Senior Camden Brown scored a career-high 25 points to lead University’s boys to a 56-50 season opening road win at Indianapolis Shortridge.
The Trailblazers outscored the Blue Devils 9-2 over the last three minutes to gain the victory. University had just one field goal in the fourth quarter, but made 14 of 16 free throws in the period.
Junior Larry Pierce had 11 points and a team-high six rebounds and made five of six foul shots in the fourth quarter.
“I’m proud of the focus and determination that our guys showed down the stretch to come away with a win on the road against a really tough Shortridge team,” said University coach Brandon Lafferman.
“Camden Brown was great on the offensive end both inside the paint and from outside. Larry Pierce made a lot of big plays throughout the game on both ends and helped close out the win with a huge offensive rebound and two key free throws,” Lafferman continued.
Brown, the Trailblazers only returning starter, added five rebounds, two assists and two steals. Mitchell Martin chipped in with eight points and five rebounds and Matt Jones had 7 points. Freshman Sabien Cain had a team-high four steals.
Avery Giles led Shortridge (0-2) with 19 points.
“We will look to build off this and learn from it as we get back to practice next week to prepare for two tough opponents. Limiting turnovers, rebounding and continuing to gain game experience will all be key for our young team,” Lafferman concluded.
The Trailblazers will host a pair of games next weekend at The U Center. Greenwood Christian comes to University on Friday night with revenge in mind. University handed the Cougars their only loss of the season last year, 48-47 in the PAAC championship game giving the Blazers their third straight league title. Greenwood Christian was 24-1 and a Sectional champion when last season was interrupted by the pandemic. Class 3A Speedway visits on Saturday. The Sparkplugs opened their season with a 75-35 win over North Montgomery.
Attendance at University home games is limited to parents only. Both games are scheduled to be streamed on University High School’s YouTube channel.
UNIVERSITY 56, SHORTRIDGE 50
University FG FT TP PF
Kasey Ash-Simpson 1-2 0-0 2 2
Kahmi Bracey 0-0 0-0 0 1
Sabien Cain 1-3 0-0 3 3
Matt Jones 2-6 1-2 7 3
Larry Pierce 3-9 5-6 11 3
Camden Brown 6-10 11-13 25 3
Seth Hogg 0-1 0-0 0 1
Mitchell Martin 3-6 2-5 8 2
Totals 16-37 19-26 56 18
Score by Quarters
University 14 17 11 14 – 56
Shortridge 13 15 13 9 – 50
University 3-point shooting (5-14) Jones 2-6, Brown 2-2, Cain 1-2, Pierce 0-2, Martin 0-2.
University rebounds (25) Pierce 6, Brown 5, Martin 5, Cain 3, Ash-Simpson 2, Jones 2, Hogg 2.