Brownsburg’s quest for a repeat championship in Class 4A has already ended, as the Bulldogs suffered a 50-48 loss to host Pike in the second round of the sectional on Wednesday.
The Red Devils took a 26-15 halftime lead, despite star point guard Marquis Teague missing seven of his first nine shots. Though the offense struggled through the first half, Pike’s defense played an inspired game, holding Brownsburg scoreless for a stretch of nearly eight minutes in the first half.
"We’ve got to use our athleticism," said Pike head coach Phil Spoljanic, whose team only boasts one senior. "When you start as many guards as we do, you depend on your guys to not turn the ball over. Since we can’t pound the ball inside, and we don’t want to live by the (3-pointer), our offense is predicated on our defense getting turnovers."
Pike’s tallest player is only 6-foot-5, and most of the Red Devils’ line-up is small and speedy. Spoljaric views the team’s win against the bigger Bulldogs as a step toward playing the kind of basketball that is conducive to winning championships.
"We knew that they weren’t just going to go away, they’re too good of a team," Spoljaric said. "A lot of our kids are in (the postseason) for the first time, so there’s a lot of inexperience. We’ve built leads in many of our games, but we weren’t always able to seal the win, so this was a good one for us."
Teague, the younger brother of Wake Forest sophomore Jeff Teague, has led Pike back to prominence as the team’s top scorer. It was no surprise that when Brownsburg cut the deficit to five late in the third quarter, Teague would be getting the ball. The sophomore hit back-to-back 3-pointers, and Brownsburg was still down nine entering the final quarter. The Bulldogs were at a 46-38 disadvantage with less than two minutes to play, but sliced the lead to two.
Teague, who led all scorers with 19 points, got the ball on the last play of the game and showed his prowess as a point guard, finding teammate Julian Strickland for a lay-up with two seconds left in the game. Brownsburg put up 23 points in the fourth quarter, two shy of its total in the previous three quarters.
"We want to get him the ball, and that’s no secret," Spoljaric said of Teague. "He’s a great scorer, but he’s also our best passer. The pass that (Teague) made was tough, but I thought (Strickland’s) lay-up was just as tough."
Pike (12-8) will host Decatur Central (18-3) in the sectional final after the Hawks managed a 58-54 win over Tech on Wednesday. The winner of that game will meet the winner of Ben Davis (4-16) and Avon (12-9). Avon took the regular season meeting 57-52 in overtime.
More Boys Basketball: North Central topples Cathedral
In the state’s premier sectional opening round match-up, 4A No. 4 North Central survived No. 7 Cathedral, 71-63.
The gym was packed to capacity as over 3,000 fans were on hand at Arlington High School. The game easily lived up to all the hype, as the Panthers and the Irish tied eight different times and exchanged leads 11 times. Neither team could gain more than a five-point advantage until North Central went on an 11-0 tear in the fourth quarter, starting with a 3-pointer from senior Damon Ellison, who had a game-high 19 points.
North Central (22-1) will take on Lawrence Central (10-9) in the semifinals, while Warren Central (10-13) will face No. 3 Lawrence North (22-2) in the other semifinal match-up. The Warriors are eager to take a shot at the Wildcats, who boast a rotation of seven players 6-3 or taller and have several big-name Division I recruits.
In their previous meeting, Warren Central hung with Lawrence North fairly well, down only three at halftime and losing by 11. That game, however, was on Jan. 2 and the Wildcats have been of a tear since then, including an 86-47 thrashing of Broad Ripple in the sectional quarterfinal, a game in which the Wildcats had a 40-18 rebounding advantage.
Warren Central, who plays among the toughest schedules in the state, shot 62 percent from the field in a 77-65 win over Arlington.
Girls Basketball: National powers to slug it out Saturday
Photo By Jim Redman
Skylar Diggins, South Bend Washington
Ben Davis has made it look easy all season. The Giants have only had one opponent finish with a single-digit deficit, and even then the three-point win was not as close as it seemed.
Many thought that the Giants’ semi-state match-up against No. 7 Mooresville would be the toughest of the year. Ben Davis dominated the game from the tip, not allowing the Pioneers so much as a single field goal in the first quarter. The 20-6 advantage after the first quarter was all the Giants needed, but even with a 37-21 halftime lead, Ben Davis kept it’s foot on the gas and held Mooresville scoreless in the third quarter.
Senior Alex Bentley put up 23 points in a game that was never really a contest, and the Giants are now preparing for one of the biggest girls games in state history.
Ben Davis (29-0) could become the first girls basketball team to amass 30 wins in a season in Indiana history, but to do that, they will have to take on South Bend Washington (26-0).
The Giants are the state’s No. 1 team according to both state coaches’ polls, and Washington is No. 2. Both play a similar style, and both teams are Nos. 1 and 2 in the state in scoring margin (Washington is +36 and Ben Davis is +31).
According to the MaxPreps Xcellent 25, Ben Davis is ranked No. 2 nationally while Washington is No. 3. Washington forward Skyler Diggins (29 points, 6.4 rebounds, and 6.4 assists per game), the leading candidate for Indiana’s Miss Basketball, takes the state’s top-scoring offense against what is widely believed to be the best defense in the state (allowing 33 points per game).