Local Sports

Boys basketball semistate preview

March 16, 2019

It was all a dream. They may or may not have read SLAM Magazine.Center Grove has never been thought of as a boys basketball powerhouse, but a group of young Trojans grew up planning to change that.Now, as 12th-graders, they’re delivering.The six-player senior class has led Center Grove back into the semistate for the first time since 1972, when some of their parents weren’t even born yet. The group has also become the first in school history to win three consecutive sectional championships and the first to post back-to-back 20-win seasons.[sc:text-divider text-divider-title="Story continues below gallery" ]Click here to purchase photos from this galleryPerhaps just as importantly, the Trojans have been drawing bigger crowds and changing perceptions about basketball’s place in the school’s athletic pecking order."Coming into a school that’s known for football and softball, trying to change that mentality into a basketball thing has been really special to us," senior guard Cam Petty said.Starting from scratchLucas Doyle, Ben Greller, Trayce Jackson-Davis, Ben Nicoson, Petty and Spencer Piercefield have been playing with and against one another since they were elementary schoolers in the Center Grove Boys Basketball League. There wasn’t much of a historical bar being set in front of them; the 2011 Trojans that won 21 games were the school’s first sectional champs since 1994.But the young bucks were ignoring Center Grove’s lack of a basketball history. For as long as they can remember, they’ve had designs on building their own legacy of success."We’ve always envisioned this," Greller said. "We won together at a young age, so it’s definitely always been there.""Since day one, we’ve all had the same mindset," Nicoson agreed, "coming into high school just thinking about doing something this big."The group was splintered while in grades six through eight; Jackson-Davis attended Greenwood Christian, with the remaining players split between Center Grove’s North and Central middle schools. But even while they were rivals, they remained close friends who were familiar with one another’s games.Those bonds have only strengthened since the six were reunited in high school."We don’t even notice it sometimes," Doyle said. "We’ll just know where anybody is on the court, just from playing so much with each other."Due at least in part to their size, Doyle and Jackson-Davis were put on the varsity as freshmen by head coach Zach Hahn, then in his second season. The rest of the group was put on the JV team.By the end of their sophomore season, though, all six were together on the varsity roster. Jackson-Davis and Piercefield were the team’s top two scorers, and Nicoson went from a midseason call-up to a starter in the span of just a few weeks. With those three and Doyle all part of the regular postseason rotation, the Trojans advanced to the regional before losing to Romeo Langford and eventual state champion New Albany.That was the first of three sectional championships for this group of seniors, who have managed to get deeper into the state tournament in each of their four years.The driving forceA big reason for the Trojans’ increased success, obviously, has been the meteoric rise of Jackson-Davis, who alternated between looking dominant and uncomfortable as he grew into his body as a freshman and sophomore.Everything clicked last season, as Jackson-Davis went from 12.4 points per game to 21.9, going from a project who was barely cracking the top 100 of the national recruiting rankings to a 6-foot-9 menace who was a consensus top-20 prospect and the apple of nearly every college coach’s eye.Doyle, who at 6-5 and 285 pounds is often tasked with guarding Jackson-Davis in practice, has had a chance to see the evolution up close."I really enjoyed battling with Trayce freshman year," he said, "but it was to the point where I saw all the potential he had, and it stopped turning into as much competition as much as, ‘He’s going to be great; how can I make him greater?’ So in practice … he might get frustrated with me at times, but then in the game he just made it look so easy because I made it a little bit harder for him in practice."Hahn said he never doubted Jackson-Davis’ potential — he says he told him as a freshman that he had the ability to become an Indiana Mr. Basketball. What the coach has been most impressed with has been the maturity that Jackson-Davis has displayed all the way through the growth process."That’s been the most fun thing to watch," Hahn said. "He gets yelled at (by fans) every game and he doesn’t ever let it affect him. He just comes out and plays basketball and tries to put his team in the best position to win the game."Developing an edgeHaving been a part of some deep state tournament runs in football, this postseason has still been a special one for both Doyle and Petty.And while neither jumps off of the stat sheet or wows the casual observer with their offensive fireworks like Jackson-Davis or Piercefield has, the toughness that they bring over from the gridiron has permeated the entire roster."It does bring a different level of physicality," Hahn said, "going through that grind of practice every day against physical guys."Likewise, starting guards Nicoson and Greller aren’t big scorers, but each has found a place in the lineup by bringing his own brand of tenacity, especially on the defensive end."I just have to do the little things and try to be an energy guy," Greller said. "My role has gotten bigger every year, up to starting this year, but I would say it’s always been bring energy, feed Trayce, set good screens, rebound and stop them on defense."Living the dreamBeing one of the state’s top teams the past couple of seasons has made the Trojans more of a known commodity. Fans have been turning out in greater numbers, and the support from classmates in the hallways has only increased with each step they climb this postseason.Hahn, who played in the 2010 and 2011 NCAA championship games for Butler, says this current run ranks "right up there" for him."Basketball is such a unique sport in the fact that it’s one of America’s sports," Hahn said. "It’s Indiana’s sport. So whether you’re on campus in college or you’re in high school, people are going to come around and congratulate you. You’re not wearing a helmet; you’re not on a field where people can’t see you 20, 50 yards away. You’re right there on the court. So the uniqueness of having a name and a face that represents our program and people seeing us and saying congratulations, that makes it all really, really special."As gratifying as it has been for these six seniors to build that base of support, though, they’re not satisfied with what’s been accomplished so far. They’re determined to earn a trip to Bankers Life Fieldhouse to play for a state championship next Saturday."That’s all I think about when I’m coming in doing workouts," Nicoson said. "I’m just thinking about that day that we could possibly get there. But we definitely have to worry about semistate first, just take it one game at a time.""All the buzz that’s around us is more than it’s ever been," Greller added, "so that’s cool, but we’ve got to stay focused, because winning the regional was not our main goal."The main goal is now just two wins away.Even for Doyle and Petty, who were a part of a football state championship as freshmen, being able to help bring a title to Center Grove in basketball would mean something a little bit different."In basketball, we’re not expected to win the regional every year, we’re not expected to win the sectional every year like we have recently," Doyle said. "So it really just brings a whole new fan base out, and everybody starts turning their head, thinking, ‘Wow, CG can really get it done in both sports now.’ Hopefully we’ve created a culture here.""That’d be my ultimate dream in high school, just to be able to complete that," Petty said."And so far, it’s still alive."[sc:pullout-title pullout-title="If you go" ][sc:pullout-text-begin]Class 4A Washington SemistateCenter Grove (21-8) vs. Ben Davis (19-7)Time: 6 p.m. (5 p.m. Central)Admission: $10[sc:pullout-text-end][sc:pullout-title pullout-title="Scouting the semistate" ][sc:pullout-text-begin]Class 4A Washington SemistateCenter Grove (21-8) vs. Ben Davis (19-7)Players to watch: Ben Davis — Jeff Clayton, Jaylen Jennings, Dawand Jones, Cameron Maul, Trevor Nibbs, Kai Steinman, Jalen Windham; Center Grove — Justin DeGraaf, Lucas Doyle, Ben Greller, Trayce Jackson-Davis, Ben Nicoson, Spencer PiercefieldSagarin ratings: Ben Davis 96.46 (fifth in Class 4A and overall), Center Grove 94.85 (seventh in 4A, eighth overall)Head to head: Center Grove won at Ben Davis, 56-45, on Jan. 18. Jackson-Davis had 23 points for the Trojans, while DeGraaf added 16 and Piercefield 12. Windham scored 25 for the Giants.What to watch for: The key for the Trojans will be slowing the 6-foot-9, 350-pound Jones, an Ohio State offensive line recruit who didn’t see much time in the regular-season meeting but has dominated in the postseason, scoring 23 and 24 points in the Giants’ two regional wins last weekend. With Jackson-Davis, DeGraaf and Doyle, Center Grove has enough size to throw at Jones to make him earn what he gets — but the Trojan bigs will have to avoid foul trouble. Jackson-Davis turned in a Mr. Basketball-type performance in the regional final, and he’ll likely need another one to keep the Trojans’ season going. A few early 3-pointers from the backcourt trio of Nicoson, Piercefield and Greller could help spread the floor and give Jackson-Davis a chance to take Jones one on one. Both teams come in playing their best basketball of the season; whichever side can force the other into an off day will likely be the one heading to Bankers Life Fieldhouse next week.[sc:pullout-text-end]

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