North Central (9-0) against Ben Davis (7-4) looked like it was going to be a strong match-up on Friday evening. Ben Davis has wins over Pike, Terre Haute North and Terre Haute South. North Central is the top team in the state right now. The only team to test North Central so far was Carmel.

North Central set the tone for the game in the opening minutes. It involved 2017 small forward Kris Wilkes slashing to the basket and the defense applying full court pressure. The defense forced six turnovers in the opening quarter. The Ben Davis guards were harassed all night by Mateo Rivea, Tyrie Johnson, Delvon Hunt and Donald Johnson. The combination of Wilkes scoring/dunking and the North Central defense pushed the Panthers to a 23-12 lead after one quarter.

It was the same recipe for North Central in the second quarter. Tyrie Johnson stepped up his offensive production in the period. He scored seven of his 11 points in the second quarter. Ben Davis started to break the pressure of North Central and get to the basket. The only problem was Emmanuel Little was there to protect the rim. He was swatting shots left and right in the first half. 

A bright spot in the first half for Ben Davis was the play of LeShaun Minor.  He scored eight points and grabbed five rebounds in the first half of action.

Ben Davis started to turn the tide in the second half. Junior guard Josh Brewer hit a couple of three pointers early in the three quarter and Datrion Harper added a couple of buckets. Ben Davis cut the 19 point halftime deficit all the way down to eight points midway through the third quarter. Unfortunately for Ben Davis, the game would never get closer than that.

After Ben Davis cut into the lead, North Central turned up the pressure once again and had great results. North Central ended the third period on a 17-5 run to take a 20 point lead into the fourth.

Kris Wilkes was able to get a breakaway dunk early in the fourth quarter. It was significant for the fact that it pushed him over the 1000 career point mark. He finished with 25 points in the blow out victory.

Mateo Rivera had an excellent game for North Central. He impacted many areas of the game with his defense, rebounding, setting teammates up and scoring. He finished with 11 points, five steals, five assists and five rebounds.

North Central cruised to the 80-58 victory.  Antonio Singleton had 15 points in the win along with Emmanuel Little's eight. Josh Brewer's 11 points led Ben Davis.