Greenwood’s boys basketball team lost because of a few tangible reasons Tuesday, but Woodmen coach Bruce Hensley lamented intangibles to a greater degree.
Visiting Beech Grove used a halfcourt trap to score 22 points off 14 Greenwood turnovers and pieced together 15-0 and 12-2 runs to overwhelm the Woodmen and secure a 66-54 road victory.
Hensley blamed a poor mental approach for the turnovers and long Beech Grove scoring spurts, and he said it’s been a problem that’s plagued Greenwood to an extent throughout the season.
“We have so much leakage in terms of what we talk about in practice,” Hensley said. “In practice, you get to stop and talk about it. We don’t get to do that in games.”
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Click here to purchase photos from this galleryGreenwood (3-4) bolted to an early 6-0 lead, but the Hornets (4-3) gradually got back into the game, utilizing a delayed halfcourt trap after made baskets. They cut the Woodmen lead to 11-10 with 3:19 to play in the first quarter. Eight seconds later, after Greenwood’s Adam Rapp hit a free throw, Beech Grove reeled off 15 straight points, building a 25-12 lead one minute into the second quarter.
The Hornets scored the final nine points of that run in transition and the final five off consecutive Woodmen turnovers.
The Woodmen trimmed the Hornets’ lead to 35-32 on a Braydon Kincaid layup with 4:51 remaining in the third quarter, but Beech Grove responded with a 12-2 run, which featured seven more points off turnovers, and extended its lead to 47-34 with 51 seconds left in the third quarter.
Greenwood scored the next seven points to cut the lead to 47-41 with 5:51 to play but never drew closer. The Woodmen didn’t score consecutive baskets the rest of the game.
“Guys want to make plays, but sometimes they think they have to do it on their own,” Hensley said. “Sometimes, we get too excited. We just need to play the next possession.”
The Woodmen’s frontcourt duo of Eric Moenkhaus and Jeffrey Reynolds dominated the stat sheet. Moenkhaus scored 19 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, both team highs, while Reynolds added 14 points and eight boards, shooting 7 of 13 from the floor.
Beech Grove senior guard Chase Andries tied Moenkhaus for game-high honors with 19 points.
“We’re not very good at communicating with each other,” Hensley said. “Bill Russell once said that basketball is the most difficult sport because you have to communicate at full speed, and we struggle with that. We’ve got to work harder, focus more in practice and listen better.”
The Woodmen are off until Dec. 30, when they play at Center Grove.
