For the Daily Journal
There’s no place like home.
The Greenwood girls basketball team, beginning a four-game stretch of home games, utilized the friendly confines of the Woodmen gym and came from behind to beat Perry Meridian 60-53 on Wednesday evening in a game that ended up in a thriller.
Junior guard Bailee Taft took control of the game in the final 30 seconds with four free throws and a key steal in the Falcon end when the Woodmen were only up by three points.
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Click here to purchase photos from this gallery“(Bailee) works hard and wants the ball in big moments,” said Greenwood coach Bill Torgerson. “Earlier this week, she was arriving early at the gym and shooting a hundred shots before class started.”
Greenwood (6-3) needed this game, but for a while it looked as though it would get away.
The Woodmen held a one-point lead after the first quarter and took the lead briefly in the second before Perry Meridian’s zone defense and six-footers Sadie Hill and Caitie Baird made things difficult.
Perry Meridian had a six-point lead early in the third before two 3-point baskets by senior Leah Moore tied the game at 40-all.
Things started to generate for the Woodmen after those important buckets.
“We finally started moving,” Torgerson said. “We got better shots in the third and fourth quarters.”
Greenwood and Perry Meridian tied each other twice in the fourth before the Woodmen started taking control, grabbing a seven-point lead with 2:54 left to go on a layup by Alex Kincaid. But Kincaid hurt her left leg when she landed and had to sit down for a minute before it was determined she was okay enough to return.
The Falcons closed the gap to three points before Taft performed her heroics.
Moore also had a lot to do with the Woodmen’s comeback, scoring 17 of her game-high 23 points in the second half.
Taft ended up with 11 points, as did Kincaid.
Perry Meridian was led by Hill and Baird, each of whom had 16 points.
Greenwood now faces an all-important game Saturday as it hosts Mid-State Conference favorite Martinsville at 1:30 p.m.
“We’re going to be busy,” Torgerson said.
