West Lafayette and Benton Central reach 3A title game, McCutcheon survives 4A semifinal

MONTICELLO − Rip out the records and burn old box scores that might be crawling in the driver's seat crevices.

The IHSAA girls basketball sectionals served up a pair of upsets, a freshman-led comeback victory and highlights that encapsulated a thrilling night of Hoosier Hysteria.

Here's a breakdown of how the Class 3A, 4A and 2A shook out as a memorable day of high school basketball across the Greater Lafayette Area.

Epic battles occurred between West Lafayette-Rensselaer, McCutcheon-Kokomo and Central Catholic-Carroll.

West Lafayette silences critics against Rensselaer

West Lafayette senior captain Adrianne Tolen soaked the moment in behind a supercharged crowd of screaming white and red clad adorers at Kent Adams Court in Twin Lakes High School.

Tolen and her team created enough separation with 23 seconds left to play against Rensselaer, a team that gave West Side fits all season.

More: Central Catholic's defense leads to sectional upset of Carroll

The Class 3A No. 3 Bombers had beaten the Red Devils twice including a 68-60 pounding in West Lafayette on Jan. 11.

"We took it really personally," Tolen said. "Ever since that game we had been scouting them and doing everything we could because wanted to prove everyone wrong."

Senior Sarah Werth sank two free throws and West Lafayette used an energized effort on defense forcing 20 turnovers to vanquish its foes from Jasper County 44-37.

West Lafayette (16-9) advanced to the IHSAA Class 3A Sectional Championship against Benton Central on Saturday at Twin Lakes High School at 7:30 p.m.

Tolen led with 16 points, Werth scored 11 points, including four three throws in the final minute. Junior Molly Andrew added eight points and eight rebounds.

"We just had to tune out the outside noise because we had multiple people telling us are you excited to play Rensselaer Central again? You're going to lose," Tolen said. "We didn't listen to them. The only thing that matter was what we thought. We knew we had to go out and do it on the floor."

Andrew had her moment of adversarial ascension during the fourth quarter. Andrew chased after a loose ball and her right shoulder got twisted in the pile.

She needed to be helped off the floor by training staff and left West Lafayette vulnerable to baskets in the paint. Rensselaer went on an immediate 4-0 run to lead 31-30 and prompted Andrew to return to the floor despite being in noticeable discomfort.

"I knew coming into this game it was going to be a battle on the boards," Andrew said. 'I was just trying to put my arm up for any rebound and I got hurt. They got a couple of fastbreaks and that's when I put the trainers to biofreeze me up and I'm good."

Andrew connected on a free throw line jumper with 4:00 in regulation and gave West Lafayette extended its lead 46-42.

"I didn't think it was going to go in but my teammates had faith in me and it helped me be confident," Andrew said.

Rensselaer (22-2) saw its season end abruptly after a strong regular season. The Bombers rattled off 19 straight wins and earned impressive victories over Harrison, Twin Lakes and beat Benton Central twice.

The Bombers were also one of the more aggressive defensive teams and used constant traps and full court presses to force turnovers.

Rensselaer forced 15 turnovers but starters Cadence Manns and Carly Drone each fouled out. Its 3-point shooting was limited to 3 of 13 in its third matchup with West Lafayette. The Bombers also took nine three throws while West Lafayette converted 15 of 26 attempts.

Manns believes her team didn't play with the usual looseness it showed during the regular season. Rensselaer Central will return nine varsity members next season including junior Taylor Van Meter. Van Meter led her team with 13 points. Drone scored eight points.

"We just were mentally not in it," Manns said. "We were thinking over it too much because it was a big game. We weren't mentally there. I think we are all stressing."

McCutcheon rallies against Kokomo

McCutcheon coach Jeff Knoy saw a team that was struggling and getting outhustled for the first 24 minutes.

All the work put in at Resler Gymnasium to reach the IHSAA Class 4A Sectional Championship was about to be cast into the offseason after McCutcheon trailed Kokomo by 11 points heading into the fourth quarter.

"We went 10 minutes without scoring or hitting our looks and we just got down," Knoy said.

But then freshman point guard Lillie Graves and her team began to solve the puzzle. Graves kept attacking the basket and the team energy McCutcheon showed all season long began to spark.

Graves kept driving and McCutcheon kept grabbing rebounds. Graves hit two free throws with 13 seconds left in the fourth quarter and McCutcheon rallied to beat Kokomo 36-33.

Graves scored 14 points with six rebounds, junior Kalea Washington grabbed 16 rebounds and scored seven points and sophomore Aubrey Miller added 10 rebounds and seven points for McCutcheon (20-4) looking to claim its first sectional title since 2021.

"We didn't give up and just had that mentality of digging in," Knoy said.

Harrison eyes repeat

Last season, Harrison broke through for its first sectional championship since 1986.

On Saturday night, the Raiders (13-12) will have a chance to repeat after knocking off Lafayette Jeff 61-35 to earn a rematch with rival McCutcheon, which defeated Harrison earlier this season.

Elsie Ahnert and Kelsie Guyer lead Harrison with 14 points each, while Riley Whitlock scored 10.

Hardebeck delivers for Benton Central

Benton Central junior Avery Hardebeck had been in and out of the rotation all season for the Bison.

But that level of comfortably on offense was taking a little bit longer than she may have wanted. And then she stopped overthinking and the game came naturally for Hardebeck against Twin Lakes on Friday night.

Hardebeck scored 15 points and Benton Central used a strong second half to beat Twin Lakes 59-35.

"I'm super excited, we have fun out there but we still have to finish tomorrow," Hardebeck said.

Benton Central faces West Lafayette on Saturday night for the Class 3A Sectional Title. The Bison are attempting to win its fourth sectional title in five seasons. Senior Sienna Foster scored 11 points, nine rebounds, four blocks and senior Sarah Gick added 11 points and grabbed 14 rebs for Benton Central.

This article originally appeared on Lafayette Journal & Courier: Top 3 IHSAA Girls Basketball Sectional Semifinals storylines