By Trevor Frey, photo@bgdailynews.com — 270-1700 ext. 348

Gators end streak

Greenwood girls pull past Bowling Green

By Rob Herbst, rherbst@bgdailynews.com — 270-783-3238

Saturday, January 15, 2005

Greenwood coach Blane Embry admitted he was tickled to death despite trailing by 10 to Bowling Green at halftime.

When the District 14 clash ended, Embry had even more reason to be delighted.

The Gators sputtered early offensively, but overcame the troubles and knocked off the Purples 48-45 on Friday at Gator Alley. Their victory ended the Purples regular-season stranglehold over the Gators as Greenwood hadnt defeated BGHS in the regular season since Jan. 13, 1998.

Anytime you beat a rival, youre happy for the kids because you see them work so hard every day, Embry said. You just want some good things to happen for them and it did tonight after it looked like we were a little bit done early.

To knock off the Purples, Greenwood had to escape two possible game-tying attempts in a wild final 10 seconds. Trailing 47-45, Bowling Greens Russell Parker went to the free throw line with 4.1 seconds left after he was fouled in the paint while grabbing an offensive rebound.

But Parker missed the first free throw before BGHS was called for a lane violation on the second attempt. The Purples then fouled Greenwoods Ty Tipton, but a double technical was called on Tipton and Michael Jackson because of an after-foul tussle.

Because it was Tiptons fifth foul, Tiptons replacement, Preston King, had to come off the bench for the personal foul shots. King split the free throws, and because the possession arrow favored Bowling Green, the Purples regained possession at midcourt with 3.2 seconds left and trailing 48-45.

As soon as I heard (the PA announcer) say possession arrow, I knew in the back of my mind it was going to be Bowling Greens, Embry joked. You kind of get that feeling, but then I thought, So what? Our defense had been there all night long.

And its a tough position for (King) to come off the bench. I told them he didnt have to hit both, one would be fine.

Bowling Green center Matt Taitt got an open look at the top of the key for a game-tying 3-pointer, but his shot missed at the buzzer, which began a raucous GHS celebration.

It wasnt what I drew up, but it never is in that situation, Beth said. We were fortunate enough just to have an opportunity to get a 3 after what happened.

There was no Greenwood celebrating through the first three quarters. Greenwood scored only 15 first-half points and trailed 27-15 in the opening minute of the third quarter.

Greenwood went scoreless for a four-minute stretch in the first quarter and a three-minute stretch in the second quarter. But the Gators defense prevented Bowling Green from getting an insurmountable lead in the first half.

We werent doing anything offensively, but our defense kept us in it, Embry said. But our defense held a pretty potent offense to only 25 points in the first half so we were tickled to death to be down only 10.

Greenwood then found offense from Tipton and Lee Portman. After scoring only two points in the first half, Portman finished with a game-high 17 points and eight rebounds. Portman was 7-of-7 from the free-throw line. Tipton added 13 points.

The Gators took their first lead at 33-32 when Tipton scored inside with 7:01 left in the contest.

We were down and we couldnt execute our offense at all, Portman said. I just tried to get open more and take it to the basket. But our defense won it for us.

Once Greenwood took the lead, it never trailed again. The Gators held Bowling Green to under 30 percent from the field in the second half and BGHS was only 10-of-22 from the free-throw line. Jackson had 16 points and Taitt added 11.

Give Greenwood credit for coming back and playing with heart and emotion in the second half, which we did not do in the second half, Beth said. You cant give a team momentum on their home court and we lost our focus in the second half.

Because of Fridays result, chances are the two teams will meet again in the opening round of the District 14 Tournament, which will be played at Greenwood.

Both Greenwood (10-9) and BGHS (9-4) are 2-2 in District 14 and sit behind undefeated Warren Central.

What we just did more than likely was set up a game against Greenwood on their home court in the district tournament, Beth said. Its a good challenge I guess. If we knew who would win, I wouldnt have the stress.

Greenwood returns to action on Friday when it hosts Clinton County. Bowling Green hosts Monroe County on Tuesday.

Bowling Green 11 14 7 13 – 45

Greenwood 6 9 16 17 – 48

Bowling Green (45) Jackson 16, Taitt 11, Parker 8, Blann 7, Savage 2, McMillian 1

Greenwood (48) Portman 17, Tipton 13, Davis 7, Peterie 6, Keith 4, King 1

Greenwood 53, Bowling Green 50 (girls)

Greenwood overcame an 18-2 run by Bowling Green in the first half and held on for a 53-50 win.

The Lady Gators Cali Carter sparked a fourth-quarter spurt when she scored 10 consecutive points with the help of two 3-pointers after Bowling Green took a 37-36 lead in the opening seconds of the fourth quarter.

Carter finished with a career-high 19 points.

We came out flat, Greenwood coach Ken Waddell said. It took us a half to get going and Cali was aggressive for her, which we needed.

Bowling Green went on a four-quarter roller coaster. After leading by 11 24-13 following an 18-2 run, the Lady Purples trailed 50-41 with 3:02 remaining in the game. But BGHS closed the gap to 51-48 with 28 seconds left.

The Lady Purples Kattie Jones missed a game-tying 3-pointer with 10 seconds remaining and Greenwoods Katie Sanderson sealed the win with two free throws.

Lea Sears led Bowling Green with 14 points.

This is the first time that I used timeouts to try and stop the bleeding in the fourth quarter and it stopped it, BGHS coach Jason Kupchella said. We were in our last three games with minutes to go and ended up with double-digit losses because we couldnt stop the bleeding. So we made huge strides in that.

Greenwood (11-7 overall, 3-1 District 14) is 1/2 game ahead of Warren Central and Warren East. The Lady Gators face Ballard next Saturday. Bowling Green (4-10, 0-4) takes on Monroe County on Tuesday.

Bowling Green 6 19 9 16 – 50

Greenwood 10 10 16 17 – 53

Bowling Green (50) Sears 14, Deeb 10, H. Jones 7, Gorman 7, K. Jones 5, Edmonds 5, McKinney 2

Greenwood (53) Sanderson 19, Carter 19, Kitchens 8, Embry 5, Dewitt 2  Daily News ·813 College St. ·PO Box 90012 ·Bowling Green, KY ·42102 ·270-781-1700