By Mike McGraw
Executive Director
HUNTINGTON – It is no surprise that Bowman Academy won a trip to the state championship game in Class A. What might have come as a surprise to the powerful Gary squad is how hard it was to do March 20 in the 1A northern semistate at Huntington North.
Top-ranked Bowman dispatched a gallant No. 6 Monroe Central team, 89-79, in a contest the likes of which very few expected.
Make no mistake. Everybody knew Monroe Central was a talented team, but few expected the Golden Bears to try to run with the lightning-quick Eagles. After all, Bowman (23-1) had superior athletic ability at nearly every position on the floor.
Nonetheless, coach Jeremy Duncan and his Randolph County crew decided that a quick tempo was how they got to this point in the tourney, and they weren’t going to start changing things at this late date.
It certainly looked early on as though that was a poor decision. Bowman Academy’s pressure defense forced the Golden Bears into a flurry of early turnovers and quick shots that added up to a 14-5 deficit by the 4:00 mark of the first quarter. Monroe Central (20-6) seemed to gain its footing late in the period, but the Golden Bears still trailed 28-15 after just one stanza.
Bowman, which had racked up 100 points twice previously in the tournament, seemed to have things going its way. Though the second quarter saw Monroe Central begin to rev the engine on its own high-powered offense, the Bears couldn’t slow Bowman, which shot a stunning 59 percent in the opening 16 minutes.
Halftime seemed halfway to a merciful end to this contest as the Eagles hit the intermission with a 51-35 advantage. But in the words of ESPN’s Lee Corso, “Not so fast, my friends.”
After surrendering a couple of early third-quarter baskets, the Golden Bears went on a 9-0 run to cut the lead to 56-46 midway through the period. Bowman quickly responded, but then the Eagles lost their composure toward the end of the quarter.
After swatting a Monroe Central shot, the trash talk got out of control and resulted in a technical foul on 6’5” Bowman sophomore center DeJuan Marrero. That was followed by a foolish dead-ball fall on the next possession, and the Golden Bears were presented with a chance to cut into the lead once again.
They quickly obliged and entered the fourth period down just 68-59.
The rally unquestionably recharged the Monroe Central crowd, but most – including Bowman – viewed it as a momentary blip on the radar. That view changed when with just less than four minutes to play when Monroe Central’s Trey Thomas canned a 3-pointer to suddenly bring the Golden Bears within five at 77-72.
The capacity crowd nearly blew the roof off the Huntington North arena when Monroe Central had a chance on its next possession to cut into the lead even further. The Golden Bears failed to connect, however, and it was as close as they would come.
Bowman Academy spread the floor and slowed the pace to a crawl in the final minutes. That allowed guard Tyrae Robinson to halt the Monroe Central charge by calmly draining six free throws down the stretch.
The 10-point final margin was the largest of the finishing period.
“Heart can keep you in ballgames like this, but it’s seldom enough to beat pure talent,” Monroe Central coach Jeremy Duncan told nwitimes.com. “Before the game I told our kids I don’t want this to be a ‘Hoosiers’ ballgame, and in the second half it almost ended up being that.”
Christopher Bond used a 10-for-13 performance from the field to lead Bowman Academy with 23 points, and he achieved a double-double with 11 rebounds. Elijah Ray added 14 points and Nick Moore 11 for the Eagles.
Trey Thomas led all scorers with 27 points, including a 7-for-12 effort from behind the 3-point line, in pacing Monroe Central. Myles Merchand had 22 points and Logan Thomas 17 for the Golden Bears, whose tallest player was just 6’1”.
Bowman advances to face second-ranked Barr-Reeve, a 59-48 Seymour Semistate winner over North Central (Farmersburg), in the 1A final at Conseco Fieldhouse next Saturday at 10:30 a.m. ET. It is a safe bet the tempo of that game will not be comparable to this contest.
The box score:
Bowman Academy 28 23 17 21 – 89
Monroe Central 15 20 24 20 – 79
Bowman Academy: Christopher Bond 23, Elijah Ray 14, Tyrae Robinson 15, DeJuan Marrero 12, Nick Moore 11, Kevan Ford 4, Kameron Madison 3, Kendall Dawson 3, Cylk Joseph 2, Daron Gamble 2, Michael Ford 0, Floyd Hoskins 0. 3-pointers: Madison, Dawson, Robinson. Fouls: 20. Totals: 35 16-24 89
Monroe Central: Trey Thomas 27, Myles Merchand 22, Logan Thomas 17, Rhett Braun 5, Fletcher Goodman 4, Brandon Reiber 2, Derek Taylor 0, Derek Taylor 0, Ben Rush 0. 3-pointers: Trey Thomas 7, Rhett Braun. Fouls: 18. Totals: 27 17-22 79
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