Centter Grove’s Jalen Bundy dribbles the ball upcourt during Tuesday’s game at Brownsburg.
Sam Findley | For the Daily Journal
BROWNSBURG
Any rumors about Center Grove having peaked in January were snuffed out here Tuesday night.
Placing three players in double figures, the Class 4A No. 4 Trojans got out of town with a 61-60 victory over sixth-ranked Brownsburg, snapping a four-game losing streak to the Bulldogs.
Coach Zach Hahn’s squad, now 19-2, was led by junior center Will Spellman with 18 points and junior guard Joey Schmitz adding 17. Senior guard Marcus Ankney added 13, including the decisive free throw with 1.9 seconds remaining.
Ankney missed the second attempt, the rebound going to Bulldogs senior Elhadj Diallo, who immediately called timeout with 0.8 showing. Officials returned the time to 1.6 seconds, with Brownsburg having to go the full length on the court on the ensuing inbounds play.
Junior guard Drew Thompson got the ball to Diallo, whose hurried 35-footer from right of the top of the key bounced harmlessly off the backboard.
“Yeah, I was,” laughed Ankney when asked if he was supposed to make the second charity. “We knew they were going to call a timeout if I missed. It didn’t really matter because they were going for a 3 no matter what.
“It feels good to win, especially since last year we lost to them as well. And we haven’t been playing the best basketball, so it’s good to get a big win. (Brownsburg) is a great team, has a great coach and plays the right way.”
Schmitz scored all his points in the opening half. The 6-foot-5 Spellman scored all but three of his over the final two quarters.
This, noted Hahn, is part of what makes this squad unique.
“That’s kind of the way our team has played all year,” Hahn said. “We’ve had different guys step up in different situations. All five of our starters have scored close to 20 points in a game, and we’ve actually had two subs that have scored 12 to 14 in a game.
“I think it makes us hard to guard from that standpoint. But these guys really share the ball. When we don’t turn it over, we’re hard to guard.”
Schmitz knocked down a 3-pointer from the left wing with 3.6 seconds left in the second period to lift the Trojans to a 35-34 lead at the break. That returned some much-needed momentum to Center Grove after the Bulldogs erased a nine-point deficit with a 13-0 scoring run late in the second stanza.
The Trojans built what appeared to be a solid 25-16 lead after a Schmitz baseline triple at the 4:38 mark. It was here the Bulldogs’ quickness at the defensive end began factoring in, enabling the hosts to surge ahead, 29-27, with seven of the points coming from 6-foot-4 wing Diallo.
Center Grove tied it on Ankney swishing both ends of a one-and-one free throw situation; Brownsburg countered with Diallo’s two-handed slam dunk off a textbook alley-oop feed courtesy of junior guard JD Lynch.
Unfazed, the Trojans used two Ankney charities and Ethan McComb’s trey from the top of the key to retake the lead. That was followed by Brendan Lattimer’s old-fashioned three-point sequence and the Schmitz buzzer-beater.
In the second half, the Trojans did a good job of finding Spellman down low. The junior had two dunks in the fourth period alone, and Center Grove was 9 of 12 from the foul stripe in the final eight minutes. Junior point guard Jalen Bundy added seven points and tied Spellman for team rebounding honors with five.
“I’m just proud because it’s been four or five weeks since we played good basketball,” Hahn said. “Like, the level of basketball that I think we can compete at. Tonight was all about being physical and being tough, and trying to do what we do and not lose sight of who we are.
“I thought our guys got back to that tonight.”
Center Grove closes out the regular season when it hosts Columbus North on Thursday. The Trojans get their own sectional kicked off next Tuesday at 6 p.m. against Greenwood.
