Class 4A: Lawrence North pounds Muncie Central with Oden's records-setting show

By E. Shawn Aylsworth

HA.com Managing Editor

INDIANAPOLIS â�?��?? Although two of Indianaâ�?��?�s historically most successful boys programs hooked up in the Class 4A final Saturday, the ultimate result was painfully clear before the first quarter reached the midway point.

Muncie Central, looking to extend its state-record number of titles to nine with a veteran starting lineup of five seniors, never got within sniffing range of defending champ Lawrence North as the third-ranked Wildcats led the whole game and rolled to a 63-52 victory over No. 2 Muncie.

LN&acutes 7-foot center Greg Oden (middle, with ball firmly clutched) made sure his Wildcats did not drop the ball in the 4A final, scoring 29 points while proving far too much for Muncie Central defenders Terry Jenkins (left) and Jordan Armstrong (50). Photo by Natalie Evans

Junior 7-foot center Greg Oden dominated like no other player in the four championship games, scoring a 4A finals-record 29 points while grabbing nine rebounds and swatting six blocked shots (another 4A record, with five of them coming in the first half) to lead Lawrence North to its third state crown.

The Wildcats (24-2) shot a sizzling 62 percent from the field, hitting 24 of 39 shots to break their own year-old record for team accuracy. Oden took half of them, hitting 14 (a third 4A championship game record) of 19 for the game and a torrid 10 of 13 during a monster second half where he scored 20.

Odenâ�?��?�s trio of records broke the marks of some pretty special big men:

�?· The previous points mark was 28 by Marionâ�?��?�s Zach Randolph in the Giantsâ�?��?� 62-56 win over Bloomington North in 2000.

�?· The former field goals-made record was 13, again by Randolph.

�?· And the blocked shots standard was five by Bloomington Northâ�?��?�s Sean May in that 2000 game against Randolph.

The record-breaking big man had a relatively quiet first half, but it was lights-out compared with the Muncie Central starters, who went a combined 4 for 17 and never found any semblance of a rhythm. Not surprisingly, the Bearcats trailed at the break, 25-17, as Muncieâ�?��?�s 6-of-22 shooting (27 percent) could not hang with LNâ�?��?�s efficient 9-of-15 effort (60 percent).

Muncie Central first-year coach Matt Fine attributed the lethargic production to LNâ�?��?�s defensive pressure, especially in the backcourt.

â�?��?Theyâ�?��?�ve got three great guards out front that really do a good job of getting into you,â�?� said Fine, noting he still was proud of his players. â�?��?We didnâ�?��?�t knock shots down, and they took us out of what we wanted to do offensively.â�?�

Indeed.

Guard Josiah Miller labored through a miserable 3-of-16 shooting night that included a numbing 1 of 9 from behind the 3-point arc. Guard Alex Daniel attempted one shot in the first half and missed it. And guard Ty Riddle â�?��?? who went off for 22 points behind 6-for-11 3-point shooting in last weekâ�?��?�s 69-40 romp over Gary West â�?��?? was 1 for 2 with no 3-point attempts in the first half.

â�?��?I think our seniors just wanted it more than them,â�?� said Lawrence Northâ�?��?�s 29th-year coach, Jack Keefer. â�?��?We played with a real passion all night.â�?�

It was a painful final game for Muncie Central Andrew Brown (with ball) and his four senior starting classmates. The second-ranked Bearcats could not escape the onus of LN junior center Greg Oden (lurking behind …). Photo by Natalie Evans

Unfortunately for the Bearcats, neither their players nor their fans brought anywhere near the level of passion displayed seven days earlier in the lopsided Lafayette Jefferson Semistate win over Gary. Then again, when the P.A. announcer had said, â�?��?Score from the Southport Semistate: Lawrence North 71 â�?�¦ Terre Haute South 52,â�?� the Bearcat faithful that to that point had been perhaps the most raucous crowd I had ever heard at a high school game had fallen eerily silent â�?�¦

But I digress. Oden was sure to credit his senior teammates for the easy win.

Guard Tyler Morris snagged nine rebounds, dished out six assists, and hit big 3-pointers to start and end the second quarter. Forward Donald Cloutier had seven rebounds and was a perfect 4 for 4 from the line. And guard Brandon McPherson not only was 5 for 5 from the stripe in scoring 11 points, but he also won the Trester Mental Attitude Award.

â�?��?My teammates played so well tonight that they had no choice but to play me man-to-man,â�?� said Oden, the 84 ½-inch real difference maker.

Odenâ�?��?�s counterpart, 6â�?��?�6â�?� center Jordan Armstrong â�?��?? it was his first-quarter fadeaway jumper in the lane that fell several feet short due to the presence of Oden that signaled the Bearcatsâ�?��?� fate â�?��?? echoed an ESPN commercial in describing the Gatorade Indiana Boys Basketball Player of the Year.

â�?��?Heâ�?��?�s obviously NBA material and you canâ�?��?�t stop him, you can only hope to contain him,â�?� said Armstrong, who scored 10 points before fouling out just two minutes into the final period.

Added Fine, whose team saw its state-best 20-game winning streak torched: â�?��?They really know how to get (Oden) the ball in positions where heâ�?��?�s able to score.â�?�

Muncie Central (27-2) was led by the 12 points of junior forward Terry Jenkins, the No. 8 player for the Bearcats. Miller (10) and Riddle (11) were the only starters besides Armstrong to reach double digits.

The championships never grow old for Keefer, the only coach the school has had in its 29 years, and his staff of nine assistant coaches (and yes thatâ�?��?�s the same number of assistants as on the Wildcatsâ�?��?� two-time state champion wrestling team, too).

â�?��?We have very dedicated players and coaches,â�?� Keefer said. â�?��?Every state title is different.

â�?��?The one in 1989 (on the shoulders of another 7-footer, Eric Montross) was probably not expected. I think we earned this one more because of who we played.â�?�

The 4A finals win makes Lawrence North the first repeat champion since Class 2A Westview in 1999-2000. Ben Davis was the last single-class back-to-back champ in 1995-96.

LNâ�?��?�s McPherson wins Trester Award

Lawrence North senior Brandon McPherson was named winner of the Class 4A Arthur L. Trester Mental Attitude Award. The 2005 McDonaldâ�?��?�s All-American nominee also was named to Hoosier Basketball Magazineâ�?��?�s all-state team as well as getting all-conference honors.

McPherson ranks among the top 25 percent of his class of 533 students, scoring 1,150 on the SAT. An academic honors student and member in LNâ�?��?�s Honors Degree program, he also sings in the choir and serves on the Youth Board of the Mt. Zion Apostolic Church.

McPherson will study accounting on a full scholarship at Valparaiso University.

Do these numbers really add up?

Attendance: The IHSAA listed the attendance for the 3A final at 15,748, the 4A final at 18,345, and Session II overall at 34,093. (The latter establishes a new attendance record for class basketball.) It certainly seemed as if those numbers were reversed, however, as there appeared to be more 3A fannies in the seats.

But those 3A seats without a doubt were emptier during the two games as the 6:30 clash between Washington and Plymouth featured a much more lively crowd â�?�¦

Enrollment figures: The IHSAA press release announcing McPherson as Trester Award winner mentions his senior class of 533, yet the official souvenir program states that Lawrence North has 2,900 in four grades.

Lemme see here â�?�¦ twenny-nine hunnert minus five thirty three equals 2,367. Take 2,367 and divide it by three and you get 789. So Lawrence Northâ�?��?�s senior class has 533 and the junior, sophomore, and freshman classes beneath it are averaging 256 more students????

No wonder the boys basketball and wrestling teams each need nine assistant coaches. Whatâ�?��?�s in the water out there in Outer Lawrence, anyway?

Crispus Attucks celebrates 50th anniversary of monumental first state championship

Lawrence North — the only school in the â�?��?�05 finals thatâ�?��?�s located in either Indianapolis or the seven surrounding â�?��?donutâ�?� counties â�?��?? is located on the cityâ�?��?�s far northeastside. Its largely affluent district varies greatly from that of the first Indy team to win a championship â�?��?? Crispus Attucks.

It was only 50 years ago that Attucks became the first all-black school in the nation to win an open state tournament, downing Gary Roosevelt, 97-74, behind the great Oscar Robertsonâ�?��?�s 35 points. Dubbed â�?��?champions for changeâ�?� for its role in improving race relations, the near-westside team celebrated with a parade, taking a fire truck from the Butler campus on the cityâ�?��?�s northside around Monument Circle downtown.

But the truck went around the Circle just once in 1955 because police feared a riot. Not so on Saturday as the team relived that title from a half-century ago with another parade and fire truck ride, this time to the Madame Walker Theater downtown.

Blake Ress, IHSAA Commissioner, was a 14-year-old fan in the then-Butler Fieldhouse stands for the game so long ago. â�?��?I think it changed Indianapolis and the IHSAA and made it much easier for teams behind them,â�?� Ress told WTHR-TV.

Robertsonâ�?��?�s teammate Willie Merriweather agreed.

â�?��?I think it helped a lot to bring races together in the city,â�?� he told WTHR-TV.

One of several Indianapolis Public Schools to close its doors over the past couple decades, Attucks became a junior high in 1986. But the memories from that title â�?��?? and subsequent championships in 1956 and â�?��?�59 — live on.

God bless coach Ray Croweâ�?��?�s 31-1 Tigers â�?�¦