Wabash Valley Classic: Day One Live Blog

<p>It is time for one of, if not the, longest running annual tournament in the state of Indiana. First beginning in 1916, the original Wabash Valley Tournament ran up until 1972. It was then brought back to life as the Pizza Hut Classic in 1991 and ran until 2015 when First Financial Bank took over the title sponsorship. For three days at Terre Haute South, 16 teams will compete for a championship. Follow <a href="https://twitter.com/BRamseyKSR">@BRamseyKSR</a> on Twitter for live updates throughout the day from the First Financial Bank Wabash Valley Classic. Also, there will be recaps of each game posted right here on the live blog throughout Monday’s opening round.</p> <h2>Terre Haute North 50 Northview 39</h2> <p>The Patriots came out of the gates hot with senior wing Mark Hankins nailing a couple of early threes and classmate Colin Frank dominating around the basket. Terre Haute North’s on-ball pressure was making Northview uncomfortable and taking them out of their offense. It was a 19-6 game after one quarter. However, as the game started to slow down, the Northview Knights fought their way back in it.</p> <p>After trailing by 13 at halftime, the Knights used a strong third quarter led by senior wing Braden Allen to cut the deficit to six points heading into the final period. That six point spread would be as close as they could get down the stretch though. Terre Haute North knocked down free throws late to move to 8-0 on the season with a 50-39 victory.</p> <p>6’5" senior forward Colin Frank led all scorers with 17 points to go with 8 rebounds for Terre Haute North. Fellow 6’5" senior Mark Hankins added 9 points and 8 rebounds for the Patriots. On the Northview side, Braden Allen scored 11 points, all in the second half, to lead the Knights.</p> <h2>Parke Heritage 43 vs. Casey-Westfield (IL) 30</h2> <p>[player_tooltip player_id="1295369" first="Nas" last="McNeal"] had it going from beyond the arc early on and the Wolves of Parke Heritage never looked back. Casey-Westfield simply didn’t have enough offense as Parke Heritage was able to contain their outside shooting from start to finish. Parke Heritage picked up a 43-30 victory to move to 6-2 on the season. They will advance to take on undefeated Terre Haute North tomorrow in round two.</p> <p>McNeal led all scorers with 11 points while Joel Gooch added 10, all coming in the final period. For Casey-Westfield, it was Jackson Parcel who scored a team-high 10 points.</p> <h2>Sullivan 72 vs. Terre Haute South 56</h2> <p>Sullivan built a commanding early lead in this one that was too much for Terre Haute South to ever overcome. More specifically, [player_tooltip player_id="870312" first="Randy" last="Kelley"] built a large early lead for Sullivan. The senior guard scored 12 points in the opening period to gets the Arrows out to an 18-5 advantage. In the second quarter, the Braves of Terre Haute South started speeding the game up a bit and trading 3-pointers for 2-pointers and got it down to a three point game. Sullivan would finish the half on a 7-2 run to remain in front 34-26.</p> <p>Kelley took over in the third quarter once again for Sullivan to help build the lead back up to 12 behind eight points of his own. Terre Haute South had one run left in them as senior guard Amariyae Wilson got hot in the final period, but it wasn’t quite enough. Wilson cut it to five points with a steal and layup but that was as close as the Braves would come. Sullivan moved to 7-0 on the season and earned a spot in the quarterfinals with a 72-56 victory.</p> <p>[player_tooltip player_id="870312" first="Randy" last="Kelley"] led all scorers with 29 points while big man [player_tooltip player_id="1168250" first="Jackson" last="Hills"] added a double-double of 10 points and 10 rebounds. [player_tooltip player_id="870315" first="Rocco" last="Roshel"] had 12 points as well for Sullivan. For Terre Haute South, Amariyae Wilson finished with 23 points and sophomore guard Zayvion Baker added 16.</p> <h2>West Vigo 52 vs. Shakamak 48</h2> <p>This was without a doubt the closest, most exciting game of the day so far at the Wabash Valley Classic. After leading by one point after the first quarter, West Vigo quickly saw their advantage go away. Shakamak took their first lead of the game on a Carson Jernigan three-pointer early in the second quarter and they would stay in front until midway through the final period.</p> <p>The Lakers would lead by as many as 11 points in the third quarter, but West Vigo continued chipping away and got it down to four heading into the fourth. A Connor Martin layup gave the Vikings their first lead since the opening seconds of the second quarter and the lead would change hands back-and-forth on the next several possessions. Back-to-back three-pointers by sophomore wing J.T. May allowed Shakamak to climb back ahead 48-44. However, sophomore [player_tooltip player_id="1253266" first="Zeke" last="Tanoos"] would answer with a pair of threes of his own for West Vigo as they retook the lead 50-48 with just a couple of minutes remaining.</p> <p>The Vikings would hold on to escape with a 52-48 victory and advance to play Sullivan in the quarterfinals tomorrow. 6’3" sophomore wing [player_tooltip player_id="1253266" first="Zeke" last="Tanoos"] was excellent knocking down seven three-pointers on his way to a game-high 26 points. Tanoos scored 12 of his 26 in the final period including the two crucial shots from beyond the arc. For Shakamak, [player_tooltip player_id="870310" first="Coy" last="Gilbert"] scored 14 points, Oscar Pegg had 12, and J.T. May finished with 11 points.</p> <h2>Cloverdale 36 Greencastle 32</h2> <p>Aside from a quick 23-21 lead for Greencastle early in the third quarter, it was wire-to-wire in favor of Cloverdale. The Clovers avenged their loss from December 18th with a 36-32 victory. [player_tooltip player_id="796015" first="Kyle" last="Thomas"] recorded a double-double with 17 points and 10 rebounds for Cloverdale. For Greencastle, 6’0" senior guard Evan Alexander hit five three-pointers on his way to a game-high 19 points in the defeat.</p> <p>It was all [player_tooltip player_id="796015" first="Kyle" last="Thomas"] in the early minutes as Cloverdale jumped out to a 16-9 first quarter advantage on the back of nine points from the 6’4" senior guard. Evan Alexander got hot from beyond the arc though to keep the Tiger Cubs in the game. Then, Cole Hutcheson got going in the third quarter when Greencastle briefly took their lead on the scoreboard. In such a low-scoring affair neither team truly ever control, but it was the Clovers hanging on down the stretch thanks to a couple of buckets by Thomas to remain in front. They advance to tomorrow’s quarterfinal round. </p> <h2>Edgewood 60 Robinson (IL) 55</h2> <p>Despite trailing 30-22 at halftime, Edgewood fought back with a 21-9 third period to take the lead heading into the final eight minutes. Then, they were able to hold on down the stretch to advance with a 60-55 win over Robinson (IL).</p> <p>6’2" senior Caden Huttenlocker went off scoring 35 points for the Mustangs. Sophomore [player_tooltip player_id="1160271" first="Zach" last="Sims"] added 18 points for Edgewood. 6’6" sophomore forward Noah Gilmore scored 20 points in the loss for Robinson while Cooper Loll added 18 points and 10 rebounds.</p> <h2>Bloomfield 62 vs. South Vermillion 57</h2> <p>After trailing by three at halftime, Bloomfield was able to move to 7-0 with a come-from-behind 62-57 victory to advance to the quarterfinals. Senior wing [player_tooltip player_id="870307" first="Baylin" last="Graf"] scored a game-high 24 points.</p> <h2>Linton-Stockton 75 Marshall (IL) 52</h2> <p>[player_tooltip player_id="868240" first="Joey" last="Hart"] scored a game-high 26 points as Linton-Stockton cruised into the quarterfinals.</p>