In an early battle of 4A state title contenders, late heroics by junior Josh Balridge lifted Carmel past No. 2 North Central 83-79 on Friday. Balridge came off the bench to drop 16 points on the Panthers, including the go-ahead 3-pointer with 46 seconds left in the fourth quarter.
In the first half, Carmel built up double-digit leads in both the first and second quarters and went into halftime with a 48-36 lead, only to see North Central bounce back each time. The Panthers shot 70 percent in the second half and tied the score at the end of the third quarter. Senior shooting guard Terone Johnson nailed a pair of 3-pointers to give North Central a six-point edge with 5:34 left in the game.
It looked as though the Panthers were going to remain unbeaten, but Carmel went on a 10-2 run. After a couple more lead changes, the Greyhounds locked up the victory behind Balridge’s 3 from the wing.
Robert Kitzinger tied with Balridge for the team lead in points at 16, including the Greyhounds’ last two in a pair of free throws. Carmel improved 3-1 on Saturday after beating Tech 64-42 and will host conference rival Fishers (4-2) on Friday.
North Central was led by Johnson, who had a game-high 30 points. Dedric Griffin and d’Vauntes Smith-Rivera were the other Panthers in double-figures with 12 and 10 points, respectively. North Central (2-1) will travel to 3A Frankfort (3-2) on Friday.
Dawson leads Gary Wallace past Howe
Gary Wallace had a long drive down to Indianapolis to face-off with 3A No. 9 Howe. The Hornets overcame a third-quarter surge from Howe to claim a 75-68 victory.
Wallace outrebounded Howe by 19 and had four players in double figures by the end of the game. Regardless, Howe clawed back in the game with a strong third quarter and held the lead midway through the fourth. Wallace then went on a 10-0 run and took a 59-57 lead off a put-back dunk by junior Branden Dawson that the Hornets never relinquished.
Dawson put up 20 points and 18 rebounds for Wallace (3-1), which will finish up a four-game road trip at Milwaukee Vincent (Wis). Howe (3-2) also had four players in double figures, led by Kenny Enoch with 20 points. Howe will host East Chicago Central (3-1) on Dec. 22.
Hamilton Southeastern holds on against Noblesville
Coming off a one-point overtime win at Carmel, undefeated Noblesville had a chance to knock off its second consecutive county foe in conference rival Hamilton Southeastern. The Royals, though, had won three straight games and managed to fend off the pesky Millers 57-55.
Hamilton Southeastern got out to an early lead and kept Noblesville at bay. A big second quarter allowed the Royals to take an eight-point lead into halftime. Hamilton Southeastern maintained the lead throughout most of the third quarter, but the Millers managed to cut the deficit to one twice.
Noblesville was behind by 11 points with five minutes remaining in the game and got back to within two behind a pair of 3-pointers by Matt Harron, the last of which came with six seconds left. The Millers (3-1) were led by Jake Yeary and Michael Deines with 13 points apiece, with Deines pulling down 12 rebounds. Noblesville will host Lafayette Jeff (5-1) on Friday. Gary Harris paced the Royals with 17 points and also had five steals, while Zach Starr added 13 points. Hamilton Southeastern (4-1) will host 4A No. 5 Zionsville (6-0) on Friday.
Boys basketball wrap-up
Junior Michael Chandler was 8-of-12 shooting for 25 points and also contributed nine rebounds and five blocks in Lawrence North’s 60-54 win at Louisville Eastern. Fellow junior Ryan Taylor scored the go-ahead points in the win and finished 7-of-11 shooting and had 16 points, 14 rebounds and two blocks. Chandler and Taylor, both Louisville recruits, scored 10 of the Wildcats’ 15 points in the fourth quarter.
Pike guard Marquis Teague scored 31 points, including 13 in the final quarter, in a 70-59 victory over Lawrence Central on Friday. He followed it up with 18 points, seven assists and six rebounds as the 4A No. 8 Red Devils improved to 4-1 with a 54-45 win over Brownsburg on Saturday.
Perry Meridian knocked off No. 4 Cathedral 57-55 in overtime behind a 21-point effort from Paul Person. The Irish drop to 3-1 while the Falcons improve to 4-1.
Westfield’s defense stifled No. 6 Lafayette Jeff (4-1) and held Jesse Berry, the state’s fourth-leading scorer, 11 points below his average in a 61-59 overtime win. Jeff Howard scored 20 points, grabbed 17 rebounds and blocked five shots for the Shamrocks (2-2).
Girls basketball: Ben Davis cruises to county title
No. 1 Ben Davis earned its third straight Marion County championship on Saturday, cruising past No. 8 Warren Central 52-40 and Pike 67-36.
Junior Bria Goss led the Giants in both games, scoring game highs of 16 and 20 points, respectively. After being held to just 25 points in the first half, Ben Davis dropped 23 points on Pike in the third quarter.
Ben Davis (9-0) has now strung together 39 consecutive wins. The Giants will go for 40 at Terre Haute North (4-6) on Saturday.
Girls basketball wrap-up
Tri-West needed two overtimes, but the Bruins edged North Montgomery for a 69-66 win on Friday. Sam Ricks scored a game-high 23 points but fouled out in overtime. Megan Bennett picked up the slack, scoring 10 of her 20 points in the two overtimes. Ricks scored 16 of her 19 points in the second half as Tri-West rallied from a six-point halftime deficit to claim a 55-47 win over Frankfort on Saturday and improve to 6-2.
4A No. 3 Mooresville began the third quarter with a 22-1 run and went on to top Edgewood 66-31. Maegan Callaway scored a game-high 25 points for Mooresville (8-0).
Kylee Hamilton became the leading scorer in Indian Creek girls basketball history with a 31-point performance in a 55-50 win over Martinsville. Hamilton has racked up 1,572 points and the Braves are 7-1.
Mount Vernon (6-2) topped Yorktown (6-2) 51-40 behind 22 points and seven steals from Kayla Negley.
Laken Hassen-Smith and Jessica Valley each dropped 20 points as McCutcheon improved to 6-2 with a win over Avon (5-4). Jill Steinmetz had 11 points, 11 rebounds and five blocks in the loss.
