BB 1A FINAL: #1 Jac-Cen-Del whips #3 Triton for small-school title, 66-55

INDIANAPOLIS – The first official timeout in the Class A boys basketball state championship game March 28 at Conseco Fieldhouse came with 3:52 left in the opening quarter. The contest was scoreless. Both top-ranked Jac-Cen-Del and No. 3 Triton were playing outstanding defense, and neither could throw it in the ocean from the field. 

That scenario would change for Jac-Cen-Del and, as a result, the Eagles (25-2) took home the first state championship of any kind in school history with a 66-55 victory over Triton, the defending 1A champ. 

“I couldn’t be happier – this is 25 years of teaching and coaching, and it’s kind of a dream come true,” said Jac-Cen-Del coach David Bradshaw. “I guess you could call it a great silver anniversary present, not only to me but the entire community of Jac-Cen-Del.

“This is a team that a coach really learns to enjoy. They really don’t care who scores the points as long as they get the job done. That’s kind of been their motto since junior high … a very humble and unselfish approach.”

The JCD onslaught did not start over the remainder of that opening stanza as the Eagles led just 6-5 after eight minutes. They had shot only 3 of 12 for the quarter, but that was far better than Triton (25-3). The Trojans were just 2 of 15 in the period. 

“Our defense in the first quarter was absolutely tremendous – everything was to perfection, almost,” Bradshaw said. “The No. 1 thing is we really contested shots today. I bet you we really contested 80 percent of their shots.”

The second quarter was a completely different story as the Eagles began to heat up in a hurry. They hit five of their first six shots in the period. That, combined with exceptional interior defense, led to a 13-2 run that saw Jac-Cen-Del race to a 21-9 lead. 

Much of the success can be attributed to the play of Trevor Arnett. The 6’3” sophomore forward completely shut off the interior at the Triton end of the floor, and he also ruled the defensive boards for most of the first half (six rebounds en route to a team-high 11). 

That dominance of the glass and the Eagles’ improved shooting – Jac-Cen-Del went 8 of 9 in the second quarter, including 3 of 4 from 3-point range – were enough to give Jac-Cen-Del a 25-13 lead at intermission.

Despite the seemingly comfortable lead, all was not rosy for Jac-Cen-Del. The Eagles’ leading scorer, senior Matt Gehl, had been held scoreless on 0-for-4 shooting in the first half. By the same token, Triton’s offensive leader, 6-foot sophomore guard Griffyn Carpenter, failed to dent the scoreboard himself on 0-for-6 accuracy. 

Bradshaw knew that at some point one of the two was going to get hot, and he had to hope it was his man. It was, and “hot” is not the appropriate word for Gehl’s performance in the second half. 

The 6’2” guard exploded for 26 second-half points, 15 of them in a third quarter that saw Jac-Cen-Del blow the game wide open. 

“(Coach Bradshaw) told me to keep my head up and let the game come to me,” Gehl said. “That’s what I did, and I started scoring. I started pulling up for jump shots instead of trying to take it all the way.”

The Eagles like an open-court game and, with the lead going into the second half, that is exactly what they got in the third stanza. The result was a 21-point outburst punctuated by numerous textbook fast breaks. 

After outscoring Triton 40-22 over the game’s middle 16 minutes, Jac-Cen-Del’s lead at the end of three quarters ballooned to 19 points at 46-27.

Defending champions do not die easily, and the Trojans were no exception. Carpenter heated up from behind the arc in the early minutes of the fourth quarter, and Triton also benefitted from some unusually sloppy play from Jac-Cen-Del during that time. 

The combination saw Triton close the gap to 10 on two occasions midway through the final period. Gehl and fellow Jac-Cen-Del senior Blake Sutton, however, came to the rescue. The pair hit crucial free throws to keep Triton at bay, and the closest the Trojans would come was 62-53 with a little over a minute to play when Carpenter connected on his fourth 3-pointer of the quarter. 

Carpenter led Triton with 14 points, while 6’4” senior forward Colton Keel (a game-high 13 rebounds) and 6’1” senior guard Joel Meister each added 12. But that trio combined to shoot only 26 percent (12 of 46) from the floor for Triton, which improved to 38-percent shooting (13 of 34) in the second half following its abysmal 19-percent effort in the opening half.

“We went 5 of 27 in the first half – that was probably the biggest ******,” Keel said. “If we had hit half those shots, we probably could have been in it the whole time.”

Jac-Cen-Del, on the other hand, never took its foot off the accelerator after that 3-for-12 effort in the in the opening period. The Eagles blazed away at a 62-percent clip (21 of 34) the rest of the way to finish at 52 percent for the game in winning their 18th straight game.

Gehl joined Arnett (who also had a game-high four blocked shots) for team-high honors with 11 rebounds to go with his 26 second-half points, while Sutton added 19 points for the Eagles, who owned the glass by a 42-29 margin.

“That’s what they’ve been doing all year,” said fourth-year Triton coach Jason Graves. “Coming into the game, I really didn’t want to play zone because I felt they’re too good of an offensive rebounding team.

“We ran into a pretty good team today. They’re long, athletic, tall, and contested our shots. I think that bothered us, especially in the second quarter. I think we got a little frustrated and lost our focus a little offensively.”

The day was made complete for the Jac-Cen-Del faithful when the Eagle’s 6’4” senior center, Gerald Hardesty, won the Mental Attitude Award following the game. 

In the video players on this page are an interview with Gehl and Arnett, highlights of Hardesty accepting his award, and some typical action from Jac-Cen-Del’s big second half.

Following the game, members of the IHSAA Executive Committee named Jac-Cen-Del’s Gerald Hardesty (eight points, six rebounds) as the winner of the Arthur L. Trester Mental Attitude Award. Indiana Farm Bureau Insurance, the IHSAA’s corporate partner, will present a $1,000 scholarship to Jac-Cen-Del High School in the name of Gerald Hardesty.

The award – named in honor of Arthur L. Trester, the IHSAA’s first commissioner who served the Association from 1929-44 – is presented annually to a senior participant in each classification who was nominated by his principal and coach and has demonstrated excellence in mental attitude, scholarship, leadership, and athletic ability.

Gerald ranks second in his class of 58 and is president of the National Honor Society and his senior class. He was selected to the all-county team this year and will play in the 40/8 All-Star Game. Hardesty was voted most improved player for the Eagles in 2008 and was captain of this year’s squad, averaging nine rebounds per game.

In the community, Gerald is a 10-year member of 4-H and also works with the Catholic Youth Organization. He is a finalist for the Coca-Cola National Scholarship and the Lilly Endowment Community Scholarship. He volunteers as a tutor, helped organize a food drive for the National Honor Society, and assisted with the Biddy Ball program at Jac-Cen-Del.

Hardesty also participates in track & field and baseball and has been an all-conference selection four years for the Eagles’ soccer team. The son of David and Jennifer Hardesty of Osgood will attend Purdue University in the fall to study engineering.

This is the first Mental Attitude Award in any sport for Jac-Cen-Del.