Sectionals: Zionsville vs. Logansport
In the second game at Lafayette Jeff, it apparently was a cursed night. A battle between all teams because Zionsville and Logansport followed down the struggling path just the way the first game went down. Logansport and Zionsville went back and forth all game with both taking sizable leads at different points in time and it took more than four quarters to finish this one.
Early on, Logansport was able to neutralize a little bit of Zionsville’s offensive ability, keeping Isaiah Thompson out of the lane and really forcing some bad early shots. However, they were only able to have a two-point lead after the first quarter. Then, Zionsville turned it on and opened up the game a big. Both teams were struggling shooting the ball, Zionsville with 38.5% from the field and Logansport with 36.4%.
Where things started to get interesting is in the third quarter when Sam Skaggs and Will Penny really got going. They were solid early but were able to create turnovers and get a bunch of free throws. The fourth quarter was a bit of a staring match as Logansport was just able to catch up but had a chance to win it at the buzzer.
In Overtime, it was all Zionsville. Isaiah Thompson, Mark Stemme, and Riley Bertram were huge late making plays and they outscored Logansport, 13-4 in the final period of play to win, 52-43.
Best Offensive Player: Nate Childress (Zionsville)
Not many players had a great offensive game, they scored points but it wasn’t pretty. All except Childress who was really, really good. He scored 16 points on 6/9 shooting and even hitting a big three to open up the game. He also grabbed 8 rebounds, 2 offensive. He wasn’t as big late in the game but was consistent from start to finish and it really gave them that confidence that eventually sparked Thompson, Stemme, and others later on. If he shoots like the rest of this team did, we are probably still in overtime playing.
Best Defensive Player: Will Penny (Logansport)
While you could go with Childress here as well, Penny is the big reason why this game even went into overtime. He was really aggressive in the second half using his length and athletic ability to create turnovers and turn defense into offense. Penny, and Logansport, were able to create 15 turnovers against Zionsville and that helped them to score 22 points in the second half to crawl back into it. Penny was good on the boards as well grabbing 5 rebounds. His pressure was vital late in this game and gave them a chance.
Biggest Surprise: 14 Points from Mark Stemme
Going into this game, having seen a few Zionsville games already, Mark Stemme was not really on the radar as the offensive threat to watch out for. He’s talented, always been a fan, but more reserved compared to guys like a Riley Bertram, Will Alcock, Nate Childress, and Isaiah Thompson. You thought those four would be the work horses but Bertram wasn’t really a factor and Alcock was more of a facilitator until the end. Stemme going 4/5 from three was unexpected. 14 points was as well but in the end, this team is deep and it was his time to step to the plate.
Top Scorers:
Isaiah Thompson (Zionsville) – 16 points
Sam Skaggs (Logansport) – 15 points
Team |
Q1 |
Q2 |
Q3 |
Q4 |
F/OT |
Zionsville | 8 | 25 | 34 | 39 | 52 |
Logansport | 10 | 17 | 33 | 39 | 43 |