Saturday Thrillers Across the State

On Saturday night, Hoosier Hysteria was in full effect across the entire state of Indiana. Throughout the night, the state produced 30 different games that were decided by five points or fewer. On top of that, it featured six different overtime games including an epic five-overtime thriller in Evansville. Now at this time, let’s take a look at the top moments from an amazing day of high school basketball that featured anything from buzzer-beaters to dunks that put the defender on a poster. Here we go…   Bloomington South @ Silver Creek When you look at the best games across the state, there is nowhere else to look than this battle between top five teams in Indiana. This star-studded battle was highlighted by Indiana Hoosier commit, <a href="https://prephoops.com/player/anthony-leal/">Anthony Leal</a>, for Bloomington South, and <a href="https://prephoops.com/player/trey-kaufman/">Trey Kaufman</a> for Silver Creek who is deemed one of the bigs in the country for the 2021 recruiting class. These two players did not disappoint in their highly anticipated matchup. At the half, Leal was leading both teams with 23 points, but the Silver Creek Dragons led 41-40. With 1:30 to go in the game, <a href="https://prephoops.com/player/noah-jager/">Noah Jager</a> hit a three to cut the Dragons lead to 2. Then, after a made free throw, <a href="https://prephoops.com/player/connor-hickman/">Connor Hickman</a> drilled a three to tie the game at 66. Hickman then got a steal on the defensive end to give the Panthers the ball back with three seconds remaining. They in-bounded the ball to Leal. He took two dribbles to the top of the key. He rose up over two defenders, and he buried the triple with no time remaining to give the Panthers the victory. Leal finished the game with 28 points, and <a href="https://prephoops.com/player/trey-kaufman/">Trey Kaufman</a> ended with 27 points. It was an epic game of future division one talent, and it will definitely be one of the best games of the season.   Bloomington North @ Columbus East On the same day that their Bloomington rival played one of the top teams in the state, the Bloomington North Cougars traveled to Columbus East to take on the 3-12 Olympians. However, the Cougars had a let down of sorts. As the clock wound down late in the game, Cougars guard <a href="https://prephoops.com/player/nick-klaiber/">Nick Klaiber</a> held the ball at the top of the key with the game tied at 57 apiece. Klaiber started his drive with 8 seconds remaining, and he kicked to Marco Fitch, a sophomore guard who is averaging just 0.8 points per game. Fitch caught in the corner, drove to the rim, and he laid it up off the glass and in as time expired to win the game 59-57. <a href="https://prephoops.com/player/isaac-vencel/">Isaac Vencel</a> led the Cougars in scoring in their narrow win over the Olympians with 15 as both Bloomington schools rely on last-second shots for their wins.   Terre Haute North @ Evansville North This game in Evansville was one of the longest games in Indiana high school basketball history as Evansville North topped Terre Haute North in a 5 overtime thriller. At the end of regulation, Terre Haute North hits a three at the buzzer to tie the game at 48 to send it to the first overtime. In the first overtime, the defenses locked up and did not allow a single point. Evansville North missed a shot at the buzzer that would have won it. In the second overtime, the defenses remained on top. Again, for the second overtime period in a row, neither team scored and the teams went into the third overtime still tied at 48. Evansville North missed another shot at the buzzer at the end of overtime #2. In the third overtime, Terre Haute North was down by 3 with just 19 seconds remaining, and the Patriots came right down the court and drilled a three at the buzzer for the second time in the game to second the game into the 4th overtime at 54-54. In the fourth overtime, Terre Haute hit another clutch game-tying three with just 10 seconds remaining, and the Evansville North Huskies missed another shot at the buzzer to send it into overtime #5. Thanks to three clutch free throws, the Huskies took another three-point lead with just 3 seconds remaining, but this time, Terre Haute North’s buzzer-beater three comes up short and the Evansville North Huskies held on with the 73-70 victory in one of the longest games in Indiana high school basketball history.   Hamilton Southeastern @ Mishawaka Marian In a battle between the #6 team in 4A, the Hamilton Southeastern Royals, and the #4 team in 3A, the Mishawaka Marian Knights, we had another instant classic. These teams battled and battled the entire night with the leads just continuing to swap hands throughout. Mishawaka Marian was able to pull away late in the fourth quarter, but sure enough, the Royals stormed back and took the lead 48-46 with a bucket inside with just one minute remaining. After a made free throw by Hamilton Southeastern, the Knights came back down the floor and got a very good look at the buzzer, but the three-pointer was off the mark, and Hamilton Southeastern held on for the 49-46 victory on the road.   Loogootee @ West Washington In a battle between two of the top 25 1A teams, the Loogootee Lions took on the West Washington Senators. These two teams were even throughout the course of the entire game. Loogootee would take a lead, then West Washington would come right back to tie it up. However, with just 7 seconds remaining in the game, the Lions had the ball with the game tied at 42 apiece. The Lions drew up a play to perfection, and they got a wide-open layup opportunity, but they missed it. Then, Lions leader, Jalen Wildman, crashed the glass with authority, and he was able to tip the ball back up and in with just three seconds remaining to give Loogootee the tough fought 44-42 road victory.   Culver Academy @ Indianapolis Cathedral In this battle between two top 20 teams in the state, Culver Academy was able to prevail thanks to top-notch defense and a better shooting night, but their victory was almost given away. At one point late in the first half, the Culver Academy Eagles were able to drill a three to take a 14 point lead. However, the relentless Cathedral attack was led by their big man inside, <a href="https://prephoops.com/player/peter-moe/">Peter Moe</a>, and their top guard, <a href="https://prephoops.com/player/tayshawn-comer/">Tayshawn Comer</a>. A couple of big threes by Comer and dunks by Moe let Cathedral cut the lead down and eventually tie it up and send it into overtime. However, in the overtime period, it was all Eagles. The play of the game and possibly, the play of the season, occurred in their overtime period as the Eagles’ senior guard, <a href="https://prephoops.com/player/trey-galloway/">Trey Galloway</a>, was coming down on a fast break opportunity. He pulled the ball back out, but a Cathedral guard tried to catch him off guard and pickpocket him. At the moment, Galloway crossed over behind his back and drove uncontested to the rim. He rose up strong with one hand and flushed it down over a Fighting Irish defender who went up for the block. The entire building was electric, and it eventually led to the Eagles pulling away for the 69-58 victory over Cathedral.   Fishers @ Franklin Central In this battle of Indianapolis powerhouses, Fishers got off to an early start taking a 13-4 lead in the first quarter. However, the Franklin Central Flashes stormed back to take a 33-29 lead at the half thanks to 14 first-half points by Javon Small. In the third quarter, Javon Small and <a href="https://prephoops.com/player/jalen-hooks/">Jalen Hooks</a> continued to put on a show for Franklin Central. In the fourth, the Tigers mounted their comeback. They were able to cut the lead to two with 44 seconds to go, and then thanks to a nifty reverse layup by <a href="https://prephoops.com/player/alex-szilagyi/">Alex Szilagyi</a>, they were able to tie the game with just 17 seconds to go. After a Flashes timeout, Javon Small drove the ball to the rim and drew the foul with just 3.8 seconds remaining. At the line, Small missed the first free throw, but he was able to hit the second to give Franklin Central a one-point lead. Fishers had one final shot, but their desperation heave was off the mark and the Flashes come up with the 58-57 victory. Javon Small led the way for the Flashes with 18 and <a href="https://prephoops.com/player/jalen-hooks/">Jalen Hooks</a> ended with 13. For Fishers, <a href="https://prephoops.com/player/alex-szilagyi/">Alex Szilagyi</a> led both teams with 22 points, and sophomore standout, <a href="https://prephoops.com/player/jeffrey-simmons/">Jeffrey Simmons</a>, ended just a rebound shy of a double-double to end with 12 points and 9 boards.