Greenwood’s Gavin Ruppert jumps on a loose ball during Tuesday’s sectional game against Franklin Central.
Chris Williams | For the Daily Journal
Defense has rarely been an issue for the Greenwood boys this season, and the Woodmen played more than well enough at that end on Tuesday night to get a first-round sectional win on their home floor.
Offense, though, has been hard to come by for coach Joe Bradburn’s club, and the inability to score proved to be a fatal flaw in a season-ending 37-29 loss against Franklin Central.
“We were just struggling at pieces at different times of the year,” Greenwood junior Carter Campbell said. “We just could never piece it all together to get over the hump and win.”
In the front half of the twinbill, Franklin rode a big third quarter and 23 points from sophomore Wyatt Nickleson to a comfortable 63-39 win over Shelbyville. The Grizzly Cubs (9-14) will take on Greenwood in Friday’s first semifinal game, with Franklin Central to meet Center Grove in the other.
Greenwood didn’t score until a Noah Apgar got to the bucket with 2:36 left in the opening quarter, but it still never fell far behind thanks to its usually strong defense. The Flashes seemed poised to pull away when a Dhani Flannigan basket with 5:02 remaining in the half stretched the margin to 13-6, but the Woodmen scored the next three baskets to climb back to within a point when Gavin Ruppert scored on a nice back-door feed from Adam Ellinghausen at the 1:56 mark.
Airrion Boyd started heating up in the third quarter, scoring all seven of Franklin Central’s points in the period, but Greenwood stayed right on their heels, answering each of his scores to stay within four, 25-21, going into the fourth. The Woodmen couldn’t manage to get any closer down the stretch, however, and Flannigan provided a pair of dagger moments late, hitting a corner 3 with 1:55 to go and a three-point play 44 seconds later to clinch what had been a two-possession game for most of the night.
Apgar finished with 11 points to lead Greenwood, while Campbell and Jake Mosemann added six apiece.
“I felt like we played really hard,” Campbell said. “We try as hard as we can; we just couldn’t get over that hump at the end.”
In the opener, the Grizzly Cubs bucked Shelbyville’s early efforts to slow the pace, getting out into the open court whenever possible. It paid dividends in the first quarter, when Nickleson knocked down a pair of early 3s and Micah Davis added five straight points to help Franklin build a 13-3 lead in the first eight minutes. Shelbyville (5-18) fought back in the second behind the hot shooting of Jakob Heaton, getting as close as 23-18 when the senior opened the second half with a 3-pointer.
Nickleson, though, answered with a deep ball at the other end moments later, one of four that he knocked down while Franklin scored 18 unanswered points in a span of just over three minutes to take command. By the time the run reached its merciful end, the Grizzly Cubs were up by 23 and Nickleson had more points (21 on seven 3s) than the Golden Bears (18) did.
“Usually when I make my first few, I just start feeling it and keep shooting,” he said. “Carson (Hunter) actually came up and said, ‘I’m going to pass you the ball — just keep shooting, because you’re on fire.’”
Davis was the only other Franklin player to score in double figures, finishing with 14 points, but 10 different players got into the scoring column for head coach Adrian Moss’ team, which has now won three straight since going to a four-guard lineup.
“It’s working for us, because the ball moves and we’ve got more shooters,” Moss said. “As long as those guys buckle down on the defensive end, I like the way we’re playing right now.”
