Thursday’s Daily Dive (12/23)

<p>Thursday night featured some intriguing tournaments around the state and a handful of good stand alone matchups. Our staff was able to get out in the gym for a few different games and we have the full report of what happened throughout the Indiana High School Basketball scene.</p> <h3>Monroe Central’s Big Day</h3> <p>Anytime a 2A school knocks off a 3A or 4A program it will turn some heads. When a team accomplishes that feat on the same day it will really turn some heads. Then, when you consider that both teams are very good in their respective classes it makes it even more impressive. That is what the Monroe Central Golden Bears did on Thursday at the Connersville Tournament.</p> <p>In the morning session, the Golden Bears upset host, and previously unbeaten, Connersville 48-41. The Spartans were ranked #5 in the Prep Hoops Indiana poll and were #1 this week in the AP. Later on, Monroe Central proved their big win was not a fluke. They turned around in the championship game and took down Bloomington North 73-64 in what was essentially a wire-to-wire victory. Monroe Central looked like the best team on the floor for 32 minutes.</p> <p>Taylor University commit [player_tooltip player_id="870304" first="Jackson" last="Ullom"] scored 22 points and dished out 5 assists to lead his team to the championship. Luke Jones added 21 points for the Golden Bears. For Bloomington North, it was senior guard [player_tooltip player_id="870215" first="Nick" last="Klaiber"] who would lead all scorers with 25 points.</p> <p>Monroe Central is now 8-0 and poised to make a leap towards the Top 5 of Class 2A.</p> <h3>Bishop Chatard Remains Undefeated</h3> <p>The Trojans are rolling to begin their season as they are off to a 7-0 start after winning the Delta Tournament on Thursday. Bishop Chatard knocked off a solid Northeastern team 50-37 in the morning on the back of 16 points from senior guard [player_tooltip player_id="1143910" first="A.J." last="Roseman"]. Then, in the championship, they took down Bellmont 45-35 with 18 points from T.J. Alexander and 17 from Roseman. Bishop Chatard travels to North Decatur for their tournament on the 29th and will look to finish of 2021 with an unbeaten record. The Trojans are playing like a Top 10 team in Class 3A.</p> <h3>Brebeuf Jesuit over Beech Grove</h3> <p>This was a big Class 3A matchup between #1 ranked Brebeuf Jesuit and #7 ranked Beech Grove. The Braves used a big night from senior guard [player_tooltip player_id="870236" first="Paul" last="Stubblefield"] to take down the Hornets at the Hoosier Gym. Stubblefield scored 17 points to go with 6 rebounds while Miami (OH) signee [player_tooltip player_id="870225" first="Billy" last="Smith"] added 14 points and 8 rebounds. Brebeuf is now 6-1 on the season. They will play in Greenwood’s tournament on December 30th taking on Yorktown in the first game.</p> <h3>Mount Vernon (Fortville) in Hoosier Heritage Conference Lead</h3> <p>With Thursday’s 63-52 win over New Castle, Mount Vernon (Fortville) took a commanding first place lead in the Hoosier Heritage Conference. These were the lone remaining undefeated teams in the conference entering last night’s contest. The Marauders (5-1) now have a date with #1 ranked Zionsville on the 28th after a short break for Christmas. </p>