Purples push past Gators for 66-50 home win

Published 11:15 am Saturday, January 25, 2025

by Jeff Nations

Bowling Green’s boys’ basketball team spent the first eight minutes of Friday’s District 14 home game against Greenwood trying to deliver a quick knockout blow.

The Gators got right back up off the mat over the next quarter and a half to pull even after trailing by as much as 13 points early.

Then the Purples went right back to work, answering with a 10-1 surge that put them firmly back in front on the way to a 66-50 win.

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“In timeouts I was telling my teammates, let’s just keep playing, keep playing, keep playing,” said Bowling Green senior Kadyn Carpenter, who finished with a team-high 15 points. “Calls might not be going our way — just keep playing, keep moving the ball, keep everybody involved and just keep a smile on your face. That’s all it is.”

Bowling Green (14-4 overall, 3-1 District 14) blistered the Gators in the first quarter, hitting 7-of-13 shots from the field and 6-of-6 from the free-throw line to build a 22-9 lead by the end of the first.

Greenwood (14-7, 0-4 District 14) answered with a 10-0 run to open the second quarter, then nearly pulled even on an Asher Pettus layup that made the score 27-25 with 1:38 left in the third.

The Purples stretched their lead back to seven but Greenwood came right back swinging, with Garrett Hatcher scoring a pair of baskets sandwiched around a Ryan Troutman 3-pointer to knot the score at 34-all with 4:29 to play.

“That second quarter they did everything right,” Bowling Green coach D.G. Sherrill said of the Gators. “And we didn’t do anything right. So we talked about the adjustments coming out for the third quarter. They kind of hung around there, but we thought we could just keep that pressure up and keep playing fast, playing fast, playing fast, get some turnovers, get some easy buckets and I thought we’d get the game turned our way.”

Ethan Kirkwood’s basket in the paint got the Purples going, Jace Wardlow hit a jumper, then Luke Idlett hit back-to-back 3-pointers and the lead was back to nine points.

Carpenter added a 3-pointer and then scored a layup off a steal to help his team lead 49-39 heading into the fourth.

Greenwood didn’t get closer than nine points the rest of the way as Bowling Green swept the regular-season series.

“Our intensity started to pick up and defensively we were doing better on all levels,” Bowling Green senior Braylon Banks said. “We needed to rebound in the first half — we kept on giving up second-chance points. We just rebounded well and started pushing the ball more because we know our fast-paced game is our best play.”

Banks finished with 14 points, Idlett had 12 points and Joseph Hurt tallied 10 points for Bowling Green, which overcame getting outrebounded 29-17 by winning in turnover margin by forcing 15 and only losing six. The Purples were 22-of-53 (41.5%) shooting.

Pettus finished with 16 points and eight rebounds to lead the Gators, who hit just 18-of-54 shots (33.3%) and didn’t help themselves at the free-throw line (11-of-23).

“You can’t let their quickness dictate how you play throughout and we did early,” Greenwood coach Will McCoy said. “We adjusted and then for whatever reason they went on that third-quarter run after we tied it and we weren’t the same team that we were in the second quarter. We were panicked, we rushed possessions, we didn’t make good decisions. We just kind of changed what we were doing.

“That’s a testament to (Bowling Green). They have so many guys that can score so many ways that you’ve got to stick to the script. I think sometimes that’s easier said than done. It’s difficult when there’s four or five guys scoring in double figures and you start seeing the ball go in the basket for them, it’s easy to get a little frazzled and we did tonight late.”

GHS 10 17 13 11 — 50

BGHS 22 10 10 17 — 66

GHS –– Pettus 16, Murrell 7, Hatcher 6, Meador 6, R. Troutman 5, Tuttle 5, N. Simpson 3, K. Simpson 2.

BGHS — Carpenter 15, Banks 14, Idlett 12, Hurt 10, Bailey 7, Kirkwood 4, Wardlow 4.

GIRLS

Bowling Green 37, Greenwood 31

Bowling Green turned to its frontcourt to shake loose from a tight contest with Greenwood on Friday night.

After a sluggish offensive performance by both teams in the first half, the Lady Purples separated with an 8-2 run over the final five minutes of the third quarter, with all four baskets coming right under the rim.

That turned what had been a two-point lead into a nine-point edge by the end of the third as the host Lady Purples prevailed 37-31.

“I really thought that us bigs and my teammates, we really put the chemistry together, started throwing the ball inside and making strong moves — you know, dribble moves and stuff like that that coach (Calvin) Head works with us on every day,” Bowling Green junior forward Kori Ware said. “So I think that really got us to get this win.”

Bowling Green (8-8, 4-0 District 14) was deadlocked at 15 with Greenwood (8-9, 2-2 District 14) at halftime. A quick 5-0 burst to open the third on a pair of made free throws by Katy Smiley and a 3-pointer from Maddie Davenport pushed the Lady Purples back out by five, but Molly Tandy got the Lady Gators back to within three with a layup.

Then the Lady Purples went to work in the paint, as Aniyah Smith and Zara Hall scored inside before Ware sank two straight high-percentage shots to give her team a 28-19 lead heading into the fourth.

Greenwood put together a 6-0 run to get back to within three at 34-31, but after Savannah White’s 3-pointer with 3:42 to play the Lady Gators did not hit another shot from the field.

“I thought defensively we got into a rhythm which is what we are trying to establish, and it allowed us to spread it out,” Head said. “Our bigs did a good job of finishing around the rim in the third quarter.”

Smiley led the Lady Purples with eight points. Ware and Smith each finished with six points and six rebounds, helping BG outrebound Greenwood 28-17.

Gracyn Nealon led Greenwood with eight points and nine rebounds.

GHS 8 7 4 12 — 31

BGHS 10 5 13 9 — 37

GHS — Nealon 8, White 6, Hendrix 5, Morrison 5, Tandy 5, Spidel 2.

BGHS — Smiley 8, Macy 6, Smith 6, Ware 6, Brown 4, Davenport 3, Hall 2, Pratt 2.

About Jeff Nations

Sports Editor, Bowling Green Daily News

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