Greenwood Christian girls bow out of regional

<p>For the Daily Journal</p><p>SHELBYVILLE</p><p>Greenwood Christian’s girls basketball team advanced deeper in the state tournament this season than any squad in the program’s history.</p><p>The Cougars also won’t lose any of this season’s players to graduation. That didn’t make Saturday’s loss to University in the championship game of the Class A Southwestern Regional any easier.</p><p>As is typical after season-ending losses, several players openly wept after the 55-29 loss to the third-ranked Trailblazers. But Cougars coach Alan Weems saw what GCA accomplished this season, realized that everyone’s on track to return next season, and couldn’t help but be optimistic.</p><p>“Last year, University was sitting in their locker room crying as well, because they didn’t get out of the regional,” Weems said, referring to the Trailblazers’ regional semifinal loss to Jac-Cen-Del last year. “Next year, we should have the same opportunity. We graduated four seniors and three starters from last year’s team. I love my basketball team. They epitomize the word ‘team.’”</p><p>The Cougars (17-11) still made history. After winning their first sectional title last week, they won the first regional game in program history on Saturday morning, riding a 33-point second quarter to a wild 80-62 semifinal triumph over North Central (Farmersburg).</p><p>That game featured a frenetic pace that allowed the teams to hoist a combined 136 shots, or one every 14 seconds. After leading 15-13 at the end of the first quarter, GCA dominated the second period offensively.</p><p>The Cougars hit 13 of 16 shots (81.3 percent) in the quarter, including 5 of 6 from 3-point range. They scored 14 straight points during one stretch, turning an 18-17 deficit into a 31-18 advantage.</p><p>They built a 61-39 lead with 2:09 remaining in the third quarter before the Thunderbirds (16-9) scored the game’s next 15 points to cut the GCA edge to 61-54 with 6:54 to play. But the Cougars withstood the run, outscoring North Central 19-8 the rest of the way.</p><p>Izzy Reed led GCA in the semifinal win with 23 points and 18 rebounds, both game highs. Alexis Mead added 20 points, including six 3-pointers, while Savvanah Frye scored 16 points despite missing long stretches during the second half with foul trouble.</p><p>“We felt like we were the better team,” Weems said of the semifinal win. “Our schedule, which includes a bunch of 4A and 3A schools, really prepares us. We got lots of drives to the lane, and our ball movement was good.”</p><p>In the championship game, Reed managed 13 points and a game-best 15 rebounds, but she shot just 2 of 11 from the floor (she hit 9 of 10 free throws). No other Cougars scored more than Frye’s seven points.</p><p>GCA struggled against University’s collapsing, physical defense, hitting just 9 of 42 from the floor (21.4 percent) after hitting 32 of 63 (50.8 percent) against North Central.</p><p>Lindsey Syrek, University’s 6-foot-1 post player, dominated the game on both ends. She scored a game-high 28 points, hitting 11 of 18 from the floor, blocked several shots and altered several more.</p><p>“Syrek is such a force underneath,” Weems said. “University is an outstanding basketball team. We thought we could do some things against them, but they took a lot of those things away. I thought we looked more tired than they did, but give University credit.”</p>