Pirates share 2nd in EIAC after loss to Trojans

Mar. 1—ST. LEON — Long-range shots helped tell the story during Greensburg's final regular season game.

The Pirates struggled from the perimeter, going 2-for-15 from behind the arc. Conversely, East Central went 6-for-12 from 3-point range.

That discrepancy accounted for most of the final margin Friday night when the host Trojans won 75-60. The victory meant they tied for second in the Eastern Indiana Athletic Conference with Greensburg.

"I have to give a lot of credit to East Central," Pirates coach Stacy Meyer said. "They came out ready to play."

Greensburg (15-4, 5-2 EIAC) trailed by one point at halftime. The Pirates took a three-point lead early in the third quarter, but the Trojans got hot. They outscored the Pirates 24-11 in the third.

"East Central did a really good job doing the things they do well. They didn't get away from their game plan and executed very well," Meyer said.

"For us defensively, we didn't take away their strengths. And on the offensive end, we were going very early. We weren't real patient."

Lane Sparks led three Pirates in double figures, scoring 21 points. He also led them with six rebounds and four steals.

Ki Dyer netted 15 points and sank Greensburg's only buckets from 3-point range. The sophomore also snagged four boards.

Colin Comer chipped in 14 points, three rebounds and two assists.

A pair of East Central (14-9) seniors helped sink the Pirates. Luke Collinsworth and Logan Rohrbacher scored 26 points apiece.

Collinsworth added 12 rebounds and went 3-for-4 from behind the arc, while Rohrbacher had seven boards and went 2-for-4 from deep.

Connersville won the EIAC title after going 7-0 in league play.

It makes two straight losses for Greensburg, which also lost to South Ripley.

"We'll try and take away things we need to work on this week to try to win sectional or compete in sectional," Meyer said. "Sometimes those are hard lessons to learn, but if they benefit you down the road, then they were worth it."

JV game

Greensburg won 44-42 in the junior varsity contest. The Pirates finished the year 10-4.

Leading scorers were Grainger Maxwell with 11, Caleb Wright nine, Abbe Tebbe seven and Jeter Edwards seven.

Up next

Greensburg begins sectional play against a familiar foe. The Pirates will take on EIAC foe Rushville at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday.

The Lions are 1-19 and lost 69-18 at Greensburg less than two weeks ago.

Greensburg, which is the defending Sectional 29 champion, is hosting the tournament. A win Wednesday would mean playing Friday against either Franklin County or Batesville.

Tournament basketball typically means lower-scoring games, Meyer said. The Pirates will need to be ready to defend for longer periods of time, while also being patient offensively.

"I like where we are mentally right now. Even though we've lost two in a row, when we came in Saturday to work, I thought they looked really good.

"We'll see. Our sectional is wide open. Connersville beat us. We went into overtime with Franklin County and South Dearborn. Lawrenceburg played a good game against us. Even the Batesville game was a good game.

"It's going to be a very exciting sectional."

Andy Scheidler may be contacted at 812-663-3111 ext. 217401 or andy.scheidler@greensburgdailynews.com.