GREENFIELD — Greenfield-Central played well in three of four quarters, but the slow start in the opening period was too much to overcome.
In the girls basketball team’s first Hoosier Heritage Conference game of the season, Greenfield-Central lost 60-53 to Pendleton Heights at Dellen Automotive Gymnasium Friday.
G-C is 3-3 overall.
Pendleton Heights improved to 3-2 and is 2-0 in the HHC, picking up an earlier win over New Castle.
The Cougars had just six points in the first quarter and trailed by as much as 16 in the final period. They cut the Arabians big lead down to five points, 58-53, but ran out of time.
Throughout the game, Greenfield-Central cut in to the Arabians double-digit advantages, but each time the visitors from Madison County had an answer.
The Cougars’ mini-runs were stopped short by the Warfel sisters.
Pendleton Heights 5-foot-11 senior Whitney Warfel had a game-high 23 points. Her sister, 5-10 sophomore Kaycie Warfel had 21. Each had their share of big plays when the Cougars were inching closer.
“The slow start was tough,” Greenfield-Central coach Bradley Key said. “Those sisters showed they have a lot of experience and came out ready to battle from the get-go.
“We’ve got to raise our level of intensity from the start if we are wanting to win varsity games. … I do feel like we are getting closer in getting some of those Ws and I thought it was great that we fought back. We could have easily caved. I think maybe a year ago we might not have been able to battle back. We just have to be able to put together four quarters. I thought we put together three competitive quarters.”
When G-C sophomore Jalyn Smith hit a 3-pointer to cut the margin to 16-12 early in the second quarter, Kaycie Warfel answered with a 3 of her own. She followed with a steal that ended in a bucket for freshman teammate Olivia Jones. Two Whitney Warfel free throws got the Arabians lead back to 11.
Greenfield-Central senior sharp-shooter Aryana Hibbard hit a trey and Kammi Anderson followed with a long 2, to cut it back to six, but Whitney Warfel stopped the run with a bucket off an offensive rebound to get it back to eight. Kaycie Warfel added another 3 when the Cougars’ Chaney Brown scored inside to cut it to six.
“People know that Kaycie and Whitney are our two players,” Pendleton Heights coach Nick Rogers said. “They both made a lot of plays that stopped some of their momentum.”
In the fourth quarter, the Cougars, even down 16 with just 2:43 to go, never gave up. Katie Holmes hit two free throws, Hibbard hit a pair of 3s and Smith scored on a nice pass from Brown to make it 56-48 with 1:02 to go.
PH’s Mikala Ross and Holmes traded free throws prior to a 3 from Brooklyn McConnell. It cut the margin to 58-53, but only nine seconds remained.
“It goes back to, we can do it, and it’s good for us to see that we can compete with a team that has had a lot of success in the past,” Key added.
The Arabians are the defending HHC champions.
“I do think our conference is pretty wide open this year,” Key continued. “(Pendleton Heights is) probably going to be in the upper half, they have been in the past, and they’ve got two really good players. I think we can battle with every team on our schedule. If we can string together four quarters of great basketball we can compete against most teams.”
Greenfield-Central made 10 three-pointers. Hibbard led with five, on eight attempts, and had a team-best 17 points. Brown scored 11.
The Cougars are back in action Monday with a road game at Heritage Christian. The Arabians visit Pike tonight.
Pendleton Heights 60, Greenfield-Central 53
Pendleton Heights;13;17;16;14;—;60
Greenfield-Central;6;15;17;15;—;53
Pendleton Heights (3-2, 2-0): Olivia Jones 1 0-0 2, Whitney Warfel 9 3-6 23, Berkley Shelton 2 0-1 4, Kaycie Warfel 9 0-0 21, Skylar Baldwin 2 0-0 5, Mikala Ross 1 3-4 5, Tra’Mya Herndon 0 0-0 0, Ava Kate Phillips 0 0-0 0, Makayla Morrison 0 0-0 0. Totals: 24 6-11 60.
Greenfield-Central (3-3, 0-1): Chaney Brown 3 5-5 11, Aryanna Hibbard 6 0-0 17, Emma Nelson 0 0-0 0, Brooklyn McConnell 2 0-0 6, Katie Holmes 0 4-4 4, Taylor Smith 2 0-0 6, Jalyn Smith 2 0-0 5, Kammi Anderson 1 2-2 4. Totals: 16 11-11 53.
3-point goals: Pendleton Heights 6 (K. Warfel 3, W. Warfel 2, Baldwin); Greenfield-Central 10 (Hibbard 5, McConnell 2, T. Smith 2, J. Smith)
