IHSAA basketball holiday week recap: Punches thrown, a double OT thriller, family support
A brief timeout from watching high school basketball during holiday week to pass along some thoughts, observations and anecdotes:
Expect some ramifications for fight
I am not sure what the timeline will be due to where we are on the calendar, but I would expect there to be some ramifications for the brief yet intense fight that occurred in the third quarter of the girls basketball game between Tech and Shortridge on Tuesday afternoon.
The Indiana High School Athletic Association was already looking into the situation in the hours after the incident that occurred in the second game of the Bill Smith IPS Classic at Broad Ripple. After a foul on Tech, a seemingly standard foul, players from both teams threw punches on the Shortridge end of the court. The fight quickly ended, thankfully, but the damage was done. The officiating crew called the game with 4:08 left in the third quarter and Tech leading, 37-25.
The IHSAA has taken a strong stance against on-court fighting in recent seasons. Just last year, officials called the Cathedral-Tech City tournament championship with 33 seconds remaining after an intentional foul and talking back and forth between the teams and coaches. In that instance, though, there were no punches thrown and ultimately, no penalty from the IHSAA.
On Tuesday, there were punches. And I would expect there to be a penalty.
Warren Central battles vs. Cathedral
Warren Central dropped a heartbreaker at home Tuesday night to Class 4A third-ranked Cathedral, 76-71, in double overtime. The Warriors (5-3) had a five-point lead with a little more than a minute left in regulation, but could not slam the door on Cathedral (6-1).
Warren Central was hurt by a couple of turnovers, an ill-advised 3-pointer and missed free throws. Also, Jaron Tibbs (27 points, 10 rebounds), Sincere Germany (18 points, four assists) and Lebron Gough (nine late points) made huge plays late in the game and in the two overtime sessions for the Irish.
I came away impressed with Warren Central, though. The on-ball defense of junior guard Cordale Edwards was so good. And sophomore guard Ezekiel Kirby is a fan favorite and a playmaker who can shoot. There is some good senior experience, too, with Brandon Snodgrass, Devaon Holman and Jalen Hooks and more size with sophomore Jevon Guess.
Warren Central plays in the Kokomo tournament Thursday and Friday, opening with Guerin Catholic at 10 a.m. Thursday.
All in the family
I noticed Felicia Gooden was recording Lawrence Central’s 64-42 win over Columbus North on Wednesday morning from a corner of the Noblesville gym.
Felicia, the wife of Lawrence Central coach Al Gooden, said she used to record games when Al was coaching at Harding and New Haven. She was called back into duty when the person who normally runs the video camera had to work.
It is an interesting vantage point this season for Felicia, who teaches at Lawrence North. Not only is her husband Al coaching his 35th season, but her son A.J. is an assistant and her grandson, Albert Gooden III, is a freshman in the main rotation. Pretty cool.
Felicia bought a new tripod before Wednesday’s game. I’m not sure if that comes out of Al’s check or not.
Noblesville, Lawrence Central on track
Noblesville and Lawrence Central played Wednesday night for the Noblesville tournament championship. Both have seniors who are really playing well. Noblesville’s Luke Almodovar had 21 points in a 61-44 win over Crown Point and Lawrence Central’s DaJohn Craig has been lighting it up recently.
Those teams are probably slightly under the radar of the top echelon of teams in the state, but are both deep and experienced and will be tough outs in their respective sectionals in a couple of months.
Xavier Booker misses game
Cathedral senior and Michigan State recruit Xavier Booker missed the game vs. Warren Central as he is coming back from an illness and was not yet cleared to play. Booker was in attendance in a sweatshirt.
“He was ill and our athletic training staff wants him to go though a three-day progression,” Cathedral coach Jason Delaney said. “He was out last week and came back (Monday). He just has to go through a health progression to make sure he’s OK.”
Cathedral’s next game is Tuesday at Roncalli.
More tip-ins and layups …
>> It was fun catching up with Eron Harris, a 2012 Lawrence North grad who is now coaching the junior varsity and teaching at Tech. His younger brother, Elexander Harris, is a freshman at Tech and scored 21 points in the Titans’ win over Washington on Tuesday. I’ll have more coming on those two in Monday’s column. How does time fly so fast? Seems like Eron was playing at Lawrence North just yesterday.
>> I’d love to see Broad Ripple back again as a high school. I don’t know the odds of it happening, but it has a strong alumni base that certainly wants to see it happen. It was fun to be back in there for a game after several years. I think Mike Woodson felt the same way.
>> As someone who experienced the transition from short basketball shorts to long basketball shorts in the moment in the 1990s, it still seems weird to me to see the trend reversed. I’ll be 85 telling my great-grandkids about how we wore long shorts back in our day.
>> Congrats to senior Caleb Dewey for breaking Edinburgh’s career scoring record Tuesday night. Kyle Wuest had the record with 1,411 points. Dewey broke the mark in the third quarter of the Lancers' semifinal win over Austin in the Edinburgh tournament.
>> Are there too many holiday tournaments? I know, no such thing as too much basketball, right? It does seem like there are a lot more than a decade ago. I guess there’s probably no harm in it, but maybe it spreads everyone a little thin and diminishes crowds. Then again, I never expect massive crowds for holiday tournaments anyway.
Call Star reporter Kyle Neddenriep at (317) 444-6649.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Indiana high school basketball: Recapping a busy holiday week
