In front of a packed house on Indy’s east side, Lawrence North rallied from a double-digit first half deficit to narrowly squeak past Warren Central in a battle of undefeated top-five 4A teams.

Warren Central came out firing from the get go, as they quickly built a 12-point lead behind four three-pointers, two each from Malik Stanley and Cortland Jackson. Junior guard Sean Black was the architect behind the scoring for the Warriors, as he found gaps in Lawrence North’s matchup zone and was able to drive and kick to teammates open behind the arc.

 

The Wildcats would settle in and cut the Warren lead to five early in the second behind Shamar Avance and Tony Perkins. The lead would quickly jump back up to a dozen points as Stanley would hit his third and fourth three-pointers of the half. The Warrior lead would peak at 14 just before halftime, but a Tony Perkins banked in triple just before the buzzer would stem the bleeding a bit for the Wildcats.

 

Whatever message Jack Keefer gave to his team in the locker room, it was the right one as Lawrence North surged back to begin the third quarter. A 10-2 run out of the halftime break again thanks to Avance and Perkins would put the Wildcats within striking distance, and they would tie the game by the end of the quarter as Perkins again would connect from deep at the buzzer. Avance and Perkins would score 15 of Lawrence North’s 17 third quarter points.

 

The Wildcats would take their first lead of the game on a DJ Hughes free throw early in the fourth, but Warren would respond with senior guard Hunter Jackson. He was able to maneuver his way to the basket and give Warren Central a 48-44 lead with over three minutes left. Stanley would score his first points of the second half on a driving bucket through traffic, but on the ensuing possession, Shamar Avance would wiggle free in the corner and hit a triple to tie the game with under a minute left.

 

Warren Central would work the clock down on the final possession, but Stanley would turn the ball over trying to dribble through a pair of Wildcat defenders, and LN would gain possession and call timeout with 4.2 second left. A Shamar Avance running three point attempt would miss at the buzzer, and the two sides would head to overtime.

 

In the extra period, the teams would trade buckets before DJ Hughes would get free on an inbounds play and thunder home a two handed alley oop. Warren would have a chance to take the lead as Stanley would get fouled with 40 seconds left, but he missed both foul shots. It was a common sight for Warren Central, as the Warriors went 6/18 from the free throw line for the game.

 

Warren Central elected to foul Avance, and it looked to be the right strategy, as he missed both of his free throws. DJ Hughes would streak across the lane, however, and grab the rebound. The ball would find Avance again, and his free throws were true the next time. A Malik Stanley free throw would cut the rad to two, but Tony Perkins would ice the game with a pair of foul shots with 4.6 seconds left, keeping Lawrence North’s undefeated season and #1 ranking in tact.

 

 

Lawrence North     7  17  17  10  8  -  59

Warren Central     16  19   6  10  4  -  55

 

Lawrence North: Tony Perkins 24 points (7/10 FGs, 3/3 3Ps, 7/8 FTs), 6 rebs, 3 asts; Shamar Avance 16 points (6/12 FGs, 1/3 3Ps, 3/6 FTs), 4 rebs, 3 asts; CJ Gunn 4 points (2/6 FGs); Omar Cooper 4 points (2/3 FGs); Duane Montgomery 4 points; DJ Hughes 3 points (1/5 FGs, 1/6 FTs), 7 rebs; Dorean Hatton 2 points (1/4 FGs); Kaden Beatty 2 points (1/1 FGs)

 

Warren Central: Malik Stanley 18 points (6/10 FGs, 5/7 3Ps, 1/4 FTs), 2 stls; Courtland Jackson 15 points (6/7 FGs, 2/3 3Ps, 1/3 FTs), 6 rebs; Hunter Jackson 9 points (3/5 FGs, 3/5 FTs); Elijah Ray 7 points (3/5 FGs, 1/1 3Ps), 5 rebs; Sean Black 4 points (1/2 3Ps, 1/2 FTs), 5 asts; Chandler Jackson 2 points (1/1 FGs)