GREENCASTLE REGIONAL: Attucks wins overtime thriller over Tri-West in finals

Sunday, March 12, 2017 ~ Updated 12:02 AM

Indianapolis Crispus Attucks figured out how to end Tri-West’s winning streak at Greencastle High School’s McAnally Center.

Putting pressure on the guards to both deny the entry pass to the 6-foot-5 Peyton Hendershot and take away the three-point shot, Attucks’ Tigers won their first regional championship in more than 40 years, 74-69 in overtime Saturday night before a large emotional crowd.

“I can’t tell you what it feels like right now,” Attucks’ senior Alex Cooley said after netting 13 points, including a big three in the overtime.

Attucks will play Evansville Bosse at 1 p.m. Saturday in the Seymour Semistate.

Tri-West, the defending regional champion, started the night with a six-game winning streak at McAnally Center, dating back to last year’s regional title game. That streak and the Bruins’ 23-4 season came to an end in overtime.

Tri-West and Attucks played to a 65-65 draw through four quarters. The lead changed hands twice in the overtime, the last when Attucks’ Jamall Harris put the Tigers up 68-67. When the Bruins turned the ball over, the Tigers’ Cooley stepped into a big 3-pointer to give Attucks a 71-67 lead with 2:12 to play. Tigers hit 3 of 6 free throws in the final 39 seconds to lock up the win.

“I went through every emotion tonight, happy, sad, everything. I’m just glad we came out with the win,” Cooley said.

Attucks won with a balanced offense of five players in double figures, led by 6-foot-4 Nike Sibande with 15 points and nine rebounds. Jamall Harris netted 14 points, Cooley and Teyon Scanlan each had 13 and Zac Owens came off the bench to score 11.

Tri-West’s Hendershot, who will play football for IU next fall, led all players with a double-double of 26 points and 13 rebounds and teammate Tyler Watson had 22 points and nine rebounds.

“(Hendershot) is a helluva player. It was real tough, but we are glued together as a team. We tried to keep it out of the post because that is where (Hendershot is) most effective,” Attucks’ Nike Sibande said.

Attucks built a 19-11 lead in the opening quarter before Tri-West figured out how to attack. Tri-West started running its halfcourt offense through Hendershot in the post. He either scored, found cutters going to the basket or an open perimeter shooter. The Bruins closed the gap to four points, 21-17, by the end of the first period.

Led by Hendershot and Watson, the Bruins opened the second period with a 7-2 run, taking a 24-23 and eventually 32-25. Attucks’ Cooley put back his own miss at the buzzer, cutting the Tri-West lead to 32-29 at halftime.

The Bruins built a 42-33 lead early in the third period with Hendershot and 6-3 Jake Hill doing the work inside. But Attucks closed the quarter with a 15-7 run and Tri-West led 49-48 going into the fourth period.

With 4:30 left in the fourth quarter, Attucks took a 58-57 lead. Tri-West’s Hill powered up a basket to tie the score 63-63 with 2:15 left in regulation play.

Both teams had opportunities to win in regulation play, but it took an overtime for the final decision.

• Tri-West 87, Danville 63 — The Bruins proved it’s really not that difficult to beat a team three times in one season — when you shoot over 65 percent from the floor.

Tri-West beat Danville 52-40 and 68-55 during the regular season then ended the Warriors’ 19-9 year in the second semifinal game of the Class 3A Regional on Saturday.

The Bruins were right at home, hitting 7 of 11 shots in the first quarter. Tri-West’s Matt Chinn hit the first of six 3-point baskets to put the Bruins ahead for good three minutes into the contest.

Chinn, a 6-2 senior, hit 6-of-7 3-point attempts en route to a game-high 22 points and backcourt mate Tyler Watson netted 18. Logan Blake had a double-double of 16 points and 11 rebounds and Hendershot had 12 points.

Danville was led by 6-6 junior Alec Burton with 14 points, Zach Callahan had 11 and sophomore Connor Jones had 10.

Tri-West led 37-21 at halftime, hitting 13-22 from the floor in the first 16 minutes. Danville never got closer than 11 points in the second half. The Bruins led 63-42 after three quarters. Tri-West hit 18 of 25 shots from the floor in the second half.

Championship game

TRI-WEST (69) — Blake 1-4 0-0 2, Hendershot 10-16 6-8 26, Hill 3-4 2-2 8, Watson 6-16 8-8 22, Chinn 2-4 0-1 5, Lucas 1-3 3-3 6, Grubbs 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 23-47 FG, 19-22 FT, 69 TP.

CRISPUS ATTUCKS (74) — Williams 1-2 0-0 2, Harris 5-14 2-3 14, Sibande 6-6 2-4 15, Scanlon 5-11 1-2 13, Cooley 4-11 3-4 13, Briscoe 0-1 0-0 0, Owens 3-9 5-7 11, Poole 3-5 0-0 6 Beatty 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 27-59 FG, 13-20 FT, 74 TP.

Attucks 21 6 21 17 9 — 74

Tri-West 17 15 17 16 4 — 69

3Pt. FG: CA 7-24 (Harris 2-4, Scanlon 2-5, Cooley 2-7, Sibande 1-3, Briscoe 0-1, Owens 0-2, Poole 0-2), TW 4-15 (Watson 2-7, Lucas 1-2, Chinn 1-3, Blake 0-3). Total fouls: CA 16, TW 17. Fouled out: Hill. Technical fouls: None. Turnovers: CA 7, TW 16. Rebounds: CA 26 (Sibande 9), TW 39 (Hendershot 13).

Semifinal round

TRI-WEST (87) — Blake 7-11 0-0 16, Hendershot 5-8 2-3 12, Hill 1-1 2-3 4, Watson 6-10 5-8 18, Chinn 7-9 2-2 22, Lucas 3-5 0-0 6, Grubbs 0-0 2-2 2 Keifer 0-0 2-2 2, S. Burton 1-1 0-0 2, Goodin 1-2 0-0 2, Wiggins 0-0 1-2 1. Totals 31-47 FG, 16-28 FT, 87 TP.

DANVILLE (63) — Callahan 3-9 4-4 11, Jones 3-10 3-4 10, Burton 5-10 4-9 14, Cowart 4-10 0-2 9, Guipe 0-2 0-0 0, Comer 3-5 1-2 9, Hiland 1-2 0-0 2, Ware 2-4 2-2 8, Wynn 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 21-53 FG, 14-23 FT, 63 TP.

Tri-West 18 19 26 34 — 87

Danville 10 11 21 21 — 63

3Pt. FG: TW 9-13 (Chinn 6-7, Blake 2-3, Watson 1-2, Goodin 0-1), Dv 7-17 (Ware 2-3, Comer 2-4 Cowart 1-1, Callahan 1-2, Jones 1-5, Guipe 0-1, Wynn 0-1). Total fouls: TW 19, Dv 17. Fouled out: None. Technical fouls: None. Turnovers: TW 10, Dv 7. Rebounds: TW 37 (Blake 11), Dv 23 (Cowart 6).

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