Staff Reports
No. 2 Carmel and No. 3 Lawrence North will meet for the Class 4A boys basketball state title after both survived upset bids in Saturday’s semistate action.
Carmel (25-2) escaped No. 10 Gary West (22-5) 53-50 in overtime at Seymour. Lawrence North (28-2) held off No. 13 Bloomington South (25-5) 54-52 at Lafayette Jeff.
Lawrence North’s win did not come without a little bit of controversy. With the Wildcats leading by three, the Panthers’ Patrick Joyce hit what looked to be a game-tying 3-pointer with 3.5 seconds remaining, but a foul on Lawrence North was ruled to have taken place before the shot. Joyce hit the first of two free throws, but missed the second, and a Bloomington South putback attempt bounced off the rim.
In Class 3A, No. 2 Silver Creek and No. 9 Leo will meet for the title. Silver Creek (24-4) beat No. 6 Guerin Catholic (21-4) 54-46, and Leo (24-4) edged No. 5 South Bend St. Joseph’s (21-5) 61-59.
No. 1 Fort Wayne Blackhawk and No. 5 Parke Heritage will play for the 2A title. Blackhawk (27-3) beat No. 8 Blackford (25-5) 88-61, despite the Bruins’ Luke Brown becoming the fourth player in state history to reach 3,000 career points. Parke Heritage (27-3) slipped past Southridge (17-11) 40-36.
In Class A, No. 1 Barr-Reeve and No. 3 Kouts will meet for the title. Barr-Reeve (28-2) routed Indianapolis Tindley (18-10) 72-25, while Kouts (29-2) topped Southwood (17-11) 86-70.
The state finals are scheduled for April 3 at Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, with games beginning at 10:30 a.m., 1:30 p.m., 5 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. The state finals were moved back a week because of the NCAA Tournament using Bankers Life Fieldhouse next weekend.
