City championship Part 2: Cathedral needs 'playoff' Xavier Booker in rematch vs. Attucks
The bad news for the Class 4A defending state champs? Seventeen turnovers and 15 missed free throws. The good news? All of that happened in a win.
Cathedral coach Jason Delaney described it as “chaos” at times late in his team’s 64-61 Sectional 10 semifinal win Friday night over Warren Central. The host Warriors rallied from an 11-point deficit in the final two minutes to get the game within a possession
“We didn’t do a good job with any of that tonight,” Delaney said of his team’s poise down the stretch. “But this sectional is so hard and every game is a battle. It’s about survival and that’s all it’s about. Bottom line is you have to win the game.”
IHSAA basketball sectional scores: Half-court buzzer-beaters, power outages, a leaky roof
The sixth-ranked Irish (18-5), which had the bye into the semifinals in the seven-team field, will play Crispus Attucks (18-7) in Saturday’s sectional championship. The Tigers eliminated Lawrence North, turning the game with a “where did that come from?” 16-0 run to run away with a 51-38 victory.
That sets up City tournament championship Part 2. Attucks stunned Cathedral 61-51 five weeks ago to win City.
“We just have to play our basketball,” Attucks junior Ron Rutland III said. “We can’t rush ourselves. We just have to let it come to us and play. We saw their game tonight so we’ll be prepared.”
In the night's first game, Cathedral had an oddly quiet night offensively from seniors Jaron Tibbs and Jake Davis, who combined for just 12 points. But 6-10 senior Xavier Booker scored 18 of his 22 points in the second half and Kamari Slaughter added 14.
Delaney called this version of the Michigan State recruit “playoff Booker” after his stellar play during last year’s state title run.
“It’s very important to me,” Booker said of making another championship run. “We got the ‘chip last year and that’s the goal this year. I definitely want to end my senior season on a strong note. We have a great group of guys and a great group of coaches and want to go out on top.”
Cathedral will need to put games away with a little more oomph than it showed Friday night. The Irish led 60-49 with 1:58 left after Booker made one of two free throws, but Warren Central (14-10) kept coming, going on a 10-2 run and cutting Cathedral’s lead to 62-59 on 3-pointer by Brandon Snodgrass with 39.4 seconds remaining.
But after two missed Cathedral free throws, Warren Central’s Devaon Holman missed a contested shot at the basket and Davis sealed with two free throws with 9.6 seconds remaining. Robert Walker led Warren Central with 14 points. The Warriors shot 8-for-21 from the free-throw line.
Delaney said the good part of Friday’s win was that Cathedral won without big contributions from Tibbs and Davis.
“I think it’s a beautiful thing because those two didn’t play very well and we still won,” Delaney said. “I though (Deric) Cannady stepped up and (Slaughter) stepped up and all the guys that came in did some positive things. That’s a positive for me that those two struggled and we still won the basketball game.”
For Cathedral to make a run, it will need “playoff Booker.”
“We need playoff Booker to come on back this year,” Delaney said. “Put the cape on, come out of the phone booth and be the guy that we need.”
There should not be an issue with motivation Saturday night. The Tigers’ Dezmon Briscoe, a 6-8 sophomore with a new offer from Iowa, torched the Irish in the City championship for 21 points and 10 rebounds, while Rutland went for 18 points. That was something of coming out party for Attucks, which started the season 1-4 with one of those a 17-point loss to Lawrence North.
Friday’s game looked like it might be headed the same direction when Lawrence North jumped out to leads of 14-2 and 22-9.
“We just didn’t make shots,” Attucks coach Chris Hawkins said. “We had some turnovers and didn’t get enough touches for Briscoe and Rutland. We just had to calm down and settle in.”
Lawrence North guards Azavier Robinson and Kobi Bowles combined for 54 points in the Wildcats’ 91-72 first-round win over North Central. They combined for just 21 Friday with Bowles scoring a team-high 14.
Attucks, after trailing 24-17 at halftime, took command with a 16-0 third-quarter run to take a 34-27 lead in the final minute of the third quarter. Lawrence North never again pulled closer than five points.
The result sets up a juicy rematch between the defending state champs and the team that kept them from winning City. Attucks has not won a sectional title since moving up to 4A in 2020, but did knock Cathedral out in the first round of the sectional three years ago.
“We just have to play,” Hawkins said. “They put on their shorts and jersey just like we do. We just want to play our game. Jake (Davis) will be back this time so they’ll have his shooting and passing. We don’t want to make the game too big. We just want to play Crispus Attucks basketball and see where that puts us.”
Call Star reporter Kyle Neddenriep at (317) 444-6649.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: IHSAA basketball sectionals: Catheral, Crispus Attucks advance
