For the Daily Journal
Class A No. 8 Greenwood Christian took its first step in defense of its sectional championship Wednesday.
It was no baby step either, but a pretty good leap as the host Cougars stepped all over Providence Cristo Rey, 72-10.
The win was the ninth straight for GCA (19-5), which tied the school record for wins.
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Also, it was the 16th time this season the Cougars won by double digits and their third win by more than 60 points.
Greenwood Christian moves on to face Tindley (15-8) in the 7:30 p.m. semifinal on Friday night.
Despite the easy win, coach Alan Weems wasn’t too pleased with the Cougars’ shooting.
“We didn’t shoot the ball very well,” he said. “I think at one time we were 5 for 22 or something like that in the first half, and that’s just not like us.”
The Cougars did “improve” in that first half, finishing 14 of 39 for 36 percent, but as the Wolves had only a single bucket to their name, it didn’t really matter.
Greenwood Christian kept the Wolves scoreless in the first quarter, jumping out to a 16-0 lead, but it was the Cougars’ defense that was something to marvel at as they forced 17 first-quarter turnovers — more than GCA committed the entire evening.
Providence Cristo Rey didn’t score its first point until a free throw at the 6:08 mark of the second quarter.
It was more of the same in the second half, with GCA continuing to score while forcing the Wolves into turnovers, or poor shot selection when they managed to shoot the ball.
Overall, Providence Cristo Rey (7-15) took only 23 shots, hitting four, and they were almost as dismal from the free throw line, connecting on only two of 11 attempts.
Holding onto the ball wasn’t the Wolves’ forte either, though the Cougars had a lot to do with that. Cristo Rey committed 43 turnovers.
Greenwood Christian had 10, and Weems was pleased with their play in the second half.
“We decided to move the ball around and when you do that, you’re going to get better shots,” Weems said. “I wasn’t too unhappy with the way we played overall.”
Junior Izzy Reed led all scorers with 18 points, and she had nine rebounds to push her career total to 966.
Senior Alexis Mead added 14 points for GCA and sophomore Dory O’Dell had 11.
“We wanted to come out and make sure we played our game despite the name on the jersey,” Reed said. “We wanted to take care of business and I think we did that.”
As for the pressure of being the defending sectional champion and host, Reed said there was a little pressure, but nothing to worry about.
“We’re playing with some confidence and we’re ready for Friday,” she said.
