Boys Sugar Creek Classic Semi-finals

Chargers, Athenians advance to finals

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The fans who fought the snow to attend the 18th Sugar Creek Classic were treated to two close games, as North Montgomery and Crawfordsville picked up wins to advance to the championship game Saturday.

The Chargers leaned on their leading scorer, Kelby Harwood for 22 points as they never trailed in the second half, but got four big late free throws from others to fend off the pesky Stars.

The Athenians rode the coat tails of freshman Johnovan Smith, who had 18 points in the third quarter and 33 overall.

Crawfordsville is the defending champs of the Classic, and will be looking to win their sixth title, but their first back-to-back.

North won the Classic four of the first five years, but will be looking for their first paddle in a decade.

 

CHARGERS DOWN STARS

It was 33-28 North in the first semifinal matchup, and while Harwood was the scoring leader, there were big helpers along the way.

Harwood had 14 of the Chargers 17 first-half points and finished with 22, as he closes in on 1,000 points for his career. He grabbed nine rebounds to lead that way.

It was a pair of steals by Cameron Enlow in the last two minutes that led to a pair of free throws by Enlow and a pair by Talyn Sheldon, however, that opened what had been a two-point margin. It was the only points scored by either player, but came at the right, and big, time.

The Chargers were 11-of-34 from the field, 2-of-15 from deep and 9-of-16 from the line. Seven of those free throws were in the fourth quarter. They had only 11 turnovers.

The Stars were led in scoring by Gavin Hawkins with 11 points. Quinn Westerfeld had nine points and 10 rebounds, while Tristyn Faulk had nine points. WeBo was 1-of-35 from the field, 1-of-13 from long range and 3-of-10 from the line. They lost the rebound battle 33-27 and had only nine turnovers.

WeBo falls to 2-7 while North moves to 3-6.

 

ATHENIANS RETURN TO TITLE GAME

It was a night to behold for the freshman, as Smith exploded for 18 points in the third quarter as Crawfordsville defeated Southmont 56-52.

He was 6-of-8 from the field, including 4-of-4 from three-point range. A couple of the buckets came after steals, and others just on the break. He had all but one of the Athenians total scoring in that third quarter, as they came from down three at halftime to up eight eight minutes later.

Smith and Mason McCarty also hit some big free throws in the fourth quarter to keep a manageable lead. McCarty finished with 11 points.

Turnovers were also a big plus factor for the Athenians.

Forcing 18 South miscues, they scored 23 points as a result. The were plus-15 in points off TOs.

The Mounties were led in scoring by Vince Reimondo, as the senior had 20, with 13 in the second half. Freshman Caden Miller came off the Mounties bench to add 13, with a 6-of-7 night at the line.

Overall, South was 16-of-37 from the field, 8-of-18 from deep and 12-of-17 from the line.

The Athenians were 22-of-47 from the field, 5-of-9 from long range and 7-of-13 from the stripe. They won the rebound battle 30-27. Alec Saidian led Cville with eight. Lucas Oppy led South with six.

The Mounties fall to 6-2 on the season, while Crawfordsville moves to 3-7.


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