For the Daily Journal
INDIANAPOLIS
It wasn’t hard for Center Grove boys basketball coach Zach Hahn to see where it all went wrong Friday night.
Too many turnovers.
The Trojans, who were up by 10 points early in the third quarter, committed 24 turnovers in a 62-47 loss to host Pike in a Metropolitan Interscholastic Conference game.
“They applied pressure, we turned it over for layups,” Hahn said. “That’s how Pike wins. We had nine turnovers in the third quarter, and that’s the difference in the game.”
The Red Devils (3-1, 1-1 MIC), who trailed 28-21 at halftime and 31-21 early in third quarter, outscored the Trojans (2-1, 0-1) 18-9 in the third to take a 39-37 lead after three quarters. The fourth quarter was all Pike, which had a 23-10 edge in the final quarter.
“They sped us up, and we didn’t slow down and take control of the basketball game, be strong and face up like we talk about every day in practice,” Hahn said. “When good teams do that to you and you take quick shots or turn the ball over, and they shoot layups, it makes it hard to win a game.”
Hahn said the lesson is to have patience with the basketball.
“We talk about everything that happened in that game every single day,” Hahn said.
Sophomore Trayce Jackson-Davis led the Trojans with 15 points, hitting 9 of 12 free throws.
Senior Isiah James led the Red Devils with 20 points, hitting 7-of-15 shots.
“I thought we competed,” Hahn said. “Every person who stepped on the floor played hard. That’s never the issue. The issue is never is effort. The issue is mindset. We didn’t have patience.”
Pike assistant Scott White was taking over interim head coach as coach Bill Zych was in the hospital with an illness.
“It just happened (Thursday) and they’re going to keep him over the weekend,” White said. “It’s some sore of infection. I just talked to him, and hopefully he’ll be back the beginning of the week.”
White said the Red Devils’ defensive intensity was much better in the second half.
“The plan was to keep picking them up and keep tiring them down,” White said. “A lot of the shots they hit early, they missed in the second half due to some tired legs.
“We got dialed in (defensively) and got focused and followed our rules and we got some steals and we got some easy baskets. Then we didn’t settle for fadeaway jumpers and stuff like that.”
The Red Devils, who play at Crown Point tonight, played just eight players as starting point guard Elijah Pennington was out with staph infection and sixth man Tyree Pegues is out with a separated shoulder.
