Center Grove’s Will Spellman, center, and Michael Ephraim team up to alter a shot during a sectional game against Mooresville.
Daily Journal file photo
Almost all season long, Center Grove coach Zach Hahn has been impressed with his team’s ability to treat every game like the one before it.
Always business. Never personal. Nino Brown mentality.
So it should come as no surprise that the Class 4A No. 9 Trojans aren’t catching feelings as they head into what could be a double Metropolitan Interscholastic Conference reunion at today’s semistate in New Castle. Center Grove (21-4) faces one former MIC rival, eighth-ranked Ben Davis, in this morning’s semifinal; survive, and tonight’s championship could mean a meeting with another in No. 5 Lawrence North.
The storyline sure seemed alluring from the outside — rivalries renewed! — but the Trojans themselves aren’t all that interested in it. They just want to play ball.
“It kind of sucks that we’re still not in the MIC or they never wanted us back, but I don’t think it has any influence or impact on the way we’re going to play,” senior guard Joey Schmitz said.
“It might be in the back of our heads, but it’s not a big motivator for us going into it,” classmate Will Spellman added. “The lights are already bright enough with it being semistate, so that’s really all the motivation we need.”
Sticking with a strictly-business approach has certainly served Center Grove well over the last three months. The Trojans have won 15 in a row and 18 of their last 19, with the lone blemish a 66-65 overtime loss against No. 1 Fishers on Dec. 22.
That setback, which came on the heels of three wins of 20 points or more, came just as the team was starting to find its groove.
“We kind of figured out the team as a whole and what each of our roles were going to be,” Schmitz said. “That Fishers game, we really played a great game and we went toe to toe with them, and I think that really boosted our confidence and just proved to us that we have a chance this season, and we could do something really special with it.”
During its current run, the Trojans have won several games in comfortable fashion, including a 71-55 triumph over fellow semistate qualifier Jeffersonville, but also shown themselves capable of pulling out the close ones, such as their one-point victory against Brownsburg or a three-point win at Avon.
Today’s semifinal against the defending state champion Giants figures to be similarly tight. The Trojans haven’t played Ben Davis since a narrow 44-43 home loss on Jan. 21, 2022 — just five and a half weeks after Center Grove and Carmel were unanimously voted out of the MIC.
Many of the names have changed since then, but Hahn doesn’t feel like the identities of the two squads are all that different.
“It’s tweaked from year to year, but there’s usually some common themes,” he said. “They try to guard us a certain way, we try to guard them a certain way, and you try to take away things that they thrive on, but most of the time in a MIC battle or a battle with Ben Davis, it comes down to a couple of things. The two most important things would be rebounding and turnovers; those two things usually indicate the way that the game goes when you’re playing a team as athletic and as talented as Ben Davis. …
“I don’t think anybody’s going to try and reinvent the wheel or come out in some crazy defense or offense. It’s about being sharp, it’s about knowing your opponent, and a high level of execution.”
The Trojans have been executing at a high level for quite some time, in large part because they haven’t allowed themselves to get caught up in the emotions that often come with big games.
That doesn’t mean that the emotions aren’t there; Center Grove’s players have just been able to keep them under control in the moment.
“We’re really excited for it for sure, being only Center Grove’s third regional (title) since 1972,” Spellman said, “So the emotions are definitely high, but we’re trying to stay composed.”
Always business. Never personal.
IF YOU GO
Class 4A New Castle Semistate
Center Grove (21-4) vs. Ben Davis (21-5), 10 a.m.
Jeffersonville (19-7) vs. Lawrence North (25-3), noon
Championship, 8 p.m.
Admission: $12 per session, $20 full day; children 5 and under free. All ticket sales are digital via ihsaa.eventlink.com.
