TERRE HAUTE — Stop me if you’ve heard this one before, but when Terre Haute North went into the fourth quarter of the Metropolitan Interscholastic Conference high school basketball game at Indianapolis North Central with just one turnover …
You’re right. You haven’t heard that one before, and an eventual 57-49 victory Friday night for the host Panthers wasn’t much of a damper on the Patriots’ play.
Although North Central did force but one turnover in the first three quarters, the Panthers were playing plenty of defense. They made the Patriots miss shots early, which gave the home team a lead it never relinquished, and blocked shots in the middle of the game when the visitors were threatening to make runs at the lead.
But North’s ability to run its offense against that kind of defense, plus maybe the best games of the season by Cory Hemmings and Justin Gant, kept the Patriots in the game until the end and made coach Jim Jones a reasonably happy man afterward.
“I think we got a little tired [at the end],” Jones said after the game. “But being able to compete against that caliber of competition is really encouraging ... and some kids played better than they had been playing.”
“Jim’s team did what Jim’s teams do,” coach Doug Mitchell of the Panthers said. “I know they’ve been working very hard at not turning the ball over.
“But I thought our defense stayed patient,” Mitchell continued. “I was very pleased with our effort.”
The differences in the game were mostly physical ones. North Central made a few first-half plays on the basis of pure quickness that enabled the Panthers to stay ahead, and the size advantage the home team had made the rebounding a one-sided proposition for the first three quarters.
North was still in the game early, trailing just 8-5, when the Panthers went on a 6-0 run to go up by nine. The third basket was one example of that quickness: guard Evan Gordon — you may be familiar with his older brother Eric — stole the ball from a Patriot, sped around him and outran him to the basket (while dribbling) for a layup.
North’s first big comeback attempt came early in the second quarter. A 3-pointer by Chris O’Leary followed by rebound baskets by Thomas Anderson and Gant cut a nine-point lead to 17-15, but then the Panthers got three more quick baskets. On the second of those, sophomore guard Terone Johnson shot over a Patriot, then flashed past him to rebound his own miss for a layup. On the third, reserve guard Eric Nicholas grabbed a defensive rebound on one baseline and went coast-to-coast for a layup at the other end, passing all five Patriots along the way.
But the Patriots were never deterred. They started shooting a little better in the second and third quarters — they’d have been well above 50 percent in those quarters except for six blocked shots by the Panthers — and came back from a 30-19 deficit late in the second quarter to cut the lead to five points three times in the third period.
The second of those rallies was particularly frustrating. North had cut the lead to 39-34 but twice had shots that could have cut the lead to two or three points. Neither went down.
“We missed some crucial shots,” Jones noted later.
Two more times in the fourth quarter the lead was cut to five points, at 43-38 and 47-42. The latter score came when Hemmings stole the ball, missed a layup under pressure, and Zach Harrison rebounded misses twice to finally get the basket.
But the Patriots had started making turnovers in the fourth quarter too, and those few mistakes proved costly. After the Panthers got an inside basket to go up by seven, a turnover led to the basket that put the home team ahead by nine. And when North had to press, the Panthers were able to throw over it for a dunk by 6-foot-9 Chris Toler that made the score 53-42.
Even that rally didn’t break the Patriots’ will, but the Panthers — who missed seven of their first eight free throws — hit four in a row down the stretch.
Gant, despite playing with a bout of bronchitis, led the Patriots with 13 points — 11 in the first half — while Harrison scored all 12 of his in the last two quarters. Anderson had 11 points and eight rebounds, and Hemmings had six assists.
Johnson had 15 points, Toler 13 and James Hollowell 10 for the Panthers, with Gordon handing out seven assists.
“Solid,” Mitchell said in assessing his team’s play. “I thought we played extremely solid.”
“[The Panthers’] athleticism and size [were the difference],” Jones said. “Our spirit was good, especially [in dealing with] the physical play.
“I thought we really competed,” the North coach concluded. “We never were really out of it.
Terre Haute North 49
Player fg 3pt ft r s pf tp
Gant 6-9 0-0 1-2 4 0 1 13
Harrison 5-11 2-7 0-0 3 0 1 12
Anderson 5-14 0-1 1-2 8 1 1 11
Garvin 1-7 1-4 0-0 2 0 3 3
Hemmings 2-5 0-0 0-0 2 2 3 4
O'Leary 2-3 2-3 0-0 0 0 2 6
Gauer 0-0 0-0 0-0 2 0 2 0
Totals 21-49 5-15 2-4 *23 3 13 49
Indianapolis North Central 57
Player fg 3pt ft r s pf tp
Hollowell 4-5 0-0 2-4 5 0 1 10
Ellison 2-7 0-1 0-0 1 2 1 4
Toler 6-8 0-0 1-4 8 1 2 13
Gordon 2-3 0-1 0-0 4 1 0 4
Johnson 7-12 1-2 0-0 3 0 1 15
Corley 1-5 0-4 0-0 2 1 0 2
Reid 1-1 0-0 0-0 2 0 0 2
McFall 0-0 0-0 0-0 1 0 0 0
Ahlfeld 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 1 0
Nicholas 2-2 1-1 0-0 2 0 0 5
Totals 25-44 2-9 5-12 *33 5 6 57
Terre Haute North 8 14 14 13 — 49
Indianapolis North Central 16 14 11 16 — 57
FG Pct. — THN .429, INC .568. 3-pt FG Pct. — THN .333, INC .222. FT Pct. — THN .500, INC .417. (*) Includes team rebounds — THN 2, INC 5. Turnovers — THN 6, INC 8. Assists — THN 14 (Hemmings 6), INC 17 (Gordon 7). Blocks — THN 1 (Anderson), INC 7 (Toler 2, Hollowell 2).
JV — Indianapolis North Central 50 (Zack Barrett 14), Terre Haute North 30 (Logan Shipley 14).
Next — Terre Haute North (8-8, 1-3 in Metropolitan Interscholastic Conference) has a home game tonight against Evansville Reitz. Indianapolis North Central (11-5, 3-2) has a home game tonight against Pike.
High School
North plays ball control but falls to North Central
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THN SECTIONAL: Braves to play Mooresville for sectional title tonight
Terre Haute South continued to show what’s new and Terre Haute North unfortunately reverted back to what’s old in Class 4A high school girls basketball sectional action Friday night at North.
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OWEN VALLEY SECTIONAL: Eagles bring Vikes down to earth
Baby steps. A baby takes that first step and grins, then attempts the second step and tumbles. The West Vigo High School girls took their first step with a victory Tuesday night in the Class 3A basketball sectional at Owen Valley.
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BLOOMFIELD SECTIONAL: Sullivan jumps to early lead in sectional victory
Sullivan jumped out to a 9-0 lead and were never threatened in a dominant 48-25 win over Eastern Greene in a semifinal game of the Class 2A Bloomfield girls basketball sectional inside Glover Gymnasium on Friday.
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North Vermillion Sectional: Panthers, Falcons to meet for NV title
Outstanding defense and quality passing landed Riverton Parke in the championship game of the Class A North Vermillion Sectional. The Panthers will have to get through the host school tonight in order to secure the program’s first sectional crown since 1992.
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South swimmers don’t advance at Finals
Terre Haute South’s trip to the IHSAA girls swimming state finals at the Indiana University Natatorium was a short one Friday night.
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BASKETBALL ROUNDUP: Duncan’s OT free throws help Marshall down H-P
Jacob Duncan hit four free throws in overtime Friday night as visiting Marshall defeated Hutsonville-Palestine 51-49 in Little Illini Conference action.
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Davis hits layup in double overtime to lift Terre Haute North at Bloomington North
Playing without their two leading scorers against a team that — most of the time — seemed more determined to win than they did, Terre Haute North's Patriots got a driving layup from Steven Davis with 2.8 seconds left in the second overtime to escape Bloomington North with a 54-52 win in high school basketball Thursday night.
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Sullivan stays on top of WIC for third straight year
Western Indiana Conference boys basketball teams have been trying to storm the Sullivan castle for three years now. The Golden Arrows have endured nearly every kind of strategy in the effort to breech their wall. West Vigo tried a few more on Thursday in a showdown for the WIC championship.
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South girls looking for solid performances at swimming state finals
One individual and one relay team, which includes that same individual, will represent Terre Haute South in the IHSAA girls swimming state finals today and possibly Saturday at the Indiana University Natatorium in Indianapolis.
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PREP ROUNDUP: Cesinger, Jones each score 24 in Clay City win
Blake Cesinger and Brylan Jones poured in 24 points apiece to lead visiting Clay City over North Central 67-53 in SouthWestern Indiana Athletic Conference boys high school basketball Thursday night.
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Teutopolis knocks off record-setting Marshall girls in regional championship
Marshall jumped ahead 4-0 only to watch Teutopolis score the next 11 points Thursday in the championship game of the Class 2A Teutopolis Regional.
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Sullivan wins battle in low post
Sullivan dominated the low block at both ends of the court Wednesday to defeat South Knox 43-30.
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State wrestling berths won't come easily
If high school wrestlers thought regional competition was tough last weekend, they can expect the competition, as Keegan Michael Key used to say on MADtv, taken to “a whole notha level” on Saturday.
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South pulls upset
Plainfield’s 16-5 record made the Quakers the team to beat in the Class 4A Terre Haute North Sectional.
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Vikings break long sectional drought
You’ll have to forgive West Vigo for celebrating just a wee bit prior to the postgame handshake with South Vermillion, but its first victory in a sectional game in 11 years was worthy of celebrating.
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PREP ROUNDUP: RP rolls past Attica
Riverton Parke jumped to a 20-point halftime lead and easily defeated Attica 59-34 in the Class A North Vermillion girls basketball sectional on Tuesday.
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They’re the pride of Marshall
With a 24-1 record, coach Kathy Miller’s Marshall team earned the top seed in the Class 2A Teutopolis Regional.
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Union season more fun with Talpas around
The Union boys basketball team has had its share of fun moments in the past, arguably the most fun being its Class A state runner-up in 2000.
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Injury bug follows girls into postseason
Who’s healthy is the question at least three of the four teams will be asking tonight when Class 4A girls high school basketball sectional play begins at Terre Haute North.
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Rockville needs late run to stop West Vigo
It was a game of fits and starts, but host Rockville finally overcame a stiff challenge from visiting West Vigo in a 53-46 victory in boys high basketball action on Saturday.
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Northview holds off Plainfield
Northview got its sixth victory in boys high school basketball action Saturday night, defeating Plainfield 59-56.
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PREP ROUNDUP: Cloverdale helps Rady to career win No. 714
Brandon Dorman and Joe Fidler combined for 37 points and six 3-pointers Saturday night as visiting Cloverdale defeated Turkey Run 63-45 in boys high school basketball.
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North seniors enjoy hot start
The appearance of balanced scoring in the Terre Haute North High School basketball lineup Saturday night was a little bit deceiving as the Patriots held on to defeat visiting Evansville Reitz 62-48 in North’s Senior Night contest.
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Ben Davis Giants top South Braves
Visiting Ben Davis nearly went to sleep on a sizeable lead against Terre Haute South in Metropolitan Interscholastic Conference high school basketball Friday night.
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No. 3 Panthers too much for Patriots
After trailing by 15 at halftime, Terre Haute North’s boys basketball team got off to a nice start in the second half and cut its deficit to seven against Class 4A No. 3 Indianapolis North Central.
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Clay City gives Shakamak first SWIAC loss
Clay City shook up the top echelon of the SouthWestern Indiana Athletic Conference with a solid 52-41 victory Friday over visiting Shakamak in a boys high school basketball game at the Eel Dome.
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Regional wrestlers know importance of opening-round matches
Eight in each weight class. Four of those advance to the semistate. No byes.
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PREP ROUNDUP: Mahurin leads Rox to victory
Lane Mahurin tallied 10 of his game-high 29 points in the fourth quarter to help Rockville hold off Wabash River Conference foe Fountain Central 80-72 in boys high school basketball Friday night.
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Robinson rolls past Paris
Whenever Paris strung a few plays together, Robinson had an answer Friday night in an Apollo Conference boys basketball game. The host Maroons held on for a 52-36 victory to go to 15-7 overall and 6-4 in the conference.
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Sullivan girls focused only on team success
If you’re looking for a good omen for the postseason hopes of the Sullivan High School girls basketball team, you might want to consider how the Golden Arrows handled the ceremonies and hoopla surrounding Rhagen Smith’s 1,000th point recently.
There wasn’t any — no ceremony, no hoopla. In fact Smith, her family, her coaches and her teammates weren’t exactly sure when the 1,000th point happened (it was actually Jan. 12) — and that seems perfectly fine with everyone. - More High School Headlines
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