(Mac Brown after scoring 23 points tonight)

 

Fresh off the Marion County Tournament title, North Central (10-3) welcomed Lawrence North (7-3) on Friday night.

 

Senior guard CJ Jolliffe started the North Central with a three-pointer. Then, the Panthers used their defense to stifle Lawrence North. It took the Wildcats four minutes before Indiana University signee CJ Gunn at the rim. North Central created three steals, and its defense was flying around to take away open looks.

 

Indiana football signee Omar Cooper Jr. helped Lawrence climb back into the game after digging a 9-2 hole. Cooper’s athleticism and competitiveness are off the charts, and he displayed both of those attributes on the defensive end early in the game.

 

Gunn found Danny Royster in transition to cut North Central’s lead to 11-9 late in the first quarter, but Christian Woodson and David Lloyd scored to end the quarter for the Panthers. Woodson, Jolliffe, and Lloyd scored 13 of North Central’s 16 first-quarter points.

 

In the second period, Lloyd connected back-to-back three-pointers to push North Central’s lead to 25-11. That was the largest lead of the game by either team.

 

Lawrence North did not stay down for long. Sophomore guard Kobi Bowles started creating offense, and Gunn and Cooper kept converting. The Wildcat defense also began to cause problems. North Central only managed two points in the final four and half minutes of the first half.  

 

Thanks to its seven three-pointers, North Central led 27-21 at halftime.

 

Gunn started the second half with a jumper from the right elbow. A couple of possessions later, Mac Brown hit a fastbreak three-pointer from the corner. Soon after, Cooper stole the ball from Joey Brown and threw it ahead to Brown for another score. The 7-0 run out of the locker room gave Lawrence North the 28-27 lead.

 

Brown answered after scoring in the paint to take the lead back. The junior scored again by putting back his miss. North Central led 31-28 at that point.

 

The Wildcat duo of Gunn and Brown came right back. Those two were huge for Lawrence North in the second half and scored eight straight points near the end of the third to snatch the lead back. Cooper scored the final bucket of the quarter, and Lawrence North led 38-34 after three.

 

When Gunn scored on a breakaway a minute and 40 seconds into the fourth, Lawrence North’s lead stretched to 44-36. Lawrence North’s defense locked North Central up in the second half.

 

Christian Woodson tried to keep North Central in it. He scored the first seven fourth-quarter points for North Central, mainly at the free-throw line. His and-one cut Lawrence North’s lead to 46-41, but Mac Brown hit a three-pointer shortly after, and Lawrence North sailed from there.

 

The Wildcats won 60-48.

 

My stats actually have Lawrence North winning 60-50, but the scoreboard said 60-48.

 

Mac Brown led all scorers with 23 points. He missed two minutes due to cramps, but he barely slowed down. He was 9-10 from the field. In the win, Gunn added 21 points, seven rebounds, two assists, three steals, and three blocks. Cooper finished with seven points, five rebounds, five steals, four blocks, and four assists.

 

Lloyd led North Central with 16 points, and Woodson tallied ten. Joey Brown added nine points, six rebounds, and three assists. Jolliffe finished with five points.

 

Lawrence North takes a trip to Fort Wayne on Saturday to play Homestead. North Central travels to Muncie Central on Saturday.