Center Grove’s boys basketball team didn’t have its best stuff for 32 minutes on Thursday night, but the Trojans managed to put enough spurts together to get the job done.
A young Greenwood team put forth a spirited effort, but the Class 4A No. 10 Trojans made a key run at the start of each half and rode those to a 60-44 home win.
“We weathered the storm tonight,” Center Grove coach Zach Hahn said.
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Back-to-back 3-pointers from Spencer Piercefield helped get the Trojans out to an early 11-1 lead. Greenwood (2-6) battled back to within 13-9 when Bryce Hoffman banked in a fadeaway at the first-quarter horn and Gavin Dowling opened the second period with a bucket down low, but Trayce Jackson-Davis countered with a dunk, a three-point play and an assist on a Justin DeGraaf basket to stretch the margin back to 11 points.
“Our defensive intensity got us going,” DeGraaf said. “We did struggle a bit early on, but once we picked that up, we got our offense going.”
The Woodmen were still within shouting range at the half, 26-17, before Center Grove opened the third quarter with eight consecutive points. Jackson-Davis scored six of those and fed Piercefield for a fast-break layup, building up a cushion that got no smaller than 12 the rest of the way.
“It was huge for our guys to come out and get a good start,” Hahn said of the big surge after the intermission. “We talk about little four-minute games all the time — you’ve got to win the first four minutes, you’ve got to win the next four minutes. And if you do that, at the end of the game you’re going to win most of the time.”
Jackson-Davis led the Trojans (8-2) with 20 points, eight rebounds, four assists and a pair of blocked shots. Piercefield and DeGraaf added 13 and 12 points, respectively.
Greenwood was led by Gavin Dowling’s 13 points and 10 from Brock Kincaid.
Despite the defeat, Woodmen coach Joe Bradburn was happy with much of what he saw from his squad.
“We’re coming together,” he said. “I think that we’re getting better and there’s a lot of positive signs. I told the guys I’m not real big on moral victories, but tonight I think we made some strides to be a tougher unite and a cohesive team. We’re just defining ourselves more each week.”
Eight different players got into the scoring column for Center Grove, which will look to ride the momentum from the victory into Saturday’s Hall of Fame Classic at New Castle. The Trojans face Class 2A No. 2 Westview in the opening round. Valparaiso and top-ranked Warren Central are also in the field.
“Saturday’s going to be fun,” Hahn said. “I hope we bring some energy, because we know that Westview’s going to bring half the crowd.”
