Greenwood throttles Logan County to improve to 5-0

Published 5:56 am Saturday, December 14, 2024

by Micheal Compton

The Greenwood boys’ basketball team had a simple game plan during Friday night’s clash with Logan County — keep the foot on the gas and don’t let up.

Greenwood did just that, building a commanding lead by halftime and cruising from there for a 75-36 win to improve to 5-0 on the season. It is the program’s first 5-0 start since starting 10-0 in 1997-98. Four of the wins have been by 22 points or more.

“We were the tone-setter tonight,” Greenwood coach Will McCoy said. “There have been a couple of wins where we kind of matched what the other team’s skill level was, the energy level was, and we wanted to get away from that. We wanted to make them have to match us. We felt like if we sped them up defensively it would work out in our favor. Of course it helps when you make shots.”

Email newsletter signup

Greenwood never trailed, leaping out to a 15-2 advantage about four minutes in and extending the margin to 22-8 by the end of the first quarter. The lead kept expanding, with a 10-2 spurt to open the second making the score 32-10. The Gators’ advantage ballooned to 50-26 after a bucket by Ojare Murrell in the final seconds of the half.

The Gators’ margin continued to expand, opening the second half with a 15-4 run that made the score 65-30 and started the KHSAA-mandated running clock with 3:15 remaining. The deficit didn’t dip below 31 the rest of the way.

“We’ve had a couple of third-quarter woes this year,” McCoy said. “Halftime, they were really engaged. You could tell they were not satisfied and they know to be a great team you kind of have to take those steps and keep those leads and keep doing what we were doing.”

Greenwood finished with four players in double figures. Ryan Troutman led the way with 15 points.

“I think what is different from this year to last year is our ball movement,” Troutman said. “We will pass it around really quick, find the open shot, shoot it and make it. Then we will come back and do it again.

“We killed all their momentum early and just kept going.”

Garrett Hatcher finished with 14 points for Greenwood. Nick Simpson added 12 points and Murrell tallied 10 points.

Davis Switzer led Logan County (1-3) with nine points.

“I think Logan has got a really good roster,” McCoy said. “I think coach (Josh) Frick is a phenomenal basketball coach. I told my kids it may be eight to 10 more games for them before they realize how good of a win that was.”

LCHS 8 18 10 0 — 36

GHS 22 28 19 6 — 75

LC — Switzer 9, Blann 8, Thomas 7, Hinton 4, Johnson 3, Hightower 2, Burr 2, Salpa 1.

GHS — Troutman 15, Hatcher 14, Simpson 12, Murrell 10, Pettus 6, Tuttle 4, Meador 4, Sampson 2, Sisson 2, Tabor 2, Kennedy 2, York 2.

GIRLS

Greenwood 41, Logan County 33

The Lady Gators closed with an 11-3 run to hold off the Lady Cougars and improve to 4-0 on the season.

“We’ve got a long way to go,” Greenwood coach Terrance Williams said. “We are working on it every day, but somehow, some way we are finding ourselves playing ugly, learning and still getting a win. That is good for us right now.”

Both offenses struggled to get going, with Logan County shooting 29.5% and Greenwood shooting 28.9%.

Logan County (3-2) led 10-7 after one and extended the advantage to 15-11 after a jumper from Avery Thompson with 5:02 left in the half. The Lady Cougars wouldn’t score again in the first half, as Greenwood closed with a 9-0 spurt to surge in front 20-15 at the break.

The two teams combined for 13 total points in the third quarter, with Greenwood clinging to a 25-23 advantage. Logan County opened the fourth with a 3-pointer from Britton Wetton to take the lead, but Greenwood answered with a 3 by Savannah White that made the score 28-26 Lady Gators.

Logan County tied the score at 28-all and 30-all before Gracyn Nealon gave the Lady Gators the lead for good with a 3 that made the score 33-30.

“With that 3 I was a little hesitant like, ‘Oh no, don’t shoot it,’ but she can shoot those,” Williams said. “She can make them, so we trust Gracyn with the ball in her hands.”

Greenwood would extend the margin to 38-31 when Logan County got a putback from Wetton with 41.9 seconds left for one last gasp. The Lady Cougars were unable to get any closer as Greenwood went 3-for-4 from the free-throw line in the final 25 seconds to seal the victory.

“We preach defense every day,” Williams said. “We preach it in timeouts. We preach it at halftime. We are a defensive team. That’s what we’ve got to do.”

Molly Spidel led the Lady Gators with 14 points.

“I feel like the post was really working tonight,” Spidel said. “I don’t know what it was, but they were all crowding the top. I feel like the post was a little more open tonight.”

White added 10 points, while Nealon finished with nine points and 10 rebounds.

TaKyiah Mason led Logan County with eight points.

LCHS 10 5 8 10 — 33

GHS 7 13 5 16 — 41

LC — Mason 8, Thompson 7, Welton 7, Biyeu 5, Adler 4, Holiday 2.

GHS — Spidel 14, White 10, Nealon 9, Hendrix 4, Morrison 4.

About Micheal Compton

I am a sports reporter and movie critic for the Bowling Green Daily News.

email author More by Micheal

More Sports

Raiders beat Barren County to grab early district lead

SLIDE SHOW: Trojans, Raiders face off in doubleheader

SLIDE SHOW: Greenwood hosts double header against Logan County

Reports: WKU linebacker Thomas commits to Louisville

Print Article