By RICHIE HALL
NOBLESVILLE – A hot start can lead to a winning finish.
That’s what happened at the Eagles Nest on Tuesday. The Guerin Catholic boys basketball team got a tremendous effort from senior star Robert Sorensen, and that set the tone as the Golden Eagles cruised past Muncie Central 70-48.
Sorensen threw in three 3-pointers during the game’s first four minutes, helping Class 3A No. 2/IBCA No. 14 Guerin Catholic to a 10-0 lead. Andy Caron made a free throw in that span as well.
“The last couple games, we hadn’t found him early on, so we made a point to try and get him some touches early,” said Golden Eagles coach Bobby Allen. “Bryson Cardinal’s been playing really well inside, so it opened up the perimeter for Rob and he was fortunate enough to make some shots.”
“It felt good, but people got me open and people were passing on open shots,” said Sorensen. “They were really the ones who were there getting me open, getting shots, so credit to my teammates.”
A triple from the Bearcats’ LJ Strange ended the run, and Muncie Central worked its way back into the quarter with five points from Demarkis Cole. But the quarter ended where it began: another 3 from Sorensen and GC led 19-8 after one.
Sorensen’s fifth triple put the Golden Eagles up 24-10 with 6:38 left in the second quarter. Muncie Central cut into that lead with an 8-0 spurt, after which Dylan Murans took over. The 6-foot-8 senior pushed Guerin Catholic back up 29-18 with a three-point play, then another layin.
The Golden Eagles led 34-23 at halftime. They began the third quarter with a 6-0 run, as Bryson Cardinal made a layin and two free throws, then Andy Caron scored on a rebound basket.
“We have different guys who can score based on the matchups and everything, but now we also have to understand and recognize, we’ve got guys still not realizing how open they are,” said Allen. “We got guys who are unselfish enough to play basketball the right way.”
The Bearcats made one last run, a 9-0 spurt that included seven points for Cole. But freshman Jake Grissom nailed a 3 and Cardinal followed that with a layin. Guerin’s lead was now 45-32, and it stayed above double digits until the final buzzer.
The Golden Eagles ran away with the fourth quarter, outscoring Muncie Central 20-8. Eight different players scored, including a crowd-pleasing dunk from Caron.
“He had that dunk, which is fun,” said Sorensen.
“I thought we were better in the second half limiting the amount of times that they went back on the run to match what we did,” said Allen.
Sorensen finished the game with 27 points, including six 3s. Murans and Cardinal both added 10 points.
“After Game 3, we’re trying to work on the growth of our group,” said Allen. “And right now, with Jack Cherry being hurt, a guy who’s done so much for us over the past three years, we’re trying to learn some new roles and guys are doing some new things.”
Guerin Catholic is 3-0 and plays at the Eagles Nest again Saturday, taking on Hamilton Heights.
GUERIN CATHOLIC 70, MUNCIE CENTRAL 48
Guerin Catholic FG FT TP PF
Robert Sorensen 9 3-3 27 0
Andy Caron 3 0-1 7 2
Malcolm Houze 1 0-0 3 1
Dylan Murans 3 4-5 10 3
Bryson Cardinal 4 0-0 10 3
Hayden Rodgers 1 0-0 2 2
Julian Melendez 1 1-2 3 2
Ben Grissom 0 2-4 2 0
Jake Grissom 1 0-0 3 2
Ryne Paris 0 3-4 3 2
Nik Balmuri 0 0-0 0 0
RJ Hill 0 0-0 0 0
Asher Arkenau 0 0-0 0 0
Totals 23 13-19 70 17
Score by Quarters
Muncie Central 8 15 17 8 – 48
Guerin Catholic 19 15 16 20 – 70
Guerin Catholic 3-pointers (8) Sorensen 6, Houze, J. Grissom.