INDIANAPOLIS — Parke Heritage was so close to their second state finals appearance in six years but the cards just weren’t in the Wolves favor on Saturday night at Southport Fieldhouse. After defeating Forest Park earlier in the day, the Wolves took on the challenge of taking on the No. 1 ranked Brownstown Central Braves and Purdue commit Jack Benter. Benter showcased why he’s a likely Mr. Basketball candidate and one of the state’s all-time best scorers. Benter and the Braves defeated the Wolves 66-56 to win the Class 2A Semi-State title and punch their ticket to Gainbridge Fieldhouse to play for the state championship.
The effort from the Wolves was there all game long as after a quarter they trailed 18-16 and kept going toe to toe with the top ranked Braves in the second and trailed 35-31 entering halftime. The third quarter is what did them in as Brownstown Central (27-4) out-scored Parke Heritage 14-4 and took a 49-35 lead entering the final eight minutes. A 21-point final frame by the Wolves showed them fight until the final buzzer but the deficit was just too much to overcome.
The Wolves had no answer for Benter who scored 38 points and grabbed seven rebounds. His 38 points moved him into 12th all-time in state history with an astounding 2,524 points. He’s just three away from moving up another spot in to 11th. “We proved that we belong here on this stage with the best teams in 2A,” Wolves coach Rich Schelsky said. “Brownstown is a tremendous team and of course has a tremendous player. In my career and my lifetime what Jack did was one of the best performances I’ve seen anyone have at this stage of the tournament. We simply didn’t have an answer for him but our guys have absolutely nothing to be ashamed of. We went toe-to-toe with them and scored with them like we wanted to. It was that third quarter that made things really tough but I’m still so proud of all of our guys.”
In the early stages of the fourth,m Brownstown saw its biggest lead at 15 points. Parke Heritage could have easily bowed their heads and let the game be a 20+ point loss. Instead the Wolves continued to battle and with 1:45 to play cut it to an eight point game at 59-51. Schelsky noted the toughness and resiliency of his team and it’s a quality that the Wolves have shown all season long.
“We have a lot of pride and grit to us,” Schelsky said. “That speaks to the character of this group. When you’re not the biggest team out there like we are, you have to be tough. That level of toughness was I think the biggest transition from last year to this year. That showed up tonight and all the credit goes to our kids for the season we had.”
Parke Heritage ends the season with a record of 24-6 . The Wolves were led in scoring by Treigh Schelsky’s 17 points. In his final game in a Wolves uniform, senior Max Dowd scored 14. Renn Harper added 12, Brayden Luce nine and Carter Crum and Brenden Goins each added two. The Wolves for the game shot 19-41 (46%) from the floor and an impressive 10-21 (47%) from three while also going 8-10 (80%) from the foul line. An area where the Wolves did struggle was rebounding against the bigger Braves squad as they were doubled up 28-14 on the boards. Parke Heritage only turned the ball over six times.
Along with Benter’s 38 point performance, Both Chace Coomer and Parker Hehman scored eight for the Braves. Colby Hall scored five, Micah Sheffer three and both Adam Stahl and Lane Pendleton scored two. Brownstown Central shot 20-38 (52%) from the field and 9-21 (42%) from three while also going a very impressive 17-20 (85%) from the charity stripe. Along with their 28 rebounds , they turned the ball over eight times.
What Parke Heritage has accomplished in just six seasons is special. The Wolves have made three semi-state appearances including a trip to the state finals. Along with Dowd, Kyle Harpold are the two seniors for this Wolves squad. Everyone else returns for this talented Wolves team. Schelsky concluded by putting this run into perspective along with noting how his team was being cheered on by not just Parke Heritage fans.
“I looked up tonight before the game and saw some Southmont and Greencastle people up in the stands cheering us on,” he said. “There are so many teams and kids and coaches who would give everything to be where we’ve been fortunate enough to be the last two seasons and beyond. If you would have told me before the season started last year that we’d be playing this far into the year two straight years, I would have said you’re crazy. I hope our guys take some time to realize what they’re doing is very special. Going forward into the future we have a chance to continue to do some special things and it’s very bright.”
