Pike High School’s Justin Williams (3) is fouled during "The Really Big Basketball Show, 2017", held at Bankers Life Fieldhouse, Jan 28, 2017. Pendleton Heights High School vs. Pike High School.
Donnie Bowling wanted his Manual High School basketball team to get a look at an opponent that played a different style in preparation for the tournament.
Connersville was that opponent Saturday night at Bankers Life Fieldhouse. And Bowling couldn’t have come away more impressed with the Spartans after Connersville’s 68-54 win.
“They played well,” Bowling said. “They played really well. They play such disciplined defense and force you to take outside shots. If you’re not shooting well, it’s going to be a long night.”
Grant Smith, a 6-6 senior, set the tone for Connersville with 20 points and 13 rebounds. But it was far from a one-man show as the Spartans (17-1) also had Garrett Silcott (15 points), Dalton Huffman (12 points) and Beau Isaacs (10 points) in double figures.
Connersville looked like a well-oiled machine, playing in front of a large contingent of red-clad fans in the third matchup of the four-game “Really Big Basketball Show” at the fieldhouse. The Spartans used a 10-0 run late in the first half to pull away to a 32-20 halftime lead. Manual (13-3) never got closer than 10 points after the first minute of the second half.
Connersville, which made a Class 4A regional appearance last season, was coming off an 88-85 four-overtime win at Mt. Vernon on Friday night.
“Our kids are tough kids,” Connersville coach Kerry Brown said. “We got home in the gym after midnight and got back on the bus to come up today and play. I think we showed some toughness in both games this weekend. We preach toughness and I think our kids showed that.”
Courvoisier McCauley led Manual with 26 points. It doesn’t get any easier for the Redskins with games against North Central, Brownsburg and New Albany on the schedule before the team begins play in the Class 3A sectional.
“We have to do more to challenge our team during the week,” Bowling said. “We have to stay together. That’s a really good team. (Connersville) is darn near the best team we’ve played. We just have to work on our offense. We just have too much standing and not enough moving.”
In the first game of the day, Class 4A No. 10 Pike ended Pendleton Heights’ nine-game winning streak with a 63-58 win.
Justin Williams scored 22 points and Isiah James added 14 points and seven rebounds for Pike (14-4), which has won 11-of-12 – including the Marion County tournament championship – since a 3-3 start.
Pike’s full-court pressure helped force 14 Pendleton Heights turnovers, but playing on the 94-foot NBA court (a high school court is 84 feet) also had an impact on the Red Devils.
“You always think playing on a longer floor that you have more room to press but you also have more floor to run. There were lapses where we were as intense as we needed to be. I thought the longer floor actually hurt us a little bit from a pressing aspect.”
Pendleton Heights senior Mark Albers finished with a game-high 26 points. The 6-4 Albers, who said he’ll likely choose either Marian or Indiana Tech as his college destination after the regular season, was 3-for-6 from the 3-point line.
“I thought we did pretty well with (Pike’s) pressure,” Albers said. “There were a few times we got a little out of control and tried to do too much one-on-one and lost it, but overall I think we did alright. I think it will help us get ready for more teams like that.”
Last year, after winning the Marion County tournament, Pike lost six of its last 10 games. It appears, with wins over Zionsville and Pendleton Heights (and a 10-point loss to Carmel), the Red Devils may avoid a similar slump this year.
“Zionsville was a good win on the road,” coach Bill Zych said. “And Pendleton Heights was a good win. Maybe we can get our legs back underneath us. But we have some tough games ahead to get us ready for the tournament. Those final four games (North Central, Hamilton Southeastern, Lawrence North and Warren Central) will be like a tournament atmosphere.”
Mt. Vernon ran past Delta 64-44 in the second game as senior guard Michael Ertel scored a game-high 29 points. The Marauders (8-6) led 33-9 at halftime and was never seriously threatened.
James McCloud added 11 points for Mt. Vernon.
Call IndyStar reporter Kyle Neddenriep at (317) 444-6649. Follow him on Twitter: @KyleNeddenriep.
PIKE, PENDLETON HEIGHTS 58
Pendleton Heights 16 10 16 16 – 58
Pike 14 19 10 20 – 63
Pendleton Heights (13-4) – Helpling 3 0-0 6, Windlan 3 2-4 11, Albers 10 3-5 26, Pancol 4 5-7 13, Stull 1 0-0 2, Warrum 0 0-0 0, Shupe 0 0-0 0. Totals: 21 10-16 58.
Pike (14-4) – Williams 6 7-11 22, Porch 2 0-0 4, James 4 6-13 14, Pennington 4 0-1 8, Gary 2 2-2 7, Vernon 3 0-0 8. Totals: 21 15-27 63.
3-point goals: Pendleton Heights 6 (Albers 3, Windlan 3), Pike 6 (Williams 3, Vernon 2, Gary).
MT. VERNON 64, DELTA 44
Mt. Vernon 16 14 19 15 – 64
Delta 6 3 15 20 – 44
Mt. Vernon (8-6) – Ertel 11 5-7 29, McCloud 3 5-7 11, Gatewood 2 0-0 4, Shepherd 3 1-2 7, Morris 1 3-3 5, Smith 4 0-0 8. Totals: 24 14-19 64.
Delta (12-5) – Haynes 3 0-0 6, Anderson 6 1-1 13, Lambert 0 3-4 3, Sullivan 1 0-0 2, Bryan 3 0-0 8, Moore 4 0-1 8, Lynn 1 0-0 2, Hernly 0 2-2 2. Totals: 18 6-8 44.
3-point goals: Mt. Vernon 2 (Ertel 2), Delta 2 (Bryan 2).
CONNERSVILLE 68, MANUAL 54
Connersville 18 14 21 15 – 68
Manual 12 8 17 17 – 54
Connersville (17-1) – Smith 7 3-4 20, Belt 2 3-5 7, Silcott 6 2-4 15, Isaacs 3 4-6 10, Huffman 4 4-5 12, Sullenbarger 1 0-0 3, Revalee 0 1-2 1. Totals: 23 17-26 68.
Manual (13-3) – McCauley 11 2-4 26, Waldon 3 1-1 8, Merriweather 1 0-0 3, Sembly 4 0-0 9, Johnson 1 0-2 2, McNair 0 0-1 0, Glenn 1 2-4 4, Evans 0 0-0 0, Smith 1 0-0 2. Totals: 22 5-12 54.
3-point goals: Connersville 5 (Smith 3, Silcott, Sullenbarger), Manual 5 (McCauley 2, Waldon, Merriweather, Sembly).
