BROWNSBURG
Fourth quarters were beginning to become something of an archrival to the Center Grove girls basketball team.
The Trojans took a step in the right direction with Tuesday night’s 46-42 victory at Brownsburg.
Despite shoddy free-throw shooting down the stretch, Center Grove still managed to break free from a slim one-point lead through three quarters to improve its season record to 2-1.
“We made just enough, didn’t we?” Trojans coach Shawn Sanders said after watching his team convert only 4 of 9 charities over the final 1:23. “I’m excited that we won, but even going back to last season the fourth quarter has been our nemesis.
“We had not been making plays in the fourth quarter. Columbus North last year (at regional), we had them down and lost in the fourth quarter. Against Plainfield this year it was the same thing. This game I thought we played really well in the fourth quarter.”
Junior guard Cassidy Hardin finished with three 3-pointers on her way to a game-high 12 points. She also corralled nine rebounds to lead all players in that category.
Sophomore guard Emma Utterback came off the bench to score nine points for Center Grove, while forward Madelyn Bitterling scored eight. Senior Emma LeMasters worked the middle to secure eight boards to go along with four points.
Starting what basically amounts to a five-guard lineup, the Trojans still finished with 35 rebounds compared to the Bulldogs’ 25.
“This is another game where we’ve got them buying in defensively,” said Sanders, whose club held Brownsburg to 14 of 47 shooting from the floor (.298). “If you play defense and you rebound you’re going to give yourself a chance to win.
“This is another game where we played really, really well defensively.”
Center Grove despite a poor shooting performance to start the game — making one of its first 10 field-goal attempts — managed to rally for a slim 22-21 halftime lead.
Trailing 7-2 late in the first quarter, the Trojans used Ella Thompson’s 18-foot jumper and five consecutive points from junior backup guard Amy Davis to pull ahead.
Brownsburg led briefly in the second stanza, 17-16, after freshman Ilani Williams-Harris made good on a triple from the right wing at 3:53. Center Grove responded with buckets in close from Bitterling and sophomore Emma Utterback to lead by three.
Center Grove plays its Metropolitan Interscholastic Conference opener Thursday night at Warren Central.
The Trojans are then off until Nov. 18 when they travel to Edinburgh for the semifinals of the annual Johnson County Tournament. Center Grove faces whichever wins Tuesday’s first-round game between the host Lancers and Indian Creek.
