Whiteland girls hold off Indian Creek

<p><strong>W</strong>hiteland’s girls basketball team started Wednesday night celebrating its seniors. A pair of underclassmen helped keep the good times rolling.</p><p>Barely.</p><p>Junior Gracie McCullars and sophomore Braylyn Clendenen spearheaded runs at the ends of the first and second quarters, and the host Warriors held off a furious Indian Creek comeback over the final 10 minutes to earn a 51-44 victory.</p>[sc:text-divider text-divider-title="Story continues below gallery" ]Click here to purchase photos from this gallery<p>“All year long, they’ve kind of been our rim attackers,” Whiteland coach Kyle Shipp said of McCullars and Clendenen. “Those two really help us out tremendously with ball handling, taking the ball to the basket, getting to the free throw line and knocking those down.</p><p>“They’re key. When they play well, along with Toni (Joyner), we usually play well.”</p><p>The Warriors (11-12) scored the final nine points of the first period, taking their first lead on a Clendenen three-point play with 2:22 on the clock and eventually stretching their advantage to 14-7 by quarter’s end.</p><p>Indian Creek was able to force some turnovers early in the second to get within four, but Whiteland closed the half with another 8-1 burst, keyed by another Clendenen and-one and a 3-pointer from McCullars, to take a 27-16 advantage into the break.</p><p>The margin grew as wide as 36-18 late in the third quarter after four straight points from Whiteland sophomore Kylee Marlin. Indian Creek then made its closing charge, starting with a 17-4 run that made it 40-35 with 5:08 left after 3s from Lauren Pendleton and Ali Harris.</p><p>The Braves got within three on four different occasions down the stretch and had a pair of chances to get within one or tie, but Whiteland made stops when it needed to and converted enough foul shots at the end to hang on despite 25 turnovers.</p><p>Both teams committed 26 fouls.</p><p>“Hats off to them,” Shipp said of Indian Creek. “They picked off their pressure a little bit, and we probably didn’t handle it as well as we should have, but down the stretch I thought we did a nice job getting the ball in bounds, taking care of the ball and knocking down some free throws here and there. But we definitely made it interesting.”</p><p>McCullars wound up with a game-high 17 points for the Warriors, who also got eight apiece from Clendenen and Marlin, seven points and seven rebounds from Joyner and eight boards from Wilnie Joseph.</p><p>The Braves, who finish the regular season at 13-10, got 10 points each from Pendleton and Kurstin Thompson as well as nine apiece from Harris and Hannah Grider.</p><p>“I think we can take a lot of positives from the second half,” Indian Creek coach Brian Ferris said. “We started playing our game again, and we got things out of it, and that’s what we’ve got to build on. It was a tough game, a hard-fought game, and that’s a better preparation for sectionals than not having a hard game beforehand. … I’m hoping that we’ll take it in stride and be ready to keep building from there.”</p>