Kevin Stuckmeyer and Justin Bennett got to see the worst and best of their girls basketball teams Tuesday night.
Visiting Center Grove jumped to a 23-0 lead, then watched as Greenwood pieced together an inspired third quarter. The Trojans wound up notching what was their eighth consecutive win over the Woodmen, 40-24.
Sophomore guard Ella Hobson led Center Grove (13-9) with 10 points with reserve guard Kaho Takeda, also a soph, finishing with eight. Greenwood (2-13) received seven points and a game-best six rebounds from senior forward Jenna Sawyer and six points from junior post Quinn Kelly.
“We showed you both sides,” said Stuckmeyer, the Center Grove coach. “We showed you where we can be, and where we sometimes are. It’s tough because that’s how quick it can change on you. I don’t know. We can be a really solid team or we can be a team that pretty much anybody on our schedule can beat.
“We knew that. I knew that. It comes down to our mentality and our girls having the right mindset.”
Early on, that wasn’t an issue. The Trojans made seven of nine field goal attempts in the opening quarter and looked as if they would completely embarrass the host Woodmen on their senior night.
Then, trailing 32-6 early in the third, Greenwood dialed up its defense and scored 10 consecutive points to add a splash of suspense to a game that had previously contained none. Sawyer tallied six of those points for the Woodmen, with Kelly providing the other four.
“I think the festivities of senior night and the girls being proud and pumped up for the seniors, again, we’re still trying to catch our footing,” Bennett said. “I thought the girls came out and handled it really well. I called some timeouts to tell them it was okay and just to keep playing hard like they had been all year. The kids came out and played an awesome second half.
“The girls at halftime knew what they had to do, and they came out and executed. That was fun to see. I’m proud of them. Our motto is keep chopping wood, and those ladies kept chopping wood in the second half.”
Center Grove stormed to a 21-0 lead through one quarter and upped it to 23-0 on a Hobson layup early in the second. The Woodmen finally got on the board at 6:12 of the second on senior forward Ayesha Campbell’s baseline jumper.
Greenwood entered the half having made 2 of 11 field goal attempts. In that time, the Woodmen also committed 15 turnovers. For the game, Center Grove shot 15 of 36 from the floor (41.7%) compared to Greenwood’s 9 of 31 (29%).
The Trojans close the regular season on Friday night at defending Class 4A state champion Lawrence North. Greenwood plays home games on Friday and Saturday against Mid-State Conference opponents Perry Meridian and Decatur Central.
