Dec. 16—The beat goes on for the No. 1 Lady Pirates of Greensburg. Saturday, the Lady Pirates traveled to Rushville and sailed off to a 65-24 victory.
Class 3A top-ranked Greensburg improves to 12-0 overall and 3-0 in the EIAC. Rushville drops to 5-5 overall and 1-1 in conference play.
The Lady Pirates opened the scoring with a bucket in the paint by Leah West. A Mary Harmon bucket was followed by back-to-back Aly Powers’ 3-pointers to give Greensburg an early 10-0 lead.
The streak continued after a Rushville timeout as Greensburg’s Harmon scored on a rebound putback and on a drive to the bucket. A 3-pointer by Rushville’s Leonie Boyer from the right wing got the Lady Lions on the board with 2:30 remaining in the first quarter and Carly Senour’s 3-pointer ended the scoring in the first quarter with Rushville trailing 14-6.
Greensburg made a point to go inside to start the second quarter. West scored the first six points for the Lady Pirates. Gracie Buzzard hit a jumper for the Lady Lions early in the quarter as Rushville trailed 20-8. Boyer drained another bomb for the Lady Lions, but a drive to the bucket from Greensburg’s West and drive by Mylie Wilkison pushed the lead to 13 points at 24-11.
Greensburg outscored Rushville 15-4 to close the half. Boyer had all four of Rushville’s points, including her third 3-pointer. Powers, Wilkison, Claire Larrison and Harmon all chipped in for the Lady Pirates to push the lead to 32-15 with 2:15 to play in the second quarter.
The final seven points of the half were scored by the Lady Pirates. Larrison found Wilkison on the fastbreak for the easy bucket. After a free throw by Kahlen Adams, Emma Kuntz set up Wilkison’s next bucket and Wilkison then drove baseline to cap the first half with the Lady Pirates in control, up 39-15.
Greensburg put to bed any thought of a second-half comeback by the Lady Lions with a 19-2 third quarter. The Lady Pirates led 58-17 heading to the fourth quarter, which was played with a running clock. Both teams scored seven points in the final eight minutes to close out the 65-24 win for Greensburg.
Greensburg forced 27 Rushville turnovers while only turning the ball over 11 times. The Lady Pirates outscored Rushville 22-0 in transition points and 42-4 in points in the paint.
Five Lady Pirates scored in double figures: West 15, Powers 14, Harmon 11, Wilkison 10 and Larrison 10. Emma McQueen had four second half points and Kahlen Adams added one point. Wilkison had a team-high seven rebounds. Powers dished out a team-high three assists.
For Rushville, Leonie Boyer led scoring with 12 points to go with eight rebounds and one steal. Carly Senour added five points and two assists. Charlotte Cavinesss scored two points. Kelsey Morgan had two points and two rebounds. Gracie Buzzard finished with two points, five rebounds and one assist. Mikayla Herbert chipped in with one assist and one steal. Makenna Ripberger added one rebound and one steal. Becca Tabeling grabbed one rebound. Audrey Angle had four rebounds and one steal.
Greensburg defeated Rushville in the junior varsity game 43-37. Charlotte Caviness led the Lady Lions with 12 points. Charlie Marcum scored seven points followed Jasmine Taylor four points, Becca Tabeling four points, Kiara Flannery four points, Melany Mahan three points, Emily Rouse two points and Josie Corn one point.
The Lady Lions host Beech Grove Tuesday.
Contact Aaron Kirchoff at aaron.kirchoff@greensburgdailynews.com.
