Greenwood loses to Pittsville in regional final, capping off successful season

By Valorie Brecht and Cheyenne Thomas Last week, the Greenwood girls put together a successful playoff run, with wins over Elcho and Columbus before falling to Pittsville on Saturday. Although the girls were sad for the season end, they had a lot to be proud of, ushering in the first winning season (above 0.500) for the varsity girls basketball program since 2011-12.

“I’m really proud of these kids. They played their hearts out all season,” said Greenwood coach Trevor Wuethrich.

The Greenwood girls came into Saturday’s game at Pittsville hungry for a win, and with Greenwood the numberthree seed in their bracket and Pittsville the number-two seed, it looked to be a competitive matchup. It quickly became apparent that defense was going to make or break the game, as both teams came out aggressive and held each other scoreless for the first two minutes. At 15:48, Pittsville finally points, but only off a free throw attempt. A few seconds later, the Panthers put in two more free throws. On the other hand, Greenwood had a shot blocked and missed a shot.

At 14:26, the Indians picked up their first points with two completed free throws from Tatym Travis. It was slow going, though. Between missed shots, a travel call and a poor pass, it took until 10:44 for Greenwood to score again, this time from two free throws by Britney Walde. After that, Greenwood stole the ball and Pittsville stole the ball, but neither resulted in a score. Overall, Pittsville was spending more time by their basket than Greenwood. The Panthers were a bit taller than the Indians, and brought down several offensive rebounds throughout the game that created more opportunities.

By the time the half was more than half over (7:59), Greenwood was down by 9. However, the girls kept pushing and gradually brought it back over the remainder of the half. Greenwood got a couple of long-awaited threes, from Avry Wuethrich and Travis, as well as Travis putting in two more free throws and Tysen Lindner and Sarah Beth Reiff scoring 2-pointers.

By halftime, Greenwood was only trailing by 4, with a score of 30-26.

“We were creating that offense through our defense, you know, getting steals and layups,” said Trevor Wuethrich, regarding the girls’ effort heading into the half.

“We battled. We could have gotten down and stayed down. But we got back up and fought back,” he added.

Unfortunately for Greenwood, in the second half, the Panthers quickly increased their lead and Greenwood was never able to fully recover. The Panthers got a couple of steals in the first few minutes of the half, as well as an offensive rebound, some of which resulted in points. By 13:33, the Panthers were up 10 points, 37-27.

“I think in the second half here, maybe we just got tired. Our legs just got away from us,” said Trevor Wuethrich.

With around eight minutes remaining, the Greenwood girls were still holding Pittsville to a 10-point lead, but they also weren’t able to cut into that lead at all, with Pittsville making them fight for every point. The Greenwood team ran out of time to build any sort of momentum and took the loss. Pittsville scored 5 points from free throws in the last two minutes, so the score was a bit more lopsided than it otherwise would have been, with a final of 54-36.

Trevor Wuethrich could see a couple of key areas that led to his team’s downfall.

“The turnover battle was the key. Pittsville’s got a nice full-court press and it took us about eight possessions to figure that out. And then even in a half court sense, their defense created some turnovers, too. They’re a good basketball team,” he said.

“Pittsville’s offense is more efficient than ours, and I really like what they did. In our half court set, we just didn’t get as many opportunities at the basket that they got, and it shows.”

Despite Greenwood’s offensive struggles, the team still had seven players contribute points. Travis led the team with 15, including two 3-pointers. She went 5-for-6 from the free throw line. Lindner scored 7, Reiff had 4, Avry Wuethrich and Lainy Trampush had 3, and Addison Davidson and Walde had 2.

Versus Columbus To make it to the regional final, the Greenwood girls had to first defeat Columbus Catholic at home Feb. 23. Although Columbus was ranked number six in the bracket, versus Greenwood at number three, the girls knew it would not be an easy win, if for no other reason than they had only narrowly defeated Columbus two times before this season (36-29 and 43-40) and it’s hard to beat a close rival three times in a row.

The way Columbus started the game, Greenwood fans had just reason to be concerned. Columbus got out to an 11-point lead, 17-6, in the first nine minutes.

“Defensively, our help defense was too help. We were getting caught on our help side and leaving open shooters. I think they got four 3-pointers off of that. And we had to make an adjustment with about three minutes left in the half to kind of get out on those shooters, and I think it worked. I think they had one or two 3-pointers after that adjustment.

“On the weak side, we had helpers in the lane, and we were just keeping them out closer to that shooter, because on those ball reversals, they weren’t getting out to that shooter in time, and we made that adjustment and got out on those shooters,” Trevor Wuethrich further explained.

With those tweaks, Greenwood was able to rebound and get within 3 points of Columbus, with a score of 23-20, Columbus still ahead, at the half.

Throughout the second, Greenwood kept things tight, with the teams tying at 27 and again at 34 with just under four minutes remaining. At 1:36, Avry Wuethrich made a quick pass to Lindner inside, which she put up for a basket, to send Greenwood ahead, 36-34. Shortly after, Columbus attempted a three but missed. Travis was fouled with 1:08 left to play and made one free throw to put the score at 3734. On their next possession, the Columbus Dons worked the ball around but couldn’t find an open look. Greenwood eventually got the ball back, and was promptly fouled upon. This time Greenwood didn’t make its free throws.

Please see Greenwood, page 14

CHEYENNE THOMAS/STAFF PHOTO

VALORIE BRECHT/STAFF PHOTO

VALORIE BRECHT/STAFF PHOTO

Sarah Beth Reiff, a senior at Greenwood High School, makes a basket for her team in Friday’s playoff game versus Columbus. She scored 5 points in that contest.