HIGH SCHOOL

Tech, Cathedral win, will meet in City final

By Kyle Neddenriep
kyle.neddenriep@indystar.com

After Cathedral survived for a 54-53 win over Scecina in the City tournament semifinals Saturday night, talk immediately turned to its next opponent: Tech.

Yep, the same Tech team that blasted the Fighting Irish 68-38 back on Dec. 13. The same Tech team that is ranked No. 5 in the country by USA Today and No. 1 in the state in Class 4A.

Cathedral does want another shot at Tech, right?

"I think a lot of people think we're going to go out there and fold because of how we lost last time," said Cathedral guard Justin Baker, who scored 15 of his team-high 17 points in the second half against Scecina at Tech. "But we know as a team that we can come out and compete with Tech. We can beat Tech."

That may sound like wishful thinking considering Cathedral trailed the Class 4A top-ranked Titans 40-8 at one point in the first meeting. But the Irish were playing in just their second game of the season with several new players and others just a couple weeks removed from football season.

Since then, fifth-ranked Cathedral (10-3) has knocked off the likes of Warren Central, Brebeuf Jesuit, Pike and two-time defending state champion Carmel. Tech, which defeated Howe 88-67 in Saturday's first semifinal, expects a more competitive game in the championship on its home court Monday night.

"As the season goes on everybody gets better," said Tech senior Trey Lyles, who had 33 points and 13 rebounds against Howe. "(Cathedral) has gotten a lot better and beat Carmel last week. Of course it's going to be a better game. It's always competitive when we play Cathedral."

Class 2A seventh-ranked Scecina (11-3) nearly advanced to its first City tournament championship game since losing to Broad Ripple in 1985-86. The Crusaders trailed by 11 early in the fourth quarter, but utilized a full-court press to help cut the deficit to 48-46 with less than two minutes left.

Twice Scecina missed on opportunities to tie the game, once on a turnover and another on a missed 3-pointer. Collin Barthel made two free throws with 8.8 seconds left to give Cathedral a 54-50 lead. Zach Rutland hit a 3-pointer as time ran out to account for the one-point margin.

"It took a lot of different guys," Cathedral coach Andy Fagan said. "Justin Baker hit a couple 3s in the third quarter to let us get a little separation and Collin Barthel had seven offensive rebounds. A lot of guys made timely plays. I didn't think there was much of a good, clean flow to the game, but we made enough plays to win."

Tech (16-1) had to fight off a challenge from Howe (9-6) in the first game. Junior guard Harris Brown scored 32 points to lead the Hornets and junior Dreon Lewis added 16.

But the 6-10 Lyles was too much for the Hornets to handle down low and senior guard Jeremie Tyler and sophomore guard C.J. Walker each added 20 points.

"We knew (Howe) was going to come out with some fire in the first half and we didn't react very well defensively," Lyles said. "Second half we definitely locked down more."

Tech is in search of its first City title since the 1990-91 season, when it won the third of three consecutive championships. Cathedral is going for its third in a row on Monday after routing Tech 67-47 in last year's title game.

"It'd be great to bring the first City championship to Tech in 20-something years," Lyles said. "There's so much history with the tournament that it would be great for us to bring it back."

Boxes

Boys city semifinals

Tech 88, Howe 67

Howe……16 18 12 21- 67

Tech…24 20 18 26- 88

Howe (9-6) — Harris Brown 12 6-7 32, Dreon Lewis 7 2-2 16, William McDaniels 0 0-0 0, Jeremy Brown 2 1-3 5, Tyrell Phelps 3 2-2 8, Jerron McGraw 0 0-2 0, Chris Mundy 1 2-2 4, Jaytez Taylor 1 0-0 2. Totals: 26 13-18 67.

Tech (16-1) — C.J. Walker 6 8-10 20, Jeremie Tyler 8 1-2 20, Rashaun Richardson 1 0-0 2, Michael Jones 0 0-0 0, Trey Lyles 10 10-14 33, Justin Parker 2 3-4 7, Josh Whitfield 1 0-0 2, Demetrius Shaw 1 0-0 2, John Roberts 1 0-0 2, Eric Meeks 0 0-0 0, Devin Mickens 0 0-0 0. Totals: 30 22-30 88.

3-point goals: Howe 2 (Brown 2), Cathedral 6 (Lyles 3, Tyler 3)

Cathedral 54, Scecina 53

Scecina……5 10 9 29- 53

Cathedral…9 9 16 20- 54

Scecina (11-3) — Jaylen Kimble 0 0-0 0, Josh Rutland 0 1-2 1, Zach Rutland 6 7-8 21, Andre Jones 1 0-0 2, Gary Bonds 9 4-7 23, DaKwon Brooks 0 0-0 0, James Hadley 0 0-0 0, Nolan Ayres 0 0-0 0, Delano Coffey 0 0-0 0, T.J. Henderson 2 2-2 6. Totals: 18 14-19 53.

Cathedral (10-3) — Justin Baker 4 6-8 17, Collin Barthel 2 2-4 6, Tra Landers 3 3-6 10, Tiernan Cook 3 6-7 12, Matt Gregory 0 0-0 0, Jared Thomas 3 0-1 6, Mathew Paligraf 0 0-0 0, Dushan Shepeard 1 0-0 2, Kendall Coleman 0 1-2 1, Tony Johnson 0 0-0 0. Totals: 16 18-28 54.

3-point goals: Scecina 3 (Z.Rutland 2, Bonds), Cathedral 4 (Baker 3, Landers)

Call Star reporter Kyle Neddenriep at (317) 444-6649.