NEW CASTLE, Ind. – Sectional play is about survive and advance, and Richmond did just enough on Tuesday.
The Red Devils held off a late New Castle charge, outlasting the Trojans 70-65 in overtime during the opener of the Class 4A New Castle boys basketball sectional.
New Castle scored 26 fourth-quarter points to fight back into the game after trailing 45-27 following a Tommy Luce 3-pointer in the third quarter.
The Trojans (9-12) ended the third with five straight points, including the first of two big controversial calls on 3-pointers.
Kyle Bumbalough was fouled from beyond the arc at the buzzer and connected on all three free throws to get the Trojans within 45-32 entering the final quarter of regulation.
Later in the fourth, Abe Haler hit a 3-pointer to get the Trojans within 53-47, while Joe Ellson drew a foul on the play and connected on one of two free throws to make it 53-48.
Andrew Garrett hit a trey and Ellson made a layup to tie the game at 53, the first tie since 17-all in the second quarter.
The teams were tied six times in the fourth quarter, including at the buzzer when Haler hit a layup to tie it 58-all.
“I was really proud of the effort,” New Castle coach Daniel Cox said. “It would be really easy for our guys to fold there, down 18 in the third, and just a resilient group and the fight that they had down the stretch. Richmond’s a very good basketball team, a lot of different weapons that will hurt you a lot of different ways, and I was proud of the way we fought and fought and kept grinding and gave ourselves a chance to win.”
But despite the big plays made by New Castle, the Achilles’ heel was Richmond’s (22-3) free throw shooting.
The Red Devils were 10-for-31 on the night, including 2-for-9 in the fourth quarter and 5-for-16 in the overtime period.
“… (T)hat’s just us, so I don’t think we can expect that to happen again,” Richmond assistant coach David Cruse said. “We’re going to come out and we’re going to be ready to play and I think our seniors are going to take some pride on Friday night.”
Still, the Class 4A No. 8-ranked team made shots when it needed.
Luce took the opening tip-off of overtime all the way for a layup in the first four seconds, then later hit a 3 to make it 68-60.
The Trojans got within 68-65, before Auntonio Brown scored the game’s final two points, and the Red Devils survived.
Blue River A Winner
Blue River will meet Union in the semifinals of the Class A Blue River Sectional Friday after the Vikings advanced Tuesday night with a 56-40 win over Randolph Southern.
Randolph Southern’s struggled to find the basket in the first half, trailing 28-10 at intermission. A strong second half could not bring Southern all the way back, as the Rebels conclude a 4-18 season.
“It was a tale of two halves, but our kids kept fighting. They are great kids, a good team to coach. I was proud of the effort,” said Randolph Southern coach Tom Byrum.
Blue River, now 12-11, was led by Noah Madison with a game-high 17 points, while Noah Brown had 13 and Jonah Madison 10. Randolph Southern was led by Nick Dunham with 15 points, while Logan Ward added nine.