CROTHERSVILLE
After playing four straight games on the road, Crothersville’s girls basketball team was happy to be on their home court before the holidays.
The Tigers closed out 2017 play Monday by defeating Shawe Memorial 66-47.
Crothersville (9-5) jumped to a 7-0 lead three minutes into the game on a pair of baskets by Tayler Brewer and a 3-pointer from Piper Hensley.
The Tigers limited the Hilltoppers (4-9) to just three field goals in the first quarter, and 3-pointers by Hensley and Maddie Riley extended the Tigers lead to 17-7 by the end of eight minutes of play.
Crothersville used another 7-0 scoring streak midway through the second quarter to bolster its lead to 28-12 with 2:43 left in the first half.
In the final 2:17, the Hilltoppers outscored the Tigers 6-2 behind three different scorers.
At the break, the Tigers held a 30-18 advantage.
The teams traded scores out of intermission until a pair of free throws and 3-pointer from Hensley put the Tigers up 40-26 with 2:35 left in the third quarter.
Megan Hesse got hot from the field in the third quarter, scoring 14 points, but the Tigers answered her shots.
Riley scored six straight points before the end of 24 minutes of play, as the Tigers led 46-34.
The Tigers used scoring streaks of 6-0 and 9-0 to put the game out of reach, at 62-39, in the fourth quarter with three minutes remaining.
Riley caught fire in the fourth quarter, scoring 11 points before the final whistle.
Riley led the Tigers with 20 points, Hensley scored 19 and Tayler Brewer had 15 points to go along with 12 rebounds.
Hesse topped the Hilltoppers with 24 points.
“(Riley) played really well in the second half,” Tigers coach Kevin Hensley said. “She really picked it up. She’s capable of doing that every night. If we can get that out of her, we can be a formidable team at the end of the season.”
On the boards, the Tigers outrebounded the Hilltoppers 45-38.
Crothersville turned the ball over 24 times in the game.
While he was happy with the win, coach Hensley wasn’t pleased with how the team played.
“You can have a bad win and a good loss,” coach Hensley said. “This is kind of one of those wins where we’ll take it, but we’re not happy with it.”
The Tigers are off until they host Henryville for a Southern Athletic Conference game Jan. 2.
“We have a lot of time off now,” coach Hensley said. “We’re going to be doing a lot of skill work. We want to run the offense better. They just can’t get comfortable out there.”