GREENFIELD — Greenfield-Central took control in the second quarter, outscoring Greenwood 23-8, and went on to defeat the Woodmen 63-31 in the season opener for both girls basketball teams Thursday at Dellen Automotive Gymnasium.
“You never know what you’re going to get when you start the season and we had two new players (Richmond transfer Madison Sonsini and freshman Izzy Silcox) in the starting lineup,” Greenfield-Central coach Bradley Key said. “The scrimmage can only tell you so much. It was good to see us in live action against another team.
“I thought we did a good job getting out and running the break. We stressed that in practice and we did a good job of running today.”
Greenwood led early, 4-3, on buckets by Courtney Hankenhoff and Stasia Buckalew, but the Cougars gained the lead for good three minutes into the game on a Jalyn Smith layup, assisted by Brooklyn McConnell.
A pair of free throws early in the second quarter from Greenwood’s Elianna Anderson cut Greenfield-Central’s lead to 11-10.
G-C went on a 23-6 run for the remainder of the half, getting contributions from a number of players.
Cougar junior Chaney Brown hit all three of her second-quarter field-goal attempts and led all scorers at the break with 11 points. She finished the game as the co-leading scorer with 17.
Sonsini also had 17 points, including 8 of 11 at the free-throw line. She was 5 of 6 at the stripe in the second period. The 6-1 junior also had 12 rebounds.
Silcox was the only other double-digit scorer with 10, all in the first half, including a pair of 3-pointers. Eight of her points came in the second quarter.
“It was definitely not how we expected to come out,” first-year Greenwood head coach Jenny Finora said. “Credit to Greenfield-Central. They’re really good, much improved from last year.
“We looked a little shell-shocked. Everything we prepared for we weren’t prepared. I don’t know if it was first-day jitters. Irregardless, it’s a lot of things we know to work on and be better from. These games aren’t always ideal but we learn a lot from them.”
Greenwood was led by Hankenhoff with eight.
The Woodmen stayed close in the first quarter by hitting the boards. They outrebounded the Cougars 17-4 in the opening frame. Three-pointers from Buckalew and Keyara Johnon were the only field goals in the second period.
With the score 11-10, a pair of Sonsini free throws preceded Silcox’s first high school 3-pointer. It was followed by another Sonsini freebie and two Brown buckets, giving G-C a 21-10 lead.
Buckalew hit a 3 for Greenwood, but the Cougars answered with treys from both Brown and Silcox. Greenfield-Central hit five 3-pointers in the first half.
“(Greenfield-Central) got a lot of transition baskets (in the second quarter),” Finora said. “We couldn’t stop transition and they got some uncontested 3s. That was what really shifted it. We were one or two steps slow tonight.”
McConnell finished with eight points and Smith added five. Buckalew, Johnon and Anderson all had five points for Greenwood.
“You’re going to have your first-quarter jitters,” Key added. “I’m sure every school in the state has a little bit of that when you first start. Then, we settled in. We haven’t played a lot of basketball with Izzy and Maddie out there. Once they got comfortable it started to look a lot better.”
Greenfield-Central (1-0) continues play against Johnson County schools Saturday, traveling to Whiteland.
Greenwood (0-1) hosts Bloomington North Saturday afternoon.
–
Greenfield-Central 63, Greenwood 31
Greenwood;8;8;5;10;—;31
Greenfield-Central;11;23;13;16;—;63
Greenwood (0-1): Courtney Hankenhoff 3 2-2 8, Stasia Buckalew 2 0-0 5, Emma Gardner 2 0-2 4, Gabrielle Wegesin 1 0-0 2, Charlee Mayo 0 0-0 0, Keyara Johnon 2 0-2 5, Breanna Pierce 1 0-0 2, Isabelle Reynolds 0 0-0 0, Eliana Anderson 1 2-2 5. Totals: 12 4-8 31.
Greenfield-Central (1-0): Jalyn Smith 1 3-8 5, Chaney Brown 6 3-6 17, Madison Sonsini 4 8-11 17, Brooklyn McConnell 2 4-4 8, Izzy Silcox 3 2-2 10, Addi Herrin 1 0-0 3, Emma Nelson 0 0-0 0, Juliann Jones 0 0-0 0, Kalyn Moss 0 0-0 0, Kynsey Hasty 1 0-0 3, Ainsley Robinson 0 0-0 0. Totals: 18 20-31 63.
3-point goals: Greenwood 3 (Buckalew, Johnon, Anderson), Greenfield-Central 7 (Brown 2, Silcox 2, Sonsini, Herrin, Hasty)
