RANDY HISNER
WZBD.com
“Certainly the feeling I got tonight was ‘We can play with these guys,’” said Adams Central boys’ basketball coach Aaron McClure after the state’s top-ranked 2A team, the Tipton Blue Devils, edged his squad 60-51 at the Hangar Saturday night.
Even some of the most faithful Jet fans might have doubted that feeling early in the game when the hot-shooting Blue Devils (16-1) sped out to an 18-7 lead in the first quarter and kept the pedal down till it was 33-14 with barely over a minute left in the half.
But Trace Maller hit two free throws at the 1:17 mark and followed with a baseline drive with 28 seconds left to break Tipton’s momentum and give the Jets (12-3) a lift at the intermission.
Still, a 33-18 deficit looked daunting, especially against a team as talented as the Blue Devils. They made nine of 20 three-point attempts in the first half, including three each from sharpshooter Nolan Swan (Tipton’s leading scorer at 20.8 ppg) and Sam Quigley. Junior phenom Grady Carpenter—who is listed as a 6-6 guard but plays everywhere, including inside defensively—drained a pair of long-range shots. He also directed the Tipton offense with uncanny court vision and pinpoint passes.
The second half was a completely different show. A resilient Jet team turned the tables on the Blue Devils in the third quarter, hitting nine of 13 two-point attempts to earn an 18-11 advantage and trim the lead to eight at 44-36.
McClure didn’t claim any halftime coaching magic. “I thought we did a good job of just kind of maintaining what we were trying to do,” he said. “We didn’t really make many adjustments. The tide started to swing a little bit, and we started to play a little better, and they started to miss a few shots—and the next thing you know we were right back in the ballgame.”
The quarter started with the Jets’ Micah McClure hitting a drive on the right side and Tipton’s Jackson Money countering with a three from the top of the key.
Then came a 10-2 Adams Central run. Ryan Tester started it with a layup at the 6:55 mark, and then Isaac Schultz, who scored a game-high 27 points, hit a fast break layup, thanks to a steal and assist from McClure. Swan hit a mid-range jumper for the Blue Devils, but Schultz hit a put back off Tester’s missed three. Tester stole the ball on Tipton’s next possession and hit McClure with a perfect pass for a layup. Tester finished the run with a bucket on the right block after receiving a slick wrap-around pass from Braylend Reber.
In the fourth quarter, a pair of Tipton threes—one from Ryan Tracy and another from Carpenter—sandwiched around a pair of free throws by Schultz put the Blue Devils up by 12 at 50-38. When Carpenter made it a 14-point lead with a fast break layup with six minutes left, it looked like the Jets were finished.
Cue another Jet rally.
This time it was a 12-2 run, started by a Schultz free throw at the 5:44 mark. After Swan hit a floater for Tipton, Maller responded with a stop-and-pop three on a fast break and then a put back on McClure’s errant three-point attempt. Schultz continued the rally with three baskets in less than a minute—two put backs and a post-up move after a nice entry pass from McClure with 1:21 to go.
Now it was 54-50. Suddenly, the #1 2A team in the state looked vulnerable.
The Blue Devils, however, regained their composure and got the ball to Quigley wide open underneath for an easy layup with 44 seconds left. After a defensive stop, Swan made two free throws with 20.9 to go, stretching the lead to eight at 58-50. A free throw from Schultz and a final bucket by Money ended the scoring.
The Blue Devils scored almost two-thirds of their points on threes, hitting 13-of-31 for 42%. The Jets connected on only one of 11 for a wretched 9%. They were better on twos (20-of-41 for 49%). Tipton hit 9-of-20 two-pointers (45%). The Jets were 8-of-12 (67%) on free throws, the Blue Devils 3-of-4 (75%).
“As poorly as we shot it, and as well as they shot it, we were right in the ball game there with a minute left,” Coach McClure commented. “We made a nice comeback. I didn’t think there was any quit in our guys. I liked how we fought right to the end. We gave ourselves a chance. They’re good, they’re really good. I think we’re good too. Tonight, one good team beat another good team.”
Tipton’s only loss was to Kokomo, the #9 team in 4A.
With an eye toward a tough tournament road—the Jets’ sectional at Bluffton features four of the top 11 teams in 2A—McClure felt his squad, ranked ninth in the latest poll, needed to beef up its schedule.
“We had a couple openings on our schedule this year,” he said, “and there were probably some games we could have picked up that would have resulted in two pretty easy wins, but we added Tipton and Fort Wayne North Side. We want to challenge ourselves, and I think tonight was certainly that.”
Schultz added three blocks and 11 rebounds to his 27 points. Maller scored nine, while Reber had five points and five boards. McClure scored four points and grabbed five rebounds. Tester collected six points and led the Jets with five steals.
Swan led Tipton with 19 points. Quigley had 14, Money 12, and Carpenter 11.
Tipton won the JV game, 46-24. Drew Johnson paced the Jets with 12 points. Cade Van De Weg added eight.
The Jets will host Fremont next Thursday.