Greenwood boys basketball coach Keith Witty wasn’t expecting a raucous homecoming but admitted it was difficult in his first trip back to the Edinburgh court since taking the reins at Greenwood this past summer.
Witty, who had been the Lancers’ coach for the previous six seasons, had fond memories of his stay, with four winning seasons and two sectional championships.
Tuesday’s contest against his old team provided at least one more night of fun, as the Woodmen pounded the Lancers 81-49 in the opening round of the annual Johnson County tournament.
It was the first time the Woodmen scored 60 points this season.
Greenwood (4-8) now plays tournament host Center Grove on Friday in a 7:30 p.m. semifinal, with the winner of that tilt going for a county championship on Saturday.
“This was a hard game for me,” Witty said. “I know these kids and had coached the seniors since the sixth grade. It was sort of odd to see them in the tourney, but this was a good win for us. We played well, probably the best we have all season.”
Needless to say, with Witty’s return, the energy started off the court with the crowd at tipoff. Fans from both teams were doing whatever they could to be louder than the other. It soon spilled over as the teams scrapped and clawed for every rebound, pass and loose ball.
Despite the noise, Greenwood snatched the momentum early, taking a 23-7 lead thanks to five first-quarter 3-pointers and Edinburgh’s starting forward Jackson Hartwell picking up two early fouls that forced him to sit out most of the first.
At one point, the Lancers closed the gap to 10, but the Woodmen kept up their pace in the second half, hitting two 3s in the third quarter and forcing the Lancers to take more bad shots at the other end.
Greenwood was led by sophomore Parker Doolin, who came off the bench to score 20 points and grab 10 rebounds. Isaac O’Neal had 17 points, while Ben Hommell had 13 and Jake Mosemann 11. Austin Brockman led the Lancers with 15 points, while Connor Ramey chipped in with 13.
The loss drops the Lancers below the .500 mark for the first time this season at 6-7; they’ll try to even the record back up when they host Eminence Saturday evening.
Greenwood has now won four of its past six games after starting the year 0-6, and they’ll need that momentum going into the Center Grove game. The Trojans beat the Woodmen 77-51 in the season opener.
“We’re starting to get our groove and play better,” Witty said. “It will be interesting to see how we do against them in round two.”
