Boys basketball What We Learned: Westfield's hot start, Avon's big week, stall ball, more

WESTFIELD -- Five things we learned from the first week of high school basketball for the 2024 calendar year:

Westfield quietly off to undefeated start

Their big games are coming, including a matchup with Class 4A No. 1 Fishers on Feb. 1, but Westfield (9-0), ranked third 4A, is perfectly content slipping under the radar behind the top-ranked Tigers and No. 2 Lawrence North.

“Honestly, I don’t like being ranked super high,” Westfield senior Trey Buchanan said after the Shamrocks’ 44-31 home victory over Carmel on Saturday night. “We play better when we don’t have as much pressure on us, but I think that’s probably the way for everyone. But we’re undefeated, so there’s not much to complain about. It’s just a matter of putting the rankings behind us and going out there and playing with a chip on our shoulder.”

A big addition for Westfield going into the season was 6-8 senior Nic Book, who went for 18 points and 12 rebounds in the win over Carmel. Book, a native of New Zealand who attended Oak Hill Academy last season, was averaging a team-leading 12.1 points, 7.5 rebounds and 3.0 assists going into the Carmel game.

“The last few games we’ve really wanted to feed Nic,” Buchanan said. “He’s been great. Without him, we would have had barely any size. He’s a good dude who came in and embraced Westfield immediately and it’s obviously working pretty well for him. He likes it a lot here and we love having him here. He a very energetic and friendly dude. He knows everybody and everybody knows Nic.”

Opponents are finding out about Book, too. His emergence has helped take the scoring load off Buchanan, a 6-foot guard who is second on the team in scoring (11.5 ppg). Book had a fractured ankle when he arrived at Westfield last spring but played well at the Charlie Hughes Shootout in June.

“He’s such a likeable kid that his impact on our school and team has been really big,” Westfield coach Shane Sumpter said. “Obviously (Saturday night) you see that he frees everybody else up and or he’s able to do some things on his own. He probably should have had more than he did if he made some more free throws (5-for-12) but he’s been big for our basketball team.”

It has not only been the Book and Buchanan show, though. The Shamrocks are getting big contributions from 6-2 senior Charles Farrell (7.5 ppg, 2.3 assists), 6-2 senior Caleb Wise (6.4 ppg), 6-3 junior Durante Morton (5.8 ppg, 3.6 rebounds, 2.6 assists), 5-10 junior Will Harvey (7.8 ppg, 50% 3-pointers) and 6-5 junior Carsen Melvin (4.5 ppg, 3.6 rebounds).

Farrell had a big hand in helping Westfield hold off Carmel on Saturday night, scoring three consecutive baskets in the fourth quarter.

“Charles is one of those guys who wants to be great,” Buchanan said. “He wants to get better each and every day and obviously it’s starting to show for him. He puts pressure at the rim and same with Durante, too. He’s a dog. We put together all of our different skill sets, and it’s worked pretty well for us.”

Among Westfield’s victories are Kokomo (62-57), Zionsville (59-40), Guerin Catholic (59-41) and Mt. Vernon (41-30). As noted above, there are tougher tests ahead, including six more Hoosier Crossroads Conference games. That stretch starts with Hamilton Southeastern on Friday, followed by games at Noblesville (Jan. 17) and Brownsburg (Jan. 19) the following week.

Sumpter, in his ninth season, knows there are plenty of challenges ahead, long before Westfield gets into its Sectional 8 gauntlet at Noblesville. But based on nine games, the Shamrocks look like a contender.

“This team really does not care who gets the credit,” Sumpter said. “I know that’s easy to say and lot of people say that, but we truly don’t. Our guys are genuinely happy when other people do well. They don’t care who gets the credit and they get along so well. And the balance that we have stands out. You can key on one guy, but I do feel like we have other guys who can really hurt you and score. And when you play at Westfield, you have to guard. I don’t think that’s any secret. I feel like we’re pretty good defensively.”

Wild week of wins for Avon

Surprise, surprise: Avon is the Hendricks County tournament champion.

The Orioles won a couple of last-second thrillers off the fingertips of junior Rohan Pearson, who scored the game-winner on a driving shot off the glass to defeat Brownsburg 57-56 in three overtimes in the first round of the county tournament. In the semifinal, Pearson corralled a missed shot by Plainfield, dribbled to the other end and drained a 35-foot shot as time expired in a 51-48 win over the host Quakers.

On the heels of those dramatic wins, Avon drilled Class 3A top-ranked Danville 68-42 in the championship on Saturday at Danville as Jedidiah Minnett scored 24 points, including five 3-pointers. It is the first county championship since 2013 for Avon.

“We came out ready from the start,” Avon coach Drew Schauss told IndyStar correspondent Lewis Bagley. “We’ve got a good core of leaders and they made sure we were ready to go.”

Avon is 10-3, which already matches the Orioles’ win total from last year’s 10-14 season. It is perhaps a bit unexpected, considering Avon saw its leading scorer from a year ago, Jordan Lomax, transfer to Brownsburg. Its second- and fourth-leading scorers, Daniel Eck and Keilyn Moore, graduated.

But Minnett, a sophomore, is averaging 13.6 points and junior guard DeAndre Lott-Hancock, a transfer from Crispus Attucks, has been an impact player, averaging 10.7 points and 7.0 rebounds. Others who have grown into bigger roles are junior Kendrick Dunmore (9.8 ppg, 7.5 rebounds), junior Rashod Bethley (7.2 ppg, 2.3 assists), Pearson (6.5 ppg, 3.5 rebounds) and junior Isaac Kramer (5.0 ppg, 1.9 rebounds).

Amazingly, the long-range, last-second shot by Pearson against Plainfield was his first made 3-pointer of the season in four attempts.

Avon has a tough schedule the second half of the season, including a home game Thursday vs. Mt. Vernon. But Schauss has some momentum after going 9-16 and 10-14 his first two seasons at Avon. The Orioles knocked off two opponents this week (Brownsburg and Plainfield) that they could see in the sectional.

Stall ball game

Every once in a while, (OK, more than once in a while), high school basketball fans will notice a low-scoring game and shout, “We need a shot clock!” from the mountaintops.

It happened at my game on Saturday night, a 44-31 Westfield win over Carmel that was a 16-10 game at halftime. It was a combination of long possessions, below-average shooting and excellent defense that were contributing factors to that halftime score.

Every so often, though, there is an outright stall game. That was the case Saturday at Portage at the start of the second half against East Chicago Central. The Cardinals led 32-28 at halftime and got the ball to start the third quarter. Portage decided to hang back in its 2-3 zone and allow point guard Jemeil Rich to stand near halfcourt until about the 2-minute, 15-second mark of the third quarter, then passed around the Portage zone a bit.

Then, more holding the ball. East Chicago Central played for one shot and missed after nearly turning it over. One shot in the quarter. No points. And East Chicago Central retained a four-point lead going into the fourth quarter.

I watched the second half on RegionSports.com. The game went back to regular action in the fourth quarter. Portage took a three-point lead before East Chicago Central’s Keontaye Bell drilled a 3-point to tie it with 26 seconds remaining. Portage’s Omari Evans made two free throws to give Portage a 47-45 lead with 6 seconds remaining.

Portage had two fouls to give before East Chicago Central reached the five-foul per-quarter, 2-shot bonus (the new rule this season) and used both to burn the clock down to 2 seconds.

Yamauree Wallace inbounded the ball from just inside halfcourt, in front of the East Chicago Central bench. He quickly got it back as he stepped in bounds and into a 30-foot 3-pointer from the left wing.

Splash. East Chicago Central wins, 48-47, to improve to 11-4.

No one guarded Wallace, who was 4-for-25 from the 3-point line going into the game.

My thoughts on stalling: It’s not exciting or entertaining. If I paid $7 to watch a game, it is more fun to watch athletes making plays on the basketball court than holding the ball and doing nothing.

But as long as there is not a shot clock, you will see a stall game — or a stall quarter — once in a while. Portage coach Bryon Clouse was obviously OK with being down four points going into the fourth quarter, allowing East Chicago Central to hold it. And if not for Wallace’s heroics, it would have worked out.

Five teams flying under the radar

Here are five teams that picked up good wins this week and might be flying a bit under the radar:

∎ New Palestine: The Dragons are 8-2 after a 62-54 win over 3A second-ranked Delta. New Palestine’s only losses came to unbeaten Greenfield-Central and Newport (Ky.) in the Lawrenceburg holiday tournament. Julius Gizzi has been lighting it up, going for 34 points vs. Delta.

∎ Franklin: The Grizzly Cubs crushed Mooresville 87-53 to improve to 10-1. Franklin lost to Noblesville in its second game but have won nine in a row, including wins over Center Grove, Seymour and Decatur Central.

∎ Heritage Christian: First-year coach Tre Granger has the Eagles (7-3) playing well, most-recently with a 59-49 victory over Covenant Christian this week. Heritage Christian will be seeded fourth in the City tournament in a couple of weeks.

∎ Park Tudor: The Panthers (8-2) are coming off a big 66-64 win over Lawrence Central and should have a lot of momentum going into the Marion County tournament this week. The 2A No. 9 Panthers host Beech Grove on Tuesday and then would host either North Central or Lutheran on Wednesday in a quarterfinal game.

∎ Tindley: The Tigers (10-3) knocked off Heritage Christian 47-45 on Tuesday. I’m surprised Tindley is not ranked higher than No. 10 in Class A. All three of its losses are to Class 3A opponents.

Marion County tournament schedule

It will be an interesting week locally with the Marion County and Johnson County tournaments ahead. Reminder on the schedules:

MARION COUNTY

Tuesday (6:30 p.m. games)

North Central (6-3) at Lutheran (7-2)

Beech Grove (3-10) at Park Tudor (8-2)

Lawrence Central (5-7) at Lawrence North (10-0)

Perry Meridian (3-10) at Pike (3-8)

Brebeuf Jesuit (7-3) at Ben Davis (8-2)

Southport (3-7) at Franklin Central (5-6)

Decatur Central (7-2) at Warren Central (6-5)

Roncalli (5-3) at Speedway (3-5)

Wednesday

Quarterfinal games at home sites, 6:30 p.m.

Friday

Semifinal games, 6 and 7:45 p.m. (at Southport)

Saturday

Championship, 7 p.m. (at Southport)

Johnson County tournament schedule

Tuesday

Franklin (10-1) at Whiteland (8-5), 7:30 p.m.

Indian Creek (11-1) at Greenwood Christian (8-3), 7:30 p.m.

Greenwood (3-8) at Edinburgh (6-6), 7:30 p.m.

Friday

Semifinal games, 6 and 7:30 p.m. (At Center Grove)

Saturday

Championship, 7 p.m. (At Center Grove)

Call Star reporter Kyle Neddenriep at (317) 444-6649.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: IHSAA boys basketball: Westfield's undefeated start, Avon's big week