Center Grove boys fall to Warren Central in OT

<p>NEW CASTLE</p><p>Twice during Warren Central’s 40-game winning streak, Center Grove has forced the Warriors to work overtime.</p><p>Each time, the Trojans came away lamenting a potential victory that got away.</p><p>Isiah Moore hit a game-tying 3-pointer late in regulation, then knocked down a pullup jumper in the lane with 0.8 seconds left in the extra period to help the top-ranked Warriors pull out a 52-50 thriller in the championship game of the Hall of Fame Classic on Saturday night.</p><p>With a final chance, Center Grove freshman Tayven Jackson delivered a perfect three-quarter-court pass to Trayce Jackson-Davis, but the senior’s jumper from the right elbow just missed the mark at the horn.</p><p>“I jumped a little bit, because I thought (the defender) was under me,” Jackson-Davis said, “so I shot it up here so I didn’t really get a chance to fling it. But it’s okay; it happens.”</p><p>Center Grove (9-3) came out swinging, using a suffocating defense and a hot start from Trayce Jackson-Davis to take an early 12-2 lead. Jackson-Davis had 12 of his game-high 23 points in the opening quarter, along with a pair of steals.</p><p>The Trojan lead was still 10 early in the second period before Warren Central’s Jameson Smith started to heat up. The senior guard hit four first-half 3s, including three in a span of 2:14 to get the Warriors within one, 22-21, with 3:56 to go in the half.</p><p>Six consecutive points in the opening minutes of the third quarter gave Warren Central its first lead of the night, 33-30. Cam Petty fed Jackson-Davis for a baseline jam to slow the bleeding, but the Warriors still went into the final period with a 39-36 edge.</p><p>The Trojans scored seven straight points and reclaimed the upper hand, 43-42, on a Spencer Piercefield 3-pointer with 4:02 remaining. Manny Brown answered with a conventional three-point play at the other end to put the Warriors back up, but Piercefield connected again at the 2:37 mark.</p><p>Warren Central then held the ball into the final minute, but Jackson-Davis swatted away a Jakobie Robinson shot and it went out of bounds off a Warrior player with 33 seconds left. Jackson-Davis slammed it home at the other end to make it 48-45, but Moore coolly responded, nailing a clutch 3-pointer at the other end with 12.3 seconds on the clock.</p><p>While disappointed with the end result, Jackson-Davis says his team can come away with some more confidence after taking the state’s top team to the wire.</p><p>“It just means that we can compete with anyone,” he said. “We’ve just got to play with that energy for the rest of the season.”</p><p>The Trojans advanced to the final by edging Class 2A No. 2 Westview in the opening round, 48-43. Fourth-quarter 3-pointers from Piercefield and Justin DeGraaf helped the Trojans take control of a back-and-forth affair down the stretch.</p><p>Jackson-Davis, Piercefield and Ben Nicoson each had 11 points in the semifinal victory.</p>