Sectional rivals University and Indianapolis Tindley faced off Friday night in the state’s capital.
Tindley was passive against University’s zone in the first quarter. Since Tindley wasn’t scoring, they weren’t able to set-up their full court pressure. That played into University's hands. Tindley only had one field goal in the opening quarter – a three-pointer from KJ Coleman.
University fed junior post player Emerson Halbleib early and often. He scored 10 points in the opening period. Halbleib was slowed when he picked up his second foul. He wasn’t able to get into the flow of the offense as much after that.
University led 14-6 after the first quarter. The Trailblazers were controlling the ball and the tempo. Things changed drastically in the second period when University turned the ball over five times. A handful of turnovers in a quarter is usually bad but not terrible. University only had 10 possessions, though.
One of the main beneficiaries of the turnovers was Hunter White. The junior guard had four steals in the first half. Tindley did a great job of turning steals into points. Tindley tallied 15 points off turnovers in the first half.
Eric Hunter wasn’t very aggressive in the first half. He picked his spots especially in the first quarter before turning it up towards the end of the first half. Hunter hit a buzzer-beating three-pointer heading into the break.
Tindley turned an eight-point deficit at the end of the first quarter into a nine-point advantage at halftime. University didn’t go quietly, though. Josh Alford scored seven points early in the third quarter to cut the Tindley lead back to four. KJ Coleman, Hunter White and Eric Hunter answered back for Tindley. The trio outscored University 14-6 to end the third period.
Tindley didn’t allow University to cut the deficit to under seven points in the fourth quarter. Tindley salted the game away for the 53-41 victory. Tindley moved to 8-4 on the season while University dropped to 8-4.
Eric Hunter led all scorers with 21 points. He also had six rebounds and four assists. Hunter White and KJ Coleman finished with 11 points. White had six steals.
Emerson Halbleib tallied 18 points and 10 rebounds in the loss. Zack Hodgin had eight and Josh Alford seven. Alford also had seven rebounds.