For the Daily Journal
On paper, the girls basketball matchup between Hauser and host Greenwood Christian looked like a toss-up.
After all, both teams were coming off their last game of 2018 with a 60-point victory against the same opponent (Indianapolis Metropolitan), and both had handled another common opponent — Edinburgh — with ease.
In the end, though, it came down to fouls and free throws, with the Jets holding the unwanted edge in the former and the Cougars winning the latter.
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That proved to be the edge as the Cougars took a 54-43 nonconference win Thursday night.
Greenwood Christian coach Alan Weems was pleased with the play of the Cougars.
“We have shot the ball well (this season),” Weems said. “I’m pretty pleased with that, but we were more pleased with our concerted effort to play better man-to-man defense.”
That was evident as sophomore Savannah Frye had five blocked shots.
“Savannah has a real knack to time the ball well (on shots),” Weems said.
Not helping Hauser was the fact the Jets were also whistled for 18 fouls, twice the amount Greenwood Christian had, and the Cougars hit on 17 of 23 attempts from the line.
The Jets, meanwhile, only had three made free throws in four attempts.
Hauser coach Brad Hamilton did have a say about that.
“I don’t feel we got a lot of help from the officiating,” Hamilton said. “I don’t think it was consistent, but that’s not the difference. The difference was the layups that we missed, and we had some defensive lapses that hurt us.”
Hauser (5-11) was also missing some key players due to illness and injury, but Hamilton wasn’t making excuses there.
Hauser did win tthe rebounding category, securing 32, a dozen more than the Cougars, but the Jets also put a bullet in their foot with 19 turnovers, two more than Greenwood Christian.
A big key for the Cougars was their 17-4 lead at the start, from which the Jets never recovered. Greenwood Christian (10-6) held the Jets to 16 points total in the first half.
Greenwood Christian managed to keep the lead at double figures for most of the second half, but Hauser didn’t give up and was able to whittle the lead down to five with ample time remaining in the fourth quarter.
Weems wisely called a timeout, though, and that seemed to settle the Cougars down and they gradually pulled away, securing the game on free throws and then masterfully handling the ball in the final two minutes without taking a shot.
The Cougars were led by Frye’s 21 points. Fellow soph Izzy Reed added 17 points, while junior Alexis Mead had 13.
Hauser was led by Melanie Hasler, who had 11 points.
Greenwood Christian improves to 10-6, while the Jets fell to 5-11.
“We have to figure out a way to get off to a better start,” Hamilton said. “But the kids fought hard and I can’t fault the effort.
“We’re a work in progress.”
Up next for the Cougars is a date against 4A Greenwood on Jan. 11, while Hauser travels to Oldenburg Academy on Tuesday, Jan. 8.
