GIRLS BASKETBALL
Greencastle-Antrim 72, Southern Huntingdon 69: Ainsley Swindell knocked down a huge 3-pointer late to lift the Blue Devils to a narrow victory in their season opener, beating the Rockets in the James Buchanan tournament on Friday night in Mercersburg.
Ainsley Swindell
The teams combined for 21 3-point shots.
Greencastle will play Mifflin County, which defeated host JB in the first round, in the championship game Saturday at 7 p.m.
“It was a crazy game,” G-A coach Mike Rhine said. “We knew they were fundamentally sound, but we didn’t know they could shoot like that. They made 11 and we had 10, but it seemed like they made about 25 of ’em.”
The Blue Devils led by one point after the first quarter, then opened up a 9-point advantage by halftime. The lead grew as large as 14 points before Southern Huntingdon began a barrage of 3-pointers, hitting 6 in the quarter and fueling a 17-0 run to gain the lead before the end of the third quarter.
The fourth period went back-and-forth until, trailing 69-67 with just under a minute left, Swindell sank her big shot from the left wing for a 70-69 lead. Haley Noblit was fouled after G-A regained possession and made both free throws to seal it.
“They double-teamed Haley, so she passed to Eva (Martin), and she made one more pass to Ainsley, who hit a big three,” Rhine said.
Noblit led Greencastle with 21 points and 5 steals, but Martin, a freshman, also made a big contribution in her first varsity game with 19 points and 5 assists. Swindell ended up with a double-double (10 points, 10 rebounds).
Rhine said, “Martin is a baller and (Kylie) Kerns did well in a new position. Everybody I put in did well and we needed it. We finished the game strong and it ended at the right time for us. We were fortunate the game ended with us on top.”
BOYS BASKETBALL
Greencastle-Antrim 55, Hanover 47: The Blue Devils got a 10-point burst from Conner Wright in the third quarter to pull away from the Nighthawks and maintained a decent lead for the rest of the game to win their season opener in the first round of the Greencastle-Antrim Tournament on Friday night.
Conner Wright
Wright ended up with a game-high 22 points.
The Blue Devils led 25-23 at halftime, but outscored Hanover 16-10 in the third as Wright got hot. His layup after a slick pass from Logan Alvey, a fast break layup by Surzano Solomon after a steal, and a put-back basket by Wright made it 41-33.
Greencastle, which will play Mifflin County, a winner over James Buchanan in the other first-round game, in the championship game Saturday at 7 p.m., bumped its lead as high as 12, the last time at 49-37.
In the final going, the Blue Devils were 6-for-10 at the free throw line in the last two-plus minutes to hold the Nighthawks off. The closest Hanover got was 52-45 with 24 seconds left.
After Wright, G-A had balanced scoring from Solomon (9), Alvey (9), Jordan Hunt (8) and McCauley (7).
Greencastle 55, Hanover 47
HANOVER
Jaxon Dell 4 2-2 12, Gavin Trish 0 1-2 1, Jayden Stanfield 2 0-0 4, Boden Strausbaugh 2 0-0 6, Ethan Herndon 5 1-2 14, Ethan Killinger 5 0-2 10. Totals 18 4-8 47.
GREENCASTLE
Iyshone Coleman 0 0-0 0, Surzano Solomon 4 1-2 9, Carter McCauley 1 5-6 7, Logan Alvey 3 3-4 9, Jordan Hunt 3 1-2 8, Conner Wright 10 2-2 22. Totals 20 12-16 55.
Hanover 14 9 10 14 — 47
Greencastle 17 8 16 14 — 55
3-point shots — Han 7 (Herndon 3, Strausbaugh 2, Dell 2); GA 1 (Hunt).