Indian Creek’s Faith Wiseman looks to the basket during Tuesday’s county tournament game at GCA.
On Tuesday night, Greenwood Christian’s gymnasium doubled as the launching pad to a potential matchup against the state’s fifth-ranked team in Class 4A.
Visiting Indian Creek used an inspired third quarter of play to pull away from the host Cougars, 55-38, in the opening round of the Johnson County girls basketball tournament.
The win assures the Braves a semifinal date with unbeaten Franklin. It will be the back end of a Thursday doubleheader at Center Grove.
“I think it’s going to be a fun game. It’s going to be an up-tempo game, and it’s going to be 32 minutes,” Indian Creek coach Brian Ferris said. “We’ve got to be prepared to just go out there and give it our best effort, and know that Franklin has scorers everywhere.
“Nobody can take defensive time off. We’ve got to keep after it and do what we do.”
What the Braves do and do well is showcase the talents of sophomores Faith Wiseman and Lauren Foster.
The 6-foot-4 Wiseman basically owned the interior, scoring 21 points and pulling down 24 rebounds. The latter total breaks the single-game school record of 22 established by former Indian Creek standout Dana Scott in the 1975-76 season.
Foster, a 5-7 guard, produced 14 points, six coming in the third during a 12-0 scoring run that helped the Braves separate themselves from GCA, which had pulled to within 28-27 on guard Ellie Bigelow’s drive to the basket at the 5:15 mark.
Ferris, whose squad improved to 2-1, couldn’t help but be impressed with the execution of his team in the third quarter. Greenwood Christian didn’t shoot the basketball well and, like the Braves, committed numerous turnovers.
But the Cougars continued to hang tough, led by Bigelow and fellow senior Dani Simon, a starting forward.
“I thought Faith had a chance to have a big game. I knew their post player had good size and was strong, but Faith is agile and quick enough that she could do some things if we got her the ball,” Ferris said. “(Foster) is the motor that drives our team. Defenses are keying on her, and sometimes it takes a little bit of time to get going.”
Simon led Greenwood Christian with 13 points, followed by Bigelow, who tallied nine and scrapped her way to eight rebounds. Junior guard Savannah Hall added eight points for Indian Creek.
Wiseman’s monster first half (12 points, 14 boards) was capped when she drilled a 3-pointer from the left wing with 28.2 seconds remaining in the second quarter as the Braves settled in at halftime with a 28-23 lead.
The Cougars’ lone advantage came after scoring the game’s first points on soph Sydney Waldron’s hoop in close. Indian Creek proceeded to score the next nine points to take control, but GCA continued to battle back, particularly early in the second stanza when they trailed, 16-13, after Bigelow splashed a triple from the wing at the 5:26 mark.
Consecutive hoops from Braves senior guard Emily Todor, the second a 3-pointer from the top of the key, seemed to put Indian Creek back in the driver’s seat momentum-wise. The Cougars responded with an 8-2 burst, six of the points from Simon.
