Stifling defense carries Blue Devil girls to win

By Ed Gotwals on 2/5/25

 

Kiersten Swain

Greencastle-Antrim 31, East Pennsboro 23: The Blue Devils’ offense had only one good quarter, but the defense allowed only 10 total points in the last 3 quarters to defeat the Panthers in a Mid Penn Colonial game Wednesday night in Enola.

 

East Penn (2-17, 2-12 MPC) led 13-8 after one period, thanks to sinking a trio of 3-pointers. But the G-A defense, with Meadow Gambacurta and Brooke Guthrie locking down the top two scorers, then took over the game.

 

In the third, Kiersten Swain got hot for Greencastle (9-11, 7-6 MPC), scoring 11 of her 13 points as her team outscored EP, 16-3.

Also for Greencastle, Sophie Fries secured 8 rebounds, Ellie Bigler had 6 and Swain added 4.

Girls hoops picks up victory over Gettysburg

By Ed Gotwals on 1/31/25

 

Greencastle-Antrim 63, Gettysburg 51: The Blue Devils absorbed several runs by the Warriors to keep the lead and extended it late to post a Mid Penn Colonial victory on Friday night.

 

 

On senior night, seniors Shaina Overcash, Meadow Gambacurta, Lexi Nelson and Brooke Guthrie helped G-A to a 17-14 lead after one. In the second and third periods, G-A (8-10, 6-6 MPC) increased its lead, but Gettysburg (5-14, 3-10 MPC) battled back to keep it close.

Kiersten Swain led Greencastle, which had its highest point total of the season, with 15 points. Liv Carey also reached double figures with 12 and was matched by Sophie Fries.

 

Fries also brought down 12 rebounds, Ellie Bigler had 11, and Guthrie added 6, while Ellie Bigler contributed 5 assists.

 

For the Warriors, Isabella Sites scored 15 points.

Defense has dominant stretch in win for girls hoops

By Ed Gotwals on 12/19/24

 

Greencastle-Antrim 51, West Perry 26: The Blue Devils held the Mustangs scoreless for a stretch of 14 minutes on their way to a Mid Penn Colonial victory on their home court Thursday night.

 

In a second quarter that was was cold for both teams, Greencastle (4-4, 2-2 MPC) pitched a 5-0 shutout. Then in the third period, the G-A offense took off, outscoring West Perry 23-6. Liv Carey had all 8 of her points in that quarter and Kiersten Swain had 5.

 

Swain led her team with 13 points, while Meadow Gambacurta, Eva Martin (5 steals) and Ellie Bigler each had 7 points. Callie Izer hauled down 11 rebounds and Carey added 5.

 

Liv Carey

 

 

Blue Devils hand Waynesboro a loss

By Ed Gotwals on 12/16/24

 

Greencastle-Antrim 55, Waynesboro 34: The Blue Devils jumped out to a big first-quarter lead and defeated the Maidens to snap a two-game losing streak in a Mid Penn Colonial game on the road Monday night.

 

G-A’s pressure defense helped fuel the first-period blowout, in addition to going 10-for-10 from the foul line.

 

Kiersten Swain tallied 14 points on only 5 shots to lead the Blue Devils (3-4, 1-2 MP)C, and Meadow Gambacurta had 13. The duo each hit a trio of 3-pointers.

 

For the Maidens (2-3, 1-2 MPC), Breanna McIlquham led a brief 11-2 run that  brought the GA lead to 13 points in the fourth period, but Greencastle pulled away again. McIlquham finished with a game-high 23 points.

 

Callie Izer

 

For the Blue Devils, rebound leaders were Callie Izer and Gambacurta (8 each), Sophie Fries (6) and Swain (5). Eva Martin had 9 points, 4 assists and 3 steals.

GREENCASTLE
Lexi Nelson 0 0-0 0, Callie Izer 2 2-3 6, Meadow Gambacurta 3 4-4 13, Eva Martin 3 2-4 9, Braelyn Cordell 0 0-0 0, Brooke Guthrie 0 0-0 0, Liv Carey 0 3-6 3, Ellie Bigler 1 3-3 5, Kiersten Swain 4 3-4 14, Alannah Coleman 0 0-0 0, Sophie Fries 2 1-2 5. Totals 15 18-26 55.
WAYNESBORO
Breanna McIlquham 7 7-8 23, Rhodes 1 1-2 3, Nystrom 0 0-0 0, Shockey 0 0-0 0, Ayala Luna 1 0-0 2, Hedin 1 102 3, Alvarez 0 2-2 2, Borkman 0 1-2 1, Reynolds 0 0-2 0. Totals 10 12-18 34.

Greencastle                18     12     14     11     —     55
Waynesboro                5       9       8      12     —     34
3-point shots — GA 7 (Gambacurta 3, Swain 3, Martin); Way 2 (McIlquham).

 

Polar Bears defeat Blue Devils

By Ed Gotwals on 12/13/24

 

Northern York 58, Greencastle-Antrim 39: The Polar Bears played a stingy defense in the middle two quarters and used that advantage to hand the Blue Devils a Mid Penn Colonial defeat on the home court Friday night.

 

Northern led 17-15 after one quarter, but between a strong Bears defense and unforced errors, Greencastle was outscored 27-11 in that time span. G-A had 20 turnovers in the first half alone.

 

For the Blue Devils (2-4, 0-2 MPC), Meadow Gambacurta swished four 3-pointers and led the team with 14 points, and added 4 rebounds. Teammate Sophie Fries scored 8 points and hauled down 6 rebounds.

 

For Northern (5-0, 3-0 MPC), Delaney Moyer scored 16 points and Anna Lehman had 13.

 

Sophie Fries

 

NORTHERN
Taelyn Townsend 2 0-0 5, Isabella Westrick 2 2-2 4, Jordis Lieb 1 1-2 3, Liz Montgomery 3 0-0 6, Meladenoff 2 0-0 5, Anna Lehman 5 1-2 13, Delaney Moyer 4 5-6 16, Abbey Freese 2 2-2 6. Totals 21 11-14 58.
GREENCASTLE
Callie Izer 2 0-2 4, Meadow Gambacurta 5 0-0 14, Eva Martin 0 1-4 1, Braelyn Cordell 0 0-0 0, Liv Carey 1 0-0 3, Ellie Bigler 1 0-0 2, Kiersten Swain 2 0-0 4, Alannah Coleman 1 0-0 3, Sophie Fries 4 0-0 8. Totals 16 1-6 39.

Northern                   17     12     15     14     —     58
Greencastle              15      4        7     13     —     39
3-point shots — NY 7 (Moyer 3, Lehman 2, Townsend, Miladenoff); GA 6 (Gambacurta 4, Carey, Coleman).

Middletown wins close game vs. Blue Devils in Conference Opener

By Ed Gotwals on 12/11/24

 

Middletown 53, Greencastle-Antrim 47: The Blue Devils rallied to tie the game 45-45 early in the fourth quarter, but the Blue Raiders made a few more plays down the stretch to capture a Mid Penn Colonial victory Wednesday night on their home court.

 

Greencastle (2-3, 0-1 MPC) had to overcome 21 turnovers.

 

“We keep learning things about ourselves with each passing quarter of play,” G-A coach Bill Monn said. “Tonight we learned that we have to be mentally and physically tough for 32 minutes, and tonight there were moments when we did not do that. That cost us a chance to steal a win on a good opponent’s home court.”

 

Sophie Fries tallied 11 points and added 10 rebounds for the Blue Devils. Ellie Bigler scored 9 points, and Kiersten Swain and Eva Martin had 7 each. Martin added 6 boards and 4 assists.

 

For Middletown (4-0, 1-0 MPC), Jayla Koser scored 25 points.

 

Ellie Bigler

 

GREENCASTLE
Lexi Nelson 0 0-0 0, Callie Izer 3 0-0 6, Meadow Gambacurta 1 1-2 4, Eva Martin 2 2-4 7, Brooke Guthrie 1 0-0 3, Liv Carey 0 0-0 0, Ellie Bigler 3 2-2 9, Kiersten Swain 3 0-0 7, Sophie Fries 4 3-4 11. Totals 17 8-12 47.
MIDDLETOWN
Cleland 3 1-4 8, Rossum 2 0-0 4, Koser 11 2-6 25, Jo.Stover 2 0-0 4, Ja.Stover 2 0-0 4, Gassert 4 0-0 8. Totals 20 3-10 53.

Greencastle           7     18      13     9     —     47
Middletown        11     19      15     8     —     53   
3-point shots — GA 5 (Gambacurta, Martin, Guthrie, Bigler, Swain); Midd 2 (Koser, Cleland).

Blue Devils picks up win vs. JB

By Ed Gotwals on 12/9/24

 

Greencastle-Antrim 59, James Buchanan 38: The Rockets rallied from an 8-0 early deficit to close within 27-22 by halftime, but the Blue Devils put the non-league home game away on Monday night with a dominating third period.

 

Eva Martin

 

G-A outscored JB 23-8 in the third, picking up the temp of the game and scoring both in the open court and on 3-pointers to roll to a 20-point lead.

 

For Greencastle (2-2), four players scored in double figures — Eva Martin scored 13, Kiersten Swain had 12, and Liv Carey and Sophia Fries each totaled 11. Martin had 10 points in the first half and Swain 8, while Fries scored 10 in the second half.

 

Also for G-A, Carey had 9 rebounds and Callie Izer and Fries each had 8. Martin led in assists (8) and in steals (7).

 

For the Rockets (0-2), Ainsley Green scored 9 of her 12 points in the first half. Kendyl Stoner scored 8 for JB.

 

JAMES BUCHANAN
Paige Hinebaugh 0 0-0 0, Ainslee Green 5 2-5 12, Audrey Dickson 0 0-0 0, Alexis Martin 2 0-0 4, Kendyl Stoner 3 2-2 8, Kyleigh Stoner 1 1-1 3, Aamiyah McCullough 1 2-2 4, Alivia Dorty 2 1-2 5, Kimber Yeager 1 0-0 2. Totals 15 8-12 38.
GREENCASTLE
Lexi Nelson 2 0-0 6, Callie Izer 1 0-0 3, Meadow Gambacurta 0 0-2 0, Eva Martin 6 1-2 13, Braelyn Cordell 0 0-0 0, Brooke Guthrie 1 0-0 3, Morgan Bear 0 0-0 0, Liv Carey 5 0-0 11, Kiersten Swain 6 0-0 12, Allannah Coleman 0 0-0 0, Sofie Fries 5 1-4 11. Totals 26 2-8 59.

James Buchanan                 9     13       8     8     —     38
Greencastle                        13     14     23     9     —     59
3-point shots — JB 0; GA 5 (Nelson 2, Izer, Guthrie, Carey).

Short-handed girls basketball team falls to Carlisle

By Ed Gotwals on 12/7/24

 

Carlisle 66, Greencastle-Antrim 48: The Thundering Herd jumped out to an 18-2 lead in the first quarter, helped by five 3-pointers, and that was enough to post a win over the Blue Devils in the consolation game of the South Western Tournament on Saturday.

 

 

Greencastle (1-2) was already playing short-handed, then lost Shaina Overcash to an injury just 2 minutes into the game. The Blue Devils played with only six varsity players available the rest of the way.

 

G-A pulled to within 6 points of Carlisle twice, but couldn’t get any closer.

 

“While it was not the result we wanted, I am extremely proud of how the six players we had to run with tonight fought through the entire game,” Greencastle coach Bill Monn said. “They showed great heart and determination, but we were never able to overcome the early deficit.”

 

Kiersten Swain led G-A with 16 points, while Sophie Fries put up 11 points and 6 rebounds. Meadow Gambacurta led in boards with 8 and Eva Martin contributed 7 assists.

 

For Carlisle, Isla Heckman scored 16 points and Tati Chandler had 14.

Greencastle-Antrim girls basketball has to learn, grow after loss to York Catholic

By Shelly Stallsmith on 12/6/24

 

First-year Greencastle-Antrim girls basketball coach Bill Monn knew there would be games like this.

 

 

Losses like the Blue Devils suffered Friday night at the hands of York Catholic are just what they need to grow and improve, he said. The Irish defeated Greencastle 52-32 in the first semifinal of the South Western Tip-off Tournament.

 

"I told them you learn more through adversity than you do in big wins," Monn said. "So they learned a little bit about themselves tonight and hopefully we'll just grow."

 

Monn was missing a starter and top reserve and started three sophomores and two seniors. Without those extra bodies, the Blue Devils weren't able to substitute as freely as they want, and that kept them from playing the fast-paced game they want to run.

 

But the biggest lesson Monn hopes his young team learns is how to deal with the physicality of the varsity game. He spent the last decade as an assistant coach in the program and worked with this year's crop of sophomores on the junior varsity team a season ago.

 

"You have to play through contact," he said. "At the varsity level in the Mid-Penn, York County or wherever it's going to be, there's going to be contact. If you want to make the jump to the next level, you have to be able to play through that. I think tonight was the first night we really had a lot of contact."

 

York Catholic moved the ball around quickly, setting up sharpshooters Maria Shue and Bethany Lawlor, who combined for 31 points. Lawlor did all of her damage beyond the arc with four 3-pointers, and Shue mixed it up with a 3-pointer, mid-range jumpers and drives through the paint.

 

Irish center Jaydyn Brown worked down low and created a barrier when Greencastle went for rebounds.

 

York Catholic doubled up the Blue Devils in the first quarter, and nearly did it again in the second to lead 25-13 at the half. Greencastle played even with the Irish in the third quarter behind four points by senior Meadow Gambacurta and 3-pointers from senior Lexi Nelson and sophomore Kiersten Swain, but they couldn't find a way to cut into the Irish lead.

 

Shue led all scorers with 19 points and Lawlor added 12. Gambacurta led Greencastle with 11 points.

 

Greencastle will return to South Western on Saturday to play Carlisle at 2:30 p.m.

 

"The first game we played really well," Monn said. "This game, we did not do as well as what we wanted to. We kind of got pushed around a little bit and we didn't push back. We'll work on our strength and get better as the season goes."

Girls basketball falls to York Catholic

By Ed Gotwals on 12/6/24

 

Kiersten Swain

 

GIRLS BASKETBALL
York Catholic 52, Greencastle-Antrim 32: York Catholic took the lead early and never relinquished it in a victory over the Blue Devils in a first-round game of the South Western Tournament on Friday night.

 

Bethany Lawlor popped in a trio of threes in the first period for the Irish as they led 13-6 after one. Mariah Shue took over in the second, with her 9 points helping York Catholic (1-0) to a 25-13 halftime lead.

 

For Greencastle (1-1), Meadow Gambacurta led in scoring with 11 points. Kiersten Swain added 7 and Lexi Nelson scored 6.