UPDATE 2: Eastern Greene tops WRV for third place

Eastern Greene sophomore Davis Russell (left) is double teamed by White River Valley's Jared Shelton (middle) and Jacob Birch during the third-place game at the Greene County Invitational Saturday night at Switz City. (By B.J. Hargis/Greene County Daily World). [Order this photo]

The victory was the fourth in the past games five games for the Thunderbirds, who at 6-6 have doubled their win total from last year.

"This didn't seem like a consolation game," said Eastern Greene coach Andy Igel. "This was a battle of two teams that are really mirror images of each other.

"I have a lot of respect for Gene (Hall, WRV coach) and they way they try to do things. It really took everything we had to get the job done. This was a big win for us. You don't want to be playing in the consolation game, but it was nice to get out of here with two wins in three games."

Although the game was close throughout, Eastern Greene never relinquished the lead during the final 18 minutes.

WRV tied the game at 38-all after Jared Shelton and Ethan Dyer each made 1 of 2 free throws with four minutes and 58 second to play.

Freshman guard J.T. Yoho hit a free throw at the 2:07 mark to put the Thunderbirds ahead for good at 39-38. He then dished out one of his six assists, setting up Zach Ingram for a two-pointer in the paint and a three-point edge with 80 seconds remaining.

Jacob Birch, who topped WRV in scoring with 17 points, made two free throws after being fouled by Davis Russell at the 1:05 mark, cutting the deficit to 41-40.

"They have two really good scorers that you have to account for on every possession," Igel said of Birch and Shelton. "You can't take one possession off defensively against either one of those guys."

Eastern Greene reserve Zack Johnson off set Birch's freebies with two free throws of his own, after WRV center Billy Dove was whistled for his fifth foul. Johnson finished with seven points, six rebounds, two steals and one assist.

"Johnson did a really good job off the bench," said Igel. "We got contributions from all eight guys that played tonight."

After Dyer missed the front end of a one-and-one for WRV, Johnson rebounded and then found a streaking Yoho behind the Wolverine defense. Yoho's lay-up and subsequent free throw, after being fouled by Dyer, put the T-Birds up 46-40 with 42 seconds remaining.

Yoho finished with eight points, four in the fourth quarter, to go along with his assist total. He also had two rebounds.

"I think J.T. is coming of age," said Igel. "Actually our whole team is really starting to play with a lot of confidence."

Shelton's offensive rebound basket was off set by free throws from Johnson and Davis Russell in the final 22 seconds.

Russell and forward Cody Sparks each finished with 10 points. Ingram tallied nine points and seven rebounds. In all, seven players scored for Eastern Greene.

"Balance has been the word for us offensively all season," said Igel.

Shelton finished with eight points, two assists, two steals and six rebounds, but WRV's leading scorer on average missed 9 of 12 shots. Cole Goodman had seven rebounds and two points for the Wolverines, who slipped to 1-5.

WRV will play at North Knox Tuesday while Eastern Greene will face Clay City on the road in the Southwestern Indiana Athletic Conference game Friday.

Saturday

Greene County Invitational

At White River Valley

Third-place game

WHITE RIVER VALLEY (42) -- Jacob Birch 5-10 7-12 17, Ethan Dyer 3-4 1-3 7, Cole Goodman 1-4 0-0 2, Levi Hostetter 0-3 0-0 0, Jared Shelton 3-12 2-4 8, Nate Bushy 1-2 0-0 2, Evan Karr 1-2 0-0 2, Bill Dove 2-6 0-0 4, John Ashcraft 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 16-43 10-19 42.

EASTERN GREENE (48) -- Cody Sparks 4-5 0-0 10, Zach Ingram 4-6 1-4 9, J.T. Yoho 3-4 2-3 8, David Gray 1-6 0-1 2, Davis Russell 3-12 2-4 10, Sam Jacob 0-0 0-0 0, Chris Graham 1-2 0-0 2, Zack Johnson 1-3 5-6 7. Totals 17-38 10-20 48.

White River Valley 7 9 16 10 -- 42

Eastern Greene 8 11 17 12 -- 48

3-point shooting -- White River Valley 0-5 (Bush 0-1, Shelton 0-1, Hostetter 0-3), Eastern Greene 4-12 (Sparks 2-3, Russell 2-8, Yoho 0-1). Fouls -- White River Valley 18, Eastern Greene 13. Fouled out -- Dove. Rebounds -- White River Valley 27 (Goodman 7, Shelton 6), Eastern Greene 28 (Ingram 7, Johnson 6). Assists -- White River Valley 6 (Shelton 2), Eastern Greene 13 (Yoho 6). Steals -- White River Valley 5 (Shelton 2), Eastern Greene 5 (Johnson 2). Turnovers -- White River Valley 11 (Birch 4), Eastern Greene 10 (Yoho 3). Blocks -- White River Valley 1 (Dove), Eastern Greene 1 (Ingram).