Center Grove boys come up short at semistate

<p>WASHINGTON</p><p>In an intense postseason battle between two conference rivals quite familiar with one another, it’s often the little unexpected plot twists that decide the outcome.</p><p>Both Center Grove and Ben Davis had opportunities to write the script for Saturday’s Class 4A semistate game at the Hatchet House, but it was the Giants who took full advantage, using a key second-half surge to pull away and then holding off a late Trojan rally for a 67-61 triumph.</p><p>The Giants (20-7) will face another MIC power, Carmel, in this weekend’s state championship game.</p>[sc:text-divider text-divider-title="Story continues below gallery" ]Click here to purchase photos from this gallery<p>&quot;Props to them for playing their best basketball,&quot; Center Grove senior Trayce Jackson-Davis said. &quot;They really brought it to us tonight, and we just couldn’t get into a rhythm.&quot;</p><p>Despite an uneven offensive performance, the Trojans (21-9) were still right in the game after chopping a 12-point deficit down to two in the third quarter. Ben Nicoson knocked down a 3-pointer and Jackson-Davis followed with four baskets, two of which turned into three-point plays, to cap a 17-3 run that made it a 37-35 game with 2:32 to go in the period.</p><p>But as they did every time Center Grove got too close, the Giants found a way to counter. Tyreese Nibbs hit a 3, his only basket of the game, and Ben Davis then added seven unanswered points in the final minute of the quarter to stretch its lead back out to 10. Jalen Windham then opened the fourth with five of his team-high 25 points, and suddenly it was 52-37 with 5:34 left.</p><p>&quot;That sealed the deal,&quot; Jackson-Davis said.</p><p>The Trojans didn’t quit, though. Jackson-Davis scored nine of his 34 points over the next 2:08 to get it to nine, and after Justin DeGraaf followed with back-to-back buckets that bookended a big offensive rebound by Cam Petty, Center Grove was improbably back within five, 55-50, with 2:55 remaining. </p><p>But Ben Davis, which left the door ajar by missing 11 fourth-quarter free throws, hit six of its next eight after the DeGraaf baskets to keep the Trojans at arm’s length. Center Grove got within five on two other occasions in the last minute but could never complete the comeback bid.</p><p>Ben Davis was 16 of 27 from the line in the final 6:12.</p><p>&quot;It was a tough game,&quot; Trojans coach Zach Hahn said, &quot;but I couldn’t be more proud of our fight tonight, because we could have rolled over and lost by 20 with how bad we played. But our guys came out and fought in the fourth quarter and gave it everything they had to get back in it; unfortunately, we couldn’t make shots, and their role guys made all of their shots.&quot;</p><p>Those shots tended to be back-breakers. The trio of Nibbs, Cameron Maul and Kai Hickman-Steinman — none regarded as 3-point marksmen — combined to knock down four treys on Saturday, and all seemed to be perfectly timed to stop Trojan momentum.</p><p>In the first half, for instance, Center Grove had an opportunity to take control of the game with both of Ben Davis’ big men, Dawand Jones and Jeffrey Clayton, on the bench with foul trouble. But after Jackson-Davis capped a 6-0 spurt with a spin move to tie the game at 17-17, Hickman-Steinman knocked down a 3 with 3:47 to go before halftime. Windham added a three-point play shortly thereafter, and Ben Davis was able to make it to the break with a 27-20 edge. Maul then opened the second half with a 3 to put the Giants up by double digits, steepening the Trojans’ uphill climb yet again.</p><p>Nine first-half giveaways kept Center Grove from cashing in on the opportunities that the Giants’ foul woes had created.</p><p>&quot;The two things that I think cost us the game were turnovers and then us missing layups,&quot; Hahn said. &quot;We missed quite a few bunnies around the rim, and they did a pretty good job of taking away our catch-and-shoot 3s, and then their role players stepped up and made 3s.&quot;</p><p>DeGraaf had 13 points for Center Grove, nine of those in the fourth quarter. Spencer Piercefield finished with nine points before fouling out in the closing seconds.</p><p>Despite the defeat, Jackson-Davis said he takes pride in how he and his teammates have elevated the status of the Trojans’ basketball program. Center Grove has won three consecutive sectionals for the first time, and this was the school’s first semistate appearance in 47 years.</p><p>&quot;We were just trying to make it a culture where the school respects us as a team,&quot; Jackson-Davis said.</p><p>Even if the Trojans didn’t achieve their ultimate goal, they certainly earned that respect.</p>