Behind three different players finishing in double figures, the Greenwood girls’ basketball team earned a 56-34 win over Warren Central on Monday evening in the District 14 Tournament quarterfinals at Warren East High School.
The Lady Gators (12-16) – seeded fourth – led 12-8 after the opening quarter and 20-15 at halftime. Scoring 18 points in both the third and fourth periods, Greenwood put the fifth-seeded Lady Dragons away and advanced to the next round.
“Right after the Edmonson County game on Friday, we asked them what our record was – and they said 0-0,” Greenwood coach Zach Simpson said. “That’s the mentality we wanted them to have. Right now, it’s about thriving and winning. It’s about getting out there and doing what you know you can do – and I thought we made a lot of good decisions on the floor tonight.”
With Greenwood’s win, it’ll now meet top-seeded South Warren in Tuesday’s 6 p.m. semifinal.
Megan Une led the way for the Lady Gators with 16 points, while Carly Miller recorded a double-double of 15 points and 11 rebounds. Leia Trinh rounded out the Greenwood double-digit scorers with 12 points.
Krissy Johnson paced Warren Central (3-27) with 12 points in its season-ending defeat.
“It was extremely spectacular,” Miller said of her team’s win. “We just knew we had to come out here and get a win tonight – and I thought we all did a pretty great job of doing that.”
Warren Central was firing on all cylinders to open the game, scoring the first six points to hold a 6-0 lead at the 3:54 mark of the first quarter. Greenwood responded – and in a big way – closing the period with a commanding 12-2 run to lead 12-8 after eight minutes of action.
The two sides played a sloppy second quarter as either team managed to score in double digits. Back-to-back scores from Miller and Trinh put the Lady Gators up 16-8, and it later led 20-10 at the 4:25 mark.
“They all did great tonight,” said Miller of her teammates’ performances. “We’re really meshing together as a team. It’s a little late in the season, but we’re getting the hang of it and I think we’re going to continue that throughout the rest of the postseason.”
A 5-0 run by the Lady Dragons – highlighted by a tough runner by Johnson – helped them cut their deficit to just 20-15 at the break.
Greenwood stepped things up in the third quarter – outscoring Warren Central 18-7 to build a 16-point advantage entering the fourth. Leading 31-22 after Johnson scored for the Lady Dragons, the Lady Gators put together a 7-0 run – which included five from Une – to extend their lead to 38-22.
Leading 46-27 with 4:33 remaining after a basket from Miller, Greenwood soon went up 52-32 at the 1:26 mark of the fourth. The Lady Gators were able to cruise through that stretch and extend their season another day.
“Just overall they played together tonight. It was awesome,” said Simpson.
Greenwood – 12 8 18 18 — 56
Warren Central – 8 7 7 12 — 34
