Hoosier Hysteria: Marian couldn't deliver when it needed on state's biggest stage

INDIANAPOLIS — One way or another, win or lose, Hoosier Hysteria ended Saturday with four state finals games in Gainbridge Fieldhouse.

Marian, ranked second in Class 3A and winners of 12 straight, never had been to the state finals. Neither had Beech Grove, its opponent in an early evening contest. One of those teams would leave hours later with nets around their necks and a state title in their back pocket.

Here are three reasons why Marian went home without the hardware it really wanted following a 53-43 loss:

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Five good minutes didn’t happen

With Marian up by eight points not even midway through the second quarter, coach Robb Berger huddled with his guys, glanced back up at the scoreboard and asked his Knights to give him five more good minutes.

Five minutes and the game would hit the halfway point. Marian’s players all nodded back at their head coach, but it was Beech Grove which closed the half with the better five minutes. It ran off six unanswered to cut the Marian lead to two, and seemed to carry that momentum into the locker room.

As poorly as Beech Grove shot it in the first half, it made those shots in the second, when it also received contributions from guys who’d done little to nothing in the first half. That stung.

Cameron Brown happened

Only two players — Jeremiah Tate and Anthony Ball — scored in the first half for the Hornets. Both had 10 points. That was it.

But early in the third quarter, junior guard Cameron Brown busted loose for a pair of corner 3s. One from the right side, the other from the left. The second pushed Beech Grove into its largest lead of the game, 31-28, and necessitated a Marian timeout. The only way the Knights were going to lose this one was if Beech Grove could figure out a way to find a third scorer.

It found one.

Brown busted loose in the left corner again for another 3 – his third - to push Beech Grove out to a six-point lead. Everything about this one for Marian turned on those three shots.

Brown also added a pair of free throws in the closing seconds for 11 crushing points in the eight third-quarter minutes.

When Brown cooled, Jeremiah Alexander stepped in and dropped in two big jumpers early in the fourth quarter. The second gave Beech Grove a five-point lead – 43-38. It felt double that.

Ball was a bull in the low post with a double-double for points (17) and rebounds (20), but Brown was the surprise standout.

Broken on the backboard

You could see it early, like after the Hornets shot 2-of-13 from the field and 0-for-7 from 3 in the opening eight minutes. This wasn’t the greatest of shooting teams. They just weren’t going to make enough shots. They had to find another way.

Like dump it down low to Anthony Ball. If he missed, and he missed six shots in the first 16 minutes, the Hornets would crash the glass and get the rebound. Their best offense was a misses shot. Beech Grove sometimes got second- and third-chances. It finished with an 18-11 rebounding advantage in the first half. That included 11 offensive rebounds that led to 10 second-chance points.

Marian didn’t have the size to compete with Beech Grove down low. It needed to gang rebound. It didn’t.

Beech Grove took a two-point lead into the fourth quarter, one of the main reasons being a (+12) rebounding advantage. Size eventually mattered in this one.

Follow South Bend Tribune and NDInsider columnist Tom Noie on Twitter: @tnoieNDI

This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: High school basketball: Beech Grove beats Mishawaka Marian in 3A final