Center Grove’s Will Spellman reacts after hitting a last-second shot at the end of the first half Wednesday at Greenwood.
Rob Baker | For the Daily Journal
Ranked fourth in the preseason Class 4A poll, Center Grove wasted little time justifying the hype on Wednesday evening.
The Trojans overwhelmed host Greenwood during a one-sided first quarter and never relented, opening their season with a 77-51 road win.
Will Spellman paced a group of four Trojans scoring in double figures, finishing with 18 points and nine boards.
“From the start, we played really intense,” Spellman said. “In our scrimmage against Brownsburg, we came out a little lackadaisical, but we really came out (tonight) and put in a lot of effort on the defensive end, diving for 50/50 balls, screening bodies, and then the shots just came.”
Up 6-5 a little more than three minutes in, the visitors reeled off 12 unanswered points in two minutes, with a Ben Chestnut 3-pointer stretching it to 18-5 at the 2:56 mark of the first period. Two more treys, one from Chestnut and another from Joey Schmitz just before the horn, made it 24-6 after one.
“No matter what game you’re playing, the first four minutes of the first quarter and the first four minutes of the third quarter are something that every coach talks about,” Center Grove coach Zach Hahn said. “I thought we got off to a good start in both of those segments.”
The Woodmen played the Trojans to a virtual standstill in the second quarter, matching them shot for shot most of the way, but the closest they could get was 28-15 on a Parker Doolin 3 with 3:49 to go. Spellman answered that bucket with a three-point play at the other end nine seconds later, and his buzzer-beating putback sent Center Grove into the locker room with a 35-18 cushion.
Spellman was dominant inside, collecting nine points, six rebounds and a blocked shot in the second period alone — all despite the fact that he missed much of the offseason with a shoulder injury and didn’t get back on the court until September.
“He missed all of his offseason work,” Hahn said of Spellman, “but what he didn’t do was sit around and mope. He ran every day, stayed in shape, so when he did get his shoulder back feeling good, he was ready to work.”
Consecutive 3-pointers from Isaac O’Neal and John Ollanketo pulled Greenwood back within a dozen at 41-29 midway through the third, but Center Grove promptly answered with a Chestnut 3 and an and-one from Schmitz, and a layup from Jalen Bundy grew the Trojan lead to 60-36 entering the final period.
Chestnut hit his fourth 3 of the night and then converted a Bundy outlet into a fast-break layup that made it a 30-point game, 69-39, with five and a half minutes remaining.
Chestnut finished the game with 15 points for the Trojans, followed by Bundy and Schmitz with 12 apiece; Dylan Meador chipped in nine points and Michael Ephraim added eight. For the Woodmen, Ollanketo had 12 points on four 3-pointers and O’Neal joined him in double figures with 10 points.
Though the score doesn’t reflect it, Greenwood coach Keith Witty was proud of how his team fought throughout against a bigger and more experienced squad.
“We’re not going to see many teams as good as what they are,” he said of the Trojans. “Now granted, we may see them two more times, but to have that be your opening night after two weeks of work in a whole new system and learning what I want them to do, it’s tough. … But I just felt like we competed beginning to end. It may not look the prettiest the whole time, but our guys didn’t give up.”
Center Grove, meanwhile, has a clear hunger coming into this season after ending the last one with an upset loss in the sectional.
“That sectional loss last year is definitely a big motivation for us,” Spellman said. “No one really talks about it, but we all have it in the back of our minds that hey, last year we underperformed, this is our year. We have to go out and show everybody we are legit.”
The Trojans are currently 1 for 1 in that department.
ZH
not thrilled with D or offensive execution
