Update on Games: 1/23: Sweet Sixteen

Last night's games included some amazing upsets, last second victories, and unexpected outcomes that made for a fantastic Friday! Let's take a look at the games that were part of the Sweet Sixteen for Friday, January 23rd.

1. Lawrence North 66 - North Central 47 - They say revenge is a dish best served cold, and the Wildcats (13-2) had ice in their veins tonight, getting redemption from their earlier loss at the hands of the Panthers (14-1) during the Marion County Tournament. Defense was the story in this one, as LN used their size and athleticism to bother North Central's guards and control the glass. Stephan Van Treese led the Wildcats with 16 points, 12 rebounds, and three blocks, while fellow Louisville commits Justin Martin and Ryan Taylor added 15 and 10 points, respectively. Kentucky commit Dominique Ferguson (pictured) added 13 points as well. North Central was led by junior guard Terone Johnson with 12 points and freshman D'Vauntes Smith-Rivera with 11 points. The Panthers struggled from the field all night, shooting just 31 percent in the game.

2. Princeton 57 - Washington 50 - In this matchup of one verses two in 3A, the visiting team came away with the win. Princeton (14-0) remained unbeaten on the year while sending the Hatchets (10-2) away with a loss at the famed Hatchet House. Sophomores Rontray Chavis and Jalen Packer led Princeton with 21 and 12 points, respectively. Twin brother Dontray had the play of the night, however, grabbing a defensive rebound and launching a full court heave that found the net as the first quarter horn sounded. Sophomore forward Cody Zeller led Washington with 19 points and 12 rebounds. Also, as an added side note, Indiana head coach Tom Crean was in the Hachet House, likely there to size up Zeller, the Chavis twins, and Packer, who some say is the best true point guard in the sophomore class.

3. Batesville 56 - Lawrenceburg 53 - The Bulldogs (9-2) avenged an earlier season home loss to the Tigers (7-2), and continue to roll along in 3A. Batesville is number seven in 3A, and coming in, Lawrenceburg was number five in 2A. Still trying to track down stats for this one.

4. Carmel 67 - Terre Haute South 65 - The Greyhounds (8-4) pulled of the stunning upset at home over the 4A number four ranked South squad (11-2), who are one of two teams to beat Lawrence North this season. Senior Morgan Newton continued his strong play, notching another double-double, with 26 points and 14 rebounds. John Michael Polley added 18 points and Scott Laskowski chipped in with 15 of his own. South was led by stellar point guard and Indiana State signee Jake Odum, who had 38 points and ten rebounds.

5. Marion 81 - Anderson 65 - The Giants (10-1) started slow, leading only 37-32 at half, but pulled away late to defeat the visiting Indians (8-2). Senior wing Scott Wood, and NC State recruit, had a banner night, scoring 33 points and moving over 1,000 career points on the night. Marion senior JaRob McCallum added 24 points. Marion also had Mikel Brigham contirbute ten points and 19 rebounds.

6. Zionsville 74 - Fishers 72 - This game was, unfortunately, decided on technical foul free throws. There were a pair of T's called in the waning moments of this game, one on each team at different times, and the Eagles (11-1) were able to capitalize and beat the home Tigers (8-6). Zionsville was led by sophomore Demetrius Lawson with 27 points, while junior forward Chris Welker added 19 of his own. Fishers was led by Noah Stewart with 21 points, while Matt Lenz put up 16 points.

7. Warren Central 62 - Terre Haute North 50 - The Warriors (8-7) used their superior size, depth, and athleticism to wear down the visiting Patriots (7-6). It's always good when an Indy area team beats a team with the name Patriots, right? Warren Central got 13 points apiece from 6'9 senior Ed Hazelett and Jordan Kennedy, while North was paced by 6'9 super-sophomore Justin Gant, who had 19 points, including a three pointer. Gant is one of many who will be on campus tomorrow to see IU take on Minnesota at Assembly Hall.

8. Tipton 44 - Benton Central 25 - Tipton (11-1), the top team in 2A, played stellar D in this one, utterly overwhelming the Bears (5-4). The Blue Devils were once again led by 6'9 senior and IU recruit Derek Elston, who overcame a slow start to finish with 20 points and eight rebounds. Point guard Greg Dickey added ten points for Tipton.

9. Muncie Central 63 - Muncie South 57 - Six-one senior Ausitn Fox had a night to remember at the Muncie Fieldhouse as his Bearcats (7-5) held on to beat cross town rival South (6-5). Fox finished with 20 points and 16 boards. Ball State recruit Jauwan Scaife added 12 points for Central, including nine of them in the fourth. Sophomore Jeremiah Davis had the game-clinching putback lay-in to seal the game for the Bearcats. The game was won on the boards, as Central had a 40-25 rebounding advantage.

10. Winchester 49 - Jay County 44 - The Golden Falcons (9-3) finished the game on a 26-13 run to hand Jay County (8-1) their first loss of the season. The home crowd sparked Winchester, who was led by senior Tyler Koch, a Wright State signee, with 18 points. Andrew Haney added 13 for the Falcons. Billy Wellman paced the Patriots with 11 points.

11. Hamilton Southeastern 58 - Avon 51 - Another big comeback was needed in this matchup, as the Royals (7-6) outscored the Orioles (7-6) 23-10 in the fourth quarter. HSE who had lost six of eight, were led by Charlie Duffy with 15 points and Zach Starr with 12 points. Avon let this one slip away at home. They were paced by sophomore JuJuan Sarver with 16 points, while 6'7 freshman wing Austin Burgett added 13 of his own. Sophomore Kendall Griffin (pictured) chipped in with eight.

12. Brebeuf Jesuit 67 - Guerin Catholic 62 (2OT) - A good, old-fashioned barn burner went down on the Braves (7-5) home floor, and four quarter wasn't enough to decide things. Brebeuf got 19 points from Trent Hoffman, including the clinching free throws. Forward Brad Altum added 14 points. Guerin (9-5) was led once again by high-scoring guard Ryan Nowicki, who had 24 points, while Michael McMahon added twelve.

13. Ft. Wayne North Side 90 - Ft. Wayne South Side 72 - There were a pair of equally high scorers in this one. North Side (9-2) got 31 points from 5'10 senior point guard Justin Jordan, and the Archers (2-10) also got 31 from freshman phenom Raphael Davis.

14. Gary Wallace 75 - Gary West 65 - Bragging right were fought for and earned by Lew Wallace (11-4). They got a huge lift from their bench, who accounted for 45 of their 75 total points. Brandon Dawson led Wallace with 19 points, LaTroy Taylor added 15, Donte Brown had 14, and Jaree Crawford chipped in eleven. West Side was led by junior Xavier Jones with 19 points, and DeShawn Clay also had 19 points to go along with 12 rebounds.

Indianapolis City Tournament Games

P-Hoops was in attendance again at Tech High School for the City games Friday night. Here are the results.

15. Heritage Christian 57 - Northwest 55 (OT) - Talk about a nail-biter! This was a back and forth affair which looked as though it could have gone either way up until the very end. With Heritage (10-1) leading by three points with under five seconds to go, six-five senior wing Tommy Eggleston, who had yet another fantastic game, missed the front end of a one-and-one and then proceeded to foul junior Ronald Ross as he attempted a game tying three. Ross was only a 60% free throw shooter coming in, but he calmly swished all three, sending the game into overtime. The Space Pioneers (8-6) scored the first four points in overtime, but Eggleston and senior forward Morgan Cook would not let the Eagles lose. Eggleston hit a game tying three with less than a minute, his fifth of the game. Then, with under twenty seconds, Cook mistakenly fouled, sending Northwest to the line for a one-and-one. The free throw clanked off the rim, and after a time out, the Eagles put the ball in Eggleston's hands for the potential last shot. The lanky senior wing used a ball screen, split two helpless defenders and finished a running lay in over two others to give Heritage the lead. Northwest managed a desperation three from near half court, but it fell helplessly to the ground and the Eagles, the number four team in 2A, were victorious. Eggleston led Heritage with 21 points, while Cook added 19 of his own, and 6'7 junior center Jake Browne had ten. Ross led Northwest with 16 points. Heritage moves on to tonight's semifinals to face....

16. Cathedral 63 - Indianapolis Washington 48 - The Irish (10-1), the number seven team in 4A, were seemingly in control of this on throughout, although the Continentals (4-9) did everything in their power to keep it close. The lead was only five at half, but in the end, the size, skill, and experience of Cathedral won out. The Irish had a nice scoring spread, with four players in double digits. Sharpshooting guard Patrick Paligraf, Purdue recruit Kelsey Barlow, and lightning-quick point guard Jarrett Hamilton all had 13 points, while 6'6 monster forward Errick Peck had eleven, including three thunderous first half dunks. One of them was a sick alley-oop from Paligraf over a defenders' hands. Brandon Demmings led Washington with 20 points and had a killer dunk of his own, splitting two defenders and then rising up to ram one home over two big men in the paint. It caught the crowd so off guard that almost no one reacted until after it had been over for a few seconds. The winner of tonight's game between Heritage and Cathedral will face the winner of Arlington and Broad Ripple, who features freshman Ron Patterson (pictured) Monday night at Tech for the City Championship crown.

What a loaded Friday night of basketball! Another big story was Luers junior Deshaun Thomas scoring 33 points (26 in the second half) to move ahead of his coach James Blackmon for the all-time scoring leaders in state history. Blackmon scored 1,897 points during his career at Marion, and Thomas now has 1,908 as a junior. He needs 52 more points to become a top-50 scorer in Indiana history. Check back tomorrow to see how the City games shape up, and look for results of other top games across the state!