IHSAA basketball Class 4A state finals preview: Ben Davis vs. Fishers

It was the Monday after the state football finals. Less than 48 hours earlier, Mark Zackery IV caught six passes and a scored a touchdown as his Ben Davis team steamrolled Crown Point to win the Class 6A football championship.

Zackery, one of the top football players in the state, sent interim Ben Davis basketball coach Corey Taylor a text on Sunday morning to tell him he planned to be at practice the following day. Still, Taylor was a little surprised to turn around and see Zackery dribbling a basketball at halfcourt at 4 p.m. on Monday.

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“First thing he said was, ‘Coach, what do you need from me this year?’” Taylor said.

Taylor’s answer?

“I told him, ‘You are a great player, and you impact the game on both ends of the court,’” Taylor said. “I said, ‘I need you to talk more. I need you to be more vocal.’”

Zackery heeded that advice. On last year’s undefeated Class 4A state championship, Zackery was one of the team’s most important players as a defensive stopper and timely clutch performer. This year, that role has expanded to become more all-encompassing for a Ben Davis team (23-5) that is not as perfect as last year’s team but has a championship pedigree that top-ranked Fishers (28-1) knows is real.

Those teams will meet in the final high school game of the season on Saturday night at Gainbridge Fieldhouse.

“It’s all respect,” Fishers senior Taden Metzger said of Ben Davis. “They definitely deserve to be here. It’s just a team full of winners.”

Zackery certainly fits that category. The four-star defensive back prospect is considering Cincinnati, Florida, Michigan and Notre Dame as his top four schools. But when it is basketball season, Zackery is all on hoops. He made that clear — with his voice — after Ben Davis let a fourth-quarter lead slip away in a 39-36 loss to Carmel on Jan. 26.

Ben Davis was 10-4 at the time but was two weeks removed from a quarterfinal exit in the Marion County tournament. Zackery spoke up in the locker room.

“It was really just to get across that if we’re not going to be a team that is going to fight to win, there’s no point in us playing the season,” Zackery said. “If we’re not going to be out there competing, fighting through adversity, then we won’t win.”

From that point forward, with the exception of a nine-point loss to Cathedral in mid-February, all the Giants have done is win. With their backs against the wall in the semistate championship against Jeffersonville, Zackery put the finishing touches on Ben Davis’ comeback win with a blocked shot on a 3-pointer that landed near halfcourt.

“Honestly, what he does for this team is selfless because he doesn’t have to be here,” said Ben Davis senior K.J. Windham, the Giants’ leading scorer at 15.4 points per game. “He can go to any football program in the country. Him being here shows how much he cares. I think when he (spoke after the Carmel game) it kind of clicked that button with everybody like, ‘Oh, he doesn’t have to be here but he’s doing it so everybody else needs to pick it up.’”

The “next man up” cliché certainly applies to Ben Davis this season. Taylor, previously an assistant on Don Carlisle’s staff, moved into the interim role when Carlisle was placed on administrative leave. Carlisle has been cleared to return as coach for next season.

What does that mean for the 40-year-old Taylor?

“I put it in God’s hands,” he said. “Whatever is next, is next. I’m more worried about the present and doing right by these boys because that’s what they deserve.”

Zackery said Taylor’s role changed this year like it did for most of the team.

“Everybody knew he had the capability of being a head coach,” Zackery said. “That’s what they preach to us at Ben Davis — to be prepared to be the next guy. We put our trust in him, and he put his trust in us.”

Class 4A finals matchup: Ben Davis vs. Fishers

Class 4A state finals details: Tipoff at 8:15 p.m. Saturday at Gainbridge Fieldhouse; game will live streamed on IHSAAtv.org for a cost of $15 or $20 for all games; Tickets are $15 per person for one session and can be purchased at Ticketmaster.com. Participating schools also have tickets available at the respective schools.

Key players

Ramone Enis, Ben Davis: The 6-5 senior is averaging 7.1 points and 4.5 rebounds, while shooting 50% from the field and 74% from the free-throw line.

Mark White, Ben Davis: The 6-4 senior is averaging 8.9 points, 2.9 rebounds, 1.4 assists and 1.4 steals per game.

Tavion Williams, Ben Davis: The 6-7 junior is averaging 7.5 points and a team-high 5.0 rebounds. Williams is shooting 66% from the field.

K.J. Windham, Ben Davis: The 6-4 senior and Northwestern recruit is averaging a team-high 15.4 points per game and dishing 2.3 assists.

Mark Zackery IV, Ben Davis: The 6-1 junior is averaging 10.3 points, 4.3 assists, 2.1 rebounds and 1.5 steals per game, shooting 37.8% (34-for-90) from the 3-point line.

Jason Gardner Jr., Fishers: The 6-foot freshman guard is averaging 6.4 points, 2.6 rebounds and 2.2 assists per game, shooting 44% from the field.

Keenan Garner, Fishers: The 6-6 Garner is averaging a team-high 15.6 points and 8.2 rebounds and is second on the team with 3.5 assists per game.

JonAnthony Hall, Fishers: The 6-2 Hall is averaging 11.3 points, 3.8 rebounds and 2.9 assists and is shooting 64.5% from the field. Hall is Division I wide receiver prospect.

Taden Metzger, Fishers: The 6-2 senior, a Huntington commit, is averaging 8.8 points, 1.7 rebounds and 1.1 assists and is shooting 43.4% from the 3-point line and 90.9% from the free-throw line.

Cooper Zackary, Fishers: The 5-9 freshman guard is averaging 7.5 points and a team-high 3.6 assists, shooting 40.9% from the 3-point line.

How Ben Davis can win

Make Fishers uncomfortable. It does not necessarily mean the Giants have to force a bunch of turnovers to win (though that would help) but when Fishers gets going on offense, there is probably not a more difficult team to defend at all five spots. On offense, the Giants will need production from players other than Zackery and Windham. Case in point: senior guard Justin Harrington, who made two big 3-pointers late in the fourth quarter against Jeffersonville.

How Fishers can win

Don’t let Windham get going. The Northwestern commit can score in flurries. The Tigers will need to know where he is at all times. On offense, the Tigers just need to be themselves. The strength of the Tigers is balance. Garner is the leading scorer and most difficult matchup, but Fishers has leaned on several others at different times this season. Taking care of the ball is also a key against the Ben Davis guard pressure.

Prediction

You can throw out Fishers’ 74-61 win over Ben Davis in the season opener. Zackery didn’t play and it was more than four months ago. This one will come down to the wire. Fishers 61, Ben Davis 58.

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

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: IHSAA basketball Class 4A state finals Ben Davis vs. Fishers prediction