The University boys split a pair of games against Class 3A competition Wednesday at the Owen Valley Classic. The Trailblazers dropped a hard fought 57-53 game against the host Patriots before blitzing Eastern (Greentown) 67-48 in their second game.
The opening contest against Owen Valley was a back and forth game with the home team. University shot a sizzling 75 percent in the first quarter but only led 19-18 at the end of the period as Owen Valley made all four of three point attempts. Camden Brown had six points in the quarter and Larry Pierce netted five.
The Trailblazers led 33-31 with 2:38 remaining in the half, however the Patriots held University scoreless for the rest of the half to take a 35-33 lead to the locker room. Pierce had six for University while Matt Jones add four in the quarter. Owen Valley’s Stephen Atkinson had 25 of his game-high 35 points in the first half.
University battled back to tie the game at 39-39 with 5:02 remaining, but the Trailblazers went cold from the field, making just 3 of 10 field goal attempts. The Blazers stayed in the contest with defense, forcing six Owen Valley turnovers and University trailed by just two at 44-42 entering the final period.
The Blazers were held scoreless for the first four minutes of the final quarter, falling behind 48-42. University pulled within three points with 1:32 remaining before Jones tied the game at 53 with a three pointer. Owen Valley came down and hit their ninth three pointer of the game with 29 seconds left for a 56-53. University had two chances to tie the game before the Patriots made a free throw with 4.4 seconds left for the final 57-53 margin.
Brown finished with 19 points and five rebounds. Jones and Pierce had 11 points each with Jones also pulling down five rebounds.
University had 11 steals for the game and forced 18 turnovers. Sabien Cain had a team-high five steals and Kasey Ash-Simpson picked up three steals. University had 17 assists against only 12 turnovers. Mitchell Martin handed out six helpers while Cain had four assists.
“Owen Valley was a great basketball game,” said University coach Brandon Lafferman. “Both teams fought for four quarters and they just made a few more plays than we did. Atkinson is probably the best player we have seen this season and he really hurt us from everywhere on the floor.”
The Trailblazers bounced back in their second game of the day, taking control against Eastern in the late stages of the first quarter and cruising to the win. An 11-2 run to end the period gave University a 22-13 lead over the Comets at the quarter break.
With the game tied at 11, Cain hit a basket to put University in front to stay. Martin added a three pointer before Nate Jeffrey set up Brown for another triple and a 19-11 lead. After an Eastern basket, Ash-Simpson hit a buzzer-beating three to end the quarter.
The Comets scored the first five points of the second quarter before University started to pull away. Pierce scored on an offensive rebound before Eastern added another basket. University then ended the quarter on a 13-3 run. Jones scored before Cain hit a three pointer off a Seth Hogg assist. Brown’s rebound basket ended a 7-0 run with a 31-20 lead. The Comets hit a three pointer before Martin and Brown scored with Martin ending the first half scoring on an offensive rebound basket. University’s lead was 37-23 at the half The Blazers made 16 of 28 field goals in the first half, including 5 of their 10 three-point attempts. University dominated the boards with a 16-8 advantage.
Five different Trailblazers scored in the third quarter with Brown and Jones making three pointers.
Brown added two more three pointers in the fourth quarter and finished with a game-high 18 points. Martin and Pierce had 12 points each as nine Trailblazers scored.
“I was most proud of the way we shared the ball against Eastern and the fact we were productive in all four quarters on both ends of the floor,” said Lafferman. “Camden led us, however we had the best balanced scoring game we have had this year. We got great minutes from all the starters and everyone who came off the bench. Cain, Martin and Jones all had really good days today and we will need them to continue playing consistent as we hit a really tough stretch of our schedule.”
The Trailblazers now stand 6-3 on the season and are off until Jan. 7 when they will play the first of two straight days against ranked teams, first hosting defending sectional champion Covenant Christian. The Warriors are currently ranked seventh in Class 2A. The Trailblazers travel to Class 1A No. 8 Indianapolis Tindley on Jan. 8.
Owen Valley defeated Eastern 71-65 in the final game of the day. Owen Valley is now 4-2 on the season while Eastern has a 3-3 record.
OWEN VALLEY 57, UNIVERSITY 53
University FG FT TP PF
Kasey Ash-Simpson 0-2 2-2 2 2
Nate Jeffrey 0-0 0-0 0 0
Kahmi Bracey 0-0 0-0 0 1
Sabien Cain 3-9 0-0 6 5
Matt Jones 4-7 2-2 11 1
Larry Pierce 4-9 2-3 11 2
Camden Brown 9-13 0-0 19 2
Seth Hogg 0-0 0-0 0 0
Mitchell Martin 2-4 0-0 4 2
Totals 22-44 6-7 53 15
Score by Quarters
University 19 14 9 11 – 53
Owen Valley 18 17 9 13 – 57
University 3-point shooting (3-10) Jones 1-3, Brown 1-3, Pierce 1-2, Cain 0-2.
University rebounds (18) Jones 5, Brown 5, Martin 4, Pierce 3, Cain 1.
UNIVERSITY 67, EASTERN 48
Scoring: Camden Brown 18, Larry Pierce 12, Mitchell Martin 12, Kasey Ash-Simpson 6, Nate Jeffrey 5, Sabien Cain 5, Matt Jones 5, Seth Hogg 2, Adam Witzman 2.
Score by Quarters
University 22 15 12 18 – 67
Eastern 13 10 11 14 – 48
University 3-pointers (10) Brown 4, Martin 2, Ash-Simpson 1, Jeffrey 1, Cain 1, Jones 1.
Heights beats Arabians
A big third quarter sent Hamilton Heights to victory at Pendleton Heights on Wednesday.
The Huskies beat the Arabians 81-74. Pendleton led 23-16 after the first quarter and 44-32 at halftime. But Heights took over in the third period, outscoring the Arabians 28-12. That gave the Huskies a 60-56 lead, and they were able to maintain that advantage in the fourth.
Gus Etchison led Heights with 31 points, draining six 3-pointers along the way and making 5 of 6 free throws. Lucas Letsinger and Braden Kinder both added 13 points; Letsinger hit three 3s and also had five rebounds, four steals and two blocked shots. Isaac Wilson scored 10 points, and Luke Carroll pulled 10 rebounds to go with his eight points. Letsinger and Tillman Etchison both went 4-4 from the free-throw line.
The Huskies are 2-1 and host Western Boone on Saturday.
HAMILTON HEIGHTS 81, PENDLETON HEIGHTS 74
Heights FG FT TP PF
Gus Etchison 10-17 5-6 31 2
Noah Linville 0-2 2-2 2 0
Luke Carroll 3-8 2-5 8 4
Isaac Wilson 4-7 0-0 10 2
Lucas Letsinger 3-11 4-4 13 0
Braden Kinder 6-8 1-3 13 1
Drew VanOeveren 0-3 0-0 0 1
Tillman Etchison 0-0 4-4 4 0
Totals 26-56 18-24 81 10
Score by Quarters
Heights 16 16 28 21 – 81
Pendleton 23 21 12 18 – 74
Heights 3-point shooting (11-26) Etchison 6-9, Letsinger 3-6, Wilson 2-4, Linville 0-2, Kinder 0-2, VanOeveren 0-2, Carroll 0-1.
Heights rebounds (27) Carroll 10, Letsinger 5, Linville 3, Kinder 3, Etchison 2, Wilson 2, VanOeveren 2.