Center Grove’s Jalen Bundy shoots the ball during Friday’s game against visiting Whiteland.
Chris Williams | For the Daily Journal
Center Grove may not have an Indiana All-Star candidate or a major Division I recruit on its roster. What the Trojans do have are plenty of ways to beat somebody, and they were almost all on display Friday night.
Dylan Meador scored 18 points off the bench to lead five players in double figures as the Trojans jumped on top early and pulled away late for a 77-54 triumph over visiting Whiteland.
“With all the seniors we have, sharing the ball’s the strength of our team,” said Center Grove assistant Troy Burkhart, who captained the ship Friday with head coach Zach Hahn out sick. “We’ve struggled the last couple of weeks; we’ve lost a couple of games, and the ball wasn’t moving … the way that we want it to. And against Martinsville (on Tuesday), I really thought it started happening. Jalen Bundy had 12 assists in the Martinsville game and did a great job of sharing the ball, and tonight I think it just carried over.”
A Bundy floater, a Will Spellman dunk and a Joey Schmitz 3-pointer gave the Trojans a 7-0 cushion less than two minutes into the action, forcing an early Warriors timeout. The break didn’t do much to slow the bleeding, as a corner 3 from Peyton Byrd and three Dylan Meador free throws stretched it to 17-4 late in the first quarter before a Spencer Gillespie 3-pointer got Whiteland back within 10 heading into the second.
Senior guard Jazz Banwait then got cooking for the visitors, scoring 10 points in the second period, and his second three-point play got Whiteland within six, 25-19, with 2:41 left in the half. Byrd, though, hit a 3 from the left wing with five seconds left to send Center Grove into the break with a 30-21 advantage, and the Warriors never got closer than nine again.
Trojan bigs Michael Ephraim and Will Spellman asserted themselves at the start of a high-scoring third quarter, dominating on the offensive glass and combining to score 13 points. The Warriors (3-3) punched back from outside with five 3-pointers in the period, including three from Banwait, but the home side closed strong to remain comfortably in front. Schmitz hit a pair of treys in the final minute of the quarter, including one just before the buzzer off of a Bundy assist that made it a 57-42 game.
Center Grove (5-3) wound up hitting 14 3-pointers in all.
“I feel like teams have been trying to pack it in and play zone, and we’ve got too many shooters for that,” Bundy said. “And when I get to the middle, I can kick it to open shooters … so when teams play zone, it’s just an easier way for us. We were preparing all week for it.”
Meador’s third 3 of the evening capped a 13-2 spurt that grew the lead to 62-42 with 7:14 remaining, and he hit two more midway through the final frame to give the Trojans a 25-point cushion. Both sides emptied the benches shortly thereafter.
Spellman and Byrd each scored 13 points for Center Grove, with Spellman also grabbing a game-high nine rebounds and blocking three shots. Bundy and Schmitz added a dozen points apiece.
Banwait finished with a game-high 21 for the Warriors, followed by Gavin Stubbe with 11 and Spencer Gillespie with nine.
Whiteland coach Nate Cangany liked what he saw from his club at times but stressed the need to improve defensively.
“We knew coming into the season that we could be pretty dangerous offensively,” he said. “We had to figure out how to defend. This is still early in the season, game six, still figuring things out, but that is one area where — I think we will get better. … When we can start defending consistently, I think we’ll be a pretty tough team to beat.”
Ditto for Center Grove when it can share the ball the way it did on Friday.
