By RICHIE HALL
NOBLESVILLE – There were a few things that came together for the Guerin Catholic boys basketball team on Saturday night, and it produced a big win for the Golden Eagles.
Guerin Catholic got off to a good start, took care of the basketball, and also had one of its senior leaders go off for 30 points. That added up to a 64-46 win over Hamilton Heights in an all-county game at the Eagles Nest.
Guerin scored the first nine points of the game. Senior Aden Cannon had four points on a pair of layin, while sophomore Robert Sorensen added three points. Senior Will Grissom contributed two points, but he would definitely be heard from as the evening progressed.
Grissom, in fact, put in seven more points, including a pair of 3-pointers, to get the Golden Eagles up 16-7. The Huskies were kept in the quarter thanks to two 3s by Isaac Tuma, then a triple by Maddox Bohland began a 6-0 run for Heights, who stayed within 16-13 at the end of the first period.
The Huskies were still within 20-17 with 5:25 left in the second quarter before Guerin Catholic finished the half on a 12-1 run. Lucas Parker had five points during that time, and his layin pushed GC ahead 32-18 at halftime.
“We’ve been talking the entire beginning of the season that with the new group that we have this year, we’re trying to build as much continuity as possible, said Golden Eagles coach Bobby Allen. “We feel like we can get off to quick starts on a team and then our challenge is maintaining that. And we let them back into the game a couple times, but luckily Will Grissom and Matthew Etchison are great leaders and they were able to help extend that lead back to where we needed it.”
Guerin Catholic continued to extend its lead in the third quarter, going on a 9-0 run to push its advantage to 43-23. Grissom made two layins, sophomore Jack Cherry also made a basket, and Parker finished things off with a 3.
“They went on a really nice run,” said Huskies coach Chad Ballenger. “They got a nice basketball team. We didn’t really respond to the challenge tonight, I thought, in that second quarter. But we fought, because the third quarter, we outscored them. And then a few things in the fourth quarter, I thought we just let get away.”
Heights didn’t go away, however, as the Huskies made a 10-0 run of their own that bridged the third and fourth quarter. Isaac Tuma scored on a floater, Braden Kinder hit a 3 and Bohland finished the third period with a basket. Evan Williamson opened the fourth with a 3-pointer, and Heights was within 45-35.
A putback from senior Luke Carroll kept the Huskies within 52-41 with 3:22 left in the fourth, but Guerin went on a quick 6-0 run to clinch the game. Grissom scored on back-to-back layins, and Sorensen’s two free throws pushed the Golden Eagles ahead 58-41.
Grissom finished the game with 30 points, but also had four assists as well. He made three 3-pointers during the game.
“He was solid tonight,” said Allen. “Guys found him. He attacked at the right time.”
Allen was pleased with how his team took care of the basketball as well.
“I think the thing I’m most proud of is we only had six turnovers as a group,” said Allen. “We had 17, 18 the first two games, and we’ve been working on that a lot in practice. We take care of the ball, we feel like we can hang around with some teams.”
Parker finished with 10 points. Sorensen led the rebounds with seven and dished out four assists. Cherry had seven assists, five in the first half alone.
“His court vision is unbelievable,” said Allen. “I’m proud of the group tonight. We asked them to step up and be better as a group, and they were tonight.”
Kinder led Heights with 12 points, with Carroll scoring 11 and Tuma 10. Carroll and Bohland both had five rebounds, with Kinder handing out five assists and Carroll blocking two shots. The Huskies had a couple players not playing on Saturday.
“It’s going to be good for us,” said Ballenger. “We got guys playing. We’re going to get guys back. It’s still early in the year. We’re still searching for an identity. Our pace of play has got to be slower. We need the game in the 50s to be successful now, which is different for us, so some of the guys, they’re definitely learning.”
Guerin Catholic is 2-1 and hosts Muncie Central next Saturday. Heights is 3-0 and plays its first Hoosier Conference East Division game Friday at Lewis Cass.
GUERIN CATHOLIC 64, HAMILTON HEIGHTS 46
Heights FG FT TP PF
Luke Carroll 4-9 2-5 11 2
Isaac Tuma 4-11 0-0 10 5
Maddox Bohland 2-5 0-0 5 2
Braden Kinder 4-11 2-2 12 4
Collin Gilmore 1-3 2-6 4 1
Evan Williamson 1-4 0-0 3 3
Tanner Maynard 0-1 0-0 0 0
Colin Kuhn 0-0 1-2 1 1
Totals 16-44 7-15 46 18
Heights 3-point shooting (7-18) Kinder 2-6, Tuma 2-4, Bohland 1-4, Williamson 1-2, Carroll 1-1, Maynard 0-1.
Heights rebounds (23) Carroll 5, Bohland 5, Tuma 3, Kinder 2, Gilmore 2, team 6.
Guerin Catholic FG FT TP PF
Jack Cherry 1-2 0-0 2 2
Robert Sorensen 2-5 5-8 9 3
Matthew Etchison 0-1 0-0 0 1
Will Grissom 12-20 3-5 30 3
Aden Cannon 3-3 0-0 6 2
Lucas Parker 4-6 0-0 10 2
Kamea Chandler 0-3 0-0 0 2
Patrick Baird 0-3 0-0 0 1
Ty Sanders 2-3 1-1 5 0
Ryan Zimmerman 0-0 0-0 0 1
Josh Holba 0-0 2-2 2 0
Luke Scariano 0-0 0-0 0 0
Andy Caron 0-0 0-0 0 0
Anthony Ferrucci 0-0 0-0 0 0
Totals 24-46 11-16 64 17
Guerin Catholic 3-point shooting (5-16) Grissom 3-6, Parker 2-3, Sorensen 0-2, Baird 0-2, Cherry 0-1, Etchison 0-1, Chandler 0-1.
Guerin Catholic rebounds (27) Sorensen 7, Grissom 3, Cannon 3, Cherry 2, Parker 2, Scariano 1, Baird 1, Matthew Etchison 1, Sanders 1, Zimmerman 1, Chandler 1, team 4.
Score by Quarters
Heights 13 5 12 16 – 46
Guerin Catholic 16 16 11 21 – 64