Notebook: Monrovia Holiday Classic
Monrovia Holiday Classic is an annual tournament that pits teams from West Central Indiana against one another in a 2 day, 3 game format. Monrovia is the favorite in this years’ edition but Indian Creek is very solid as well. There are a host of small school prospects and young guys that should make this a very competitive tournament.
Game 1: Brown County 54, Bethesda Christian 45
Bethesda Christian played from behind the entire game and couldn’t get it back within double digits for most of the fourth quarter. It wasn’t like Bethesda Chrstian was playing bad, they just couldn’t make any shots in the final quarter. They had a few offensive rebounds but just couldn’t pull it out. Brown County did their job and hit shots down the stretch and made their free throws at the end to seal it.
Top Performers:
Erza Scully | Brown County | 2018 6’1 SG – 19 points
Noah Carter | Brown County | 2020 6’3 SG – 13 points
Wes Rischar | Bethesda Christian | 2018 6’1 SG – 12 points
Brady Mlagan | Bethesda Christian | 2018 6’ SG – 11 points
Game 2: Monrovia 45, South Putnam 30
South Putnam couldn’t get anything to go as their only offense was Allen Plunkett. Plunkett didn’t play overly well but he did play well enough to score 16 points. Max Newman stole the show for Monrovia. He was ultra-efficient and he was able to get to the rim with ease. Monrovia just didn’t commit any stupid turnovers while South Putnam struggled to get it going on offense.
Top Performers:
Max Newman | Monrovia | 2019 6’6 PF – 25 points, 8 rebounds
Allen Plunkett | South Putnam | 2019 6’5 SF – 16 points
Braden Bantley | Monrovia | 2018 6’ SG – 8 points
Josh Smith | Monrovia | 2020 6’3 SG – 6 points
Game 3: Greenwood Christian Academy 60, Southwestern (Shelbyville) 42
Greenwood Christian Academy struggled out of the gate trailing by five at the end of the first quarter. GCA beat Southwestern by 20 in a game earlier this year and it looked as if the tables were going to turn but an onslaught in the second quarter by GCA gave them the lead by nine going into the second half. The second half was all GCA as they weren’t missing shots whatsoever.
Top Performers:
Champ McCorkle | GCA | 2020 6’3 SF – 18 points
Jacob Swanson | Southwestern | 2018 5’10 PG – 14 points
Blake McClure | Southwestern | 2019 6’5 C – 10 points, 5 rebounds
Quentin Steele | GCA | 2019 5’11 SG – 7 points, 3 steals
Game 4: Indian Creek 59, North Putnam 46
Indian Creek controlled the entire game until halfway through the fourth quarter when North Putnam forced a few turnovers and got buckets off of them. They cut it to within three points and after that Indian Creek pulled back away to take the win. Jared DeHart had a huge game for Indian Creek scoring baskets and doing everything that Indian Creek needed to do.
Top performers:
Jared DeHart | Indian Creek | 2018 6’2 PF – 22 points, 8 rebounds, 7 assists
Andrew Pickel | North Putnam | 2019 6’6 PF– 18 points, 7 rebounds
James Duncan | North Putnam | 2019 5’9 SG – 14 points
Isaiah Lacey | Lebanon | 2019 6’2 SG – 9 points, 4 rebounds