'It's everything.' Whiteland knocks off rival Franklin to advance in Johnson County tourney
WHITELAND – Nate Cangany is a basketball junkie. Probably not a lot different than a lot of other Indiana high school basketball coaches in that regard.
But the fifth-year Whiteland coach, a lover of history and hoops, was awarded a Lilly Endowment grant through a Teacher Creativity Fellowship program in 2023, which allowed him to travel around the country. He spent part of that time learning from college basketball coaches. Cangany traveled to Baylor in July, then trekked to Tulane and the University of New Orleans over fall break, watching practices and talking to coaches.
He learned a lot, in particular a style of offense that allows a lot of freedom. “Controlled” freedom may be a better description.
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“I feel like that’s the way kids want to play,” Cangany said. “And that’s the way the college game is going. You really have to work on decision-making and skills to make them a better player. That doesn’t mean you are going to turn the ball over and take bad shots. We still don’t want that. But we want them to play with some freedom and play with some confidence.”
Whiteland played with both freedom and confidence Tuesday night, particularly in the third quarter of a 67-64 thriller of a win over Franklin in the first round of the Johnson County tournament. The Warriors (9-5) turned a 10-point halftime deficit around with a 26-point third quarter to take a four-point lead into the fourth quarter.
That 8-minute span will probably look as fun on film as it looked in person. Whiteland will look to replicate that experience Friday night against Greenwood Christian in a Johnson County semifinal game at Center Grove.
“It was amazing,” Whiteland senior point guard Jazz Banwait said. “Tuesday night in this gym? That was amazing.”
Banwait drilled three 3-pointers during that third-quarter stretch and finished with 16 points for the game. Gavin Stubbe, a 6-5 junior scored eight of his game-high 18 points in the fourth quarter, leading four players in double figures.
If there was an advantage for Whiteland, it was offensive balance to offset a monster night from Franklin senior guard and Eastern Kentucky commit Micah Davis, who scored 22 of his 35 points in the second half. The Grizzly Cubs (10-2) saw their nine-game winning streak snapped.
“They really shot the ball well,” Franklin coach Adrian Moss said of Whiteland. “They played a great game overall. We haven’t not had the lead since the Center Grove game (a 65-64 overtime win), which was the third game of the year. I just didn’t feel like we dealt with their runs very well. This group hasn’t experienced that yet. I’m not saying we lost our mind, but I don’t think we responded physically or mentally very well to their runs.”
Still, Davis was almost unstoppable getting to the basket. Whiteland stretched its lead to as much as six points in the fourth quarter, but Davis kept attacking. After Stubbe buried a 3-pointer to give Whiteland a 64-60 lead with 1:45 left, David answered. After Stubbe made one of two free throws with 50.7 seconds remaining, Davis scored again to bring Franklin to within 65-64.
Whiteland then opened the door for Franklin to complete the comeback, turning it over on a jump ball at midcourt with 20 seconds remaining. But after the ball was knocked out of bounds with 10 seconds left, Franklin was called for a 5-second violation on a sideline out of bounds.
“I thought they were going to overplay Micah,” Moss said. “So, the guy who was screening for Micah was going to slip. The slip wasn’t there, and they completely doubled Micah. So, it’s five on four and we hesitated. Somebody needed to sprint to the ball, and it didn’t happen. It was also a terrible spot on the court to in-bounds from, buried about two feet from the (end line).”
Franklin also had just one foul. Whiteland was able to whittle another 6 seconds off the clock as the Grizzly Cubs fouled four times to finally get the Warriors into the bonus. McLaughlin hit both free throws with 4 seconds left. Whiteland fouled once before Davis fired a halfcourt heave that missed.
The victory set off a celebration with the student section, reveling in a victory over a huge rival.
“It’s everything,” Banwait said. “Ever since we’ve grown up it’s been Franklin vs. Whiteland. It’s always been a close matchup, too. Last year we lost on a heartbreaker (55-53 in overtime in the regular season matchup at Whiteland). Every time we go into this game, we know there’s going to be a lot of fans at this game.”
After a 3-4 start, Whiteland has won six of its past seven games. Two years ago, McLaughlin and the rest of the seniors were sophomores on a team that won the county tourney.
“I think all of us could collectively agree that year, when we won (the Mid-State Conference) and county, was all of our favorite year,” McLaughlin said. “I think we’d all like to do that again this year.”
If the Warriors pull it off, it will be a team effort.
“We have four guys averaging double figures and guys who can come off the bench and get it done too,” Banwait said. “That’s a huge advantage for us because they can’t guard all of us at once.”
Call Star reporter Kyle Neddenriep at (317) 444-6649.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: IHSAA basketball: Whiteland beats Franklin in Johnson County tournament
