S E C T I O N A L W R A P - U P

Hawks open sectional with dramatic win

Aided by their coaches, Decatur Central defenders put pressure on Roncalli attackers during Tuesday’s sectional opener.

(SOUTHSIDER VOICE PHOTOS BY STEVE PAGE)

By Steve Page
Correspondent

Decatur Central did a number of things correctly during Tuesday’s Sectional 11 opener against Roncalli at Perry Meridian.

The Hawks combined defensive pressure with speed to build leads of 10 points in the first half and eight points in the fourth quarter.

“We wanted to move fast, get up and down, share the ball,” said senior forward Anthony Ball.

Roncalli, which had fallen to visiting DC by seven points earlier in the season, kept battling back. But the Royals had to try to foul their way back into it.

Ball and fellow senior Raekwon Cunningham made the most of that, combining to sink six of eight free throws in the waning minutes and giving the Hawks a three-point lead.

When Roncalli came up empty on two 3-point shots just before the final buzzer, the Hawks escaped with a 55-52 victory.

“Survive and advance. That’s it,” DC coach Bryan Surber said. “We got lucky he missed that last one.”
The Hawks, 12-10, advanced to play Pike, 15-8, in the semifinal round on Friday. The Red Devils drew the tournament’s bye.

Surber said this was a nice turnaround for the Hawks, who finished the regular season with losses of one point to University and two to Beech Grove.

“The way the last two games were, we would have lost this,” he said. “I’m happy with the growth we showed the last week.”

On this occasion, DC showed just enough.

After helping the Hawks’ fast start by scoring 18 points before intermission, Ball finished with 22.

Despite giving up a sizeable difference in weight to Roncalli centers Trevor Lauck (6-7, 290 pounds) and Luke Skartvedt (6-5, 317), the 6-6, 200-pound Ball blocked several shots.

“He is just a great player,” Ball said of Lauck, a Division I signee as an interior lineman. “It was tough. I just had to keep playing.”

Senior guard KC Berry scored 14 points, 12 of which came on 3-pointers. Steven Rogers scored six, Melakih Cunningham five and Raekwon Cunningham and Ty’reese Burnett added four each.

Of Ball, Surber said, “The way he shoots – it’s amazing. It doesn’t appear he’s shooting well, then we check after the game, and he shot 65 percent. He finds a way.”

As did DC’s free-throw shooters. While Ball sank both of his fourth-quarter charity tosses, Raekwon Cunningham came off the bench to convert four of six in the latter stages of the game.

“We don’t have great free throw shooters, but we had our best free throw shooters out there,” Surber said. “I’m so proud of Raekwon. For him to knock down some free throws down the stretch was huge for us.”

After drawing Roncalli’s 10th foul, Raekwon Cunningham sank both free throws for a 54-49 lead with 28.6 seconds remaining.

Luke Kegerreis, returning from a gimpy ankle, converted a rebound with 13.5 seconds showing to trim the deficit to 54-52. Raekwon Cunningham sank the first of two free throws with 10.5 left to play for what proved to be the final margin.

The Royals tried to counter with 3-pointers, but came up empty as time expired.

“We have great athletes who are playing basketball,” said first-year coach Jamin Wernke after Roncalli’s season ended at 9-14. “The guys we have came to play. We had shots at the end with our best shooter. That’s kind of our go-to. Having that chance, I can’t be disappointed.”

The stats proved close.
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Both teams hit 15 field goals and 10 free throws. DC had a 5-4 edge in 3-pointers, and that was the difference.

​Pike comeback beDevils Hawks

​By Steve Page
Correspondent

For most of three quarters, Decatur Central played very well in Friday’s semifinal battle with favored Pike in the Perry Meridian sectional tournament.

In fact, the Hawks battled the Red Devils to a 45-45 deadlock after three quarters.

But it was all pretty much Pike’s defense after that.

The Red Devils, 16-8, stymied the Hawk shooters while repeatedly stealing the ball in the final frame.

they simply ran away to a 66-51 decision to advance to Saturday’s championship game against top-ranked Ben Davis.

Steven Rogers hit a baseline jumper to give the Hawks a 41-36 lead with 3:51 left in the third period. But Pike outscored the Hawks 30-10 the rest of the way.

“We shot ourselves in the foot when we had the lead,” Hawk coach Bryan Surber said after DC finished 12-11. “We had crucial turnovers, missed crucial spots.

“Missed free throws have been our Achilles heel all season,” he said after the Hawks converted just 12 of 20. Pike made good on 11 of 13 attempts.

Still there were bright spots aplenty.

Senior center Anthony Ball and junior guard KC Berry scored 20 points each for the Hawks. Ball was steady throughout, while Berry scored 11 of his in the third quarter.

“I’m proud of our guys,” Surber said. “I’m proud of our seniors. We had a lot of experience this year.

Anthony Ball scored his 1,000th point. He needed 17 coming in. That’s a big accomplishment for him.

Of his other seniors, Surber said, “Raekwon (Cunningham) and Steven (Rogers) are two of the hardest workers we have. Aycen Stevens decided to play basketball, with all he had going on. It’s just too bad he got hurt.” Stevens will play football at Virginia Tech.

Rogers and junior Ayden Lawson scored four points, sophomore Melakih Cunningham had a field goal and sophomore Ty’reese Burnett added a free throw. The Hawks, who hit five 3-pointers in Wednesday’s opening win over Roncalli, made just one Friday.

Pike junior Camron Casky provided much of the difference by scoring 21 points – 10 in the fourth quarter – and repeatedly stealing the ball.

“We needed to rebound a lot better than we did,” Surber continued. “In the fourth quarter, we didn’t shoot it as well. Pike had a lot to do with that, with their speed and athleticism.”

DC led 15-14 at the quarter break before the Red Devils went up 32-28 at the half.
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Surber praised his assistant coaches – Matthew Brown, Michael Brown, Noah Ray, Dave Stinson, Tony Tate and Steve Smith, saying, ‘“My assistant coaches were huge. When I got the job here two years ago, I wanted to fill my staff. I’m thankful for them.”

(SOUTHSIDER VOICE PHOTOS BY STEVE PAGE)
Raekwon Cunningham, a Decatur Central senior, puts up one of his crucial free throws in the Hawks' win over Roncalli on Tuesday.

Decatur Central sophomore Melakih Cunningham launches a successful 3-point attempt in Tuesday’s sectional game with Roncalli.

​After driving past Roncalli defender Luke Skartvedt, Decatur Central senior Anthony Ball puts up a layup while teammate Ayden Lawson positions himself.

KC Berry has the attention of Decatur Central cheerleaders as the 6-foot Hawk senior prepares for a fast-break jam during Friday's semifinal game with Pike.