JASPER
The opportunity to extend history started slipping from Greenwood Christian’s grasp early in the third quarter on Saturday.
Unlike in the regional a week earlier, there was no coming back.
Outscored 11-2 by Class A No. 1 Loogootee at the start of the second half, the Cougars, girls basketball semistate qualifiers for the first time since the school began taking part in the IHSAA tournament in 2007, never recovered in a 57-40 loss.
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It closed the book on a 23-6 season, one no GCA player, parent or fan will soon forget.
“I’m think I’m going to look back and remember all the moments we had,” said guard Alexis Mead, the team’s lone senior, who scored 11 points in her final prep contest. “We’re just so close, and there’s no team that can compare. When I look back, I’ll probably think about all of the memories and moments we had together.”
Loogootee, located just 17 miles north of Jasper, basically played a home game given the number of Lion backers in attendance. They had plenty to cheer about, particularly in the second half when point guard Kalea Fleming led her squad from a three-point halftime lead to as much as a 20-point cushion late in the final stanza.
Fleming, a 5-foot-5 junior whose defensive tenacity and ball-handling played a major role in the Cougars committing 17 turnovers to Loogootee’s seven, led all scorers with 24 points. GCA’s top scorer was junior forward Izzy Reed, who finished with 20 points added 11 rebounds for her jaw-dropping 27th double-double of the season.
“There’s no question that we didn’t do things the way we normally would do them,” said Cougars coach Alan Weems, who in his eight seasons has helped grow GCA girls basketball from one-and-done status in the postseason to a win away from Bankers Life Fieldhouse.
“Loogootee is an outstanding basketball team, and they force you into doing some things that you wouldn’t necessarily normally do. I give them a lot of credit. His kids play hard, and they do a lot of really good things. We felt that if we could make (Fleming) one-dimensional where we didn’t let her penetrate, but she got loose a lot and was very, very good.”
The Cougars opened the game jumping out to an 8-5 advantage; the Lions scored seven straight to take the lead before GCA tied it up on a Reed jumper and a layup from sophomore point guard Ellie Bigelow. A pair of Fleming free throws late in the first gave Loogootee a lead it never relinquished.
Greenwood Christian made only 7 of 25 field goal attempts in the first half, but remained in contention. Reed slid inside for a layup right before the halftime buzzer to trim the Lions’ lead to 23-20 at the break.
The Cougars proceeded to turn the ball over on their first three offensive possessions of the third quarter, leading to baskets from sophomore center Kylie VanHoy and a 3-pointer from the right wing courtesy of junior Brooklyn Jones.
GCA scored five straight points to open the final quarter, making it an 11-point game, but the Lions answered with a 12-3 scoring burst to put the game away.
Afterward, Cougar players, their eyes reddened from tears, hugged family members, fans, and each other. The 2019-20 season might have ended a week sooner and a lot further south than they had hoped, but the 29-game whirlwind over the past few months is now the school’s athletic yardstick.
“It goes to show how awesome this GCA family is to make this long drive, and I’m just thankful for them,” Reed said. “Just these girls, they are some of my absolute greatest friends and encouragers. Alexis Mead is one of the greatest humans and one of the greatest people that GCA’s ever seen. She’s had one heck of a career here, and I’m just thankful to be able to say that I was one of her teammates.”
