GREENFIELD — In search of their first win of the season, the Greenfield-Central Cougars found themselves staring at a big deficit to start the fourth quarter against a strong Connersville team.
The team’s lone senior, Sam Hunt, was feeling it, though. He drained 3-pointer after 3-pointer. The Cougars defense clamped down. Suddenly, a 10-point deficit became a five-point lead.
Just minutes away from their first win, the Cougars couldn’t hold on. A 3-point attempt in the final 10 seconds that could have tied the game rimmed out. Connersville sealed the game from the foul line, escaping Greenfield with a 53-51 victory.
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“It’s tough, especially Connersville,” Greenfield-Central guard Jacob Cochran said. “We were right there. We had ‘em. It just came down to that last couple of seconds.”
The Cougars put together a massive run, starting the fourth quarter with 14 straight points and jumping ahead with a 17-2 outburst.
The Spartans were back on their heels, as the Greenfield-Central defense pressured and the offense kicked into gear.
“What’s most impressive about that to me is that’s something that teams don’t do to Connersville. And I mean that with all the respect to them,” Greenfield-Central coach Lukas Haworth said. “They have built a program that you know exactly what you’re going to see, night in and night out. They make you earn everything, and whenever they get a lead on you, that’s usually the end of it. For our guys to not get their heads down, to keep fighting, to keep pressuring, to keep knocking down shots in those moments was an amazing effort and something that is very easy to build off of.”
When the Cougars needed a spark, Hunt provided it.
He finished the game with six 3-pointers made and a team-high 18 points, a huge effort off the bench that got the crowd going and got his team fired up and back into the game.
“He’s been waiting for that moment,” Cochran said. “He’s a gym rat. He’s in the gym every morning, every day after practice. We all knew he could do it. He was ready for that moment.”
Cochran scored 13 points himself, adding a pair of steals and four rebounds. He was the only other Cougars player in double figures.
The Spartans were led by Noah Belt, who came into the game averaging 18.7 points per game and far surpassed that total. The senior poured in 29 points and grabbed eight rebounds for the visitors.
Belt made an impact all night. After Greenfield-Central started the game on a 7-0 run, Belt calmly made three straight 3-pointers to put his team ahead. He drew fouls consistently and made big basket after big basket and eventually scored the winning points from the foul line.
Despite the loss, despite the 0-5 start to the season, the Cougars aren’t getting down on themselves.
They came close. They wanted that win. But they took another step forward, in their most complete game of the season thus far.
“I’m not going to lie, it’s not been difficult at all to keep them up,” Haworth said. “Those guys have done a phenomenal job of having a great outlook on this. They’re not letting the scoreboard dictate their effort, they’re not letting the scoreboard dictate their execution or their attitudes.”
“We know we’re right there,” Cochran said. “We come in every week as a team, we fight against each other, we go at it every day. We’re right there. We’re ready to turn the corner.”
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Connersville 53, Greenfield-Central 51
Connersville;9;18;14;12;—;53
Greenfield-Central;9;11;11;20;—;51
Connersville (6-2): Noah Belt 9 8-9 29, Clay Garrison 1 2-2 4, Jacob Brown 3 2-7 8, Garrett Wickes 1 2-2 4, Ethan Smith 1 3-3 5, James Graham 0 0-0 0, Colten Sullenbarger 0 0-0 0, Dylan Logan 1 1-1 3. Totals: 16 18-24 53.
Greenfield-Central (0-5): Jacob Cochran 5 0-2 13, Brady Mundell 2 0-0 5, Caleb Mundell 1 1-2 3, Sam Hunt 6 0-0 18, Caleb McIntire 1 0-0 3, Gavin Robertson 1 0-0 3, Gavin Rose 1 2-2 4, Chris O’Connor 1 0-0 2, Brock Wheeler 0 0-0 0. Totals: 18 3-6 51.
3-point goals: Connersville 3 (Belt 3), Greenfield-Central 12 (Hunt 6, Cochran 3, McIntire, Robertson)
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