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Red-hot Linton Miners beat Parke Heritage's bombers

andy amey, the tribune-star, terre haute, ind.
·5 min read

Mar. 18—People who glance at the score of Linton's victory over Parke Heritage on Saturday afternoon at the Class 2A Southport Semistate might shrug and say something like "just like the last time."

Those people missed a heck of a high school basketball game, with Linton's 87-59 Saturday win a lot different than the Miners' 72-30 triumph over the Wolves in late December.

"We were way better than the first time we played them," coach Rich Schelsky of Parke Heritage said after the game. "We talked all week about having no regrets, going at 'em, us being us . . . but [the Miners are] so stinking good."

Linton got the game's first six points in a little over a minute and never trailed, but the Wolves — especially sophomore B.T. Luce — started finding the range from behind the arc (15 3-pointers for the game) and kept making things interesting.

"They hit an awful lot of shots," said Linton coach Noah Hawkins, taking over again for suspended Joey Hart.

The first of Luce's nine 3-pointers and a layup by Adam Carrington got Parke Heritage within 6-5, and it was 21-15 after a quarter.

Linton got the first six points of the second quarter for its first double-digit lead, but the Wolves kept coming. When they scored the first seven points of the third quarter — another trey by Luce, two free throws by Treigh Schelsky and a basket by Max Dowd — they were within 45-39.

One of the characteristics of the Miners this season has been their ability to stay on task, however, and they responded in the best possible way — with 10 straight points of their own, five each by Logan Webb and player Joey Hart — and the game was never again closer than 13 points.

Treigh Schelsky added 18 points for Parke Heritage, getting four 3-pointers of his own, and he and Dowd combined for 11 assists. But the Wolves generally don't go deeper than six players, and one of those had been sick earlier in the week.

Hart had game-high totals of 29 points and eight rebounds and Webb had 24 points, five rebounds and five assists. Nathan Frady had 10 points and six rebounds for Linton, while Braden Walters added to his usual defensive work with seven points, 13 assists and six steals.

"Braden's a facilitator," Hawkins agreed. "His assist-to-turnover ratio is always a plus. Logan can affect the game in a lot of ways . . . and Joey is extremely focused right now. He's worked for this for a long time."

Parke Heritage's best efforts in coming from behind were thwarted by Linton's shooting. When someone pointed out that his Miners had also hit a lot of shots — 63% of them, in fact — Hawkins answered, "Not bad . . . and I'm glad we did."

"They're so much bigger than we are that our margin for error is thin," Schelsky said, "and they're a great defensive team too . . . we knew we had to [shoot a lot of 3-pointers."

While the Miners moved on to face a team they've been eyeing all season, most of the young Wolves have other seasons to look forward to.

"For our three seniors [Carrington, Sutton Ramsay and Klayton Larson] this stinks — but what a ride," coach Schelsky said. "They're part of history. The rest of the group got a taste. They got to see what the next level is like — but they've got to want more."

One of the seniors expects his younger teammates to do just that.

"Basketball is a great sport, and it will always be a part of me," Carrington said. "That team [of younger Wolves] is going to be back. We lost to a team that's likely to win the state title — and we were in there with them. Those are memories I will never forget."

PARKE HERITAGE (59) — Schelsky 5-12 4-4 18, Harper 0-2 0-0 0, Carrington 1-3 0-0 2, Dowd 2-9 0-0 5, Luce 9-15 0-0 27, Tidwell 2-2 0-0 4, Ramsay 0-1 0-0 0, Larson 0-2 0-0 0, Cosby 1-1 0-0 3, Harpold 0-0 0-0 0, Brown 0-0 0-0 0, McCalister 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 20-47 FG, 4-4 FT, 59 TP.

LINTON (87) — Hart 11-16 5-6 29, Oliver 1-3 2-2 4, Frady 4-4 2-4 10, Webb 9-16 1-3 24, Walters 2-2 3-4 7, Franklin 2-4 0-0 4, Miller 1-1 0-0 3, Walker 0-0 2-2 2, Gennicks 1-2 0-0 3, Fields 0-0 0-0 0, Keen 0-1 0-0 0, McBride 0-0 1-2 1. Totals 31-49 FG, 16-23 FT, 86 TP.

Parke Heritage 15 17 19 8 — 59

Linton 21 24 19 23 — 87

3-point shooting — PH 15-41 (Luce 9-15, Schelsky 4-11, Cosby 1-1, Dowd 1-8, Harper 0-1, Ramsay 0-1, Carrington 0-2, Larson 0-2), Linton 9-23 (Webb 5-10, Hart 2-7, Miller 1-1, Gennicks 1-2, Oliver 0-1, Franklin 0-1, Keen 0-1). Total fouls — PH 17, Linton 10. Fouled out — Carrington, Dowd. Technical foul — Webb. Turnovers — PH 15, Linton 11. Rebounds — PH 15 (Schelsky 5, Luce 4, Harper 2, Tidwell 2, Carrington, Team 1), Linton 37 (Hart 8, Frady 6, Webb 5, Franklin 4, Walker 3, Walters 2, Oliver, McBride, Team 7). Assists — PH 17 (Schelsky 6, Dowd 5, Harper 2, Luce 2, Tidwell, Brown), Linton 23 (Walters 13, Webb 5, Franklin 2, Hart, Frady, Walker). Steals — PH 4 (Tidwell 2, Harper, Luce), Linton 11 (Walters 6, Webb 4, Frady). Blocks — PH 2 (Harper, Dowd), Linton 1 (Frady).

Next — Linton (28-1) moved into the championship game against Brownstown, which defeated Indianapolis Scecina. Parke Heritage finished 19-10.