INDIANAPOLIS
Indian Creek’s bid for its first boys basketball sectional title in 21 years got tangled in a web of full-court pressure Saturday night.
The Braves turned the ball over 24 times — a formula for disaster against a deep and talented Beech Grove squad, which rolled to a 67-48 victory in the championship game to claim the program’s third consecutive title and sixth overall.
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Click here to purchase photos from this galleryNow 18-5, the Hornets prepare for Saturday’s regional at Greencastle. They’ll play Northview in a 10 a.m. semifinal.
Indian Creek closes its season with a 10-15 record.
“We were rattled, and we just really never settled in,” Braves coach Drew Glentzer said. “I credit them. Obviously, their defense was good and our offense was bad. You’re not going to win any games with 24 turnovers.”
The Hornets scored the game’s first two baskets and maintained the upper hand the rest of the way. Indian Creek trailed, 12-11, after Mason Britt’s 3-pointer with 2:09 remaining in the opening quarter, but the Hornets’ final three buckets of the period were also triples.
Leading 21-15, Beech Grove poured it on in the second stanza with a 15-0 scoring run; Indian Creek’s first points of the quarter weren’t until junior guard Javan Crouch hit a pair of free throws 1:37 before halftime. The Braves got the spread down to 13 points, 46-33, late in the third, but the Hornets answered with eight consecutive points.
Beech Grove coach Mike Renfro said his team doesn’t press full-court all of the time, but figured the strategy might work given the effort Indian Creek expended rallying from 14 points down to defeat Speedway in Friday night’s second semifinal.
“Tonight, we thought Indian Creek might be juiced a little bit coming off last night. That was the game plan from the get-go, to come out and apply as much pressure as needed,” Renfro said. “Our defense is what gets us into our offense, and we play pretty hard.”
Britt led a balanced Braves scoring attack with 13 points, followed by Crouch with 11 and center Christian Wiseman producing 10 points, eight rebounds and four blocks. Britt and Wiseman, the team’s lone seniors, were taken out of the game with 21.5 seconds remaining in the fourth to the applause of appreciative Braves’ coaches and fans.
“It was tough. There were a lot of fans here playing in their home gym,” Wiseman said. “It’s been a lot of fun playing with the guys I love to play with. They’re really good friends, and we all just love each other and have good team chemistry.”
The return of Crouch and fellow starters Braxton Christie and Ethan Garriott make for a nice nucleus for next season’s Indian Creek ball club, though the seniors will most certainly be missed.
“From where Christian started to where he is now, he’s playing with a lot of energy and is obviously a good role model for the other kids. They watch how hard he works in practice, and with Mason, there’s nobody who plays harder in a game than he does,” Glentzer said. “He gets his money’s worth every night he plays.
“Both are really top-shelf people. They’re very good role models for our school and for our basketball program.”
