Indian Creek girls basketball tops Greenwood

For the Daily Journal

In Indian Creek girls basketball coach Brian Ferris’ view, freshman guard Lauren Foster was still feeling the aftereffects from a subpar effort.

“She was kind of out of it,” Ferris said. “She didn’t have the greatest game Friday (in a lopsided loss to Edgewood) and took her a little bit to shake off the rust from that. She played well, and definitely knocking down their free throws was good.”

Foster scored 20 points to lead the host Braves to a 52-43 victory over Greenwood Tuesday night. Foster hit 12 of 15 free throws, including 7 of 8 in the fourth quarter.

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Junior guard Emily Todor chipped in with 16 points for Indian Creek, hitting 5 of 6 free throws. The Braves (7-4) hit 20 of 29 free throws as a team, while Greenwood (1-9) was 12 of 25.

Senior forward Jenna Sawyer was the high scorer for the Woodmen with 26 points, hitting three 3-pointers.

“The first half (Sawyer) was taking it to the middle,” Ferris said. “We talked about we had to come off and double on that if we can and try to force her to shoot outside. Then she made those two 3-pointers right off the bat (in the third quarter). Then we had to fix that by pointing a little more pressure out and try to get help side if she does take it to the hole. The kids came on and were switching on and off with her. We did a little better job with that. She was a tank and we had to slow her down a little bit.”

Indian Creek scored the game’s first five points and never trailed, leading 22-14 at halftime. However, the Woodmen narrowed the deficit to two points three times in the second half.

The first time was when Kiersten Powell scored to close the gap to 25-23 midway through the third quarter. The Braves responded with a 9-0 run to take a 34-23 lead. Greenwood scored the final six points to close the gap to 34-29 after three quarters.

Greenwood closed the deficit to two points twice more in the fourth quarter, the final time on Brooklyn Bell’s two free throws to cut it to 43-41 with 2:31 left.

The Braves held a 9-2 advantage the rest of the way.

“They put a lot of pressure and we made some mistakes through that pressure,” Ferris said. “We missed some free throws early. Whenever we got back to what works for us. We were able to take care of the basketball, make a defensive stop, hit our free throws. We got that together when they when they were needed.”

Greenwood had to play without leading scorer Quinn Kelly, who was under quarantine.

“We did compete hard; missing Quinn Kelly really hurt us,” Greenwood coach Justin Bennett said. “Our girls went out and worked hard, especially in the second half. Kamryn Mayo played some really good basketball. She gave us a big time boost diving on the floor for loose balls, getting some steals and being in the right place for rebounds. I thought it was infectious. What can I say about Jenna Sawyer? She played her butt off to give us a chance to win.”

Bennett said Ferris always has his girls playing hard. “They knocked down shots and they hit free throws down the stretch when they needed to,” he said. “We got a little better today and we’ll try to continue to prove.”

Bennett expects Kelly to be back against Brebeuf Jesuit Dec. 29. He added that this was just Sawyer’s third game because she had back-to-back stints in quarantine.

“For her to come back and play the way she is playing is so good to see,” he said. “She is going to continue to get better as she gets in better game shape and we get everyone back healthy.”