2A in Richmond: Indianapolis Howe 70, Providence 62

Indianapolis Howe and Providence met at Richmond High School Saturday afternoon with a trip to the class 2A state title game on the line. The Tiernan Center was about 70% full a half hour before the game.

It was a slow start for both teams as there was a feeling-out period early in the game. It was Jermaine Couch that got Howe's offense clicking. Couch scored seven points in the opening period. Howe led 15-11 after the first quarter behind his play.

Howe controlled the second quarter behind sophomore Tony Hopkins. He is a versatile forward but he was working entirely inside during the first half. It paid major dividends for Howe as he scored 13 points on seven shot attempts.

At one point in the second quarter, Howe held the ball for about a minute. That was an unexpected turn of events as Howe averaged 73 points per game this season. Most people would have expected Providence to be the team holding the ball in this match-up. Providence was only scoring 52 points per game.

Providence came out in the second half and immediately put Howe into the bonus. It was a strange strategic move especially since Howe has been a solid free throw shooting team all season. It might have gotten into Howe's collective head a bit, though.

Howe went back to the stall with 4:45 left in the third. Warren milked 100 seconds off the clock before Providence trapped and forced a steal that led to a basket. It cut the Howe lead to 36-31 with 2:55 left in the third quarter. The play woke up the Providence crowd and applied game pressure to Howe.

Despite changing the pace, Howe still led by seven points going into the fourth quarter. Alex Judd was crafty around the basket all game. His putback on a reverse layup cut Howe's lead to five points. After two free throws by freshman Kycia Washington, Juston Betz hit a deep three-pointer to pull Providence within four. Howe turned it over then fouled freshman Landon Sprigler sending him to the line with under six minutes to play. Sprigler hit both to make it a two-point game.

Providence had a couple of chances to tie the game, but Howe kept answering. It was a three-point game when freshman Kycia Washington stole an inbound pass and converted the turnover for a bucket plus the foul. That gave Howe some insurance that they would need down the stretch.

Providence kept applying pressure to Howe by making baskets. Each time that Providence cut Howe's lead to one possession, Howe answered with a basket or free throws. Howe converted its free throws down the stretch. Sophomore guard Joe Rush went 12-14 from the charity stripe in the fourth quarter. Howe was 25-35 in the fourth quarter from the line. For the game, the Hornets hit 35-48 compared to Providence's 13-14.

Howe won the game behind the clutch free throws from Warren and Rush. The final score was 70-62. Warren finished with a game-high 18 points in the win. Tony Hopkins added 17 and Joe Rush had 14 for Howe. In the loss, Juston Betz had 16 points. Griffin Libs and Eli Coker joined him in double figures with 12 and 10, respectively.

Howe – Kycia Washington 10 points, 2 rebounds, 2 turnovers, 3 steals; Jermaine Couch 7 points; Brian Warren 18 points (4-12 FG, 0-3 3FG, 10-12 FT), 5 assists, 6 turnovers, 4 steals; Tony Hopkins 17 points (7-8 FG, 3-10 FT), 10 rebounds, 3 turnovers, 1 assist, 3 steals; Tyler Pannell 4 points, 6 rebounds; Joe Rush 14 points (12-15 FT)

Providence – Juston Betz 16 points (5-13 FG, 3-10 3FG, 3-4 FT), 6 rebunds, 3 assists, 4 turnovers; Eli Coker 10 points, 4 assists, 4 turnovers, 1 block; Sam Conrad 3 points, 5 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 turnover; Sean Morris 2 points, 2 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 turnovers, 3 steals; Griffin Libs 12 points (6-12 FG, 0-3 3FG), 6 rebounds, 5 blocks, 1 assist, 2 turnovers; Landon Sprigler 5 points (1-7 FG, 1-3 3FG, 2-2 FT), 1 assist, 1 turnover; Alex Judd 8 points, 2 rebounds, 1 steal; Dawson Mitchell 6 points, 6 rebounds