Neither Claire Rake nor Mary Wilson, Center Grove’s two leading scorers, had found the basket during the second half of Friday night’s game against Class 4A No. 6 Lawrence North.
The two broke their silence when the Trojans needed them most.
Rake fed Wilson for a go-ahead layup with 2:24 remaining and then knocked down two tie-breaking free throws with 13.7 seconds on the clock to lift host Center Grove to a 31-29 triumph in its final regular-season game.
The Trojans (18-5, 4-3 MIC) lost 14 straight in the series dating back to January of 2005.
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"Lawrence North is a semistate, state championship type of team," Center Grove coach Kevin Stuckmeyer said. "They showed that last year and they’ve shown it most of this year and still could show it again at the end of this year, so our girls have got to be really proud of themselves, of how they competed and how they came together and did it as a group effort."
Freshman Emily Karr nailed a 3 from the corner to put the Trojans up 27-26 with 3:04 to go before the Wildcats (20-4, 6-1) took their final lead 11 seconds later on a Lauren Gunn drive.
After Wilson’s clutch basket, Lawrence North tied it back up with 19.3 seconds left on a free throw by Kristian Young. That set the stage for Rake, who didn’t display anything resembling nervousness at the line as she put in the winning points.
"I’ve shot 1,000 free throws, and I knew I was going to make them," the senior said.
Back-to-back 3s from Wilson and Rake staked the Trojans to an early 8-3 edge that held up for the rest of the half. Center Grove struggled to score for much of the second quarter while Wilson sat for chunks of time with two fouls and the Wildcats got within a bucket at 14-12, but Rake and Wilson closed the half with consecutive hoops to get the margin back to six at the break.
That lead evaporated quickly, however, as Lawrence North opened the third with corner 3-pointers from Jayla Smith and Kalyn Irvin to even it up at 18-18. The two teams were still tied heading into the fourth, 22-22, before a steal and a layup from Smith put the visitors in front for the first time since the opening minutes.
Smith and the Wildcats bothered Center Grove with their pressure defense and forced 18 turnovers, most of those in the second half. The Trojans, though, were able to do just enough to hold on.
"We had to stay composed," Rake said. "They’re really lengthy and athletic, especially (Smith) on the top of their press. Coach just said stay strong; we’ve been playing against MIC teams the entire year. Thankfully, we got the dub out of it."
Rake and Wilson finished with 10 points each for the Trojans, who came into the night having lost four of seven but now head into their sectional opener against Shelbyville with a bit more confidence.
"We’ve kind of been missing our identity for a month now here, and I think we got it back tonight," Stuckmeyer said.
