Greenwood boys win in double OT; Whiteland girls hold on

<p>Greenwood boys basketball coach Joe Bradburn hasn’t looked as happy — or as exhausted — after a game in quite some time as he did on Friday night.</p><p>He had reason to feel both.</p><p>Bryce Hoffman scored 17 of his game-high 21 points after halftime as a young group of Woodmen outlasted visiting Whiteland for a 57-49 double-overtime victory.</p>[sc:text-divider text-divider-title="Story continues below gallery" ]Click here to purchase photos from this gallery<p>“Wow, what a battle,” Bradburn said afterward. “Tonight was a much-needed win in a lot of ways, and just how we did it. I just feel really good for our guys. They were really excited in the locker room and they feel really good about the things they’ve been doing.”</p><p>In the first half of the evening doubleheader, Whiteland’s girls fended off a second-half push by the Woodmen to earn a 47-41 victory.</p><p>Down by eight at the half, the Woodmen boys (3-6, 1-2 Mid-State) rallied with a 9-0 run early in the third, taking a 25-24 lead on a T.J. Price jumper. Hoffman had 12 points in the quarter, but Whiteland still went into the fourth with a 36-35 edge after Brennan Neal hit a late 3-pointer to cap a back-and-forth period.</p><p>Both teams had opportunities to end it in regulation after Whiteland’s Nick Angerer tied it at 45-45 with 1:25 to go, but neither side could get another basket. Greenwood took a four-point lead early in the first overtime behind a pair of buckets from Gavin Dowling, but Neal countered with four at the other end — and again, neither side could score in the final minute.</p><p>Finally, in the second extra frame, the Woodmen took over. Hoffman put them up with a free throw before Matthew Allen followed with a back-breaking three-point play, his only points of the night, with 34 seconds left. The Warriors (5-5, 0-3) didn’t have an answer.</p><p>“Everybody did a good job in their minutes of stepping up,” Bradburn said. “What feels the best about it is it’s a total team win.”</p><p>Dowling finished with 13 points and Price 12 for Greenwood. Carter Crowe paced the Warriors with 14 points, with Neal adding 13.</p><p>In the girls game, Whiteland’s pressure defense gave the Woodmen fits early on. Natalie Stuck and Megan Harlow had a combined five steals during a game-opening 12-0 run that covered the first five-plus minutes of action.</p><p>“We came in there knowing that this was going to be a dogfight, and it ended up being a dogfight,” Harlow said. “We came out really strong, and we just wanted to prove a point that we’re a force to be reckoned with.”</p><p>Greenwood shook off the rough start and nine first-quarter turnovers, though, and quickly crawled back into it. Consecutive baskets from Bailee Taft early in the second period cut the Warriors’ lead to 15-13, and the Woodmen went into the half down just four, 26-22.</p><p>Taft knocked down three 3-pointers in the second half and Greenwood cut the deficit to a single point on several occasions, the last on an Anna Pritchett drive with 3:42 left that made it 42-41.</p><p>“I think our girls thought it was over after we got up 12 in the first quarter,” Whiteland coach Kyle Shipp said. “We just never found a rhythm after that, so hats off to Greenwood; they played well.”</p><p>But Whiteland held on, smothering Greenwood on a few key possessions and knocking down enough free throws to keep Taft and the young Woodmen at bay.</p><p>“Natalie just stuck to (Taft),” Harlow said of Stuck’s defense in the closing stretch.</p><p>Taft. who led all scorers with 17 points in the loss, has seen a great deal of growth from her teammates throughout the season.</p><p>“We’re just getting more comfortable with each other,” she said. “We have tons of young girls who haven’t experienced varsity much, so they’re just learning. … We’ve got to play a full game.”</p><p>Harlow led Whiteland with 15 points, while Stuck was close behind with 14.</p>