INDIANAPOLIS — The turning point of the game happened in a stretch of eight minutes during the first half of Saturday’s Colossal Coliseum Challenge between Edinburgh and Indian Creek played at Indiana Farmers Coliseum.
The Lancers had the early 5-2 lead, but the Braves came charging back with a 20-2 scoring run led by Tim Abel, who scored 12 points in the stretch and gave the Lancers defense fits throughout the first half. Abel poured in a game-high 27 points in helping the Braves hand Edinburgh a 73-39 loss in the early-season Mid-Hoosier Conference tilt.
The Braves (1-0, 1-0) often attacked the rim in transition in the game, which put the Lancers (0-2, 0-1) in a bit of foul trouble. Gynson Robley was effective inside for the Braves off the bench, pouring in 12 points. Max Pugh, who also came off the bench, attacked the Lancers’ defense on the perimeter, draining two 3-pointers en route to eight points.
“We had guys that were out of position,” said Edinburgh coach Drew Glentzer. “I tip my hat off to (Indian Creek). They are a great basketball team. They can defend and shoot the ball very well. Anytime you have five guys that can score a lot of points on any night, you’re a team that is very hard to guard.”
Indian Creek coach Derek Perry was pleased with how his team executed on offense.
“Our ball movement was pretty crisp, and that got us a lot of good shots,” Perry said. “We have a lot of guys that we can plug in there to hit us some shots.”
For the Lancers, Kyle Pendleton led the way with 14 points. Bobby Simpson finished with seven points and Cameron Cravens made a big contribution off the bench, adding six points.
The Lancers looked like they had a spark coming out to start the second half, scoring four straight points to cut it to 39-23, but the Braves quickly slammed the door shut by going on an 18-4 run. Both teams emptied their benches in the fourth quarter.
With Pendleton and Simpson as the only returning starters and a lot of guys playing their first season of varsity ball, Glentzer expects early growing pains but also hopes for a strong finishing kick once his guys get more experience under their belts.
“There is one tough thing in basketball, and that is having good chemistry,” Glentzer said. “We do not have it just yet, but we have had it on certain days in practice. If these guys keep themselves motivated and keep understanding that, we do have a chance to be good. We just have a lot of work to do before we can get there.”
