East Chicago Central began the year 3-0 highlighted by a victory over Merrillville. The last six games, played in a span of 16 days, were rough on the Cardinals. ECC dropped five of them. Evansville Bosse was 6-2 entering Wednesday's game with close losses to Logansport and New Albany. 

Junior Kyrique Presley was sizzling hot to start for Bosse. He knocked down four triples in the first quarter including a 26-footer late in the period. His shooting propelled Bosse to an early lead.

Jermaine Couisnard took that up a level in the second quarter. The senior guard had everything working. He started the game working in the mid-range off of post-ups the moved to deeper shots as the first half developed. He scored 23 points in the first half. It was really impressive how he scored in a variety of ways.

On the back of Couisnard, East Chicago Central held a slim 37-36 halftime lead. Bosse was up by as many as 11 points in the first quarter. The Cardinals stormed back behind Couisnard’s scoring.

East Chicago controlled the third quarter with good defense especially when the ball was in the paint. EC was able to get a number of steals for runouts in the period. They kept Lairy and Chinn in check and built an 11-point lead heading to the fourth.

The Cardinals tried to put the game on ice once they increased the lead to 13 points with six minutes to play. Jaylin Chinn started to be more aggressive for Bosse. He scored six points early in the period to help Bosse get the offense back on track.

Later in the quarter, Mekhi Lairy spurred a 10-0 by Bosse. The junior scored seven of the points during that run. Lairy was tremendous in the fourth quarter for Bosse. He scored 17 of his 24 points in the final period.

The story overall was Couisnard. There was no scoring drought for Couisnard. The unsigned senior scored 45 points on 16-23 shooting from the field. His efficiency was outstanding.

The only downside to Couisnard’s game was seven turnovers. A couple did give Bosse extra opportunities late in the game.

Lairy had some great chance to tie the game late. First, he was able to get to the basket with about 13 seconds left but the shot didn’t go in. Then after a free throw by Couisnard, Lairy brought the ball up and hit a deep two-pointer. A three would have tied the game with 6.6 seconds left.

Bosse had a great look by Jaidon Hunter on the final possession down three points. The shot rimmed off as the buzzer sounded.

East Chicago Central won 82-79. Jermaine Couisnard ended with 45 points. Senior post player Jabril Harris had a stellar game as well. He finished with 17 points and 10 rebounds. Mekhi Lairy led Bosse with 24 points and seven assists plus five rebounds. Jaylin Chinn added 19 on seven shots.

East Chicago Central will face North Central in the championship game on Thursday.