Even though the Indianapolis Shortridge Blue Devils scored an imposing 56 points on Thursday, the Purdue Polytechnic Techies still came out on top. Purdue Polytechnic took their matchup against Indianapolis Shortridge 67-56. Given Purdue Polytechnic's advantage in MaxPreps' Indiana basketball rankings (they are ranked 85th, while Indianapolis Shortridge is ranked 331st), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Purdue Polytechnic's success was the result of a balanced attack that saw several players step up, but Derrick Johnson led the charge by scoring 19 points. As a matter of fact, that's the most points Johnson has scored all season. The team also got some help courtesy of James Long jr., who scored 13 points.
Several Blue Devils players turned in solid performances despite ultimately coming up short. Perhaps the best among those players was Jalen Yates, who scored 13 points along with six rebounds and two steals. Another player making a difference was Julian DeFrantz, who scored 16 points along with five rebounds and two steals.
Even though they lost, Indianapolis Shortridge were working as a unit and finished the game with 13 assists. This was only their 12th loss (out of 15 games) when they've passed the ball that well.
Purdue Polytechnic's win bumped their record up to 12-3. As for Indianapolis Shortridge, this is the second loss in a row for them and nudges their season record down to 4-19.
Purdue Polytechnic won't have much time to rest: their next matchup is against Indian Creek at 7:30 p.m. on February 9th. Purdue Polytechnic has been dominant on offense recently, as they've racked up an incredible 262 points over their last four matches. As for Indianapolis Shortridge, they will look to defend their home court on Wednesday against Phalen Leadership Academy at 7:30 p.m. Hopefully Indianapolis Shortridge focused on turnovers this week since the team gave up 28 on Thursday.
