<p>Greenwood’s boys basketball team isn’t big on racking up style points, but there isn’t a column for those in the Mid-State Conference standings.</p><p>After Friday’s 47-35 home win over Mooresville, the Woodmen found themselves sitting atop those standings, having clinched a share of the league title alongside Plainfield.</p><p>"We do what we do, and that’s the best explanation of any game that you come and see," Greenwood coach Joe Bradburn said. "We play with our hearts and our souls, we have a toughness about us on the defensive end. Guys are supportive and have a team together mentality all the way through."</p><p>A strong third quarter made the difference for Greenwood (14-5, 6-1), which led by just two at halftime before opening the third quarter with a decisive 8-0 burst.</p>[sc:text-divider text-divider-title="Story continues below gallery" ]Click here to purchase photos from this gallery<p>The Woodmen trailed early, 8-5, before Nick Duffey swung the momentum with a pair of 3-pointers over the back half of the first quarter. The senior then scored twice on dump-downs from classmate Gavin Dowling early in the second to stretch the Greenwood lead to 15-9.</p><p>Duffey scored 13 of the home team’s first 15 points.</p><p>"He’s our stabilizer," Bradburn said of Duffey. "Offensively, he keeps us calm, keeps the ball moving. … He sees the next pass, he reverses the ball well, but he’s able to knock down shots and he’s also able to go to the post some."</p><p>Mooresville cut the deficit to 17-15 by halftime, but Bryce Hoffman scored six straight points over the first 1:26 of the third quarter and Rasheed Elemikan added another basket to stretch the Greenwood advantage to 10.</p><p>Elemikan scored all six of his points in the third quarter, when he showed some of the assertiveness Bradburn has been trying to get a bit more of.</p><p>"When he attacks, he doesn’t have a whole lot of people who can slow him down," Bradburn said. "He made a difference in that third quarter, kind of started us with a little bit more aggression, a little more athleticism."</p><p>A run of eight straight points, capped by two Hoffman buckets to open the fourth, put the Woodmen comfortably in front, 40-24, with 5:05 left in the contest. Hoffman scored all 14 of his points after halftime.</p><p>The Pioneers didn’t do themselves many favors while attempting to come back, making just four of their first 13 shots from the foul line in the second half.</p><p>Bradburn wasn’t thrilled with how his team closed out on Friday night, but after back-to-back losses last week as several players were battling illnesses, he’ll take the momentum shift any way he can get it.</p><p>"It was a much-needed boost, a confidence level," he said. "We’ve responded most of the year; we had a tough loss in early January and we responded. We talked to our guys about that this week — you’ve got to back things up, you’ve got to put things together, you’ve got to put runs together and you’ve got to respond after a tough loss."</p>
