Update on Games from 1/14

Despite the blistering cold temperatures last night, some high school gym across the state were plenty hot, none more so than the arena at Carmel High School. Here's a quick recap on a few of the best games from Thursday night!

Cathedral 67 - Carmel 66 (OT) - The Irish (8-1) rallied from a huge deficit, trailing at the end of the first quarter by a score of 26-11. Scott Hicks' team overcame Carmel's (6-3) hot first half shooting (7-10 threes at half) to progressively chip away at the lead and finally send the game into the extra stanza. Carmel's poor shot selection and missed free throws, including seven straight misses from the line by Morgan Newton, also contributed to Cathedral pulling even. After a Kofi Hughes miss with five seconds left in OT, Cathedral's Errick Peck collected the rebound and tipped it back in to give the Irish the one point win. Newton led Carmel with 23 points and 10 rebounds, while Scott Laskowski added 16 of his own. Freshman big man AJ Hammons had a spurt of excellent play in the second quarter, scoring two baskets and swatting a shot by Purdue-bound wing Kelsey Barlow, all in about a minute and a half, but his impact on the game really ended there. It is clear, however, that he will be a stud over the next three seasons as he develops with the superb coaching at Carmel. Diminutive point guard Jarrett Hamilton led Cathedral with 27 points, almost single-handedly keeping them within striking distance in the first half. Peck had another nice game with 14 points and seven boards to go along with his game winner. Barlow had another nondescript game, finishing with only eight points. Amazingly, Carmel had 43 first half points, and then scored only 23 in the final two quarters, plus overtime.

Bluffton 77 - Leo 52 - Bluffton, the number three ranked team in 2A, overwhelmed Leo, playing without star center Jordan Bowerman (21.8 ppg, 9.7 rpg) who is out with a fractured wrist. The ACAC semifinal showdown didn't quite live up to the billing for that very reason. Bluffton senior point guard Matt Campbell returned after a four-game absence with an ankle injury to spark them with 11 points and four steals. He will be a big factor this year if Bluffton hopes to knock out Luers in their Sectional. Cody Cochran led the Tigers with 18 points and Brock Woodward had 15. Leo was led by Patrick Moreau with 16 points.

Bishop Dwenger 51 - Ft. Wayne South Side 42 - Sophomore standout Tony Springmann continued his strong play, leading Dwenger with 12 points. South Side's freshman sensation Raphael Davis struggled against Dwenger's great defense, notching only three points on the night, well below his average of nearly fifteen a game. Linked below is an article on Davis and two of Ft. Wayne's other top ninth graders.

http://www.journalgazette.net/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090116/SPORTS05/301169938/1092/SPORTS05