Greenville boys basketball team wins at Piqua

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PIQUA — On to Troy.

That is the approach Piqua is taking after a tough 72-53 loss to Greenville Tuesday in Greater Western Ohio Conference action.

The Indians dropped to 1-4 overall and 1-3 in GWOC American play while Greenville improved to 3-1 and 3-0, setting a matchup of American unbeatens at Sidney Friday.

At the same time, Piqua will travel to Troy, 1-3 overall and in American play, coming off a 70-56 loss to Tippecanoe Tuesday.

“We are going to get a win over the Trojans and get the ship righted before the holiday tournament,” Piqua coach Heath Butler said. “That is the focus now.”

The Indians got down by double digits in the second quarter against Greenville. Piqua stayed within 10 in second and third quarters, but Greenville pulled away in the fourth quarter.

Piqua was playing without double-figure scorer and leading rebounder in 6-foot-3 Nate Monnin, who had the flu.

“It does (leave a big hole),” Butler said. “But, at the same time other guys have to step up.”

Turnovers were again a problem for Piqua while Greenville’s duo of Isaiah Gable and Aaron Rich combined for 48 points.

While Piqua turned the ball over on its first four possessions, Gable had 23 points and 17 rebounds,while Rich was a perfect 10-for-10 from the floor in scoring 20 points.

“You can’t do that (start with four turnovers) against good teams,” Butler said. “We struggled at the start of quarters. The good thing is the kids battled all night. That is the sign of a good team. You are going to have off nights.”

Devin Hendrix added 10 points for the Wave.

Devon Brown led the Indians with 15 points and six rebounds while Ben Schmiesing had 13 points and eight rebounds.

“Devon (Brown) had a good night,” Butler said. “The biggest thing is we just didn’t do a good job of passing and catching the ball. That (20) is a lot of turnovers. The thing was we played great defense. That is not easy to do when shots aren’t going in at the offensive end, but we did a good job on defense tonight.”

Piqua was 16 of 49 from the floor for 33 percent and 18 of 31 from the line for 58 percent.

Greenville was 27 of 71 from the floor for 38 percent and 14 of 18 from the line for 78 percent.

The Wave won the battle of the boards 41-29 and had 15 turnovers to Piqua’s 20.

Piqua’s Hayden Schrubb drives to the basket against Greenville’s Kyle Mills Tuesday.
https://www.dailyadvocate.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/web1_Kyle-Mills-WEB.jpgPiqua’s Hayden Schrubb drives to the basket against Greenville’s Kyle Mills Tuesday. Mike Ullery|Civitas Media

By Rob Kiser

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