Friday’s Daily Dive: 2A Sectional Recap

<p>The 2A Sectionals are underway and there were a lot of storylines from Friday’s semifinal matchups. Let’s dive in and take a look at some of the top highlights from Friday’s night of hoops. </p> <p><strong>South Decatur Survives South Ripley in a Thriller</strong></p> <p>In what was expected to be one of the highest-scoring games of the night, both of these teams came out in a slump. In the first 5 minutes of the game, the two teams combined to be 2-16 from the floor. However, in the final 27 minutes of the game, we got what we expected. <strong>Cody Samples</strong> of South Ripley scored 26 points, and he had to sit for 5 minutes in the first half after picking up a taunting technical, his third foul, for showing a three on his hand after hitting a triple (a horrible call). South Decatur had a career night from<strong> Evan Wullenweber</strong> who scored 19 and shot 5-6 from deep. [player_tooltip player_id="963906" first="Lane" last="Lauderbaugh"] also added 19 points, 9 rebounds, 6 assists, and 5 steals in the win. South Decatur will take on Triton Central in the Sectional finals.</p> <p><b>Churubusco Takes Down Central Noble</b></p> <p>#15 Busco took down #3 Central Noble in a game that was played within one possession until the final minute. The largest lead of the game was 3 until Busco pulled away late. Both of these teams were hitting shots and playing physically on both ends of the floor. I don’t have the final stats for this game, but I know that [player_tooltip player_id="874128" first="Jackson" last="Paul"] and [player_tooltip player_id="769682" first="Connor" last="Essegian"] were playing extremely physically and getting to the bucket on the offensive end. Busco will take on Eastside in the Sectional title game.</p> <p><strong>#2 Shenandoah Rolls Over #10 Northeastern</strong></p> <p>In one of the more anticipated games of the night, Shenandoah came out and did not give the Knights the slightest vision of hope as the Raiders dominated for a 69-38 victory on their home floor. It was a tight game after the first quarter, but Shenandoah more than doubled up the Knights in the final three-quarters of the game. The Raiders were getting open shots and knocking them down, and their 2-3 defense was causing major problems for Northeastern who just weren’t able to create shots. Shenandoah was led by [player_tooltip player_id="783204" first="Andrew" last="Bennett"] with 24, <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="874171" first="Kaden" last="McCollough"]</strong> with 16, [player_tooltip player_id="1077039" first="Michael" last="Howard"] with 11, and [player_tooltip player_id="874203" first="Kameron" last="Graddy"] with 10. Northeastern was led by [player_tooltip player_id="1063964" first="Raedhyn" last="Foust"] with 12 and <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="874158" first="Kolden" last="Vanlandingham"]</strong> with 11. </p> <p><strong>Quick Hitters:</strong></p> <ul> <li><strong>Brit Harris </strong>has career night with 34 points on 5 triples. He also added 7 rebounds, 6 assists, and 6 steals in the 35 point win for Marquette Catholic over Whiting.</li> <li><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="1077014" first="Koron" last="Davis"]</strong> dominates for the second straight game as he totals 29 points and 14 rebounds in Bowman Academy’s narrow win over Illiana Christian.</li> <li><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="647227" first="Will" last="Shank"]</strong> scored 19 and added 5 steals in Fort Wayne Canterbury’s win over Adams Central.</li> <li><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="647199" first="Luke" last="Brown"]</strong> had another stat-stuffing night with 35 points, 8 rebounds, and 6 assists. <strong>Landon</strong> <strong>Grimes</strong> also added 15 points and 12 boards to lead Blackford to a 69-50 win over Tipton.</li> <li><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="874214" first="Ayden" last="Brobston"]</strong> added a double-double with 18 points and 11 boards in Frankton’s 7 point win over Alexandria-Monroe.</li> <li>Eastern Hancock had 5 players in double figures in their 28 point victory over Union County. <strong>Jacob Spaulding</strong>, <strong>Cameron Wise</strong>, <strong>Landon O’Neal</strong>, <strong>Drew White</strong>, and <strong>Cole Rainbolt</strong> all were in double figures for the Royals.</li> <li>Parke Heritage’s trio of seniors, <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="935724" first="Christian" last="Johnson"]</strong>, <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="963920" first="Connor" last="Davis"]</strong>, and <strong>Riley Ferguson</strong>, combined for 48 points as the Wolves rolled to a 66-38 win over Southmont.</li> <li><strong>David Steele </strong>led Triton Central with 17, and <strong>Aiden Lindsey</strong> added 11 points and 11 boards to lead the Tigers to a 62-60 victory over Milan.</li> <li>Southwestern (Hanover) rolled to a 30 point win over Switzerland County thanks to 21 points from <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="963912" first="Matthew" last="Williams"]</strong> and 16 from <strong>Parker Davis</strong>. Also, <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="874163" first="Foster" last="Mefford"]</strong> added 14/5/6, and <strong>Austin Kramer</strong> added 14 points, 7 assists, and 5 steals.</li> </ul>