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Greenville’s
Adam Hickerson drive to the bucket scoring two of his
eight points as the Wave got
their first win of the season. Greenville
kept Mississinawa Vallet winless Friday, posting a 56-35
victory over
the Blackhawks. CNO Photo by Dylan Knoop
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Greenville gets first
win of young season
By George Starks
GREENVILLE- With the Stage Crew wound up and ready to go, there were
two things that was for certain Friday at Greenville.
One... Both the Wave and the Mississinawa Valley Blackhawks were
winless and one would get their first victory of the season. That was a
given.
Two... Experience was the one thing neither team could count on.
If offense was something anyone was looking for in this game, they left
disappointed. With Greenville freshman Kendall Hemer leading all
scorers with 10 points on the night, it was defense that got Greenville
its first win of the season Friday as the Wave took a 56-35 decision
from Mississinawa Valley.
With 26 turnovers on the books for the Wave, it was a night Wave coach
Dane French saw some improvement as well as weak spots.
“Yes, a lot of mistakes but we are a young team and scoring, well that
will be Greenville basketball this year. We won‘t have a big scorer,”
said French. “We know we’re going to turn the ball over and have
defensive lapses but it’s still a ‘W’ so I’m pleased with that.”
After being held to a mere 18 points a week ago by Versailles, the 56
tallies put on the board was a welcome sight.
“I’m pleased with the boys,” French stated. “They put some points on
the board and we took a step forward from last week. Our focus and
execution was there, and our effort and attitude was there.”
Holding the Hawks to 35 points, the Wave defense stepped up on a night
when French was looking for some positives.
“Our defense was spotty at times,” French stated. “We had our moments
but I though our pressure in the full court was decent and we forced
some turnovers. Our half-court defense needs to get better. This is a
new offense and defense for these guys and we are trying to get better
every day.”
It was a zone defense that gave the Wave a slight edge in the
half-court, holding Mississinawa Valley to just one shot most of the
time.
“We are getting better at playing the zone defense,” French said. “We
are learning our slides but it just takes time. The effort was good but
our technique lacked.”
Sophomore Ryan Drew came off the bench and paid dividends for the Wave,
getting into the books almost immediately while Adam Hickerson yanked
down 15 rebounds for the green and white.
French said kids learning their roles will be key for Greenville.
“Adam is a good rebounder on both offense and defense. He played hard,”
French said. “Ryan came in off the bench and went to work right away.
He knows his role and played well tonight. I start two freshman because
they are two of my best players. We have a long way to go as a team but
we are learning as a team.”
While French was happy to get the win, Hawks coach Jason Burkholder was
left scratching his head.
“I know Greenville didn’t play well last week but they are a pretty
good basketball team,” Burkholder admitted. “They are young and they
play hard but we are struggling right now. As a staff, we are trying to
motivate and I think tonight it just boiled down to the fact that we
couldn’t hold onto the ball. I don’t even know how many turnovers we
had tonight but we have to get that number under 20 a game and I know
we had more than that.”
Even though the score doesn’t reflect it, Burkholder was happy with the
effort.
“We did things better tonight than we did last week,” Burkholder
pointed out. “To me, that make me happy right now. We didn’t quit and
that pleases me. I’m proud of the kids.”
Next Friday, the Wave will travel to Tri-Village while MV will play its
fifth straight road game at Franklin Monroe.
Mississinawa Valley won the junior varsity contest, 44-40.
Other teams in action saw Tri-Village roll Bradford 83-32 while Ansonia
remained undefeated in the Cross County Conference, beating Arcanum
47-38.
No score could be found on the Franklin Monroe-Newton game. Versailles
was idle.
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Mississinawa
Valley senior Cody Evans finds the going a little rough
during second half
action against Greenville Friday. CNO Photo by Dylan
Knoop
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