INDIANAPOLIS
Tuesday night’s girls basketball sectional showdown between Whiteland and Center Grove offered a window of opportunity for each squad.
The Warriors had their chance early on. The Trojans had theirs right around the midway point, and they took advantage by putting together a game-changing run that paved the way to a 47-36 victory in the opening round of the Class 4A Franklin Central Sectional.
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Center Grove (18-6) advances to face Franklin in a semifinal game Friday evening. Whiteland ends the best season in school history with a 19-5 mark.
Toward the end of a seesaw first half that featured five ties and eight lead changes, Emma Utterback knocked down a pair of mid-range jumpers to give the Trojans a 21-19 edge. The momentum carried over into the third quarter, when Amy Davis fed Cassidy Hardin and Emma Utterback for back-door layups and Hardin got loose for her first 3-pointer of the night. When Davis followed with a short jumper, Center Grove suddenly had a 30-21 cushion with 4:45 left in the period.
“Our role players were a little bit more comfortable coming out of the half and attacked more, and Cass did a little bit better job moving,” Trojans coach Kevin Stuckmeyer said. “We just changed things up a little bit there, gave them a different look, and we were able to get a couple of easy ones.”
Whiteland fought back, but the Trojans seemed to have a counter for every punch the Warriors threw. When Taylor Klenner knocked down a 3 at the 6:10 mark of the fourth to cut it to 37-31, Utterback brought the ball right down to the other end and converted a three-point play.
Whiteland couldn’t get any closer than five after that, and it fell to Center Grove for the third time this season.
“We knew each other’s games so well that it was just up to who had the better talent and who played together the most,” Utterback said.
The Warriors had the momentum early, as Trojan guards Utterback and Ella Thompson each picked up two first-quarter fouls. Thompson, though, hit three 3-pointers in the period to keep her team close, and Whiteland never got up by more than four.
“When they were in foul trouble in the first half, I really thought we needed to extend our lead a little bit,” Warriors coach Kyle Shipp said. “They did a really nice job battling back, and then they came out in the third quarter ready to play.”
Thompson led the Trojans with 13 points, while Utterback added 12 and Hardin finished with 11 points and nine rebounds.
For the Warriors, senior Mackenzie Blazek had 17 points, 13 boards and three assists in her last game.
The likely Indiana All-Star finishes her career with more than 1,500 points and 300 blocked shots, and she ranks fifth on the state’s all-time rebounding list. Her dreams of a sectional title, however, won’t be coming to fruition.
“We did a lot of good things,” Blazek said of her final season. “It just wasn’t in the cards.”
