SHELBYVILLE – Forest Park’s postseason credentials played like a sixth man against Greencastle Saturday morning in the first semifinal game of the Class 2A Semistate in Shelbyville.
Greencastle head coach Doug Greenlee used his first timeout less than five minutes into the game to get his Tiger Cubs, making the program’s first semistate appearance since 1980, to relax.
Forest Park, the defending 2A state champions and ranked No. 2 in the final state coaches poll, raced out to a 9-2 lead that grew to 19-9 at end of the first quarter and 40-21 by halftime.
A fourth quarter spark from Emma Hunter helped Greencastle cut into the deficit but it was too late to keep Forest Park from advancing to Saturday’s night semistate championship game at William L. Garrett Gymnasium with a 65-48 victory.
“We knew coming in they had a very experienced lineup being the defending state champions and today, it was like they were on a mission,” said Greenlee. “They played extremely well. They shot a high percentage from the field (53%) and we had no answer for them today.”
Greencastle closed out its season at 23-5.
Seniors Gloria Brewer and Emma Hunter finished with 18 points and 16 points, respectively, in their final game. The third senior, Stephanie Morales, did not score but had four rebounds.
Forest Park (24-3) started five seniors including Miami (Ohio) commit Amber Tretter, who finished with 19 points, 13 rebounds and two blocked shots.
Carley Begle backed Tretter with 18 points, six rebounds and two blocks, and Lydia Betz hit four three-pointers on the way to 16 points.
“Early on we were … intimidated is not the right word but we were on our heels and we never got out of that mode until late in the game when the game was over,” said Greenlee. “I was proud of our kids’ effort. We just didn’t execute some things we talked about this week in practice, but that happens. (Forest Park) played a better game today and they were the better team today. We have no excuses.
“I really enjoyed this run with these kids. Our support from the community, the school and the parents was awesome. I would love to keep this going for the city of Greencastle.”
Forest Park used runs of 7-0 and 8-0 in the first quarter to build a 19-9 advantage. Two more identical runs followed in the second quarter as the Rangers opened a 34-15 lead.
Consecutive 3s from near the volleyball line on Frank Barnes Court by Brewer and Evelyn Briones cut the lead to 15 but an offensive rebound and score by Tretter and two free throws from Begle set the score at 40-21 at halftime.
Forest Park sank a trio of 3s in the third quarter and the lead grew to 57-29.
The Rangers tried to run out the clock in the fourth quarter but Hunter was not done. She scored 13 of her 16 points in the final eight minutes and sparked the Tiger Cubs on a 10-0 run to cut the lead to 58-39.
“(Emma) absolutely got after it and got to the rim and made some big shots for us that got the crowd going,” said Greenlee. “We went into the full-court press and that is the heart of this team. Emma being a great senior for us, it didn’t surprise me she would go out like that. Her and Gloria and Stephanie will be missed. They are great players and have done a lot for this program.”
Tretter sank a pair of free throws with 4:29 to go to stop the run but Hunter and Brewer scored the next five points and the Tigers Cubs were within 16 but time was running out.
The Rangers sank 5-of-8 free throws to secure the victory and set up a showdown with top-ranked North Knox (28-1), a 67-50 winner over No. 8 Eastern Hancock (23-4) in the second semistate semifinal Saturday afternoon in Shelbyville.
Forest Park 65, Greencastle 48
FP – Tretter 6-10 6-6 19, Begle 6-8 6-9 18, L. Betz 5-10 2-3 16, Gray 2-4 0-0 6, Eckert 1-6 3-4 5, Gehlhausen 0-0 0-0 0, Werner 0-0 0-0 0, K. Betz 0-1 0-0 0, Sutherlin 0-0 0-0 0, Schnell 0-0 0-0 0, Berg 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 20-38 18-24 65.
GC – Brewer 5-20 5-6 18, Hunter 6-14 4-6 16, Briones 3-9 2-2 10, Dobbs 0-1 0-0 0, Plew 2-3 0-0 4, Morales 0-2 0-0 0, Brown 0-0 0-0 0, Johnson 0-0 0-0 0, Doan 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 16-49 11-14 48.
SCORE BY QUARTERS
FP (24-3) 19 21 17 8 -- 65
GC (23-5) 9 12 8 19 -- 48
Three-point field goals: FP 7-16 (Tretter 1-4, Begle 0-1, L. Betz 4-6, Gray 2-4, K. Betz 0-1), GC 5-20 (Brewer 3-11, Hunter 0-3, Briones 2-6). Rebounds: FP 29 (Tretter 13, Begle 6, L. Betz 2, Gray 4, Eckert 2, K. Betz 1, Sutherlin 1), GC 21 (Brewer 6, Hunter 7, Briones 1, Dobbs 1, Plew 1, Morales 4, Johnson 1). Assists: FP 8 (L. Betz 1, Gray 2, K. Betz 5), GC 2 (Brewer 1, Dobbs 1). Steals: FP 3 (Tretter 1, Begle 1, Schnell 1), GC 4 (Brewer 2, Hunter 1, Briones 1). Blocks: FP 5 (Tretter 2, Begle 2, L. Betz 1), GC 1 (Brewer 1). Total fouls: FP 12, GC 19. Turnovers: FP 17, GC 12.
