WEST FORK — Greenland girls basketball coach Alan Barton hoped his team could finally get its record to .500, something it had been trying to do since a tough nonconference schedule early in the season.
GREENLAND 46, CEDARVILLE 35
Greenland 14 9 10 13 — 46
Cedarville 7 11 12 5 — 35
Greenland (13-13): Thompson 16, Rogers 10, Scott 8, Vaughn 5, Miller 3, Riggles 3, Brown 1.
Cedarville (10-17): Arnold 15, Brown 6, Hernandez 4, Murphy 4, Knight 4, Cluch 2.
Barton can take pride in knowing that his Lady Pirates are now 13-13, and to get there, they had to win the 3A-1 West District Tournament. Consider it a win-win for the defending Class 3A state champions.
Kiana Thompson and Anna Rogers converted layups and increased their defensive pressure Friday, helping Greenland pull away in the fourth quarter for a 46-35 win over Cedarville in the Tiger Dome.
“I’m proud of the girls. This is a group of girls that were contributors last year, but weren’t the stars,” Barton said. “And today they became stars because they understand the relationship with the community and the tradition.”
Thompson scored a game-high 16 points and Rogers added 10 as Greenland outlasted Cedarville (10-17) in a game between two teams with the same mascot.
In the process, Greenland extended its dominance in the 3A-1 West, winning the district title for the third time in four years. The Lady Pirates will face Danville at 4 p.m. Wednesday at the Class 3A Region 1 Tournament in Paris.
With her team clinging to a 33-30 lead to open the fourth quarter, Rogers made a layup with 7 minutes, 22 seconds remaining that sparked a 10-2 run that gave Greenland some breathing room down the stretch.
“We missed a few shots early in the fourth quarter,” Cedarville coach Jody Fincher said. “And I think with so many young kids who’d never been in that situation, Cedarville girls basketball being new to that, we started stressing a little bit and maybe forcing the issue a little bit.”
Barton said his players made a conscious effort in the fourth quarter to limit Cedarville freshman Allie Arnold, who scored a team-high 15 points to keep her Lady Pirates in position to win the district as a No. 5 seed.
Arnold scored Cedarville’s only points during a fourth quarter in which it was outscored 13-5.
“We just kind of backed off Arnold, quit letting her penetrate and cover the shooters,” Barton said. “I think the key was when they got shots, we started blocking out and getting some rebounds. We kind of changed the defense up, too, a couple of times.”
GREENLAND 46, CEDARVILLE 35
Greenland 14 9 10 13 — 46
Cedarville 7 11 12 5 — 35
Greenland (13-13): Thompson 16, Rogers 10, Scott 8, Vaughn 5, Miller 3, Riggles 3, Brown 1.
Cedarville (10-17): Arnold 15, Brown 6, Hernandez 4, Murphy 4, Knight 4, Cluch 2.