Big Spring holds off Greencastle-Antrim

by Ben Destefan

 

GREENCASTLE - Trailing by 20 to start the fourth quarter, Greencastle-Antrim came roaring back Tuesday, making it a two-possession game with a little more than a minute remaining. On this night, however, Big Spring was simply the better team.

 

The Bulldogs answered with a huge bucket to regain their footing en route to a 55-46 Mid-Penn Colonial Division girls’ basketball victory.

 

The loss was G-A’s first in Colonial play, with the Blue Devils now sitting at 11-4 overall and 8-1 in the league.

For Big Spring, it was one of the more impressive wins on the Bulldogs resume´, improving the well-coached squad to 10-5 on the season.

 

Despite a 21-point barrage in the fourth, a sluggish first three frames proved too much for G-A to overcome.

 

Big Spring was extremely active defensively, taking away any real looks in the paint and forcing the Blue Devils to live beyond the arc. Cold shooting resulted in a 26-15 deficit at halftime prior to a 9-0 Bulldog run pushing the differential to 20 early in the third.

 

Big Spring maintained the margin to start the fourth, where G-A quickly began to heat up from 3-point range.

Sayge Wilhide and Lydia Crist both connected twice from downtown prior to a McKenna Rakaczewski 3 drawing the Blue Devils to within 49-43 in the closing stages.

 

Needing to steady the waters, Laney Noreika converted a crucial lay-up for the Bulldogs, extending the lead to eight and allowing Big Spring to hold on from the free-throw line.

 

Noreika was one of three Bulldogs to finish in double figures, netting 10 points. Emilee Sullivan paced Big Spring with 15 points while Alex Kutulakis added 10 points in the win.

 

Crist scored a game-high 16 points for G-A followed by 12 from Rakaczewski and 11 from Wilhide.

 

The Blue Devils will look to get back on track when they travel to Shippensburg Friday night for another key Colonial contest.