4A No. 1 Ben Davis lost two valuable sophomores a few weeks ago and has still yet to feel the ill effects. The Giants dismantled No. 4 Floyd Central 65-28, earning them their 57th straight win, which ties a state record.
Jordan Huber came out on fire for the Giants, nailing four first-quarter 3-pointers.
A swarming Giants defense forced 12 first-half turnovers and propelled Ben Davis to a 41-11 halftime advantage. The Giants held Jennifer Smith to six points, 13.5 below her average, and stifled Camry Hinton and Morgan Rookstool, both of whom averaged double figures on the year, to just 10 combined points.
Huber had a game-high 18 points, while Bria Goss tallied 12 points and Dee Dee Williams added 11. The Giants will travel to Fort Wayne for the state finals, where they will face No. 5 Merrillville (25-1).
Girls semi-state results
3A No. 1 Rushville (25-2) made a fourth-quarter comeback to knock off Evansville Memorial 60-49. The Lions will travel to Fort Wayne to play Fort Wayne Concordia (23-3), which punched its ticket with a 54-36 win over Griffith.
2A No. 2 Austin (25-2) crushed No. 1 Winchester 72-48 in the semi-state. The Eagles had made the semi-state each of the past years, but fell to eventual champion Heritage Christian. Austin will face Fort Wayne Bishop Luers (18-7) in the final.
No. 1 Vincennes Rivet moved to 26-0 with a 55-38 win over No. 7 Waldron. They will take on Fort Wayne Canterbury (24-2).
Wrestling
No. 1 Mishawaka sent 10 wrestlers to the individual state finals last week, with nine earning medals as top-eight finishers. Despite not having a singles champion, Mishawaka’s depth was able to lead them to the team title with a 37-17 win over No. 4 Yorktown (34-2). It was the Cavemen’s second team title in three years.
Mishawaka won by fall in the 152-pound class and the 189-pound. Cavemen Paul Beck (112) and Christian Lentz (215) followed up their individual runner-ups with major decision wins, 11-1 and 14-1, respectively.
Yorktown jumped out in front of Mishawaka early after winning the 125- and 130-pound weight classes with major decisions, but the Cavemen won the next seven weight classes before Yorktown senior state champion Ross Janney (285) scored a pin in 31 seconds, bringing his record to 55-0 on the year.
Boys swimming
Carmel led a Hamilton County-laden top 5 in the state finals, posting a score of 245 at the IUPUI Natatorium for the program’s 12th state championship and first since 2004.
The Greyhounds won just one individual title along the way, which belonged to junior Matt Gerth in the 200-yard freestyle, and the 400 freestyle relay. Still, they topped second-placed Munster by 28, while two-time defending champion Chesterton finished with 153 in third place.
Chesterton’s Kyle Whitaker was the main attraction at the meet, topping a number of records. Whitaker broke his own national high school record in the 200 medley with a time of 1:44.55, giving him his unprecedented fourth-straight title in the event. He also secured the 500 freestyle title with a state record time of 4:19.79 and anchored the 200 freestyle relay. Whitaker finished his career with eight individual titles, a state record, and four relay titles, which ties him for the most medals (12) in state history. Lastly, Whitaker walked away with the Mental Attitude Award.
Fishers head coach Frank Stopkotte was named Coach of the Year after leading the Tigers to a fifth-place finish (126) in only the program’s fourth year of existence. Hamilton Southeastern, the third school from Hamilton County in the top 5, finished fourth with 138, led by Nathan Kinney with a second straight 100 freestyle title.
Boys basketball wrap-up
Andre Hampton and Jordan Manuel each had 27 points for Howe (Indianapolis) (18-5), which cruised to a 112-45 victory over Herron.
Alex Payne put up 28 points for Carmel (14-6) in a 59-43 victory over Brebeuf (12-8).
Pike had four scorers in double-figures as the Red Devils (14-6) topped Warren Central (14-8) 55-41, led by Julian Strickland with 13 points.
3A No. 1 Danville improved to 20-1 with a 72-47 win over Monrovia, led by Purdue-bound Travis Carroll with 26 points and 10 rebounds.
