TROY – Greenville continues to roll as the Lady Wave doused the hard-charging Trojans of Troy 37-33 Saturday afternoon.
The Greater Western Ohio Conference win improved Greenville’s overall mark to 7-10 and 4-6 in the conference. Troy dropped to 9-9 overall and 4-7 in the GWOC.
Greenville and Troy were deadlocked 10-10 at the end of the first quarter. The Wave were led by Cassie Cromwell and Karsyn Shaffer, who dropped in 4 points apiece, and Saki Nakamura knocked in the only other bucket.
Second quarter offerings showed the Lady Wave rolling, much to Troy’s chagrin as the Trojans were held to 6 markers. The Lady Wave splashed in 10 for the canto and held a 20-16 lead after 16 minutes of action. Nakamura landed 4 points and freshman Morgan Gilbert and sophomore Jada Garland chipped in with 3 apiece in the second quarter.
Third quarter adjustments by both squads put points at a premium as a total of 11 points were scored. The Trojans had 7 and the Lady Wave netted 4 all Payton Brandenburg. However, after all was said and done the Wave still clung to a 1-point lead, 24-23, heading into the last eight minutes.
Fourth quarter fireworks warmed up the freezing gym with both squads hitting double digits. The Wave splashed in 13 counters and the Trojans tallied 10. The difference was at the free throw line as the Wave nailed 5-of-6 in the furious fourth and 13-of-17 for a 76 percent clip for the game. The Trojans could only nail 4-of-8 at the charity stripe in the quarter and 5-of-10 for the game.
Leading the Wave pack were Gilbert and Brandenburg with 4 points each. Also chipping in important free throws was Shaffer, who was a perfect 2-for-2, and Cromwell, who drained in one freebie.
“This was a must-win game for us overall and also in the GWOC,” Kerns said. “This was a solid team win as we out-quicked them all afternoon long, which we must do to our lack of height. Defensively we were on it and held them to 33, less than 9 a quarter.
“Freshman Morgan Gilbert had a great all-around game as she set the tone for the day,” the Greenville girls basketball coach continued. “We are a program on the rise because my first year here we won one game and then two and now we have seven so far.”
The leading scorer for Greenville was Brandenburg with 8 points followed closely by Gilbert and Cromwell, who drained in 7 points each. Nakamura and Shaffer had 6 points apiece to go along with Garland with 3.
Leading the Trojans was Alaura Holycross with 11, which was a third of the team’s points. Following her was Kiyha Adkins 8, Bailey Hess 4, Tia Bass 3, Jenna Kaup 3, Jordan Short 2 and Alyse Holter 2.
