Homestead traveled to Indianapolis on Friday night to face North Central fresh off a two-point loss to Snider in the SAC Holiday Tournament. North Central was coming off a close win against Avon behind big efforts from Charlie Peterson and Leland Walker.

The game was mared by turnovers early on. The teams combined for 14 errors in the opening eight minutes. Leland Walker was a bright spot as he drove to the lane for North Central. On the other end, Grant Simmons knocked down a couple of three-pointers to get the Homestead offense going.

Things settled down in the second quarter as Mike Elliott caught fire for North Central. The junior wing buried a couple of triples for North Central. The Panthers used a 10-2 run powered by Elliott and Walker to take a six-point lead late in the first half. Zak Krueger answered with a three for Homestead then Luke Goode converted a three-point play to tie the game heading into halftime.

North Central did a good job of pressuring Goode throughout the game. He was only 2-9 from the field in the opening half and finished 5-16 from the field. Goode missed a chunk of playing time to begin the fourth quarter, and North Central’s lead reached double figures during that time.

After being tied at the half, Walker took over the third quarter. The sophomore knocked down a couple of threes and scored 13 points in the period. His play helped North Central outscore Homestead 26-18 in the third.

Homestead, with Goode missing a couple of minutes, was never able to get the North Central lead under 11 in the final seven minutes. Theran Johnson, Walker, and Elliott kept converting around the basket and in transition for North Central.

North Central won 74-62 with Walker scoring 26 points on 9-16 shooting. The Panthers as a team were highly efficient all game. They were 26-45 from the field, 7-14 from three, and 15-19 from the free throw line.

Mike Elliott finished with 15, Jalen Clark had 14, and Theran Johnson added 12.

Goode led Homestead with 19 points and eight rebounds. Grant Simmons lived at the free throw line for his 15 points. Zak Krueger and Alec Grinsfelder had nine and eight points, respectively.