LAFAYETTE — Harrison coach Mark Rinehart saw the growth of his junior star Brody Baker.
Baker was viewed at the beginning of the season as being an scorer first and a defender second. An elite 6-foot-1 shooting guard who could make defenders tap dance out of position before knocking down 3-pointers with a torrent pace. But it was Baker’s defense that was questioned at the beginning of the season. Not so much now.
“That’s what I’m probably the most proud of,” Rinehart said.
After a slow start in the IHSAA class 4A boys basketball sectional semifinals against McCutcheon, the activity of Baker helped reshape how the evening would go for the Raiders.
Harrison held McCutcheon without a field goal for nearly eight minutes between the first and second quarters on its way to a 58-38 win in the Friday evening matinee.
Baker scored 21 points while forcing McCutcheon to shoot 34.3% from the floor to help Harrison advance to the IHSAA class 4A championship against Kokomo.
“That’s going to be really big for his future at other levels as he moves on in his future where he can be complete,” Rinehart said. “He’s not just a shooter. He’s become a tremendous on-ball defender and we need him to keep doing that.”
Harrison (17-8) was without its leading rebounder Brady Henchon. Henchon suffered a torn ACL on Feb. 24 against Zionsville.
“Our kids did a great job throughout the week and doubt is for everyone else,” Rinehart said. “Our locker room knew we could figure it out. It wasn’t easy. But I thought our kids showed a lot of poise.”
Junior Evan Munjack scored nine points and had seven rebounds in Henchon’s place and Harrison outrebounded McCutcheon 30-19.
“(Munjack) played really hard,” Rinehart said. “You’re going to have things that happen. You have to deal with adversity in big games. Our rotations are a little bit different without Brady. But Evan was really solid defensively. We are tied really well defensively. We wanted to dictate what kind of shots they wanted to get.”
Senior Quinn Clary scored 10 points and junior Xavier Fidago added eight points for Harrison which attempts to capture its second straight IHSAA sectional title.
“(Fidago) hit big shots after he missed his first couple that were wide open,” Rinehart said. “You play with Brody, you play with Quinn and you’re going to get some wide open looks and sometimes those are the hardest ones. Xavier showed the poise. The first couple didn’t roll in and he stayed with it. He had great mentality and that’s something that we challenge all of our guys throughout the whole week.”
Lafayette Jeff struggles against Kokomo
Tears fell from the faces of players from Lafayette Jeff in the closing minutes of a matchup that was supposed to be closer against Kokomo.
Lafayette Jeff had in its arsenal a talented senior in Gavin Pritzel, a skillful shooting guard in Cris Olsen and a strong bodied athlete in Minnesota football signee Aaden Aytch.
Kokomo meanwhile was without arguably its best player in 6-foot-5 sophomore DJ Nash.
All the ingredients were right there for Lafayette Jeff to exploit the injury and use its size and shooting to overpower the Wildkats. But the shots wouldn’t fall and Aytch couldn’t find comfort in the paint against Kokomo’s swarming double teams.
Lafayette Jeff fell to Kokomo 46-33. Its season came to a screeching halt on its home floor while Kokomo (18-6) in its red, white and blue trimmed uniforms celebrated and will get its long-awaited rematch with Harrison on Saturday night.
Senior guard Caleb Taflinger scored 14 points (6-of-10 FG) and grabbed six rebounds, senior Korbyn Hammel scored 12 points and sophomore Austin Moos added 11 to lead the strong supporting cast of Kokomo.
Olson finished with 12 points but Lafayette Jeff (16-8) couldn’t find a comfortable rhythm on offense. The Bronchos shot 5-of-25 from 3-point range while Aytch picked up two fouls in the first quarter before fouling out with 3:19 in regulation.
Lafayette Jeff coach Mark Barnhizer was unavailable for questions after the game. His team was outrebounded by Kokomo 24-19 at Crawley Center.
Senior guard Kian Thomas summed up the night for Lafayette Jeff.
“We rushed a couple of possessions,” Thomas said. “I don’t want the next generation to take moments like this for granted. Because it ends pretty fast.”
Ethan Hanson is the sports reporter for the Journal & Courier in Lafayette. He can be reached at ehanson@jconline.com, on Twitter at EthanAHanson and Instagram at ethan_a_hanson.
This article originally appeared on Lafayette Journal & Courier: Harrison boys basketball advances, Lafayette Jeff eliminated in sectionals
Reporting by Ethan Hanson, Lafayette Journal & Courier / Lafayette Journal & Courier
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