BB SECT 10: 4A #4 North Central rallies to handle #7 Cathedral, 73-61

INDIANAPOLIS – Through the first three quarters of the Class 4A Sectional 10 opener March 3 at Indianapolis Arlington, seventh-ranked Indianapolis Cathedral had executed a near-perfect game plan against No. 4 North Central (Indianapolis).

The black-clad Fighting Irish had limited the state’s highest-scoring team (79.2 points per game) to just 35 field goal attempts. North Central’s leader, 6’3” junior guard Terone Johnson, had picked up his fourth foul on a three-point play by Cathedral 6’6” senior forward Errick Peck with 4:30 left in the third period. And the Irish led 42-39 heading to the fourth after a fast-break layup by senior guard Patrick Paligraf energized the sizeable Cathedral faithful three seconds ahead of the buzzer.

Darn the luck at having to play those final eight minutes. After Cathedral drew even at 54 – the game’s eighth tie – with 3:44 to go on a pair of double-bonus free throws by 5’8” senior guard Jarrett Hamilton, it was the Panthers who exploited the free throw line from that point forward in pulling out a 73-61 victory.

North Central (22-1) made 14 of 21 free throws in the game’s final 2:48, knocking down 17 of 27 in the final stanza alone and using an 11-0 run over the next two minutes to pull away.

Panthers 6’4” senior forward Damon Ellison picked up much of the slack in Johnson’s absence, scoring a game-high 19 points. He was joined in double figures by 6’3” freshman guard D’Vauntes Smith-Rivera (15 points), 6’8” senior center Justin Reid (14), and Johnson – the state’s ninth-leading scorer at 25.3 ppg – with 13.

Cathedral (20-3) countered with four players in double digits as well: 6’3” junior swingman Kofi Hughes with 14, Peck with 12, and Paligraf and 6’6” senior swingman Kelsey Barlow each with 11.

Hughes, the mobile quarterback for Cathedral’s state championship football team, was a sparkplug early on for the Irish as he scored the last seven points of the opening quarter on a putback, a drive and subsequent free throw following a foul, and another layin on consecutive possessions. 

But his air-balled 3-point attempt with 54 seconds to go in the game would serve as the metaphorical slamming door for the Irish, who endured a 6-for-21 shooting effort in the final period en route to a 39-percent evening (26 of 67).

After being held to just 10-for-22 shooting in a not-that-deliberate first half, meanwhile, North Central responded with 6-for-13 and 8-for-14 field efforts over the final 16 minutes in addition to all those free throws. After seeming disinterested as a team in the first half, the Panthers pounced by limiting Cathedral’s early attacking-the-bucket prowess and finding their own success inside.

“You have to be ready for any style (of play) once the tournament starts,” said 16th-year North Central coach Doug Mitchell. “We just kept pokin’ and proddin’ till we found something that worked.”

It took awhile. Hughes’ offensive infusion led to a 15-all tie after one, and a pair of Paligraf layups in the final two minutes of the second stanza turned a 24-21 Irish deficit into a 25-24 halftime lead.

Six-three junior swingman Trip McFall opened the third period with a three from the left wing that got the lead back for the Panthers, but Cathedral went inside again on its next three possessions (layup, drive, layup) to take a 31-27 lead.

After Johnson acquired that fourth foul midway through the quarter, Cathedral was able to move the lead out to five on two occasions, the second coming on an impressive bank shot muscled in from the right side by Peck with 3:30 left in the third.

But after 6’6″ senior forward Barry Flynn’s fast-break layup gave Cathedral a 45-41 exactly one minute into the fourth quarter, North Central responded with a layin and long jumper from Ellison followed by an and-one putback and foul shot from Smith-Rivera at 5:56 for a 48-45 advantage. That spurt coincided with a pair of missed bunnies by Peck and Hamilton, a serious sign of foreshadowing.

The game remained close for the next two minutes as Cathedral scored on four straight possessions following a turnover to draw even at 54. But that’s when the lid closed at the Cathedral end as the Irish missed 13 of their final 15 shots.

North Central moves on to face Lawrence Central (10-9) in Friday’s opening semifinal. The entire free world now anticipates a North Central-Lawrence North showdown Saturday in the final if the third-ranked Wildcats (21-2) can get past Indianapolis Broad Ripple (11-10) Wednesday and either Arlington (12-10) or Warren Central (9-13) Friday.