Madison County Tournament Semifinals – Game Recaps

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>There were several postponements on Tuesday evening, especially in the southern half of the state, but the Madison County Quarterfinals were still able to take place setting up Wednesday's Semifinals at Anderson High School. Prep Hoops Indiana had boots on the ground for both games featuring the host Anderson Indians against the Pendleton Heights Arabians followed by the Frankton Eagles against the Liberty Christian Lions. Let's take a closer look at both contests.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Anderson 70 Pendleton Heights 52</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Pendleton Heights hung around through the first eight minutes and started the second half strong cutting into the Indians lead, but before the vast majority of this contest Anderson was in control. There was no answer for the size, length, and athleticism of [player_tooltip player_id='1297010' first='Damien' last='King'], Aaron Morgan, [player_tooltip player_id='1539290' first='Titus' last='Hunter'], [player_tooltip player_id='2390222' first='Javon' last='Warfield'], [player_tooltip player_id='1560980' first='Collin' last='Lewis'], and the rest of the Indians squad. Pendleton Heights' Joe Estes held his own inside for awhile while [player_tooltip player_id='1560972' first='Cooper' last='Sims'] and [player_tooltip player_id='2053679' first='Evan' last='Mozingo'] connected on a barrage of three-point shots, but it ultimately wasn't enough as Anderson advanced to the Madison County Tournament Championship Game with a 70-52 win.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1297010' first='Damien' last='King'], one of the top uncommitted senior prospects in the state of Indiana, finished with 22 points, 7 rebounds, and 4 assists to lead the Indians. 6'6" senior forward [player_tooltip player_id='1539290' first='Titus' last='Hunter'] added 16 points and 6 rebounds. Meanwhile, senior Aaron Morgan added 13 points, [player_tooltip player_id='1560980' first='Collin' last='Lewis'] finished with 10 points and 6 assists, and [player_tooltip player_id='2390222' first='Javon' last='Warfield'] chipped in 8 points and 6 assists. Anderson is now 10-1 on the season.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>For Pendleton Heights, junior guard [player_tooltip player_id='1560972' first='Cooper' last='Sims'] got hot in the fourth quarter scoring 10 of his 16 points to lead the Arabians. Senior guard [player_tooltip player_id='2053679' first='Evan' last='Mozingo'] connected on five three-point shots throughout the game to add 15 points. Joe Estes added 13 points and and 6 rebounds in the loss.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Liberty Christian 58 Frankton 55</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Things sure got interesting down the stretch in this game. As the game went on the athleticism of Liberty Christian wore Frankton down a bit. Turnovers mounted, the Lions converted some fast break layups, and they extended their lead to 46-37 heading into the fourth quarter. However, the Eagles kept clawing their way back. Liberty Christian seemed unwilling to turn down the pace or pressure which led to a bunch of fouls, while leading comfortably, in the fourth quarter. Frankton was able to get back in the game at the free throw line, even with going 1-2 on four separate trips, and eventually tied the game at 55-55 with less than 30 seconds remaining. Christian Townsend saved the day for the Lions though. The senior guard nailed a pull-up three on the left wing with about 15 seconds remaining. [player_tooltip player_id='1297063' first='Joey' last='Wright'] just narrowly missed banking in the game-tying shot on the other end and Liberty Christian hung on to win 58-55.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Junior forward [player_tooltip player_id='1989432' first='Jordan' last='Haralson'] led a balanced scoring attack finishing with 13 points for Liberty Christian. Christian Townsend, the hero for the Lions, added 12 points while sophomore [player_tooltip player_id='2414946' first='Tamarje' last='English'] chipped in 11 points.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Brady Carmack finished with 19 points and 11 rebounds in the loss for Frankton. [player_tooltip player_id='1297063' first='Joey' last='Wright'] also finished with 19 points, 14 of which came in the second half.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->