By Travis Miller
Contributing Writer
INDIANAPOLIS – The Ben Davis Giants had had enough.
After losing 16 consecutive games to Marion County rival Pike, including a pair of contests earlier this season, it was time for revenge March 8 in the delayed Class 4A Indianapolis Tech Sectional championship. The Giants took a page from their girls team, who had captured a second straight state title 48 hours earlier, and turned the tables on the Red Devils in a 68-60 win.
“My hat goes off to Avon, to Tech, and to Pike,” said Ben Davis coach Curtis Wright. “We have a very intense sectional, but we feel we’re just fulfilling our expectations.
“That proverbial monkey is finally off our back in terms of beating Pike, but we feel like we still have work to do.”
Monday’s sectional final was moved from Saturday night to accommodate the Giant girls’ 99-52 victory over Merrillville in Fort Wayne. But Ben Davis (15-7) had waited seven years since its last boys sectional championship anyway, so it was worth the wait.
The Giants trailed for most of this game but had a dominant finishing kick to pull away from Pike (15-7) for the win.
Pike was in control early on thanks to a series of runs. The Red Devils jumped out to a 9-1 lead just two minutes in before Ben Davis notched its first field goal. The Red Devils were able to lead 21-14 and 37-30 at the first two stops on the strength of some key runs at the end of each period.
Zavier Turner got a steal and hit a 3-pointer as the first quarter expired as part of an 11-0 Pike run that bridged the quarter break. Pike would lead by as many as 12 in the second quarter, but Ben Davis turned up its defense in order to get back in the game.
The Giants used a 16-4 run of their own to fight back to tie at 30-30 a minute before halftime Pike exploded for a quick seven points, capped by Josh Gentry’s buzzer-beating runner.
But the Giants showed incredible poise in going to their leaders time and again. Greg Garrett (15 points and 12 rebounds) and Harry Wills (10 points and 10 boards) each finished with double-doubles, while Terrance Winfrey provided a big boost of nine points and 13 rebounds off the bench.
Ben Davis also had a stellar night defensively against one of the best players in the nation in Pike’s Marquis Teague. The highly touted junior had so-so success, finishing with 14 points on 6-of-16 shooting from the field.
That included half of his points coming in the game’s final minute as Pike desperately tried to come back from a double-digit deficit.
“The idea was to create controlled chaos and throw as many guys at him as possible,” Wright said of his team’s strategy against Teague. “The Teague family has certainly been a detriment to my career, but Marquis is a complete stud. We tried to frustrate him tonight and he still got the job done late.
“We just tried to keep pushing the right buttons.”
The teams were tied at 47 going into the final period, but Garrett gave the Giants their first lead just 15 seconds into the final frame with a free throw. It was a lead Ben Davis would never relinquish. The Giants used a 17-6 run to build a double-digit advantage over one of the most explosive teams in the state.
By the time it was over, Ben Davis led 64-53 with little more than 30 seconds left.
David Quarles was Ben Davis’ scoring leader on the night with 17 points, while Bradley Elam finished with 14 and nailed the game down with six free throws in the last 1:41.
“We’re trying to change the mentality here, and ideally we want to make sure these kids do the right thing in the classroom and have high character,” Wright said of a team coming off three straight losing seasons. “This team has got it in their cerebral cortex that they will be special.
“The girls showed us how to do it on Saturday night, and we have 49 wins to go.”
Ben Davis will face third-ranked North Central (Indianapolis) (21-3) in the second Lawrence Central Regional semifinal March 13 at Hinkle Fieldhouse. The winner will battle either Noblesville (19-4) or Perry Meridian (15-9) for a semistate berth Saturday night.
The box score:
Pike 21 16 10 13 – 60
Ben Davis 14 16 17 21 – 68
Pike 60
Anthony White 1-6 0-0 3
Marquis Teague 6-16 1-2 14
Khristian Smith 5-12 1-2 12
Julian Strickland 4-12 3-4 13
Ricky Smith 2-2 0-0 4
Zavier Turner 1-1 0-0 3
Ronald Hunter 2-5 0-0 5
Craig Lumpkin 0-2 0-0 0
Josh Gentry 2-4 0-1 4
TOTALS 23-58 5-8 60
Ben Davis 68
Bradley Elam 3-8 6-6 14
David Quarles 9-18 1-1 17
Harry Wills 4-6 2-6 10
Gregory Person 0-0 0-2 0
Greg Garrett 6-10 3-4 15
Terrance Winfrey 3-8 3-6 9
TaiShawn Johnson 0-2 0-0 0
Jeroboam Wilson 0-0 0-0 0
Tony Wills 0-1 0-0 0
TOTALS 25-53 15-25 68
3-pointers: Pike 7-19 (Strickland 2-3, K. Smith 1-4, Hunter 1-4, White 1-4, Turner 1-1, Teague 1-1, Lumpkin 0-1, Gentry 0-1), Ben Davis 3-13 (Elam 2-5, Quarles 1-5, H. Wills 0-1, Garrett 0-1, Johnson 0-1)
Rebounds: Pike 29 (Strickland 8), Ben Davis 44 (Winfrey 13, Garrett 12, H. Wills 10)
Fouls: Pike 16 (Teague 5), Ben Davis 14
Turnovers: Pike 17, Ben Davis 21
12. Indianapolis Tech Sectional
Game 1 – Indianapolis Manual 59, Brownsburg 48
Game 2 – Ben Davis 68, Avon 66 (2OT)
Game 3 – Indianapolis Tech 71, Decatur Central 55
Game 4 – Pike 79, Indianapolis Manual 57
Game 5 – Ben Davis 81, Indianapolis Tech 62
Championship – Ben Davis 68, Pike 60
