A week that marked the 20th anniversary of Indian Creek’s last boys basketball victory over Beech Grove ended with the Hornets once again playing the role of the Braves’ nemesis.
The torrid shooting of Mason Britt allowed the host Braves to keep pace through the first half of Saturday night’s Class 3A sectional championship game, but Beech Grove kept on scoring all night and gradually pulled away for a 72-59 triumph in Trafalgar.
"That’s kind of where the game was lost," Indian Creek coach Drew Glentzer said. "We were great offensively. We handled their pressure great, made shots. We just couldn’t get any stops."
The lead changed hands 10 times during a back-and-forth first quarter that didn’t see a defensive stop from either team until more than four minutes in. The Hornets put together an 8-0 run late in the period before Britt ended it with a corner 3-pointer — the first of his six on the night — to get Indian Creek back within one, 19-18, going into the second.
Britt stayed hot, scoring eight more points in the first 2:47 of the second quarter to help the Braves pull ahead by four, 28-24, before Beech Grove answered with seven consecutive points to reclaim the upper hand. Indian Creek counterpunched again, taking a 33-32 lead at the 1:42 mark on Britt’s fourth 3 of the first half, but the visitors scored the last five points of the period to take a four-point edge into the intermission.
With Britt having clearly been a topic of conversation during the break, the Hornets came out in the third and had Gavin Mitchell faceguarding the junior — a move which produced the desired effect of forcing someone else from Indian Creek (18-7) to produce offense.
The gamble paid off. Britt, who had scored 18 in the first half, was limited to a pair of free throws in the third period, and the rest of the Braves struggled to keep pace without his shooting. An 8-0 Hornet run during the back end of the quarter created the first double-digit margin of the night at 52-41, and Beech Grove wound up pulling ahead by as many as 14 points, 58-44, on a three-point play by big man Josh Fryar with 5:48 to go in the contest.
"We were right there," Glentzer said, "and unfortunately we started missing and they didn’t."
A 3-pointer from Colby Marker and two more from Britt got the Braves as close as 62-53, but an inability to follow those makes up with defensive stops at the other end prevented them from chopping any more off of the deficit. Beech Grove, which seemed to cash in on offensive rebounds almost every time they did miss a shot, scored the next eight points to go up 17 and slam the door shut on Indian Creek’s season.
The electric atmosphere in the gym symbolized everything Indiana basketball has been over the years — a near capacity crowd, split about evenly in terms of fan allegiance, cheering loudly from beginning to end. When it was over, the Beech Grove faithful were celebrating a 14th straight win over Indian Creek, including four tournament games in the last eight seasons.
"That energy gets us going, and we try to keep it," Britt said of the crowd. "But sometimes stuff happens. People get down, and it can change. That’s how basketball is."
Britt finished with a game-high 28 for the Braves. Xavier Ferris scored nine points, all in the second half, while Ethan Williams had eight and Marker and Gavin Hillenburg chipped in seven apiece. Indian Creek got zero points from its bench and made just 3 of 7 free throws; the Hornets, meanwhile, were 21 for 24 from the stripe.
Indian Creek will graduate four seniors — Ferris, Marker, Jordan Watson and Garrett Dalton — but should still have a strong nucleus to work with next season. Britt said that watching the Hornets cut down the nets on his home court should help keep him and his teammates motivated in the meantime.
"I’m fired up still," he said as the Beech Grove celebration neared its conclusion on the floor below him. "I want to come out next year, get here again and win it."
