GREENVILLE – The Greenville boys basketball team was in a giving mood Tuesday evening, evidently
anticipating the Christmas and holiday season in falling to the Indians of Stebbins by a 63-38 count. Playing on their home court in front of a pajama-clad Stage Crew and a small crowd, Coach Matt Hamilton’s squad unofficially committed 25 turnovers, gift-wrapping numerous breakaway baskets by the visitors from down by the Air Force Museum.
After the first seven minutes in which both teams looked ready to join the Stage Crew and
put on their “jammies”, Stebbins connected for two quick baskets to grab a 14-7 lead after one period of play. The Indians benefited from 12 first-half turnovers and quickly stretched the margin to 21-7 before the Wave settled down somewhat, only to trail 33-15 at intermission.
Nine third-quarter miscues by the Wave led to more Stebbins buckets, including three slam
dunks, as they opened up a 50-27 lead and coasted the rest of the way to their third
consecutive win and improved to 4-3 overall and 3-2 in MVL Valley Division play. Pacing the
attack was 6’5” senior center Bryson Bishop’s 13 points with nine other teammates entering the scoring column. Unofficially the Indians collected 25 rebounds while committing 14 turnovers and hitting 8 of 10 from the charity stripe.
Chace Drew, the Wave’s 6’2” senior post worked hard in the lane the entire night, scoring 11 points and playing solid defense while junior Owen McGreevey added 8 points and classmate Layne Hocker contributed 6. Playing without junior and leading scorer Drew Hamilton, the Wave nabbed 17 rebounds and also made 8 of 10 from the foul line.
However, as has been the case through not only the first part of this season but the past several years, errant passes, violations, and ball-handling miscues continued to plague Greenville as the game’s 25 turnovers attest to, equaling their per-game average as the team’s record now falls to 0-6, 0-5 in the Miami Division of the MVL.
Unless they can protect the ball better and put up more quality shots, the Wave will
continue to struggle again this year. Their next game is at West Carrollton Friday against an
athletic bunch of Pirates, followed by a trip to the home of the always dangerous Versailles
Tigers on the 27th and a home contest on the 29th against a surprisingly competitive Fairborn ball club on “Night of Champions” when eight past championship teams from GHS will be honored.
