the first half.
Moles, averaging 21.8 points per game, had been held to just four first-half points. He scored 10 in the third quarter and six more in the final period to finish with a game-high 20 points.
With 2:54 left in the game, he scored his final bucket — giving G-C a 46-41 lead — and was fouled.
It appeared, as he was falling to the floor, his head hit teammate Braylon Mullins’ knee. Moles suffered a cut on his head that, according to Meredith, will need stitches.
Meredith said it was a scary moment for he, and the players.
“Our best player went down on an and-one and there’s blood leaking out of his head, that was a scary moment for me and all of our kids,” Meredith said. “When I went up to talk to him, I could tell he was fine.”
The coach said trainers informed him that Moles would need stitches, which is why he did not return to the game.
He didn’t return, but he’d done more than enough to turn the game around and give the Cougars their fifth straight win.
“He had that “I’m going to be the best player on the floor” mentality,” Meredith said of Moles second-half approach. “I told him every time he steps in the gym, he’s the best player. He stopped settling for jump shots and he attacked the rim.”
Of Moles’s 16 second-half points, eight came at the free-throw line.
With their best player going from court star to sideline cheerleader, the Cougars were able to hang on in the final minutes. Mt. Vernon got within three, 49-46, with 23.4 seconds to go, but no closer.
“I really challenged them at halftime,” Meredith said, whose team trailed 20-8 in the second quarter. “I think Greenfield, sometimes in my tenure, has hoped to beat the Mt. Vernons and New Pals. We talked about having this refuse to lose attitude. It has to be ingrained in their fiber.
“We didn’t shoot the ball well. We were getting out-rebounded and getting out-toughed. I challenge them. I didn’t want to hear about excuses of not playing in two-and-a-half weeks or being on holiday break. I want to hear you beating a team you’re not supposed to beat at their place, a county, conference, and sectional foe. For us to beat the two-time defending sectional champs that cut down the net at our place, it’s just a great win for our program.”
Mt. Vernon got up early led by the hot shooting of senior Adam Hackett. He hit back-to-back 3s to start the second quarter to give Mt. Vernon its 12-point lead. He had four treys on the night and a team-high 16 points.
Mt. Vernon head coach Ben Rhoades applauded the effort of the Cougars and their standout Moles, but thought the game turned around after he received an early third-quarter technical foul.
On a drive to the basket by senior Eli Bridenthal, Rhoades thought a foul should have been called, but the only one assessed was on him.
Moles hit both technical free throws cutting Mt. Vernon’s lead to 25-21, and it started a swing of momentum in the Cougars favor.
“The big change (in the game) was, I complain too much,” Rhoades said. “I got a technical foul and that changed where the game was headed. I’ll take full responsibility for that for our team. A great job by coach Meredith and Greenfield to fight through. They got down early and they didn’t roll over. I think a lot of energy was taken out of the gym when I received my technical. That was my mistake and I apologize to my team and the community.”
Following Moles, the Cougars got a 14-point night from Mullins. Bridenthal finished with 13 for the Marauders.
Mt. Vernon plays its third game of the week tonight at Whiteland (5-7). Greenfield-Central continues HHC play in its next game, Friday, Jan. 13 at New Castle (7-4, 1-2), part of a girls-boys doubleheader.
Greenfield-Central 51, Mt. Vernon 46
Greenfield-Central;8;9;18;16;—;51
Mt. Vernon;14;11;5;16;—;46
Greenfield-Central (8-1, 2-1): Braylon Mullins 5 4-9 14, Will DeJarnett 0 1-2 1, Braden Robertson 0 0-1 0, Dylan Moles 6 8-10 20, Tyler Kerkhof 2 2-4 8, Owen Anderson 1 1-2 4, Jake Hinton 1 2-2 4. Totals: 15 18-30 51.
Mt. Vernon (7-5, 3-1): Eli Bridenthal 3 6-7 13, R’mani Wells 1 1-1 3, Adam Hackett 5 2-4 16, Julien Smith 3 1-2 9, Luke Ertel 1 3-6 5, Tanner Teschendorf 0 0-0 0, Brady Fitzgerald 0 0-0 0, Conner Schank 0 0-0 0. Totals: 13 13-20 46.
3-point goals: Greenfield-Central 3 (Kerkhof 2, Anderson); Mt. Vernon 7 (Hackett 4, Smith 2, Bridenthal)
