Whiteland’s Jazz Banwait shoots a jumper during Friday’s county semifinal against GCA.
Chris Williams | For the Daily Journal
Through a coach’s eyes, Whiteland’s opening quarter on Friday night won’t be categorized as eight minutes of perfection.
Others might disagree.
The Warriors drained their first five 3-pointers, had guard Jazz Banwait produce 16 points in the opening stanza alone, and scored a 63-47 decision over Class A No. 6 Greenwood Christian in the first semifinal of the Johnson County tournament.
Whiteland (10-5) faces host Center Grove in this evening’s championship game. The Trojans dominated the second semi to the tune of an 81-48 defeat of Greenwood.
“We just got open looks, and we started hitting,” said Banwait, who finished with 20 points to lead all scorers. “Once we got a little rhythm going, everything was just going in the basket. Honestly, the third quarter we just played on Tuesday against Franklin was similar to that.”
The Warriors made good on seven of their first eight field goal attempts on their way to a comfortable 24-9 advantage through one period. The spread grew to 18 points by halftime, 34-16, and then Greenwood Christian finally began making some noise in the third to pare the differential to 11.
Senior Max Booher slid inside for a layup 25 seconds into the fourth quarter to get the deficit back to single digits (48-39) for the first time since early in the opening period.
Whiteland, however, responded with six consecutive points on Wiatt McLaughlin’s layup, a pair of free throws from Banwait and a Banwait layup to make it a 54-39 game. The Cougars (9-4) never got closer than 13 points from that point.
Junior wing Ethan Edwards lent plenty of support to Banwait, scoring 19 points and leading the Warriors in rebounds with five. Booher scored 17 to pace GCA, while junior guard Noah Reed added 10 points and collected a game-high six boards.
The Warriors didn’t commit a turnover until whistled for an offensive foul with 6.2 seconds to go before halftime. However, they were guilty of six miscues in the third quarter alone to help the Cougars slowly gain ground on the scoreboard.
Whiteland played at Center Grove on Dec. 15, with the Trojans cruising to a 77-54 win. The Warriors, however, are riding a five-game win streak and have won seven of their last eight.
“Ever since the winter tournament (in December), and from that point on, we’ve been a different team,” Banwait said. “Tonight we played well, but we also had glimpses where we were looking a little timid. It should be a great matchup.”
In Friday’s nightcap, the Trojans and Woodmen battled through five lead changes early, and then Center Grove closed the first period with a 9-3 run to begin pulling away. The Trojans, up 11 at intermission, outscored Greenwood 26-15 in the third.
Michael Ephraim, CG’s 6-foot-10 junior center, tied senior teammate Ben Chestnut, a 6-7 wing, for team scoring honors with 14 points. Ephraim also grabbed five rebounds and blocked four shots. The balanced attack continued with wing Peyton Byrd, forward Will Spellman and guard Joey Schmitz scoring 10 points apiece.
Eleven players found the scoring column for Center Grove (8-4), which delivered from the charity stripe, making 21 of 25 attempts. Leading Greenwood (4-9) were senior guard Jake Mosemann with 17 points, followed by junior Isaac O’Neal with 12.
“The free throw line was huge,” Trojans coach Zach Hahn said. “We struggled a lot earlier in the year, and it was great to have two weeks of practice over Christmas break where we could actually work on some stuff, get to the line, run sprints and then shoot free throws.
“I think we’re shooting the ball with a little more confidence. I thought our effort was really good from all 12 guys that dressed. Everybody gave us a lift, and that’s what it takes. It’s got to be a total team effort every night.”
