The following are round one boys basketball sectional recaps from Tuesday, March 1. There may be updates, so please check back.
1A-60…Jac-Cen-Del 62, Rising Sun 48
While a clear statistical favorite on paper, 10th ranked Jac-Cen-Del found itself in quite a battle with Rising Sun in 1A-60 at Southwestern Shelby. The 62-48 final was not indicative of how close this game was.
After leading 10-9 at the end of the first quarter, the Eagles went up 31-22 at the half. Jac’s biggest lead was 11 early in the third before the Shiners rallied to get within two at the close of the quarter, 41-39.
With about 2:40 to play, it was still a two-point game. Wyatt Day’s inside two made it a 52-48 contest. Rising Sun had three consecutive trips to get the deficit back to a single possession but didn’t score. Day added two free throws to up the Osgood advantage to six. The Sun then had two unforced turnovers.
From there, frustration set in as the Shiners were called for two technical fouls. Justin Swinney and Day combined to hit 5-of-6 freebies. Swinney and Matt Dickman stepped up to hit three more to provide a rather deceiving final margin of 14.
Day finished with a game-high 25 which included 9-of-10 from the line. Caleb Simon scored 13 and Swinney had nine.
The Eagles, now 18-5 advance to the 6 pm semi on Friday and will face Waldron (12-10).
3A-29…Lawrenceburg 48, Rushville 35
Lawrenceburg bested Rushville 48-35 in 3A-29 at Connersville. The Lions held a 9-6 advantage at the first stop but the Tigers went up 21-17 at intermission and led throughout the second half.
LHS finished with a plus-8 advantage on the glass (31-23) and hit 45 percent from the field (19/49) compared to 31 percent for the Lions (12/38)
Ashton Craig led the Tigers with 15 points to go along with five rebounds. Jackson Bobo had a near double-double with 12 points and nine boards. Garrett Yoon scored eight and dished out seven assists.
For the Lions, Quentin Cain led with 11 points to go along with a trio of assists and four boards. Dylan Tompson collected eight points and nine caroms. Cameron Jackman only scored four points but also contributed five rebounds and four assists.
2A-44…Switzerland County 52, Austin 50
In the 2A-44 opener at Southwestern Hanover, Switzerland County came from behind to beat Austin 52-50.
The Pacers were down eight in the first half but trailed 29-26 at the break. The Eagles went back up eight at the third stop, 40-32. Austin’s lead reached 10 in the fourth quarter before Switz made another charge. Then it was Cam Craig who delivered four straight points in the closing seconds to push the Pacers past the Eagles to win by two.
Craig finished with a game-high 28. He was 9-of-10 at the line and had 10 rebounds. Also from the Swiss, Bryce Wrightsman had seven points, five assists and four steals while Cole Riley contributed 10 boards and six points.
Switzerland County improves to 11-13 and will face Providence (15-6) in Friday’s first semi at 6 pm.
2A-44…Southwestern Hanover 45, Henryville 37
In the second game Tuesday at Southwestern, the host Rebels beat Henryville 45-37.
The Hanover boys jumped out to a 13-4 lead after one quarter but a swarming group of Hornets evened the score at 27-27 at the half. In the third, the Rebels were down five but ended the period with eight unaswered points to go up 35-32. Fourth quarter defense keyed Southwestern’s victory as the defending champs eventually won by eight.
In a balanced Rebel attack, Zach Cole scored 12, Parker Davis posted 10 and Mitch Mingione followed with nine. The Hornets Carson Conrey logged a game-high 15.
Southwestern is now 16-7 and will meet Clarksville (7-15) in Friday’s second semifinal around 7:30 pm.
In other sectional finals of interest…
From 1A-62, Shawe lost 53-38 to West Washington while No. 7 Edinburgh defeated Trinity Lutheran 57-38.
West Washington (10-13) plays Medora (4-19) Friday at 6 pm. That will be followed by Edinburgh (20-3) and Crothersville (3-19) around 7:30 pm.
And at 4A-14, both Bloomington schools won as 12th ranked North beat Columbus East 48-37 while defending champ South survived host Martinsville 44-42.
Friday’s semifinals have Columbus North (16-7) opening at 6 pm against Bloomington North, the East Central (16-6) gets its shot against Bloomington South (18-7) around 7:30 pm.
We thank everyone who contributed to the recaps.