The Lady Pirates opened the season at home with a dominating win over the Lady Eagles Friday night. Leah West led GCHS with 23 points, her 10 point first quarter put the Bucs out front 26-5 through one and up 42-11 at the half. Carlee Adams kept Greensburg in the lead adding five points in the third frame. JCD added 24 second half points but freshman Aly Powers put up eight points in the second half to keep Greensburg out front and cruise to a 69-35 win. West scored 23, Powers 16, and Emma McQueen had 11 to lead the Lady Pirates in scoring. Greensburg will host North Decatur on Tuesday.
Rushville’s Leonie Boyer saw playing time as a freshman for the sectional champs
The Lady Lions’ basketball team will be looking for their 34th sectional championship this season after capturing number 33 last season. Coach Melissa Marlow is returning three starters from last year’s sectional championship team that finished 17-10 and only allowed 41 points per game. The season begins this Friday, Nov. 4. The Lady Lions will take on New Castle at the Hoosier Gym in Knightstown. Rushville opened the season last year with a 52-25 win over the Lady Trojans. The first home game on Cinda Rice Brown court will be this Saturday afternoon when they host Eastern Hancock. The Lady Lions will be returning one of the top defensive players in the conference with Briley Munchel back for her senior season. The guard is a three-year starter who has averaged 2.1 steals per game through her first three years. Her 9.4 points per game last season ranked second highest on the team. Rushville returns two frontcourt players who could make an impact this season. Senior Belle Gossett and sophomore Leonie Boyer both have varsity experience. Last year Boyer saw her playing time increase in the second half of season as she shot 34% from three-point range. Gossett, at only 5’5”, plays much larger than her height and gave Marlow a powerful presence on defense in her second season as starter. She averaged 5.7 points per game, 3.7 rebounds and 1.5 steals for the forward position. Marlow stated, “The Eastern Indiana Athletic Conference is solid all the way around, East Central and Greensburg are looking strong this season.” She added, “We had a great summer with a young team, Gossett and Munchel have been working very hard and staying committed to the team as leaders.” The Lady Lions will have a few new faces on the varsity team this season. Gracie Buzzard, Olivia Smith, Kylee Herbert, Kiley Parsley and Erica Kuhn will all see playing time for Rushville this season. The Northridge holiday tourney is Dec. 29 and sectional in early February.
Miley Wilkerson led Greensburg in scoring last season as a freshman averaging 15.5 ppg
The Greensburg girls’ basketball posted its first losing season last year under the direction of head coach Jason Simpson, who still owns a commanding 75%-win percentage in what is now his ninth season leading the Lady Pirates. The blue and white were clearly playing their best ball at the end of the season, however, winning six of nine after the new year and falling in overtime to Rushville in the sectional final. That momentum should carry over well into the 2022-23 calendar, starting with tomorrow night’s season opener at home against Jac-Cen-Del. North Decatur visits Tuesday. The Pirates are still extremely young, with 6-foot junior post Carlee Adams being the elder stateswoman. She contributed 5.5 points per game as a sophomore and nearly matched that with 5.3 boards a pop. A quintet of sophomores, getting their baptism under fire last winter, return for the Bucs. Guard Mylie Wilkison’s early availability is uncertain as she nurses an injury. Backcourt mates Emma McQueen, Ava Austin and Kayla Tamm are back, as is 6-1 power forward Leah West. Wilkison scored at an excellent 15.5 clip and added 3.2 rebounds as a frosh. She sank 31 3-pointers. West went for 12.9 points and 8.5 caroms, adding 1 block per match. Tamm put in 8.1 points per contest and added 61 long balls. McQueen averaged 3.4 rebounds per game a year ago. A deep and precocious freshman class enters the fray for Simpson: guards Carmen Thackery, Mary Harmon, Aly Powers and Lilly Murray; forward/center Elizabeth Balser; guard/forward Emma Kuntz and center Bailey Clark. East Central remains the class of the Eastern Indiana Athletic Conference, led by Indiana Miss Basketball candidate Josie Trabel. The Pirates and Rushville appear to be the toughest outs beyond that. Greensburg plays in the Plainfield holiday tourney Dec. 29-30. Sectional is the first week in February.
Franklin County Junior Nicole Mears led all scorers with 29 points
Brookville- The North Decatur Lady Chargers battled hard with the Lady Wildcats early; there were seven lead changes by halftime and a tie ball game at the end of the third quarter. The final frame went to the Lady Cats despite a Charger comeback. Nicole Mears led all scorers with 29 points for FC.
The first quarter started off with the Lady Cats jumping out to a 9-0 lead. North was able to get on the board with 4:15 to go in the frame with Ella Kunz hitting a jumper in the paint. Madelyn Bohman hit a three-pointer and another Kunz basket brought North within four points of the Lady Cats. Before the first frame ended, Mears added four more points and Tiffany Billman hit two free throws to give FC a 19-13 lead after one.
North pulled closer with Bohman putting up seven points and Kelsey Haley hit a two-pointer to tie the game at 22-22. The Lady Cats put up seven more points in the frame but Madi Allen matched FC with seven points herself to give the Lady Chargers a 33-30 lead at halftime.
The third frame saw several lead changes with Mears adding 10 points for FC and Kunz adding five for North. The frame ended with the score 43-43.
The fourth quarter started the same as the previous frame until the Lady Cats took control and scored 10 unanswered points, taking a 57-46 lead with three minutes to go. Haley added a three-pointer to stop the FC run, then drained another long ball to bring the score to 57-54. Mears added another basket and Kassidy Schell hit a free throw, giving FC 61 points; Clare Kinker went two for two from the charity stripe but with just 20 seconds left, that was the last score North put in. Unofficial scoring for the Lady Wildcats: Mears 29, Billman 13, Josie Rofles 9, Kassidy Schell 5, Bailey Kaiser 3, Kiersten Schell 2
