BB: Crawfordsville edges Greencastle in opener

Crawfordsville's defense saved the Athenians from a near last-minute road collapse Wednesday night.

When the game tightened up in the final 10 seconds, they forced a key turnover.

Then, junior Trent Crabtree finished Greencastle off from the foul line in the closing seconds.

Crabtree
scored a game-high 31 points, including two free throws with one second
left, which iced Crawfordsville's 58-54 season-opening victory at
Greencastle.

Crabtree missed his first four free throws to start the game.

But he finished 13-of-17 from the foul line - hitting 13 straight free-throw attempts from the second quarter on.

"It
was a great team win, a great team win," Crabtree said, grinning from
ear-to-ear. "The coaches helped me out with my free throws. They told
me to forget about my misses and keep shooting."

Crawfordsville's (1-0) defense came up with the key plays and stops in the second half.

They showed that size can be combated with energy and better execution.

Seniors
Kyle Blankenbeckler (6-feet, 5-inches) and James Miller (6-2) came out
more aggressive and stood tall against 6-7 Greencastle sophomore
forward Nick Hutcheson.

Hutcheson finished with a team-high 16
points and a game-high 21 rebounds. He went 4-of-8 from the field in
the first half but was held to just 2-of-7 shooting in the second half.

Crawfordsville also forced Greencastle 27 turnovers, including in the 16 second half.

"Our
defense was just real aggressive [in the second half]. We disrupted
their flow," Blackwell said. "We did a better job of finding
[Hutcheson] earlier in the second half. He had to work harder to catch
the ball."

Crabtree credited senior Luke Wren for helping the team amp up their defensive intensity.

He
helped them rally from a 13-4 deficit in the first four and a half
minutes, and get the team back on track. That's a comeback Blackwell
and Crabtree were particularly proud of.

"Luke Wren brought the whole defensive effort up," Crabtree said. "He comes in and he brings a whole bunch of energy."

Offensively,
the Athenians worked the ball to their go-to guy, especially against
Greencastle (0-1). After torching the Tiger Cubs for 36 points in last
year's season opener, Crabtree put another 30-plus point total on them
again.

He and sophomore Caleb Rasmussen (11 points) were the
Athenians' only two double-digit scorers. Senior Nolan Harris added
eight points.

Senior Jordan Hickam and junior Tyler Lewis each added 13 points apiece for Greencastle.

Without that defense, the Athenians might not have hung on.

Crawfordsville won despite nearly losing an eight-point lead in the final two minutes.

With
2:05 left, the Athenians led 56-48 and looked like they had this one
wrapped up. Instead, the Tiger Cubs capitalized off their mental lapses
and gave them one furious rally.

Hutcheson scored five points in the final two minutes to cut Crawfordsville's lead to 56-54 with 6.8 seconds to play.

After Wren missed two free throws with 5.9 seconds left, Greencastle called a timeout to set up an inbounds play.

The Tiger Cubs moved the ball to halfcourt but got caught in the Athenians' defensive trap, where Harris forced a travel.

Crabtree was fouled on Crawfordsville's ensuing possession and sank the two free throws to close out the win.

Crawfordsville next plays at 7:30 p.m. Saturday in its home opener against Benton Central.