Hall of Fame Classic Recap: Ben Davis 65 Penn 53

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The annual Raymond James Hall of Fame Classic is always one of the premier events of the Indiana High School Basketball season. Hosted by New Castle High School in the Largest and Finest High School Fieldhouse in the World, this even attracts basketball fans from all across the state to watch four of the best teams you can find. This year, fans were treated to a pair of semifinal matchups featuring Class 3A #2 North Daviess vs. Class 3A #3 NorthWood followed by Class 4A #1 Ben Davis vs. Class 4A #3 Penn. That is a lot of star power under one roof. I had boots on the ground covering the event in New Castle earlier today. Let's take a look at how the semifinals turned out.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2>Ben Davis 65 Penn 53</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>This game started out going about as well for Penn as they realistically could have asked for. Despite Mr. Basketball candidate [player_tooltip player_id='1049169' first='Markus' last='Burton'] making just one of his first seven shots, the Kingsmen led 16-14 after one quarter and then 29-27 at halftime. Burton's teammates were picking up the slack around him with the likes of [player_tooltip player_id='1547389' first='Dominic' last='Bonner'], [player_tooltip player_id='1391326' first='Joey' last='Garwood'], [player_tooltip player_id='1272962' first='Joe' last='Smith'], [player_tooltip player_id='1272951' first='Josh' last='Gatete'], and [player_tooltip player_id='1049172' first='Dylan' last='Derda'] all providing offense when needed. Then, as you would expect, Burton found one hot streaking offensively with three straight buckets before the half.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>In the second half, Burton was still being contained very well by the Giants defense and it eventually led to the scoreboard flipping in Ben Davis' favor. They outscored the Kingsmen 22-12 in the third period alone with guards [player_tooltip player_id='1160716' first='Clay' last='Butler'] and [player_tooltip player_id='1373105' first='Mark' last='Zackery'] leading the way. Speaking of Zackery, his defensive effort on Friday afternoon deserves to be highlighted. The sophomore showcased just how valuable his athleticism and length can be as he did as good of a job as you can possibly do on the super-talented Burton. He, along with some help from Butler and [player_tooltip player_id='1273713' first='Sheridan' last='Sharp'], forced Burton into a 9/25 shooting performance from the field. Zackery just might be the best on-ball defender in the state of Indiana.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>After capturing a 49-41 advantage heading into the fourth quarter, Ben Davis never looked back. They would remain undefeated and move to 11-0 with a 65-53 victory. The Giants will take on NorthWood in the Hall of Fame Classic championship game later on Friday evening. As for the Kingsmen, the loss was their first of the season and they will now play North Daviess in the consolation matchup.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1160716' first='Clay' last='Butler'] scored 15 points to lead the way for Ben Davis while [player_tooltip player_id='1158204' first='K.J.' last='Windham'] added 13 points despite playing very limited minutes as he returns from injury. Rounding out those in double-figures were Valparaiso signee [player_tooltip player_id='1042497' first='Zane' last='Doughty'] with 10 points and 10 rebounds alongside [player_tooltip player_id='1373105' first='Mark' last='Zackery'] who finished with 10 points of his own.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Notre Dame signee [player_tooltip player_id='1049169' first='Markus' last='Burton'] scored 22 points to lead all scorers in the loss for the Kingsmen.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->