Eastern Greene loses to Riverton Park

TERRE HAUTE -- The Eastern Greene Thunderbirds dropped their second straight game in the Pizza Hut Wabash Valley Classic Tuesday evening because of missed opportunities.

Riverton Parke's Panthers placed four players in double figures en route to a 60-40 win over the Thunderbirds.

Tournament action resumes at Terre Haute South High School on Wednesday. Eastern Greene (2-5) played Greencastle at 11:30 a.m. today at Terre Haute South.

The Thunderbirds forced the Panthers into 13 turnovers, but capitalized on very few of them. At one point in the first quarter, Eastern stole the ball at mid-court, missed the open layup and missed a follow-up shot before Riverton Parke grabbed the rebound.

"It's a shame. We did the right things. We turn them over, then we didn't come back (and score)," Eastern Coach Andy Igel said.

Once Riverton Parke got the ball into the half court, there was little Eastern could do. Riverton Parke's Tyler Morgan, a 6-4 junior, scored 17 points and grabbed nine rebounds, 6-5 center Evan Lunsford scored 10 points, 6-3 reserve forward Zach Morgan netted 11.

"When you don't defend the whole night that's what happens," Igel said.

Eastern shot just 32 percent (16-50) from the floor and 47 percent (7-15) from the free throw line. Trent Chitwood led Eastern with 10 points and six rebounds.

"We didn't hit jump shots tonight and when you don't hit jump shots it looks worse," Igel said.

Riverton Parke led 13-10 after one quarter and a 3-pointer by Seth Strange and a steal and layup by Jeremy Stanger kept the Thunderbirds within three, 18-15, with 6:31 left in the half.

But over the next three minutes, Eastern turned the ball over on the next three possessions and Riverton Parke scored on the next four, taking a 26-15 lead. Chad Weaver scored the final bucket of the half for Eastern, but Riverton Parke led 29-19 at the break.

An offensive rebound bucket by Chitwood, who had 10 points and six rebounds for Eastern, cut the deficit to eight points, 31-23, early in the third period. But Riverton Parke moved to a 39-29 lead heading into the final quarter.

Riverton Parke pulled away with a 14-2 run in the first five minutes of the fourth quarter.

Eastern (40) -- Manion 1-3 2-5 6, Strange 2-10 2-2 7, Roberts 1-3 0-3 2, Voils 2-8 0-1 4, Arnold 1-10 1-2 3, Chitwood 4-4 2-2 10, Fender 1-6 0-0 2, Stanger 2-3 0-0 4, Davis 0-2 0-0 0, Weaver 1-1 0-0 2. Totals 16-50 FG, 7-15 FT, 40 TP.

Riverton Parke (60) -- T. Morgan 7-9 3-4 17, Riggen 3-7 0-0 7, Lunsford 5-6 0-1 10, Cleghorn 1-5 0-0 2, Fox 0-1 0-0 0, Z. Morgan 5-8 1-2 11, Lehman 0-0 0-0 0, McMullen 4-4 2-2 11, Jukes 0-1 1-4 1, McLaughlin 0-0 1-2 1. Totals 25-41 FG, 6-15 FT, 60 TP.

Eastern Greene 10 9 10 11 -- 40

Riverton Parke 13 16 10 21 -- 60

3 Pt. Goals: EG 1-6 (Strange 1-5, Voils 0-1), RP 2-3 (Riggen 1-1, McMullen 1-1, Fox 0-1)

FG Pct. -- EG .320, RP .609. 3-pt FG Pct. -- EG .167, RP .667. FT Pct. -- EG .467, RP .400.

Total fouls: EG 16, RP 16. Fouled out: none. Technical fouls: none.

Rebounds: EG 27 (Manion 7, Chitwood 6), RP 30 (T. Morgan 9).

Turnovers: EG 12, RP 13.

Next game -- On Wednesday, in the Wabash Valley Pizza Hut Classic at Terre Haute South, Eastern Greene (2-5) plays Greencastle at 11:30 a.m. and Riverton Parke (5-3) plays Marshall, Ill., at 2:30 p.m.