For the first time since 2009, the Jac-Cen-Del Eagles are in the state’s Final Four. At Saturday’s Class 1A Boys Basketball Regional 15 in Martinsville, the Eagles bounced Bloomfield and Indianapolis Lutheran to capture the program’s fifth regional championship.
Jac had some added motivation during the week leading up to their Sweet 16 appearance. While Jac-Cen-Del has embraced the role of the underdog, a state publication previewing Regional 15 slighted coach Clint Bohman’s boys. The article talked about all three other teams but made no mention of Jac-Cen-Del.
After Saturday’s performance, I doubt that oversight will be made again.
In the first semifinal, No. 9 Indianapolis Lutheran beat 14th ranked Indy Metropolitan 63-54. The game finished on a rather ugly note where multiple technicals were called along with one player ejection.
No. 10 Jac-Cen-Del then squared off as a statistical 7-1/2 point underdog against No. 8 Bloomfield. Following a couple of first quarter lead changes, Jac led 15-11.
The Cardinals came back from an early six-point deficit in the second to take a 22-21 edge, but the Nesters scored the final eight points of the half to hold a 29-22 advantage at intermission.
JCD’s Caleb Simon was on his game posting 12 points over the first 16 minutes. Bloomfield’s season leading scorer Jacob Graf had nine.
The co-Southwestern Indiana Conference champs got as close as three in the third, but the winners of the ORVC went back up a half dozen at the stop, 44-38, thanks in large part to eight quarter points by Wyatt Day.
Then in the fourth, Simon took over as he scored 13 more points to power the Eagles past the Redbirds 63-54. He finished with a game-high 25, Day had 14 while Devin Grieshop and Matt Dickman added seven each.
Graf’s 20 points led Bloomfield. Teammate Peter Combs scored 15.
Jac-Cen-Del dominated the offensive glass 15-3 and hit 6-of-10 from deep. Bloomfield made just 5-of-22 triples.
In the championship, Jac-Cen-Del entered the Elite Eight match with Indy Lutheran as a slight 3-1/2 point dog. The two clubs swapped leads five times in the first frame, but the Eagles closed on a 12-3 run to go up 20-12 after eight minutes of play.
The Saints drew as close as four early in the second, but the Osgood guys built back a nine-point edge by halftime, 35-26.
JCD had very balanced scoring to that point. It was Day with 10 points, Simon seven, and six each from Justin Swinney and Dickman. Tez Clay turned in 10 for Lutheran.
The Eagles ripped off eight unanswered points to start the third and the Saints were never a threat the rest of the night. Jac led 50-40 at the end three and pulled away at the charity stripe in the fourth to win the regional title 71-54.
Day scored 20 in the second half and finished with a game-high 30 points. He was 13-of-16 at the line. Despite dealing with a bruised calf and fouling out with over five minutes remaining in the game, Simon still posted 14. Swinney tossed in 10, Dickman contributed eight and Grieshop chipped in seven.
Jac-Cen-Del downed 22-of-30 freebies including 12-of-14 in the fourth. Lutheran made 11-of-18. Jac had a 41-29 advantage in rebounds and held the Saints to just 29 percent shooting overall (18/63). The Eagles converted 47 percent (22/47).
Jac-Cen-Del advances to the 1A South Semi-State at Seymour this Saturday to face second ranked North Daviess. This is a rematch of the 2009 1A Final Four which Jac-Cen-Del won before going on to capture the program’s one-and-only state championship.
Here’s hoping lightning strikes twice. WRBI will be there Saturday for the 4 pm tipoff. Pregame start time will be determined later in the week (roughly 3:30 pm).
Two other area teams lost during Saturday’s regional semifinals. Lawrenceburg fell to Evansville Bosse 73-62 at 3A Washington while Edinburgh lost 38-37 to North Daviess at 1A Loogootee.
We thank Martinsville AD Kip Staggs and his staff for the accommodations and hospitality. Thanks to coaches Clint Bohman, JB Neill and Remus Woods for the information they provided and to coach Bohman for his time in our postgame shows.