By RICHIE HALL
Once school gets out this afternoon, the Fishers and Guerin Catholic boys basketball teams will be going on road trips.
These are business trips for the Tigers and the Golden Eagles, with the main objective being a championship trophy and a chance to play in the state finals. Fishers travels to the Class 4A north semi-state at Elkhart, while Guerin Catholic is headed to Seymour for the Class 3A south semi-state.
Four teams play at each semi-state, which means one must win two games for the championship. The 4A No. 1-ranked Tigers take on Crown Point in the first semifinal, while the Golden Eagles play Danville, also the first semifinal game. Both contests tip off at 10 a.m.
First time
This is the first time Fishers has played in a boys basketball semi-state, be it the old Tigers or the new Tigers. The original Fishers won a regional championship in 1922, but advanced directly to a 16-team state tournament. The “semi-final” round was added to the tournament in 1936; it became known as semi-state in 1957.
The other semifinal at Elkhart features Fort Wayne Wayne and Mishawaka, and it tips off after the Tigers’ game with the Crown Point Bulldogs. None of the four teams playing have won a semi-state championship before.
Crown Point is 20-5 this season. The Bulldogs came out of the Chesterton sectional, winning there by beating Kankakee Valley 68-39 in the first round, Valparaiso 55-51 in the semifinals and the host Trojans 68-36 in the championship.
Crown Point stayed in Chesterton for the regional, where it beat Warsaw 55-42 in a crazy game. The Bulldogs led 42-33 before the Tigers came back to tie it at 42-42 at the end of regulation. Crown Point then shut out Warsaw in the extra period to win its first regional since 1998 and its second overall.
“They’re very well-coached,” said Fishers coach Garrett Winegar. “Coach Swan does an excellent job.” Clint Swan has coached the Bulldogs since the 2006-07 season.
Winegar said Crown Point is “pretty balanced” and has good depth. “They’re going to be patient and get good shots,” he said. “Defensively, they do a lot of different things. Man to man, 2-3 zone and half-court trapping.”
Two sophomores led the way for the Bulldogs in the regional game. Mason Darrell scored 14 points and Kingston Rhodes added 11 points. Senior Jack Svetich scored 26 points in Crown Point’s sectional championship win.
Winegar is familiar with the Bulldogs because they play several common opponents with Fishers, including Carmel, Noblesville and Brownsburg.
“Crown Point’s a team that took Noblesville to OT in (the Millers’) holiday tournament,” said Winegar. “We have a lot of common opponents, and for them to have so much success against those teams, obviously we know how talented and how good they are.”
Fishers, now 26-1 for the season, is coming off an emphatic win over No. 4 Kokomo in the regional, 66-52 in front of 8,500 fans at New Castle last Saturday. Senior Keenan Garner leads the Tigers with 16.1 points, 8.3 rebounds and 1.4 blocked shots per game. Junior JonAnthony Hall adds 11.2 points. Freshman Cooper Zachary leads the assists with 3.8, followed by Garner with 3.7 and Hall with 3.0.
Loaded at Seymour
The Seymour semi-state is loaded with three top 10 teams in the Associated Press poll, with the fourth, Evansville Bosse, receiving votes. Guerin Catholic is No. 6 and Danville is No. 3; they face off at 10 a.m., with No. 4 Scottsburg to play Bosse afterwards.
“I would say that we’re confident that we’re going to be prepared and we’re going to give a great effort,” said GC coach Bobby Allen. “There’s three other really, really good teams at Seymour and whoever comes out of that group is going to earn it.”
The Danville Warriors are 22-3, only losing to Plainfield twice and Avon once. Danville triumphed at the Lebanon sectional, beating Western Boone 75-34 in the first round, Crawfordsville 65-53 in the semifinals and Tri-West 57-49 in the championship.
The Warriors, coached by Brian Barber for the past 25 seasons, took care of Northview 61-39 to win the regional, which also took place at Lebanon’s Rosenstihl Gymnasium. Danville averages 62.6 points per game and has only been held under 50 points twice this season.
“They score a lot of points,” said Allen. “They have a great inside presence.” Allen is referring to senior Evan Lawrence, who is averaging a double-double of 13.2 points and 11.0 rebounds per game.
“They have some great guards and shooters that surround him,” said Allen. “They have five guys that could score at all times on the court.”
Junior Jace Scrafton adds 11.2 points and 4.6 rebounds per game, with sophomore Elijah Tricker right behind at 11.1 points and 4.2 rebounds. Tricker leads the assists with 5.1 per contest, and senior Lukas McMahon dished out 3.8 per game.
The 21-7 Golden Eagles claimed their second consecutive regional (also at Lebanon) by beating Indianapolis Washington 56-39. It’s the sixth regional title in Guerin Catholic’s relatively young basketball history.
Senior Robert Sorensen is the top Golden Eagles’ scorer with 16.7 points per game. Junior Bryson Cardinal adds 12.8 points and is the top rebounder with 7.9 per contest. Senior Dylan Murans contributes 10.1 points, while senior Jack Cherry leads the assists with 4.3 per game.