<p>SEYMOUR</p><p>Spencer Piercefield took an outlet pass from Center Grove backcourt mate Ben Nicoson and held the ball out on the right wing, seemingly content to tick away some of the few remaining seconds of Saturday night’s Class 4A regional championship game against Bloomington South.</p><p>Suddenly, Trayce Jackson-Davis crept up behind the play, took a pass from Piercefield and hammered home a ferocious left-handed dunk — slamming the door shut on the Panthers’ season and tacking a fitting exclamation point onto the end of a masterful performance.</p><p>Jackson-Davis finished with 40 points and 11 rebounds, dominating from start to finish in a 64-41 rout that gave Center Grove its first regional title since 1972.</p>[sc:text-divider text-divider-title="Story continues below gallery" ]Click here to purchase photos from this gallery<p>The Trojans (21-8) will play in the Washington Semistate this Saturday against MIC rival Ben Davis. </p><p>"Man, it’s crazy," Jackson-Davis said. "We were a team that was about to get bounced in the sectional championship game (against Franklin), and we just fought our way back and now we’re playing really well. We’re playing really good basketball, so hopefully we can bring that into next week."</p><p>The Trojans went to Jackson-Davis early and often against the Panthers, and the senior was able to weave his way through frequent double-teams to score 10 points in the first quarter. He added 11 more in the second, including nine during a 12-1 spurt that gave Center Grove a 27-16 advantage with 2:34 remaining in the half.</p><p>Piercefield added one of his three 3-pointers during the run. The senior, who finished with 11 points, said that life becomes much easier when Jackson-Davis is playing at such a high level.</p><p>"Our job is easy when he’s playing like that," Piercefield said. "It’s just get him the ball and then spot up. He’s either going to score or he’s going to get us a wide-open shot. He was unstoppable tonight; he played like a man, and that’s what we’re going to need for those final two games."</p><p>Jackson-Davis opened the second half with a baseline dunk, and the Trojans scored eight of the quarter’s first 10 points to stretch its lead to 40-22. The Panthers got as close as 12, but Jackson-Davis countered with a three-point play and Justin DeGraaf (10 points) knocked down a 3 just before the third-quarter horn to make it 47-30 going into the final period.</p><p>Bloomington South (24-4) got as close as 13 with 7:07 to go, but Piercefield knocked down another trey on the Trojans’ next possession and Jackson-Davis followed with 10 more points, including the jam at the 2:23 mark that sent the Center Grove faithful into a frenzy and served as a cue for both teams to empty the benches.</p><p>"My teammates really helped me," said Jackson-Davis, who was 18 of 21 from the field in the win. "They hit open shots, and then (Bloomington South) had to close out, so they couldn’t have the double-team and I kind of killed them on the inside tonight."</p><p>In the morning semifinal, the Trojans used a dominating third quarter to pull away for a 65-40 triumph over Jasper. Jackson-Davis finished with 20 points and 11 rebounds in that game despite spending the whole fourth quarter on the bench with the rest of the Center Grove starters.</p><p>DeGraaf had 11 points in the semi and hit all eight of his foul shots on the day.</p><p>Getting some additional rest in the first game of the day proved pivotal down the stretch of the title game, when Bloomington South was pretty clearly out of gas.</p><p>"That was huge just to get that rest and be able to have fresh legs for the night game," Piercefield said.</p><p>Neither Jasper nor Bloomington South stood much chance of coming from behind against a Center Grove defense that has now yielded just 34.6 points per game in five postseason outings.</p><p>""The defensive intensity, I thought, in both games was pretty unbelievable," Center Grove coach Zach Hahn said. "These guys wanted it, and they went out and proved it on the defensive end.</p><p>"We talked all season at the end — ‘You’re not going to win a championship, you’re not going to win a sectional or a regional or anything unless you guard.’ That’s six straight games where we’ve held teams under 42, and that’s a big reason why we’re having success."</p><p>Next up for the Trojans is an all-MIC semifinal clash with Ben Davis. The two tied for sixth in the conference during the regular season, with Center Grove taking a 56-45 road win in the head-to-head meeting on Jan. 18.</p><p>The Giants feature the potent tandem of Georgia State-bound guard Jalen Windham and 6-foot-9, 350-pound center Dawand Jones, who is headed to Ohio State as an offensive lineman.</p><p>Jones played sparingly against Center Grove two months ago but totaled 47 points in his team’s two regional victories over Lawrence Central and New Palestine.</p><p>"We’ve got to prepare like we did the last time," Jackson-Davis said. "I know Jalen and Dawand are going to bring it, and so we’ve just got to play our game and play our system."</p>
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