4A LaPorte sectional: Michigan City, Mishawaka cruise to opening night wins

LAPORTE — Mishawaka took care of business on defense, but South Bend Adams could not Tuesday night as the Class 4A-Sectional 3 boys basketball tournament opened Tuesday at LaPorte High School.

Coach Bodie Bender’s Cavemen allowed Plymouth senior guard Davis Wray to score 15 points, but no other Pilgrim managed more than four as Mishawaka used a 16-0 run to start the second half on its way to a 61-35 victory over its Northern Lakes Conference foe in the second game.

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In the opener, Adams coach Chad Johnston returned to the bench after a two-game suspension, but his Eagles had no answer for Michigan City’s dynamic duo of Jamie Hodges Jr. and Allen Briggs, who combined for 50 points as the Wolves overcame a halftime deficit to eliminate the Eagles 70-62.

Friday’s first semifinal will match up a pair of 17-6 teams from the Duneland Conference with Michigan City coach Tom Wells returning to take on LaPorte’s Slicers, a team he coached for 15 seasons, in the 6:30 p.m. EST opener. Then the Cavemen (18-6) will play South Bend Riley (13-9) in the nightcap. The semifinal winners return to play for the championship Saturday night at 7:30 EST.

Rasauun Johnson paces Caveman

Junior guard Rasauun Johnson scored a team-high 15 points, 13 in the second half, while senior point guard Arthur Jones scored nine of his 13 points in the first quarter as Mishawaka never trailed. Bender’s squad also got nine points from junior starting forward Cooper Pritchett and nine off the bench from 6-foot-4 junior forward Brady Fisher.

“I thought our kids did a good job locking in and knowing what they had to take away from Plymouth’s offense,” said Bender, whose team beat Plymouth 63-55 back on Jan. 6 during an 11-game win streak. “We only allowed them nine baskets all night, which was big for us.”

Jones scored seven of Mishawaka’s first nine points to help the Cavemen to a 16-8 lead after the first quarter, and his drive to the basket and free throw gave Mishawaka a 22-11 lead on way to their 27-18 halftime advantage.

“Coach wanted us to move the ball more, to stop being stagnant on offense,” Jones said. “Our main focus tonight was to take 24’s (Wray’s) left (tendency) away.”

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Wray scored 11 of his 15 points in the first half and just four after intermission as Mishawaka opened the second half on a 16-0 run which put the game out of reach for coach Joel Grindle’s Pilgrims, who closed out their season at 10-13.

Plymouth scored just five points in the third quarter, all from the free-throw line. Things got a little out of hand with 45 seconds left in the period when Pritchett took a blow to the head from Plymouth senior forward Michael Sheely after trying to box him out during a Plymouth one-and-one. Sheely was banished for the night and Jackson Snyder made the two technical free throws to send Mishawaka into the fourth quarter with a 45-23 lead.

“We’ve really hung our hat a lot in the third quarter of games, where we’ve made a little bit of a run by turning it up defensively,” Bender said. “I thought the kids did it again tonight.”

Friday’s meeting with Riley will be the second time the two teams have met this season. Mishawaka won the first meeting at home, 62-57, on Dec. 9.

Scores:Here's your high school basketball sectional scores from Tuesday night

Mishawaka 61, Plymouth 35

PLYMOUTH (35): Trey Hall 2, Kadyn Ellery 4, Davis Wray 15, Easton Strain 4, Michael Sheely 0, Preston Wolfe 3, Coby Walters 3, Trey Delp 0, Caleb Bowling 0, Jonah Smith 0, Trenton Van Duyne 2, Dan Nguyen 2. TOTALS 9 14-20 35

MISHAWAKA (61): Jackson Snyder 6, Cooper Pritchett 9, Rasauun Johnson 15, Maddux Yohe 0, Arthur Jones 13, Brady Fisher 9, Jack Troyer 0, Ace Troyer 4, Anthony Nelson 3, Carmine Orozco 2, John Macedo 0, Trey Thomas 0. TOTALS 22 13-20 61.

3-point goals: Plymouth 3 (Wray, Walters, Wolfe), Mishawaka 4 (Jones, Snyder, Nelson, Johnson). Turnovers: Plymouth 17, Mishawaka 10. Total fouls (fouled out): Plymouth 16 (Hall), Mishawaka 19 (none). Technicals: Plymouth 2 (Sheely, Wray). Records: Plymouth 10-13, Mishawaka 18-6. Officials: Zachary Barnes, Steve Howell and Eric Ellenberger.

Michigan City's Hodges too much for Eagles to handle

The Eagles got 19 points from senior Brittain Vann, 14 from senior Jeremiah Love and 11 from freshman Jarvis Tolbert and actually had a 30-20 lead with just over a minute to play in the first half. But Hodges scored after the last of Adams’ 10 first-half turnovers to send the Wolves to the locker room trailing by five points, 30-25.

The 5-foot-10 Hodges then scored Michigan City’s first 10 points of the third quarter, hitting a pair of 3-pointers and then adding a basket on a drive down the lane to put Michigan City up 35-34. Briggs added a 3-pointer and the Wolves led 38-34 before Johnston called for a timeout with 2:59 remaining.

“The third quarter killed us,” Johnston said. “Jamie Hodges got hot.”

The Wolves built a 9-point lead before settling for a 45-41 advantage after three quarters, but the Eagles did not quit, pulling even at 45-45 early in the fourth quarter on Vann’s baseline basket. But Hodges, who had another 10 points in the fourth quarter, hit another 3-pointer from the wing to start a 17-3 Wolves run over a three-minute span that finally sealed things.

“I was really pleased with our guys, especially our three seniors (Vann, Love and Tommie Hunt, who scored eight points),” Johnston said. “This was probably our toughest year since I’ve been here. But I saw a lot of progress from the kids.”

Michigan City 70, South Bend Adams 62

SOUTH BEND ADAMS (62): Jeremiah Love 14, Amari Wesson 5, Jarvis Tolbert 11, Tommie Hunt 8, Brittain Vann 19, Teon Wadley 3, Gerron Barr 2, Robert Horton 0. TOTALS 21 12-18 62.

MICHIGAN CITY (70): Jamie Hodges Jr. 32, Allen Briggs 18, Andrew Vicari 3, Marcus Day 0, Jameer Nelson 4, Anthony Murphy 0, Adrian Holley 4, Samuel Wojocinski 0, Briton Franklin 9. TOTALS 25 13-20 70.

3-point goals: South Bend Adams 8 (Vann 3, Hunt 2, Love 1, Tolbert 1, Wadley 1), Michigan City 7 (Hughes 4, Briggs 1, Franklin 1, Vicari 1). Turnovers: South Bend Adams 18, Michigan City 12. Total fouls (fouled out): South Bend Adams 17 (none), Michigan City 14 (none). Records: South Bend Adams 8-14, Michigan City 17-6. Officials: Christian Flores, Michael King and Jaylan Robinson.

This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: IHSAA boys basketball Class 4A LaPorte Sectional opening round games