Mike McGraw
Hoosier Authority
Sometimes it starts out too easy. Those are the really tough
games because when it starts to get difficult it seems harder than it really
is. Bluntly stated, it takes guts to win that kind of game and Tri-West showed
a lot of guts in their 64-60 overtime victory versus Greencastle Tuesday night.
This one started out way too easy for the Bruins.
Greencastle was supposed to be a stern early season test, entering the game
with a glossy 4-1 record. They didn’t show that early in the contest. Tri- West
jumped to a quick ten point lead and despite some careless ballhandling late in
the first quarter, still led 22-16 at the first break. As the half progressed,
the game became an open court affair. It was easy to see that was very much to
the Bruins liking. They controlled the boards in the first half and repeatedly
beat Greencastle down the floor for easy baskets. Many of those were finished
by Jessie Jansen, the Bruins’ very athletic post player. She was rewarded for
running the floor on several occasions by floor general Megan Bennett. By
halftime, the lead had ballooned to 36-27 and frankly should probably have been
a little more. Tri-West failed to stop Greencastle’s Hannah Spencer several
times and the talented guard kept the Tiger Cubs in the contest. She finished
the first half with 10 points. Still, they seemed harmless as Tri-West was
controlling play.
The third quarter was little different. Greencastle appeared
to slow the tempo some, but could not begin to cut into the Bruins’ cushion. In
fact, by the end of the stanza Tri-West had extended the margin to 11 at 50-39.
There had been nothing to foreshadow what was to come.
As the fourth quarter began to unfold, Tri-West suddenly
appeared tired. Greencastle was the team with the energy, and the once comfortable
lead began to evaporate quickly. The Tiger Cubs closed to within five, 53-48
with just under five minutes left. After a Tri-West bucket, Spencer responded
with six straight points for Greencastle and it was suddenly 55-54.From there
the game dissolved into a series of missed opportunities. The final one of
those will haunt Greencastle. Kelsey Wainman crashed the boards for a putback
with five seconds to play that tied the game 58-58. She was fouled on the play,
but after a Bruin timeout was unable to connect from the charity stripe. The
result was overtime.
That is when the guts kicked in for Tri-West. They scored
first in the overtime on a lightning quick post move by Jansen, who finished
the night with a team high 20 points. It was followed by a jumper from Sam
Ricks, who ended with 18 points, and the Bruins were up four. Greencastle
fought valiantly, cutting the lead to two at 62-60 and keeping the ball out of
Jansen’s hands for most of the remaining time. Nonetheless, they could not get
over the hump. The final gasp was a steal with 12 seconds remaining. It
appeared the Tiger Cubs might have numbers on the fast break, but the decision
was to call a timeout to set up a last shot. The play did not materialize
because of some good Bruin defense and the final Greencastle shot was a low
percentage effort.
You cannot write the story of this game without mentioning
the play of Bruin guard Megan Bennett. The junior spent the night repeatedly
finding mates with perfectly accurate passes for easy buckets. She was
instrumental to their success at both ends of the floor. The victory moves
Tri-West to 4-2 on the season.
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