Joe Smith scores 26 as Penn rolls in IHSAA 4A Elkhart Sectional opener Tuesday night

ELKHART — The Penn boys basketball team entered postseason Tuesday night as the overwhelming favorite to win a second straight sectional championship and go deep into Hoosier Hysteria's version of March Madness.

The Class 4A No. 2 Kingsmen did nothing to change that notion.

Led by its senior backcourt trio of Markus Burton, Joe Smith and Joey Garwood, Penn blitzed Elkhart 83-37 in the opening game of the Elkhart Sectional at North Side Gym.

4A sectional preview & predictions: Penn a huge favorite at Elkhart; toss-up in LaPorte

Smith canned a game-high 26 points, including tickling the twine on 8-of-12 shots from 3-point land. Mr. Basketball candidate and Notre Dame recruit Burton "only" scored 14 points, less than his state-leading per game average of 30.6 points per game, but stuffed the stat sheet with a triple double with game-high totals of 11 assists and 10 rebounds.

Garwood, Penn's second leading scorer at 12 ppg., canned 14 points of his own for the Kingsmen. The trio combined to hit 12-of-20 from 3-point land in the dominating display.

Penn, which blazed to a 25-3 lead after the opening period, won its 18th straight game. The Kingsmen (24-1) advance to play Goshen (11-11) at 6 p.m. Friday in the first semifinal game. Penn defeated Goshen 80-41 on Jan. 28.

Northridge, which beat Warsaw 55-51 in the second game Tuesday night, will face Concord (11-10) in the second semifinal contest Friday night. The sectional title tilt is set for Saturday at 7 p.m. The Raiders (14-10) beat Concord 47-30 in a regular-season contest.

Senior Rodney Gates paced Elkhart with 18 points. The 6-1 forward, one of eight seniors for the Lions, was 6-of-9 from the field, including 5-of-7 from distance.

The Lions, who shot 12-of-40 and had 18 turnovers, finish at 6-17.

The Kingsmen, whose lone loss was to undefeated and No. 1 Indianapolis Ben Davis 65-53 back on Dec. 30 in the Hall of Fame Classic, shot a blistering 33-of-56 from the field. It was their 11th straight game of shooting over 50 percent from the field. Penn also was 12-of-22 on treys and had 22 assists to just six turnovers.

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

Penn, which beat Elkhart 85-24 in an NIC game Feb. 17, wasted no time. Smith was on fire early as the 6-0 backcourt stud scored his team's first 11 points of the night, including draining three triples. Smith, who was averaging 10.5 ppg., had 14 points at the end of the opening stanza as Penn closed the period on a 19-0 run. Smith had 20 points at halftime after draining his first six tries from distance as Penn led 49-18.

"We have a lot of experience on this team and we always want to come out and play to the best of our ability," said Smith, a four-year varsity player with running mate Burton. "We wanted to come out and stay focused tonight and build momentum.

"I'm going to play my role and take what teams give me. If they don't guard me on the threes, I'm going to make them pay. I'm confident and I'm going to shoot when I'm open. Markus and I play off each other well."

The explosive Burton, a handful at both ends of the hardwood, pushed his career point total to 2,109. He also now has 745 points this season, breaking his own previous program mark of 734 from last season. The game was also the 52nd in a row that Burton has scored in double figures.

Penn entered play Tuesday night leading the state in scoring at 78 points a game and also first in average margin of victory at 32 ppg. The red-hot Kingsmen, who lost in the regional final a year ago, did nothing to hurt those two team stat lines versus the Lions.

"We've talked and talked about how the only thing that can hurt us is a mental letdown," said Penn Hall of Fame coach Al Rhodes, who picked up his 689th prep win in 42 seasons "I'm very proud with how we came out tonight. I credit the leadership of our captains Joe and Markus for that.

"Joe stepped forward tonight and was impressive. He's upped his game lately. He played very well versus Merrillville (in Penn's 94-49 win in the regular season finale last Friday night). Our three guards have been very consistent for us. Most games we get over 60 points from the three of them.

"The last 8-9 games we have shot a high percentage. We've also played very solid team defense all along. We did not plan to trap tonight, but Elkhart came out and was not going to shoot. Our traps were very effective in the first half."

Penn, with a frontline featuring two 6-8 seniors in Josh Gatete and Dylan Derda, forced the Lions into 14 first half turnovers. Gatete was at the top of their halfcourt traps and did a masterful job, while Derda scored 13 points in a strong offensive effort.

The Lions, who had lost their final five games of the regular season versus a brutal schedule that included Penn, Class 3A No. 2 Marian and Class 3A No. 1 NorthWood in their final three games, held the ball for over a minute on their initial possession of the game before turning it over.

"I thought we played hard," said Elkhart coach Kyle Sears, who called three timeouts in the first quarter to try and slow the Penn tide. "We wanted our effort to be there the whole game and it was. It was nice to see Rodney have a final game like he had.

"Hat's off to Penn as an overall team. They have three shooters out there and tonight it was Joe's turn. We were trying to slow things down, but their length creates a lot of havoc. They take you out of what you want to do."

The shorthanded Lions played without top scorer Damarion Anderson. The senior was averaging 14 ppg. Sophomore Mariyon Dye, who was averaging almost nine points and eight rebounds per game, was also still out due to an injury that had him miss the previous eight games and senior Tre'Vonn Brown missed the game due to illness.

Sears declined to comment when asked why Anderson did not play. Anderson scored five points in a 61-30 home loss to NorthWood last Friday night in Elkhart's regular-season finale.

PENN 83, ELKHART 37

PENN (83): Joey Garwood 6 0-1 14, Markus Burton 5 2-2 14, Joe Smith 9 0-0 26, Josh Gatete 1 1-2 3, Dylan Derda 6 1-2 13, Trey Miller 1 0-0 2, Dominic Bonner 2 0-0 4, Ethan Good 0 0-0 0, Mookie Ward 0 0-0 0, Nolan McCullough 1 1-2 3, Maverick Brown 2 0-0 4, Dylan Fey 0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 33 5-9 83.

ELKHART (37): Jacob Windy 2 0-0 4, Anthony Williams 0 0-0 0, Diego Villegas-Noguera 0 0-0 0, Rodney Gates 6 1-2 18, Alexander Scott 0 0-0 0, Braeden Becker 0 2-2 2, Colin Kremper 0 0-0 0, Will Cochrane 3 0-0 9, Alonzo Newbern 1 2-2 4, Javier Galen Fernandez 0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 12 5-6 37.

3-point goals: Penn 12 (Smith 8, Burton 2, Garwood 2), Elkhart 8 (Gates 5, Cochrane 3). Shooting: Penn 33-56, Elkhart 12-40. Rebounds: Penn 31 (Burton 10, Derda 7), Elkhart 18 (Newbern 6). Turnovers: Penn 6, Elkhart 18. Assists: Penn 22 (Burton 11), Elkhart 9 (Windy 3). Team fouls (fouled out): Penn 10, Elkhart 7. Team records: Penn 24-1, Elkhart 6-17 (final).

Northridge takes advantage of free-throw line to upset Warsaw

The free throw line was worth an awful lot to the Raiders.

Northridge outscored the Tigers 20-8 from the charity stripe to claim a 55-51 win to avenge a regular-season loss to their Northern Lakes Conference foe.

Senior Nolan Bales was as cool as the other side of the pillow in the final period as he drained 12-of-12 free throws for the Raiders. He finished with a game-high 20 points. Bales scored his team's final eight points from the line in the final 1:01 to seal the win. That came after Warsaw had cut a 47-38 Raider lead down to 47-44.

3A Jimtown Sectional: Mishawaka Marian, South Bend Saint Joseph advance to semifinals

Northridge, which lost 47-41 to Warsaw back on Jan. 6 during an eight-game losing streak, went 20-of-25 from the line. The Tigers were 8-of-13 from the stripe.

Northridge led 15-11 after the opening period, 22-15 at halftime and 36-29 entering the final frame.

Sophomore Mason Bales had 11 points for the Raiders, who have won seven of their last eight games after their eight-game skid. Senior Alex Ellenson added 10 points for the winners.

Senior standout Jaxson Gould led Warsaw with 18 points. Sophomore Brandt Martin added 11 points for the Tigers, who finish at 14-10.

Warsaw hit just 3-of-17 from 3-point land in the contest.

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