PREP BOYS BASKETBALL: Prough heats up, Concord makes a statement in 47-29 win over NorthWood

Feb. 1—DUNLAP — You could sum up the heavyweight battle at McCuen Gym Friday night with a green exclamation point.

27 of them, perhaps.

"I'm so proud of the kid," Concord head coach Derrick DeShone said Thursday night following a runaway 47-29 win over NorthWood in Dunlap. "I'm as hard on him as anybody because I know that's what he's capable of."

The Minutemen's head coach was talking about his sharpshooting junior Lucas Prough, who seemed to be the hottest thing in northern Indiana Thursday, shooting 9-of-14 including 7-of-10 from behind the 3-point arc to finish with 27 points on the night.

"I think you gotta credit him a little, he's been coming in, getting shots up in the morning so he was due to have a game like this," DeShone said. "We see it every day in practice."

After getting briefly lifted by a swarm of Concord students following the action, Prough went over his performance.

"Very big," the junior said to how large the hoop was for him Thursday. "I knew I had to step up. Last year I was a big part of scoring, this year we have more depth and I've been kind of cold this year but I knew it would come at some point. Luckily it came when they were off."

Braeden Messenger (four points), the Minutemen's usual top scorer, struggled to find nylon Thursday with the Panthers 3-2 zone defense nearly attached to his hip all night. Prough stepped up at the right time.

Concord's win propelled them to a lone spot in first breaking what was a tie with NorthWood. Mishawaka, a half-game behind remains the last team to beat the scorching Minutemen. The Cavemen beat Warsaw in overtime, keeping their run for the conference title alive.

Concord's win streak has now hit the decade mark, winners of its last 10 games and last eight at home. The Minutemen sit 15-2 and 5-1 in the NLC.

NorthWood (10-6, 4-2), who lost its second consecutive conference game, were held to 11-of-26 shooting Thursday. The switch-focused man-to-man defense of Concord left little openings to enter the ball inside to towering 6-foot-8 forward Tyler Raash. Raash finished with six points and was only able to get off seven shots.

Give credit to senior Parker McCuen, says DeShone.

"I though Parker McCuen did a heck of a job on Raasch tonight," DeShone said. "He battled him body for body the entire time."

"Raasch keeps you up at night and Ethan's first half almost had me pulling my hair out," DeShone added. "Our kids did a great job following the gameplan. Like I said, these dudes are tough as nails."

McCuen finished with six points Thursday, committing two of the Minutemen's five total fouls.

At the half, neither team stood out ahead of the other, knotted at 15 apiece.

Following a midrange shot from the elbow by Keegin Stats, Concord ripped off a 9-0 run highlighted by jumpers from Jaylan Bolen. Messenger also scored his first bucket of the night on a backdoor layup, adding to the energy at home.

"We wanted to make a few adjustments offensively," DeShone said about the message at the half. "We went with more of a baseline runner offense against them and changed some action we wanted to do downlow. That's a very hard defense to play against, we just had to find ways and break it down."

From there, Prough continued dropping 3-pointers like pennies in a fountain, getting closer and closer to granting the Minutemen fans another dominant home performance.

NorthWood kept up the tempo, hoping to find a hole in the defense, but shots were hard to come by due to the stingy hands of the home team. Eventually, both teams backed off for the last few ticks after what was played up as a game between two teams with a postseason path that could become extended a month from now.

Concord shot 18-of-34 from the floor and 8-of-18 from deep. They were 4-of-5 in the second half from beyond the arc. Committing just two turnovers the second half, the efficiency on both ends skyrocketed to take control.

The Minutemen were led by Prough's 27 followed by McCuen (6), Messenger (4), Bolen (4), Reese Breveard (3), Avery Johnson (2) and Camden Bonds (1).

NorthWood finished 4-of-10 from distance and a perfect 3-of-3 at the foul line. Ethan Wolfe led the way with nine points followed by Owen Roeder (8), and Keegin State and Raasch who scored six each.

Roeder committed three fouls in the first quarter, keeping him sidelined for the full second quarter. A strong shooter and defender was forced to watch most of the first half on the Panthers who don't go as deep.

"I thought Concord played very well," NorthWood head coach Aaron Wolfe said postgame. "They got away from us in the third quarter and then we were scrambling from there."

Concord plays three of its next four games on the road. They'll travel to Northridge Friday followed by their final home game against South Bend Clay Feb. 13.

NorthWood is back in action this Saturday, hosting Beech Grove to begin a four-game home stretch.

PREP BOYS BASKETBALL

NorthWood — 7; 8; 7; 7 — 29

Concord — 7; 8; 16; 16 — 47

JV score: NorthWood def. Concord 41-39

Reach Matt Lucas at 574-533-2151, ext. 240325, or at matt.lucas@goshennews.com.