By Anthony Mock
MaxPreps.com
After Cathedral suffered an embarrassing 10-point loss to Lafayette Central Catholic, the Class 4A No. 2 Irish looked to bounce back against 3A No. 5 Howe. Behind four players in double figures, Cathedral outscored the Hornets in all four quarters to walk away with a 93-73 win on Saturday.
In its lone loss, Cathedral’s inside game was feeble and its defense porous. The Irish shot only 15 free throws, compared to 49 for the Knights. Against the Hornets, though, Cathedral made it a point to do things differently. The Irish attacked the basket with more frequency and ferocity, getting to the line 45 times while holding Howe to 16 free throw attempts.
Cathedral’s defense forced the Hornets to shoot 41 three-pointers in the game, of which Howe made 17. The Irish led the game nearly the entire time, building an 11-point lead at the half. In the fourth quarter, Cathedral blew the game open with a 14-0 run, raising its lead to 21. The Irish were led by senior forward Errick Peck, who went 11-for-15 from the field, pulled down 16 rebounds, and blocked three shots. Irish guard Jarrett Hamilton contributed 21 points and 10 assists, while Howe was led by Jordan Manuel with 21 points.
Cathedral’s next game will be on Dec. 27 at Brebeuf (2-3). Howe (5-2) will host Gary West on Tuesday.
Girls Basketball: Heritage Christian wins fourth-straight city title
Despite its undefeated record and its impressive wins over some big-name competition, three-time defending city tournament champion Heritage Christian entered the 2008 tournament as the No. 2 seed.
But it didn’t take long for the Eagles to assert their dominance over No. 1 seed Arlington, as they put together a nearly flawless game on both sides of the court and walked away with yet another championship, 73-41.
Heritage Christian’s stifling defense caused the Golden Knights to miss their first eight shots of the game and allowed the Eagles to build a 21-3 lead just a few seconds into the second quarter. Heritage Christian took a 40-14 lead into halftime and did not allow Arlington to get closer than 21 for the rest of the game, holding the Golden Knights to 28.3 percent shooting and forcing 18 turnovers.
The Eagles’ (10-0) fourth straight city championship matched the records set by Arsenal Tech (1976-79) and Cathedral (1998-2001). Heritage Christian was led by Kelly Faris and Claire Freeman with 21 points apiece, while Arlington was led by Lindsay Shepherd with 15 points.
Heritage Christian will next be in action on Dec. 27 against Roncalli, while Arlington (7-3) will compete in the Eastern Greene Tournament. The Golden Knights’ first match-up will be against Owen Valley.
Swimming: North Central wins both Marion County tournaments
Surviving the occasional uprising, both the girls and the boys swim teams brought home county championships for powerhouse North Central on Saturday. The boys had a little bit of competition from Franklin Central, but managed 483 points to the Flashes’ 339.
The fifth-ranked girls team had an even easier time, beating their closest competition, No. 20 Lawrence North, by 210 points.
The highlight of the day actually came on the girls’ side, as North Central sophomore Julie Ogden wrapped-up the 100-yard butterfly finals with a time of 56.76, beating the mark that she had set last year by nearly a second-and-a-half. It was one of three meet records set by the Panthers, as senior Lauren Massey set the mark in the 50 freestyle (24.06) and swam a leg of the 400 relay (3:34.99), along with Amy Katz, Brittany Kent, and Stephanie Long.
Wrestling: Perry Meridian dominates Marion County meet
Third-ranked Perry Meridian got to host the Marion County Meet on Saturday, and its fans were treated to quite a show. The Falcon faithful got to sit by comfortably, knowing that Perry Meridian had a dominant showing as a team, tallying 271.5 points and running away from second place No. 8 Lawrence North (182 points).
The Falcons took top honors in six of the 14 weight classes.
135-pound Chris Goodwin and 140-pound Jacob Tonte both found themselves on their backs early in their respective matches. Goodwin (12-1) ended up winning his match 8-5 over Ben Davis’ Forrest Rumper, while Tonte pinned (12-0) Lawrence Central’s Dominique Butts with one second left in the first period.
145-pound Jacob Tasseff (13-0) squeaked out a 4-2 victory over Lawrence North’s Matt Goodwin by hitting a reversal with three seconds left in the final quarter, while 160-pounder Cory Hudgins scored a takedown 18 seconds into sudden-death overtime, earning him the 3-1 win.
Two other Falcons, 103-pound Jared McKinley and 152-pound Blake Wood, also won county titles to remain undefeated at 12-0 and 13-0, respectively.
