TERRE HAUTE — No one could explain what happened to host Terre Haute North during the first half of its Pizza Hut Wabash Valley Classic opener against Casey in high school basketball Saturday afternoon.
But plenty of people were willing to say they never wanted to see it again.
“Somebody once told me to enjoy every win,” coach Todd Woelfle of the Patriots said after his team’s 52-26 win, which was nowhere near as decisive or impressive as that score makes it appear.
“But everyone in our locker room realizes it is essential for us to play much better — not only in this tournament, but the rest of the season.”
It was a record-setting performance for both teams, but not in a good way. Each now shares the Classic record for fewest points in a quarter — North getting four in the first period, Casey four in the second stanza — while Casey’s 10 points at intermission represented the lowest-scoring half in Classic history and the combined total of 25 first-half points also set a new standard for futility.
And in that lowest-scoring half in Classic history, Casey didn’t trail until the final minute before intermission.
“Give Casey credit. I thought their kids played really hard,” Woelfle noted later.
Neither team scored for almost three minutes, and Casey had leads of 2-0, 4-2 and 6-4 in a first quarter in which the Warriors hit 3 of 11 shots from the field and North just 1 of 11.
When Casey’s Riley Scales — a 5-foot-9 guard who would become the game’s leading rebounder — tallied with an offensive rebound near the midpoint of the second quarter, it gave the Warriors one basket from each of their starting players, and a 10-6 lead.
North got a basket from Thomas Anderson to cut the lead to two points, then forged the game’s third tie when Andrew Gauer got free for a layup on a pass from Chris O’Leary with 2:33 left in the half.
It was still 10-10 with 50 seconds left in the half when Casey’s Clinton Scott grabbed a defensive rebound and North’s Chase Jones was called for a foul by landing on his back. Scott threw an elbow and was called for a technical foul, and Jones sank two free throws to give the Patriots their first lead of the game.
Less than 20 seconds later another rebound scrum under the North basket ended with North’s Justin Gant tumbling over a pile of players and Casey’s Chris Unzicker whistled for another technical foul. Jones hit one of two free throws, and the Patriots scored on the ensuing possession to go up by five at the break.
Two free throws by Scott cut the lead to three points at the start of the third quarter, and another free throw by Kruz Kusterman followed a North basket to make the score 17-13. But then the Patriots figured out they had a huge size advantage inside, and a combined five baskets from the 6-8 Gant and the 6-6 Anderson contributed to a 14-2 run that put the game out of reach.
“We were finally able to get the ball in the post,” Woelfle said afterward. “In the first half we settled for outside shots. We have guys who can hit them, but we have to get the big guys touches.”
“Our kids never backed down,” said coach Brad Carrell of Casey. “Everybody knows we were outmanned at basically every position … but we were hustling, doing things we can control.”
The Warriors hadn’t played well in the first half either, Carrell agreed. “We didn’t knock down shots or take care of the ball,” the coach said, “and in the second half we forgot about attacking the basket.”
Gant led all scorers with 12 points, while Jones had 10 plus four steals and Anderson scored nine for North. Several Patriot reserves saw action, most of them earlier than usual. “We just tried to find somebody to give us a little spark,” Woelfle said later. “We just didn’t play well — in any aspect.”
Scott scored nine to lead the Warriors. “We came in here and competed against the No. 11 team in the state [of Indiana],” Carrell concluded, “and we did fairly well.”
Terre Haute North 56
Player fg 3pt ft r s pf tp
Gant 6-14 0-3 0-2 3 1 0 12
Shipley 0-2 0-1 0-0 2 0 4 0
Anderson 4-6 0-0 1-2 3 2 1 9
C.O’Leary 1-2 0-1 0-1 2 1 2 2
Jones 1-2 0-0 8-9 2 4 3 10
Blank 2-3 0-0 1-2 1 0 0 5
Sponsler 2-5 0-1 2-2 3 0 2 6
Gauer 2-3 1-2 0-0 3 0 1 5
Marshall 1-1 1-1 0-0 0 1 1 3
Newton 0-2 0-2 0-0 1 1 1 0
Bolden 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0
M.O’Leary 0-0 0-0 0-0 1 0 0 0
Totals 19-40 2-11 12-18 *27 10 15 52
Casey 26
Player fg 3pt ft r s pf tp
Scott 3-9 0-0 3-4 4 2 2 9
Kusterman 1-8 0-1 4-6 5 0 2 6
Unzicker 2-3 0-1 0-0 4 0 4 4
McVey 2-4 0-2 1-3 3 1 2 5
Scales 1-4 0-0 0-0 6 0 5 2
Shull 0-1 0-0 0-0 1 0 0 0
Carver 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0
Blankenship 0-2 0-2 0-0 0 0 1 0
Bolin 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0
Babbs 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0
Barnhart 0-2 0-2 0-0 1 0 0 0
Nichols 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0
Totals 9-34 0-8 8-13 *30 3 16 26
Terre Haute North 4 11 18 19 — 52
Casey 6 4 7 9 — 26
FG Pct. — THN .475, Casey .265. 3-pt FG Pct. — THN .182, Casey .000. FT Pct. — THN .667, Casey .615. (*) Includes team rebounds — THN 6, Casey 6. Turovers — THN 9, Casey 19. Assists — THN 16 (C.O’Leary 4), Casey 5 (Scott 2). Blocks — THN 4 (Anderson 2), Casey 1 (Scales). Technical fouls — Scott, Unzicker.
Next — North (7-1) plays Marshall at 7 p.m. Monday. Casey (4-3) meets Rockville at 4 p.m. Monday.
High School
North starts slow, but finds way past Casey
- High School
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South’s Lough to wrestle for state title
The day didn’t start in a promising fashion for Wabash Valley high school wrestlers at the Evansville Semistate in Ford Center on Saturday — but it got better as it went along.
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TERRE HAUTE NORTH SECTIONAL: Mooresville tops South for fourth straight title
For Terre Haute South High School girls basketball fans, it might sound good that the Braves did not miss a shot in the first four minutes of their Class 4A Terre Haute North Sectional championship game Saturday.
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BLOOMFIELD SECTIONAL: Sullivan rebounds from tough start for title
It’s not how you start, it’s how you finish.
Sullivan struggled mightily in the first half, eerily reminiscent of its eventual elimination in the final seconds of overtime by Edgewood in last year’s Class 3A girls basketball sectional. -
CLAY CITY SECTIONAL: Eels take third straight sectional crown
Clay City stood up to the pressure and to the Shakamak Lakers on Saturday night to win a third straight Class A sectional championship in the Eel Dome.
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NORTH VERMILLION SECTIONAL: Twenty years in the waiting
The Super Bowl came to a new city. A presidential election was ongoing. And Riverton Parke won a girls basketball sectional.
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PREP ROUNDUP: Rox clinch WRC
Class A No. 8-ranked Rockville knocked off Attica 50-35 in boys high school basketball Saturday afternoon, clinching the Wabash River Conference championship in the process.
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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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South runs into talented North Central team
Terre Haute South players and coaches knew when they got off the bus Saturday afternoon that they couldn’t run with the Class 4A No. 3-ranked Indianapolis North Central Panthers.
But they tried anyway. -
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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O'Leary pours in career-high 34 for Terre Haute North
Matt O’Leary poured in a career-high 34 points, 17 in each half, to lead Terre Haute North to a dominant 69-46 home victory over Center Grove in Metropolitan Interscholastic Conference boys high school basketball Saturday afternoon.
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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.
- More High School Headlines
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