Greenwood’s Keyara Johnson puts up a shot during Tuesday’s sectional matchup against Whiteland at Franklin Central.
Chris Williams | For the Daily Journal
INDIANAPOLIS
Six years is a long time between sectional victories.
Much too long if you’re part of the Greenwood girls basketball team, which broke its string of postseason one-and-dones Tuesday night by holding off pesky Whiteland, 39-33.
The first-round triumph at Franklin Central places the Woodmen (13-10) in Saturday’s second semifinal against the host Flashes (5-16).
Greenwood and Franklin Central did not play during the regular season.
The Woodmen had, however, played the Warriors twice during the regular season, winning by margins of 17 and 11 points. But by no means did they take their county and conference rival lightly.
“What we told our kids in practice is that it was going to be a serious, serious dogfight,” Greenwood coach Justin Bennett said. “Whiteland is a good team. They’ve got five seniors, and listen, playing any team for the third time, especially a crosstown rival, we knew it was going to be a tough game.
“Whiteland had a really good game plan. Hats off to coach Kellie (Kirkhoff). She does a great job with those kids, and they work super hard. We just made a few more plays at the end.”
The Warriors (6-17) led late in the third quarter, and were still within two, 32-30, with 1:23 left in the fourth after senior guard Emily Reed made a deep 3-pointer from the top of the key.
Forced to foul at the other end, Whiteland began sending Greenwood players to the stripe, starting with one-and-bonus attempts at the 1:13 mark. Junior guard Lily Howe, the game’s leading scorer with 13 points, swished 5 of 6 tries, with sophomore wing Brooklyn Bell tacking on two of her own late.
Bell, who appeared to injure her left ankle late in the third quarter, returned to score seven of her nine points in the fourth. She also led her team in rebounds with five.
“I was pretty nervous,” said Howe of her late-game free throw attempts. “I’ve been working on them all week after practice, so I feel like that helped a lot. You have to just not think about anything else, just like it’s a regular game, do your normal routine and see it go in the basket.”
Whiteland was led in scoring by Reed and senior Braylyn Clendenen with 11 points each. Another senior, center Muskaan Ghuman, finished with four points and a team-best five boards.
But for the first time since the 2015-16 season, Greenwood can say it’s moving on.
“It feels good,” Bennett said. “It’s great for these girls. They’ve worked their butts off to get where they need to be, and we had great support.”
In Tuesday’s opener, Class 4A No. 2 Franklin moved on by handing Shelbyville a 73-36 loss as sophomore guard Scarlett Kimbrell made good on six 3-pointers on her way to 20 points.
Seniors Kuryn Brunson and Ashlyn Traylor scored 17 and 13 points, respectively.
A 26-2 scoring run during the second quarter took what had been a 15-14 Grizzly Cubs lead and, just like that, made the Golden Bears barely visible in their rear-view mirror.
Franklin was 11 of 34 from behind the 3-point arc and 26 of 56 overall (46.4%), while Shelbyville went 14 of 36 from the floor (38.9%) and turned the ball over 22 times. The Cubs won the rebounding battle, 26-16, with Kyndell Jochim grabbing seven and Kimbrell five for Franklin.
The Grizzly Cubs (23-1) now prepare for Center Grove, a team they’ve beaten by three points in each of their two previous matchups this season, in Saturday’s 6 p.m. opener.
