GREENVILLE – Greenville dropped a 57-35 matchup to the undefeated Tippecanoe Red Devils in MVL play.
“We are getting better at taking care of the basketball,” said Greenville coach Bobby Jones. “For the most part our guys competed for four quarters.”
The Red Devils brought a 10-0 mark to the game averaging 74.5 points per game with an average win of 21 points per game.
“We’re doing a much better job of attacking the basket and finding the open man,” said Jones. “We continue to have guys step up and make big shots for us.”
From the opening tip to the final buzzer, Tippecanoe used a smothering defense to earn the win.
“They trapped us hard and they trapped us smart,” Jones said. “Their guys were able to rotate and pick off those passes that we normally complete, but they’re a good team. They’re aggressive, long and athletic.”
Tippecanoe took the opening period 18-12 and followed up with a 16-6 second quarter sending the teams to the break with the visitors leading 34-18.
Points continued to be hard to come by for the Wave with 6 points in the third quarter book while the defense was holding the Red Devil to 12 third period points. Tipp held a 46-24 advantage after three complete.
“We have to be able to rotate to the open spots when we’re being trapped,” Jones stated. “For most of the night we had two guys crashing the offensive boards. We really needed three and that is something we will clean up and then just taking care of the basketball. These guys really got after us but that is something we will learn from.”
The teams played even in the fourth both scoring 11 points for a final 57-35 score with the Green Wave holding the Red Devils 17.5 points, well below their season average.
“We played the even in the fourth quarter,” said Coach Jones. “It was the second and third quarters that really hurt us. You can’t give up big runs to good teams like that and expect to win but we’re doing a much better job of attacking the basket and finding the open man.”
BOXSCORE:
GREENVILLE 35, TIPPECANOE 57
GREENVILLE – DJ Zimmer 11, A. Baumgardner 6, M. Bryant 6, N. Curtis 4, H. Bush 3, J. Bunger 3, R. Hanes 2 – TOTALS 12 5-6 2 35
TIPPECANOE – B. Knostman 15, C. Coppock 15, G. Garlitz 13, G. Caldwell 5, Z. Frederick 3, E. Manes 2, S. Clyne 2, G. Dean 2 – TOTALS 17 8-14 5 57
3-POINTERS:
Greenville 2 (H. Bush 1, J. Bunger 1)
Tippecanoe 5 (G. Garlitz 3, B. Knostman 1, G. Caldwell 1)
SCORE by QUARTERS:
12-06-06-11 35 Greenville
18-16-12-11 57 Tippecanoe
