'Came up 5 minutes short': Marian's dream run ends as Beech Grove wins Indiana 3A title

INDIANAPOLIS — As the seconds ticked down, reality set in for Mishawaka Marian players.

This was not going to be the Knights' night.

This is the side of every championship bout you fear — the what could have been.

As Beech Grove jumped and danced around the court at Gainbridge Fieldhouse Saturday night, celebrating its 53-43 win in the 3A state title game, the Knights saw their dream season, and a quest for the program's first state title, come to an end.

"They gave it everything that had, every game since early December," Marian head coach Robb Berger said. "Every practice, every game they had a goal in their mind and it hurts right now. We came up about five minutes short."

Three things: Marian couldn't deliver when it needed on state's biggest stage

The second-ranked Knights finish their season at 24-4. Beech Grove, unranked entering the title game wins its first state championship at 22-6.

Anthony Ball was a game-changer for the Hornets, scoring a game-high 17 points while pulling down 20 rebounds, 11 of them offensive.

At one point Berger turned to his bench and uttered the dreaded four-word phrase: "We can't guard him."

This is what Berger feared all week. Ball, a 6-foot-6, 200-pound junior, dominating inside. He was everything the Hornets needed.

More: Meet Marian High School IHSAA state-final bound boys basketball team

He added three blocks and altered numerous other shots as Marian shot 17-for-45 (just 38%) from the field, with many uncharacteristic misses at the rim.

And in the second half, the Knights had no answer for him.

"I thought he was big," Berger said of Ball. "We have played a lot of really good big guys, two 6-foot-8 guys last week against Leo , but I think he is a little different. He is strong and he is also really quick. He was a load for us to try to handle inside."

The first half was one of Marian's worst of the postseason.

The Knights turned the ball over 11 times, were dominated on the boards, especially by Ball, who scored 10 of his points in the first half, and had their leading scorer, Deaglan Sullivan, who finished with 10 points, limited in minutes due to two first quarter fouls.

Still, Marian held a 22-20 lead at the break, largely thanks to its outside shooting.

Richard Brooks, who led Marian with a team-high 13 points, gave the Knights a 5-4 lead early in the first quarter. Dar'e'on Thornton added another and extended Marian's lead to 10-7 shortly after. And Jackson Price made two of three from behind the arc, his second giving the Knights an 18-12 lead.

In all, the Knights shot 6-for-16 from 3-point land.

But Beech Grove brought its shooters, too, specifically Cam Brown, who came off the bench to score 13 points, while Jeremiah Tate added 12 and Jeremiah Alexander chipped in nine.

Brown, who averaged six points a game, connected on back-to-back 3-pointers in the third quarter, part of a 12-0 Hornets run, to give them a 34-28 lead that was shortened to 36-34 at the end of the third by a 3-point buzzer-beater by Brooks.

Marian was able to tie the game at 36 early in the fourth quarter on a Deaglan Sullivan run, but was outscored 17-6 to close the game.

"They had really strong on-ball defense," Brooks said. "(Ball) was a load inside and we just couldn't finish around him."

Dream run comes to an end

To this day, Berger and members of Marian's team will say they had a championship run taken away from them in 2020 when COVID-19 ended the postseason early.

This was going to be the year. This was going to be redemption.

"it meant a lot to us. To me, definitely, being my senior year," said Kaleo Kakalia, who finished with four points. "It is hard coming up short. But we gave it all we got."

Throughout the year, after crawling from a game back to win a share of an Northern Indiana Conference, Marian battled its way to trophies and cutting nets. It secured its first sectional title since 2020 in an epic No. 1 vs No. 2 matchup against Glenn, held on just long enough in a one-point regional finals win and eliminated last year's state runner-up to win a semistate for the first time in school history.

The ending just wasn't as storybook as planned.

"It was one of the greatest weekends of my life," said Brooks, who was awarded the Arthur Trester & Ray Craft Mental Attitude Award following the game. "Just bonding with my team. We were already close, but this weekend brought us even closer."

The Knights have the pieces to be a dangerous team again

The loss is still raw, but this Marian team isn't going away.

The Knights graduate just two seniors, Brooks and Kakalia, from a team that won a sectional championship for the first time since 2020, a regional for the first time since 2012 and the program's first ever semistate.

Returners include soon-to-be seniors, Deaglan Sullivan, the team's leading scorer, who finished with 10 points, as well Jackson Price, who scored nine off of the bench on 3-for-4 shooting from behind the arc, Dar'e'on Thonton, who added five points and junior, Zion Rhoades, who chipped in four points and five rebounds.

"Once you experience coming down here and playing, I think it will be addictive," Berger said. "We know it is not easy and obviously tough to get down here. I think (our returners) will take a little time off, get back to work and get ready for next season."

BEECH GROVE 53, MISHAWAKA MARIAN 43

At Gainbridge Fieldhouse, Indianapolis

BEECH GROVE (53): Jaleel Edwards 0 2-4 2, Jeremiah Tate 5 1-2 12, Jeremiah Alexander 3 2-2 9, Damon Thompkins 0 0-0 0, Anthony Ball 6 5-6 17, Adrian Holland 0 0-0 0, Cameron Brown 4 2-2 13, Damonte Henderson 0 0-0 0, Rylan Horen 0 0-0 0, Skylar Thacker 0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 18 12-16 53

MARIAN (43): Deaglan Sullivan 5 0-0 10, Dareon Thorton 1 2-2 5, Zion Rhoades 2 0-0 4, Kaleo Kakalia 1 0-0 2, Richard Brooks 5 1-1 13, Jackson Price 3 0-0 9,Grant Mishler 0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 17 3-3 43

Beech Grove 7 | 13 | 16 | 17 – 53

Marian 13 | 9 | 12 | 9 | -- 43

3-point goals: Beech Grove 5 (Brown 3, Tate, Alexander), Marian 6 (Price 3, Brooks 2, Thorton). Shooting: Beech Grove 18 of 50 (36%), Marian 17 of 45 (37.8%) Rebounds: Beech Grove 37 (Ball 20), Marian 23 (Kakalia 10). Turnovers: Beech Grove 17, Marian 19. Team fouls (fouled out): Beech Grove 7 (none), Marian 16 (none). Team records: Beech Grove 22-6, Marian 22-4.

This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: High school basketball: Beech Grove beats Marian for Class 3A title