By CRAIG ADKINS
For The Reporter
NOBLESVILLE – It didn’t take long for Guerin Catholic to get into a groove in its sectional opener. Few mistakes and continuity on both ends of the floor helped considerably.
The Golden Eagles jumped out early and were never forced to look back on their way to a 78-17 first round sectional win over Herron.
Guerin burst out 9-0 in the first 90 seconds-plus, forcing the Achaens to burn their first timeout. Robert Sorensen scored the first points when caught the opening tip and then knocked down a three for a 5-0 lead just 1:13 into the contest. Bryson Cardinal scored the next six on two field goals and a pair of free throws for the nine-point cushion.
“Look, I know it’s our home gym and I know it’s a place we’re accustomed to, but still, it felt different tonight,” Guerin Catholic head coach Bob Allen said. “It just does. It does every single year.”
The starters took full advantage of the situations Herron presented and it allowed them to pose their will.
“It’s finally nice to see our starting five out there all healthy and ready to go at the right time,” Allen continued. “It’s been long overdue for us this year and we were very confident in what we did this evening. We’re very confident in our preparation in what we have going on going forward.
From that point, the hosts went on a 21-2 run to end the first with a 30-4 lead.
“We talked about it all year. When the opportunity presents itself, you don’t play the scoreboard, you don’t play what’s going on. You try and do what we’ve been preaching all year and I thought our guys did that for the most part,” Allen stated.
GC kept its feet on the gas pedal in the second, expanding their wide margin to a halftime score of 55-11.
Guerin’s bench continued to produce in the second half. They outscored the Achaeans 12-4 in the third, pushing the lead out to 67-15.
With a comfortable lead throughout the game, the Guerin coaching staff was able to go pretty far down the bench to rotate players in. Multiple players logged double-digit minutes, allowing the Golden Eagles to work on and iron out some things heading into Friday’s semifinal.
“I thought our guys put in some great minutes, just to get their feet wet and feel comfortable with the atmosphere,” Allen commented on his bench’s play.
The fourth would be similar to the third with GC scoring 11 to Herron’s two, turning out the final score of 78-17.
The Golden Eagle starters were able to save some energy for Friday’s game. Aside from a majority of the first and some of the second, none of the starting five played more than nine minutes, allowing depth to play a huge role.
Balanced scoring and consistency on both ends of the floor helped Guerin do a lot of things well. They shot 60 percent from the floor, making 30-of-50, but more importantly they had 20 assists on those 30 made field goals. Knocking down 9-for-16 from outside-the-arc proved to be another dagger that kept Herron at a distance.
“It’s one of those things where, if you look at our stats for the year, we don’t have one guy scoring 20 something points a night,” Allen said. “Who’s taking advantage of the right opportunities when they’re there. That’s kind of what our team’s done all year and what we’re all about.”
Sorensen led with 15 points on 6-of-7 shooting, including 3-for-3 on three-pointers. Nik Balmuri came off the bench with 11 points, also knocking down all three of his outside shots. Cardinal, Malcolm Houze and Jake Grissom all chipped in eight.
Guerin Catholic (18-7) moves on to the Class 3A Sectional 27 semifinal on Friday against fellow Circle City Conference foe Bishop Chatard (9-12) at 6 p.m.
“I think with Chatard, it’s one of those things where their coaches have them prepared. They’re a physical team. They compete hard. We had a tight game with them earlier this year at their place,” Allen said on playing Chatard.
Guerin won at Chatard in their CCC matchup on January 5, 56-52.
“We’ve obviously made some changes and so have they. We’re excited for the opportunity to play great teams. We’re going to enjoy this evening a little bit and we’re going to get locked in on Chatard starting tomorrow,” Allen said.
GUEIRN CATHOLIC 78, HERRON 17
Guerin Catholic FG FT TP PF
Jack Cherry 1-2 0-0 2 0
Robert Sorensen 6-7 0-0 15 0
Andy Caron 2-3 0-0 4 0
Dylan Murans 1-1 3-3 5 0
Bryson Cardinal 3-7 2-3 8 1
Julian Melendez 3-5 0-1 6 0
Hayden Rodgers 1-2 2-2 5 1
Ben Grissom 0-4 0-0 0 0
Jake Grissom 3-7 2-2 8 1
Ryne Paris 3-4 0-0 6 2
Nik Balmuri 4-4 3-3 11 1
Malcolm Houze 3-4 0-0 8 0
Totals 30-50 10-14 78 6
Score by Quarters
Guerin Catholic 30 25 12 11 – 78
Herron 4 7 4 2 – 17
Guerin Catholic 3-point shooting (9-16) Sorensen 3-3, Balmuri 3-3, Houze 2-3, Rodgers 1-2, B. Grissom 0-2, Cherry 0-1, Caron 0-1, Cardinal 0-1.
Guerin Catholic rebounds (35) Melendez 8, Caron 4, Rodgers 4, Cardinal 3, Cherry 2, Sorensen 2, B. Grissom 2, Paris 2, J. Grissom 2, Houze 1, Balmuri 1, Murans 1, team 3.