Greenwood’s boys basketball team came into Friday night’s game at rival Whiteland boasting the stingiest scoring defense in Class 4A and the third-best in the state overall.
The Woodmen leaned on that defense during a pivotal stretch, using a 16-3 run over a span of eight-plus minutes in the second half to take control before holding off a furious Warrior comeback bid for a thrilling 52-50 victory to cap an intense girls-boys doubleheader.
“Defense has been our key all year long,” Greenwood coach Joe Bradburn said. “When we need to buckle down and get stops and put pressure on people, we’ve done a nice job of that. Tonight, we did that.”
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After the Warriors (3-7, 0-2 Mid-State) drew even at 24-24 on a Max Sullivan 3-pointer with about six minutes to go in the third quarter, Greenwood reclaimed the lead for good with a Brock Kincaid layup and Ian Raker’s fourth 3 of the evening. Those buckets sparked the decisive surge that left the visitors on top, 40-27, after a steal and layup by Raker with 6:17 remaining in the game.
Whiteland countered with a 6-0 run and got as eventually got as close as two on a Quinten Gillespie layup with 25 seconds remaining, but it couldn’t finish off the rally. Ty Moore hit four straight free throws in the closing moments to help the Woodmen hang on.
“We had a chance to put the game away,” Bradburn said of his team’s late struggles, “and I was a little disappointed in our guys because we rushed a possession and made a turnover and got them going. They took advantage, they got excited and we let that multiply. … That’s something we can’t do.”
The Warriors answered a game-opening 3-pointer from Raker with eight straight points and held the upper hand until a 7-0 run midway through the second quarter put the Woodmen in front, 17-15, at the 3:30 mark. The two teams went into the locker room tied at 19.
Raker scored 16 points and Gavin Dowling 15 for Greenwood (7-2, 3-0), with Nick Duffey adding seven and Brock Kincaid six.
Willoughby finished with a game-high 24 points in a losing effort for Whiteland. Sullivan and Gillespie added nine and seven points, respectively.
In the first half of the twinbill, Greenwood’s girls forced two dozen Whiteland turnovers, rallying from an early deficit for a 49-38 road win.
“Defensively, I love what we’re doing,” Woodmen coach Justin Bennett said. “I love the intensity, I love the effort, I love the energy, and to force another opponent to more than 20 turnovers, man, that’s amazing for our team.”
Whiteland opened the game with Toni Joyner twice kicking the ball out of the post to an open Gracie McCullars for 3-pointers, and another McCullars deep ball made it 9-2 early on.
The Warriors held the lead for the rest of the half, but the giveaways prevented them from stretching it beyond seven points. The Woodmen began taking advantage of the mistakes in the third quarter, taking the lead for the first time at 25-24 on an Anna Pritchett 3 midway through the period.
Izzy Zekalo beat the third-quarter horn with a 3-pointer, and Jenna Sawyer knocked another one down with 7:04 left in the fourth to give Greenwood a 37-28 cushion that held up the rest of the way.
Pritchett led a balanced Woodmen attack with 15 points, 10 of those coming from the foul line in the fourth quarter. Greenwood (3-12, 1-4) made 12 of 14 free throws in the final period after making just 9 of 19 in the first 24 minutes.
Quinn Kelly added 11 points in the win, followed by Sawyer with seven and Ashley Buster six. Brooklyn Stubblefield led the defensive effort with seven steals.
“I’m just proud of the kids for continuing to work,” Bennett said. “If you didn’t know our record and you watched our kids play, you’d think we won every game, because they come out and they play hard, and that’s all I can ask of them.”
McCullars led all scorers with 18 points for Whiteland, which also got 13 points and eight rebounds from Joyner.
