Two of the three meetings between the Center Grove and Whiteland boys basketball teams last season went down to the wire, each decided by two points. The schools’ first battle this winter was no less exciting.
Aaron Gross scored 19 of his 21 points after halftime, including a bomb from beyond halfcourt to end the third period, helping fuel the host Warriors to a 65-58 triumph against their county rival on Friday night.
“After I hit the three-quarter-court (shot), I figured I probably wasn’t going to miss many more,” Gross said. “I was feeling good, and I figured I’d try to get as many shots up as I can.”
Cameron Petty hit a 3-pointer at the outset of the final quarter to put Center Grove (3-2) up 54-50, but Gross answered with two of his own at the other end, his fourth and fifth of the night, to give Whiteland a 56-54 edge with 6:17 remaining. The teams were then deadlocked twice before Brennan Neal put the Warriors on top for good with a reverse layup at the 2:33 mark and then fed Gross for a back-door layup make it 62-58 with 1:49 to go.
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Click here to purchase photos from this galleryThe Trojans’ final points came with 3:53 left in the game.
“I thought we battled most of the game, but we didn’t execute late,” Center Grove coach Zach Hahn said. “We didn’t necessarily follow the scouting report — (Gross) we know is a shooter, and he gets loose and he hits them.”
Center Grove snatched the early momentum by closing the first quarter with a 13-2 run. Nate McLain helped start the surge with four free throws, then capped it by hitting a 3-pointer from the corner as the buzzer sounded, staking the Trojans to a 23-13 lead.
The Warriors (5-1) trimmed that gap to six, 34-28, by the midway point behind Michael Valle, who had seven of his 12 first-half points during the second quarter. Whiteland then used a 10-0 blitz in the third to reclaim the upper hand, 42-38.
“When you get down eight to 10 (points), that’s a situation where the doubt can start to creep in,” Whiteland coach Matt Wadsworth said. “But to our kids’ credit, we stayed focused on getting one shutout at a time, picking the shots that we wanted offensively, and I just give our kids so much credit for how hard they play and how well they played together.”
Back-to-back buckets by Trayce Jackson-Davis late in the third period put the Trojans back on top, 51-47, but Gross gave the Whiteland crowd a needed jolt when he beat the buzzer to make it a one-point game going into the final frame.
Valle finished with 19 points for Whiteland. Spencer Piercefield led Center Grove with 14 points, while McLain added 12 and Jackson-Davis had 10.
