Hamilton Southeastern clinched a share of the Hoosier Crossroads Conference championship on Friday night, as the Class 4A No. 10 Royals won a tough game over 4A No. 9 Brownsburg 37-35 at the Southeastern gym.
The Royals got off to a great start, leading 15-5 after the first quarter. Mabor Majak was dominant, scoring nine points in that period. The Bulldogs came back, though, and had the game tied at 22-22 by halftime.
Brownsburg then edged ahead 31-30 after three periods, but DeAndre Rhodes made a basket early in the fourth to put the Royals up 32-31 and give them the lead for good. Neither team scored again until the clock got under two minutes, when Rhodes made a jumper. Dalton Robinson made two free throws, and Southeastern held on from there.
Majak finished the game with 14 points; he and Kole Hornbuckle both collected six rebounds. Rhodes had five rebounds and three blocked shots, with Hornbuckle also making three blocks. Vinny Buccilla handed out four assists.
The Royals will share the HCC title with the Bulldogs, as both teams finished the conference season with 5-2 records. Southeastern is now 16-5 and on a 12-game win streak; it will finish the regular season Thursday at Lawrence North.
HAMILTON SOUTHEASTERN 37, BROWNSBURG 35
Southeastern FG FT TP PF
DeAndre Rhodes 4-7 0-2 8 2
Kole Hornbuckle 3-9 2-3 8 2
Elliot Robinson 0-1 2-2 2 1
Michael Viele 0-1 0-0 0 0
Mabor Majak 6-8 2-3 14 1
Dalton Retzner 1-2 0-0 2 1
Vinny Buccilla 0-4 0-0 0 2
Sam Jacobs 0-0 0-0 0 0
John McCall 0-1 0-0 0 1
Alex Totton 1-1 0-0 3 1
Totals 15-34 6-10 37 11
Score by Quarters
Brownsburg 5 17 9 4 – 35
Southeastern 15 7 8 7 – 37
Southeastern 3-point shooting (1-7) Totton 1-1, Buccilla 0-3, Hornbuckle 0-1, Robinson 0-1, Viele 0-1.
Southeastern rebounds (28) Hornbuckle 6, Majak 6, Rhodes 5, Buccilla 3, Jacobs 2, McCall 2, Robinson 1, team 3.
Hamilton Southeastern’s Mabor Majak (50) scored 14 points for the Royals in their win over Brownsburg on Friday. Southeastern clinched a share of the Hoosier Crossroads Conference championship with the victory. (Kirk Green)