To tip things off at Gainbridge Fieldhouse, Lafayette Central Catholic made its sixth state final appearance, while North Daviess won its first semi-state this year.

 

LCC pushed the tempo in five of the six postseason games. The Knights did not mind playing 21st Century’s pace last week. North Daviess does not mind playing in the 30s or 40s. The Cougars only scored more than 45 points in two postseason games. After working the ball for 40 seconds on its opening possession, North Daviess played with tempo the rest of the first quarter, led by the shooting of junior Jaylen Mullen. He scored eight of the first ten for North Daviess.

 

LCC found a few easy baskets inside through Clark Obermiller, Clark Barrett, and Albert Schwartz. On a Ben Mazur three-pointer, the Knights took a 16-14 lead early in the second quarter. However, North Daviess kept attacking the basket to draw fouls on LCC. Devin Collins drew foul after foul along with Brendan Stickles. That helped the Cougars take a 21-17 lead late in the period.

 

Central Catholic found itself in first-half foul trouble as Obermiller picked up two fouls and Schwartz had three. Behind that, North Daviess shot ten free throws compared to two for LCC.

 

North Daviess led 23-17 at the half. However, the Knights only managed six second-quarter points.

 

The Cougars opened the second half with four straight points while LCC continued to stall offensively. Obermiller and Barrett scored inside, and Ben Mazur hit a three-pointer, but that was the extent of the Central Catholic scoring in the third quarter.

 

North Daviess committed seven fouls in the third quarter, so the Knights were in the bonus for the entire fourth period. Unfortunately, that did not pay dividends for LCC as the Knights only made 8-14 free throws for the game.

 

Central Catholic had an excellent rebounding performance last week against 21st Century, but North Daviess used its athleticism to win the battle on the boards. Brendan Stickles, Logan Wilson, Lance Wilson, and Devin Collins played a massive role in the rebounding effort.

 

Down two with 1:25 left, Dave Barrett called a timeout. Out of the huddle, Tanner Fields hit a runner in the lane to tie the game.

 

North Daviess worked the clock without a timeout before Mullen took a contested 17-footer. However, it missed the mark, and the game went into overtime.

 

Collins made critical plays throughout the second half and overtime slashing to the hoop going hard to his left hand. However, Collins had his shot blocked at the end of the first overtime. That gave Central Catholic to win the game, but Collins stole the ball back for North Daviess.

 

Collins attempted an off-balanced shot to end the overtime frame, but it missed.

 

Early in the second overtime, Mullen found Collins to give ND a 44-40 lead. LCC did not go away as Fields made a free throw, then Barrett scored in the lane to make it a one-point game once again.

 

After another Collins score, Obermiller scored in the paint. Central Catholic fouled and sent Mullen to the line. His free throw was the first point for Mullen since the second quarter.

 

Logan Wilson converted a free throw to give the Cougars a 48-45 lead with 10.2 seconds left.

 

LCC could not get a clean look and called a timeout with 1.4 seconds.

 

From a sideline inbound, Fields threw a pass over the time to Barrett, and North Daviess fouled Barrett on the three-point attempt.

 

There was controversy as there was no time on the clock for the free throws. Usually, there needs to be at least 0.1 on the clock to call the foul and shoot free throws.

 

Barrett made his first free throw before missing the second to end the game.

 

North Daviess captured its first state title with the 48-46 win.

 

Collins led North Daviess with 15 points, including eight in the second overtime. He averaged 4.8 points coming into the game. Collins also collected six rebounds. Mullen finished with 13 points and three assists, while Logan Wilson tallied seven points and ten rebounds. Stickles came off the bench for seven points and six rebounds. Logan Wilson had six points and five rebounds.

 

Obermiller led Central Catholic with 13 points. Barrett added 13 points and 12 rebounds, while Fields scored eight. Mazur hit two three-pointers for six points.