For the Daily Journal
HOPE
Greenwood Christian dominated the second half to pull away for a 44-25 win at Hauser in girls basketball Thursday.
Despite playing with just nine players, the visiting Cougars (10-6) had little trouble in putting away a Hauser team that never found its rhythm offensively.
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“Any time you get a win, especially here at Hauser, where they are notoriously strong on their home court, is a good win,” Greenwood Christian coach Alan Weems said.
“We’ll take a win like that any time we can get it,” he added.
Neither team was especially sharp, but with Hauser struggling to score it didn’t take much for Greenwood Christian to pull away.
The Cougars led 17-9 after the first quarter but failed to build on that lead in the second, and Hauser still trailed only 22-15 at the half.
But the Jets (3-13) managed just three points in the third quarter, and although Greenwood Christian didn’t catch fire, the Cougars did score 10 points of their own to to build the lead to double digits. Greenwood Christian led by as many as 21 in the fourth quarter.
Hauser coach Brad Hamilton took a lot of the blame for the loss, but he also said that his team needs to come into its own with just a few weeks left in the regular season.
“We had two starters out, and right before the tip — I mean literally right before it — I decided not to press. That was probably a mistake,” Hamilton said. “I thought we had some success pressing, but with two kids out I decided not to do it.
“We went 1-2 last week, but we played good teams last week, and I really thought we had turned a bit of a corner,” Hamilton added. “I know I had kids sick, but I’m back to the drawing board, to be honest with you.”
Greenwood Christian had three players reach double figures in scoring, led by Alexis Mead, who finished with 14 points. Grace Peters added 12 and Sarah Mangan scored 10.
Sarah Tedder scored 11 points to lead Hauser.
Greenwood Christian, which has won nine of its past 12, hosts Shortridge on Saturday in its final regular-season conference game. Hauser hosts Oldenburg Academy on Tuesday.
