January 15, 2021 – 6:00pm
By Perry Swack
South Warren will tip its season off at their home gym against archrival Greenwood on Friday night. The Spartans have already had four cancellations, while the Gators have completed four games. GHS knocked off Glasgow and #8 Allen County-Scottsville (in our preseason power rankings) and was defeated by #1 Bowling Green and #7 Franklin-Simpson. Greenwood was ranked fifth in the preseason ST power rankings and South checked in just behind at #6.
Last Time Out
Greenwood dropped a road game at Franklin-Simpson, 66-62
South will open its season tonight
Last Meeting – February 7, 2020
Greenwood knocked off South Warren, 65-60, as three players scored in double figures. Noah Stansbury led the way with 21 points on five made three-pointers. Cade Stinnett scored 19 points and grabbed 8 rebounds, while Ben Carroll chipped in 13 points and 5 rebounds. South Warren put four players in double figures as Tayshaun Jones and Caleb Mitchell scored 14 points, Jace Carver scored 13, and Parker Stobaugh added 11. Caden Veltkamp had a game-high 10 rebounds.
What to Watch For
Greenwood will look to get back in the winning column after dropping two of its last three games. The Gators have five players averaging 7.0 points per game, led by Cade Stinnett at 16.8 points. Transfer Aaron Brown has had a breakout season at The Swamp, averaging a double-double with 12.5 points and 10.5 rebounds per contest. Senior Marc Grant has hit 12 three-pointers through his first four games and is averaging 14.5 points per contest.
As for the Spartans, the Jason Holland Era will begin with a relatively experienced roster built on its height. Tayshaun Jones returns to lead the Spartans and Caden Veltkamp will look to build off of a strong sophomore campaign. Although it will be the South’s first game of the season, neither athlete will be appearing in their first competitive contest of the year. Jones starred on the pitch in goal for the Spartans’ soccer team as they reached the state championship, while Veltkamp led the Spartans’ football team to a highly ranked season before bowing out in the third round of the KHSAA playoffs.
Prediction
Will there be any rust for South in Coach Holland’s first game at the helm? You can expect a little bit, but there should be a lot of excitement to finally kick off the season. The Gators are averaging 71 points per game and are comfortable getting up and down the floor, as evidenced in a 96-93 triple overtime thriller over AC-S last week. Grant hit seven three-pointers in that win to lead Greenwood with 27 points. Brown scored 15 points and grabbed 13 rebounds. As for South, we know Holland will utilize the team’s height to its advantage. Adding transfer Malachi Reynolds should boost the Spartan frontline. It should be a fun matchup to see Stinnett and Grant go head-to-head in the backcourt with Jones and Luke Burton, as well as Veltkamp and Reynolds face off with Brown and Lofton Howard down low. I will take the Gators in a tight matchup that will come down to the final minutes.
Greenwood 74, South Warren 69
Stat to Know – 5
Greenwood has won five-consecutive games in the series dating back to February of 2018 when the Spartans knocked the Gators out of the 14th District Tournament.
