Up 45-14 going into halftime on Tuesday evening, one would think Center Grove’s girls basketball team would have eased up. But the host Trojans didn’t let up, only allowing two points the whole second half and blowing out Edinburgh 78-16 in the first round of the Johnson County tournament.
Center Grove (2-3) will take on Greenwood in a semifinal game on Thursday.
The Trojans were led by Savanna Bischoff, who had 18 points and hit 4 of 7 3-point shots. Audrey Annee picked up lots of layups in transition and totaled 12 points.
“(Bischoff) can shoot it, obviously, and she hit some shots early, but her feet were ready,” Center Grove coach Kevin Stuckmeyer said. “She will be the first one to credit the Ellas (Hobson), Audrey Annees, Emily Karrs, and the (Aubrie) Bookers to get her the ball and the screeners down low to get her the ball.”
The Trojans took the reins early by scoring 10 unanswered points, starting with a Bischoff 3 and ending with Bischoff coming up with a steal and finding Ella Hobson for a contested layup with over five minutes left in the first quarter.
“You always want to start the game strong and set the tone, and, if you can get it going early, it kind of helps your energy, helps your focus. We’ve been trying to do that all year,” Stuckemyer said.
Edinburgh (1-4) was buried quickly under another 9-0 Trojan run, a product of steals that converted into easy transition baskets. The Lancers were not without hope, though, with Gracie Crawhorn sinking a 3 to close the quarter at 21-7.
Center Grove created even more separation in the second quarter. Bischoff hit the Lancers with a final blow in the form of a last-second 3 that put the Trojans up 45-14.
“We came out in a huddle and our goal was to reset the tone 0-0 but to build our lead from the first (half),” Annee said.
A heart-crushing third quarter was in store for the Lancers. Center Grove came up with six open layups off of intercepted passes and rebounds, with three of those layups belonging to Booker. Center Grove continued to press, with Edinburgh’s only relief coming in the form of Cloee Britton’s open mid-range bucket. The Trojans closed the quarter with a 66-16 lead, getting another late 3 from Lindsey Walker, who finished the night with 11 points.
Although it was not the result that Edinburgh coach Amy Schilling wanted, she hopes the team becomes tougher from the experience.
“We’ve just got to get mentally tougher, and that comes no matter if you’re playing a 4A school or a 1A school; we just have to play mentally tough,” she said. “We talked about having the right mentality coming out, not getting upset, staying together. Just working on our ball handling, attacking the basket, being ready to shoot, reading the defense. There are little things we can take away from each and every thing. That’s a good team, they have a solid group.”
On the Trojans’ side, Stuckmeyer hopes that team takes the process that went into the win and carries it throughout the rest of the tournament.
“You always want to create positive momentum, so we need to take this feeling and understand how we got here and start to replicate it and take care of the process and take care of games this way and feel the composure, the focus, the preparation that all goes into it, and just allow that to make it happen,” Stuckmeyer said. “Obviously, as you get going through a championship week, the test gets stronger, and you just have to trust your process and just be a little bit more locked in as you get there and allow that to take care of itself.”
