By Drew Terhall

DailyAdvocate.com

GREENVILLE — The Greenville High School girls’ basketball team overcame a slow start to get a 49-23 win over Piqua High School on Dec. 17.

Head coach Rachel Kerns said she was a little disappointed with their start after coming off a close loss to Xenia, but she was happy overall with her team’s effort.

“Today, I just wanted us to come in and be able to execute and do what we can do. At times, I think we did and at times I still think we need to improve a little bit more,” Kerns said.

It was a slow start for the Lady Wave. The first four minutes were not kind to Greenville. They were committing turnovers and were looking a little unsettled on defense.

But to close out the second half of the first quarter, the Lady Wave started to take care of the ball and get open looks. They grabbed a lead heading into the second quarter, up 10-9.

Greenville really won the game with an impressive second quarter. They didn’t allow a single point and had 13 points in the quarter.

The defense started to get turnovers and the offense took off from there. The Lady Wave were able to score inside and out. The guards were able to get open shots and the post players were able to get themselves open for easy looks around the rim.

Greenville led 23-9 at halftime. Senior Minaxi Pandey and sophomore Megan Lind both had eight points at the half.

The offense still had some bad moments. But overall, they were playing great offense. Greenville still got open looks in the post and the three point shots were there.

Kerns said when their offense struggles, their post players aren’t scoring. She gave credit to her guards for feeding the post players when they are open.

“Our guards are doing a much better job of finding them when they’re open. Anytime you get three girls in double-figures, good things are really going to happen,” Kerns said.

Greenville cruised through the second half for the 26-point win.

Pandey finished the game with 20 points while making three from beyond the arc. Kerns said she hopes to see Pandey continue to score inside and out.

Lind finished with 11 points and senior Gracie Thacker finished with 10 points. The defense was able to hold Piqua scorers to under double-digits.

The Lady Wave are now 3-7 on the season with a 2-6 conference record. They will have back to back games, starting on Dec. 21, at Mount Vernon Nazarene University. They will then wait until Jan. 4, 2023 to play a conference game against Sidney.

The team will have time to relax and heal up during the holiday season. With how many injuries the team has faced so far, Kerns said the team has learned how to play short-handed.

“We’re holding strong right now. We’re learning to become the team that we’re going to be with what we have,” Kerns said.

Contact Daily Advocate sports editor Drew Terhall at [email protected]