Lawrence Central coach Phil Washington knew winning with a roster full of new transfers this season would not be easy. Following the 58-50 sectional victory over Warren Central, which gave his Bears a 13-11 record, Washington smiled with satisfaction knowing his patience – and the team’s hard work – paid off.
“I always tell my boys about the microwave and the crockpot,” Washington said. “It’s like when we all got together with these transfers, everybody wanted the microwave – the instant gratification, the instant wins, and then it didn’t happen like that. I always tell them, like, man, we are the crockpot. It takes time for us to gel and come together. And when your guys gel and come together, it looks magical.”
Things did not look very magical throughout the first half, which mostly consisted of the Bears playing from behind. They led in the opening minutes after an early field goal from senior Albert Gooden III, but Warren Central (6-16) responded with two buckets by junior guard Kaleb Elkins and Chase Lawson to take the lead. The Warriors led 12-8 after a low-scoring first period where neither team swished a three-point shot.
Both offenses came alive in the second quarter, with Warren Central extending their lead to seven points halfway through the period. The Bears responded with two field goals from Jeremiah Bellamy and Doron Harris, and a three-pointer to cut the lead to three with two minutes to go in the first half, and the Warriors led by just four heading into the third quarter.
“That we’re right there,” Washington said when asked what he told his team at halftime. “We’re 0-for-10, 1-for-10 at the three-point line. It was a lot of stuff with jitterbugs, a lot of just overthinking instead of just playing basketball. I’m glad they got past the overthinking things and they just played basketball.”
And that’s just what the Bears did to open the second half. The third quarter started off with a 7-1 Bears’ run, capped off by a three-pointer from senior Gavin Petty to take the lead. Lawrence Central overcame two of their own technical foul calls to lead by three points heading into the fourth quarter.
Warren Central took the lead right back, courtesy of a field goal from JJ Craig and 3-point goal from Elkins, the football star who led the team with 15 points.
The Bears, however, wouldn’t be denied, as Harris – who led the Bears with 14 points – drained a 3-pointers of his own to tie the game. On their next possession, Lawrence Central found Petty wide-open underneath the rim. Petty made an easy bucket to re-take a lead the Bears would not relinquish.
“We didn’t play very well through most of the game,” Warren Central coach Criss Beyers said. “We threw the ball away too many times, too many mistakes. We try to run something, our guards can’t get us into what we’re trying to run. Same stuff we’ve done all year.”
The Bears will face off against their rivals, Lawrence North, on Saturday for the sectional championship.
“We knew today was probably going to be one of the hardest games of our lives,” Washington said. “They’d never been this far. That’s a big mental game. And the way that Warren plays, they make you play pretty hard. They’re strong and physical. So that was a big test.”
Lawrence North rolls
A dominant first quarter from Lawrence North was too much to overcome for North Central (8-14) on Friday night’s sectional opener as the Wildcats walloped the Panthers by a 83-59 margin, advancing to the sectional championship on Saturday.
The Wildcats had a 19-point first quarter lead, largely thanks to 3-pointers from Chandon Gilbert and Britton Thomas, whom the Panthers had no answers for. Brennan Miller, on top of a couple of highlight-reel dunks in the route, also provided an outstanding effort on the glass to lock down North Central’s offense in the opening period, holding them to just seven points.
“I thought we played really well in the first half,” Lawrence North head coach Chris Giffin said. “And obviously, you get up 20 some points at halftime and that takes some pressure off that would otherwise possibly be there. I thought both offensively and defensively, we were really good in the first half.”
North Central paced Lawrence North in the opening minutes of the second quarter, with a 3-point swish from sophomore Brennan Johnson and two buckets from junior Caden Rhodes. North Central was able to cut the deficit to 18 – the lowest lead for the remainder of the game – after a 3-pointer from sophomore Ty’Eir Petty. Any hope of a comeback, though, was snuffed out late in the half following a 6-2 run led by Gilbert, who could not miss and led the Wildcats with 22 points.
Griffin thinks the Wildcats could have played better defense in the third quarter, where they gave up 17 points to North Central.
“We just got a little loose defensively,” Griffin said. “We didn’t get back real well. We didn’t guard the dribble real well. Too many fouls, some bad possessions with the offense, so it got a little sloppy there, but happy with the win, happy to move on.”
Lawrence North (19-5) will face Lawrence Central (13-11) for the sectional championship. Lawrence North won the first meeting 80-78 in December.
“I really like our group,” Griffin said. “We’ve put together a 19-win season so far. Either Warren or LC, both are very, very formidable, dangerous opponents, so we’ve just got to go one game at a time.”
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Lawrence North, Lawrence Central advance to Sectional 10 championship
Reporting by Bryan Ault, For IndyStar / Indianapolis Star
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
