CLASS 4A: Lawrence North 63, Muncie Central 52
Wildcats stay focused, repeat as champions
<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=210 align=right border=0><TBODY><TR><TD width=10>
</TD><TD><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=1 border=0><TBODY><TR><TD>
</TD></TR><TR><TD>Lawrence North coach Jack Keefer gets a hug from Brandon McPherson in the closing seconds of the game with the state title secure. -- Mike Fender / The Star
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=1 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD bgColor=#cccccc><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=10 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD bgColor=#eeeeee>Related content
•
Class 4A: Wildcats stay focused, repeat as champions
•
Wildcats looking forward to '06
•
Class 3A: Zeller answers from halfcourt
•
Class 2A: Rangers love feeling blue
•
Class A: Bulldogs' defense methodical in title game
•
Notebook: Film crew on hand for Oden, Hoosier hysteria
•
Preps Plus news, school pages and more
•
Ask the expert: Pat McKee
•
Boys scoreboard
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=1 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD bgColor=#cccccc><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=10 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD bgColor=#eeeeee>Multimedia
Class 1A photo gallery
Class 2A photo gallery
Class 3A photo gallery
Class 4A photo gallery
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
By Pat McKee
<SCRIPT language=JavaScript><!--document.write('
'+'pat.mckee'+'@'+'indystar.com'+'');//--></SCRIPT>
[email protected]
March 27, 2005
It was a midweek practice, and coach Jack Keefer had a pointed message for his Lawrence North High School boys basketball team: Winning starts now and it's all about mind-set, he told them forcefully.
Led by 29 points and nine rebounds from superstar Greg Oden, the third-ranked Wildcats showed Saturday night they understood clearly with a 63-52 victory over No. 2 Muncie Central for the Class 4A championship before a crowd of 18,345 at Conseco Fieldhouse.
It was the second consecutive title and third overall for Lawrence North, which finished 24-2 and turned what was touted as a potential 'Cat fight into a one-sided affair with efficient offense and suffocating defense.
Senior Brandon McPherson contributed 11 points for the Wildcats, who also got seven from junior Mike Conley and six each from seniors Donald Cloutier and Tyler Morris.
Junior reserve Terry Jenkins topped the Bearcats (27-2) with 12 points, while senior Ty Riddle had 11.
"It was all about focus, and we had focus all week," said Conley, who played tough defense on Riddle and limited the Muncie shooter to five points through three quarters. "We never had a soft practice because we had one goal -- win state. Because of that, we took it at them from the opening tip."
Besides intensity, another big part of the plan was feeding Oden, who finished by hitting 14-of-19 shots that included five powerful dunks. The 7-foot junior helped stake his team to a 25-17 lead with nine first-half points, then added 10 points in each of the third and fourth quarters en route to a 4A title-game scoring record. That topped the 28 points by Marion's Zach Randolph in a 2000 win over Bloomington North.
"The plan was to move the ball around, and, if I was one-on-one, pass me the ball," said Oden, who also added six blocks. "But we came together as a team, and it's a great feeling."
"Nobody could really guard Greg, so it was silly not to get him the ball," said Cloutier, who was part of a high-low post attack. "We wanted to reverse the ball and then go to Greg. Once Greg touched the ball, then it was fair game for (the rest of) our shooters."
Muncie Central coach Matt Fine described Oden as terrific and praised Lawrence North for its performance. The Wildcats hit 61.5 percent (24-of-39) while limiting the Bearcats to 36.5 percent (19-of-52).
"With their guys we had to play almost a perfect game, and we didn't do that," said Fine, whose team was making the school's 23rd State Finals appearance and seeking its ninth state championship. "And with Greg, what can you do against him? We didn't rotate as quickly as we needed to. But give them credit. They executed very well."
With Oden dominating inside, the Wildcats pushed their advantage to 45-31 late in the third quarter and led by 10 entering the final period. From there, they twice pushed the lead to as many as 17 to end any doubt.
"To win the second time might be more satisfying because it's so darned hard," said Keefer, whose team won its first championship in 1989. "You have such a target on your back, but the kids met the challenge."
For the season, and for the week.
Call Star reporter Pat McKee at (317) 444-6182.
<TABLE rules=all width="100%" border=0 frame=box><TBODY><TR><TD>MUNCIE C.</TD><TD>Min</TD><TD>FG-A</TD><TD>FT-A</TD><TD>OR-T</TD><TD>A</TD><TD>F</TD><TD>T</TD><TD>Pts</TD></TR><TR><TD>Brown</TD><TD>23</TD><TD>1-5</TD><TD>0-0</TD><TD>0-2</TD><TD>3</TD><TD>4</TD><TD>0</TD><TD>2</TD></TR><TR><TD>Armstrong</TD><TD>20</TD><TD>4-8</TD><TD>2-4</TD><TD>1-2</TD><TD>0</TD><TD>5</TD><TD>1</TD><TD>10</TD></TR><TR><TD>Miller</TD><TD>31</TD><TD>3-16</TD><TD>3-5</TD><TD>2-3</TD><TD>0</TD><TD>2</TD><TD>0</TD><TD>10</TD></TR><TR><TD>Daniel</TD><TD>21</TD><TD>1-3</TD><TD>0-0</TD><TD>1-4</TD><TD>3</TD><TD>4</TD><TD>1</TD><TD>2</TD></TR><TR><TD>Riddle</TD><TD>31</TD><TD>4-9</TD><TD>1-2</TD><TD>0-1</TD><TD>1</TD><TD>2</TD><TD>1</TD><TD>11</TD></TR><TR><TD>Rush</TD><TD>1</TD><TD>1-1</TD><TD>0-0</TD><TD>1-1</TD><TD>0</TD><TD>0</TD><TD>0</TD><TD>2</TD></TR><TR><TD>Botts</TD><TD>8</TD><TD>0-0</TD><TD>1-2</TD><TD>1-1</TD><TD>1</TD><TD>0</TD><TD>1</TD><TD>1</TD></TR><TR><TD>Jenkins</TD><TD>18</TD><TD>5-7</TD><TD>1-2</TD><TD>2-4</TD><TD>0</TD><TD>0</TD><TD>0</TD><TD>12</TD></TR><TR><TD>Freeman</TD><TD>1</TD><TD>0-1</TD><TD>0-0</TD><TD>0-0</TD><TD>0</TD><TD>0</TD><TD>0</TD><TD>0</TD></TR><TR><TD>Mills</TD><TD>5</TD><TD>0-2</TD><TD>2-2</TD><TD>0-1</TD><TD>0</TD><TD>0</TD><TD>0</TD><TD>2</TD></TR><TR><TD>Coatie</TD><TD>1</TD><TD>0-0</TD><TD>0-0</TD><TD>0-0</TD><TD>0</TD><TD>0</TD><TD>0</TD><TD>0</TD></TR><TR><TD>TEAM</TD><TD></TD><TD></TD><TD></TD><TD>4-5</TD><TD></TD><TD></TD><TD></TD><TD></TD></TR><TR><TD>Totals</TD><TD></TD><TD>19-52</TD><TD>10-17</TD><TD>12-24</TD><TD>8</TD><TD>17</TD><TD>4</TD><TD>52</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
Three-point shooting: 4-18 (Riddle 2-5, Jenkins 1-2, Miller 1-9, Daniel 0-1, Freeman 0-1).
Steals: 7 (Miller 3, Brown, Armstrong, Riddle, Jenkins).
Blocked shots: None.
Technical fouls: None.
<TABLE rules=all width="100%" border=0 frame=box><TBODY><TR><TD>LAWRENCE N.</TD><TD>Min</TD><TD>FG-A</TD><TD>FT-A</TD><TD>OR-T</TD><TD>A</TD><TD>F</TD><TD>T</TD><TD>Pts</TD></TR><TR><TD>Morris</TD><TD>27</TD><TD>2-4</TD><TD>0-3</TD><TD>2-9</TD><TD>6</TD><TD>2</TD><TD>0</TD><TD>6</TD></TR><TR><TD>Cloutier</TD><TD>22</TD><TD>1-1</TD><TD>4-4</TD><TD>1-7</TD><TD>0</TD><TD>3</TD><TD>0</TD><TD>6</TD></TR><TR><TD>Oden</TD><TD>30</TD><TD>14-19</TD><TD>1-3</TD><TD>3-9</TD><TD>1</TD><TD>2</TD><TD>3</TD><TD>29</TD></TR><TR><TD>McPherson</TD><TD>28</TD><TD>3-6</TD><TD>5-5</TD><TD>0-2</TD><TD>3</TD><TD>3</TD><TD>4</TD><TD>11</TD></TR><TR><TD>Conley</TD><TD>28</TD><TD>2-6</TD><TD>2-3</TD><TD>0-0</TD><TD>4</TD><TD>4</TD><TD>3</TD><TD>7</TD></TR><TR><TD>McDonald</TD><TD>6</TD><TD>0-0</TD><TD>0-0</TD><TD>0-0</TD><TD>1</TD><TD>0</TD><TD>1</TD><TD>0</TD></TR><TR><TD>Owens</TD><TD>1</TD><TD>0-0</TD><TD>0-0</TD><TD>0-0</TD><TD>0</TD><TD>0</TD><TD>0</TD><TD>0</TD></TR><TR><TD>Means</TD><TD>1</TD><TD>0-0</TD><TD>0-0</TD><TD>0-0</TD><TD>0</TD><TD>0</TD><TD>0</TD><TD>0</TD></TR><TR><TD>Coffer</TD><TD>5</TD><TD>0-0</TD><TD>0-0</TD><TD>0-0</TD><TD>0</TD><TD>0</TD><TD>1</TD><TD>0</TD></TR><TR><TD>Wallace</TD><TD>10</TD><TD>1-1</TD><TD>0-0</TD><TD>0-3</TD><TD>0</TD><TD>2</TD><TD>2</TD><TD>2</TD></TR><TR><TD>Bobo</TD><TD>1</TD><TD>0-1</TD><TD>0-0</TD><TD>0-0</TD><TD>0</TD><TD>1</TD><TD>0</TD><TD>0</TD></TR><TR><TD>Stewart</TD><TD>1</TD><TD>1-1</TD><TD>0-0</TD><TD>0-0</TD><TD>0</TD><TD>0</TD><TD>0</TD><TD>2</TD></TR><TR><TD>TEAM</TD><TD></TD><TD></TD><TD></TD><TD>2-4</TD><TD></TD><TD></TD><TD></TD><TD></TD></TR><TR><TD>Totals</TD><TD></TD><TD>24-39</TD><TD>12-18</TD><TD>8-34</TD><TD>15</TD><TD>17</TD><TD>14</TD><TD>63</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
Three-point shooting: 3-6 (Morris 2-2, Conley 1-2, Oden 0-1, McPherson 0-1).
Steals: 1 (McDonald).
Blocked shots: 8 (Oden 6, Conley 2).
Technical fouls: None
<TABLE rules=all width="100%" border=0 frame=box><TBODY><TR><TD>Muncie Central</TD><TD>9</TD><TD>8</TD><TD>18</TD><TD>17</TD><TD>--</TD><TD>52</TD></TR><TR><TD>Lawrence North</TD><TD>12</TD><TD>13</TD><TD>20</TD><TD>18</TD><TD>--</TD><TD>63</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
Officials: John Goss, Ray Tebbe, Paul Meagher.
Attendance: 18,345.
<!-- Start Omniture Stats --><SCRIPT language=JavaScript>var pageName="Wildcats stay focused, repeat as champions"var server=""var channel="Sports"var pageType="article"var pageValue=""var prop1=""var prop2=""var prop3="sports"var prop4=""var prop5=""var prop6="news"var prop7="sports"var prop8=""var prop9=""var prop10=""var s_code=' '</SCRIPT><SCRIPT src="http://www2.indystar.com/scripts/s_code.js"></SCRIPT><SCRIPT language=JavaScript>if(s_code!=' '){s_it('gpaper138')if(s_code=s_dc('gpaper138'))document.write(s_code)}elsedocument.write('<im'+'g src="http://gpaper138.112.2O7.net/b/ss/gpaper138/1'+'?[AQB]pageName='+escape(pageName)+'&server='+escape(server)+'&ch='+escape(channel)+'[AQE]'+'" height=1 width=1 border=0>')</SCRIPT>
