Peru —
Peru avenged a narrow loss to Maconaquah in the championship game of last month’s Miami County Tournament by defeating the Braves 59-43 in Mid-Indiana Conference action at Tig-Arena Friday.
Mac had claimed the previous meeting 55-51. The 43 points is the second lowest that the Tigers (5-6, 2-0 MIC) have given up this season. The lowest was the 38 Peru allowed to Eastern on Dec. 14.
“I thought we did a nice job defensively,” Peru coach Jim Metcalfe said. “[Maconaquah] was a little confused on how to attack the zone a little bit at times. It helped that [Mac post Micah] Pier got into foul trouble again. It seems like he couldn’t get into rhythm all night long, so that helped us tremendously, and [Tyler] Bradley into foul trouble, just keeping those guys off the floor a lot kept them out of rhythm offensively. Those guys do the majority of the scoring for them. We did a good job. I thought at times we didn’t rebound the ball as good as we should, but for the most part defensively that was the best effort all season.”
Pier, who scored eight points in the first meeting, only scored four Friday, and Bradley, who scored 17 in the championship game, scored only six points.
Maconaquah (7-4, 2-1 MIC) also shot 28 percent (14 of 50) from the field, while Peru shot 45.7 percent (21 of 46) from the field.
The Braves led once during the game, and that was with 5:56 left in the first quarter when Trevor Hagan hit a basket for a 4-2 lead.
Peru’s biggest lead of the night was the final 59-43. It came on a two-handed slam dunk by 6-foot-10 sophomore Seth Adelsperger with :05.4 left in the game.
“It was a good win,” Metcalfe added. “Our kids have been looking forward to this since Dec. 29th. We did what we had to do Monday through Thurday to put us into this position [Friday]. It was one of the things we have been stressing. We just have to keep getting better and pushing each other in practice. You could see that our guys were getting sick of practice, and ready to get out here and play. It was our most complete game that we had played all season. Everybody contributed, and everybody made plays. I was really proud of the effort we had [Friday].”
Peru was led by Joe Comerford with a double-double of 23 points and 11 rebounds. Brodie Brooks added 13 points. Logan Primerano contributed with 12 points, and Adelsperger added 10 points.
Maconaquah, which came into the game with a three-game winning streak, didn’t play up to par, according to the Braves’ coach Andy Steele.
“Peru came out aggressive, and I think we backed away,” Steele said. “[I told the team] I think we played six solid minutes of basketball, and that was from the six minutes left in the game to the buzzer that’s all I think we played well. Rather, that’s me not doing the right defense, or them not showing up and playing I don’t know yet. I am going to have to watch film and break this down. It is a sick feeling in my stomach, you know we are the better team, and we came out and played like that.”
Walton led Maconaquah with a double-double of 13 points and 12 rebounds.
Sports
Peru pulls away from county rival Maconaquah
Tight defense gives Bengals revenge for loss in county tourney.
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Field is set for Indianapolis 500
After being bumped from the starting field while sitting on the qualifying line on pole day, Josef Newgarden turned the fastest time on bump day, assuring himself a spot in the Indianapolis 500.
The field of 33 cars will have one final opportunity to practice on Friday before next Sunday’s 97th running of the 500.
One year ago the Sarah Fisher Racing Team withdrew Newgarden’s entry on the first day of qualifying and had to qualify on bump day. This year the team decided not to make another qualifying run and got bumped. -
Athlete of the week
Cole led the small-school Comets to the Kokomo Sectional title, their first title since 1998.
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Kats regain tennis throne
At 10:51 a.m. Saturday morning, the bulk of Kokomo’s girls tennis team sprinted from the viewing hill to the east entrance of the tennis courts to mob No. 1 singles player Morgan Mohr as she came off the court following her 1-6, 6-1, 6-1 victory over Eastern’s Courtney Clark.
The No. 3 singles match was still raging, but the team match was already won. The Wildkats had reconquered the throne from two-time defending champion Eastern and were once again champions of the Kokomo Sectional. -
Eastern boys track claims first sectional title since 1998
The boys track and field coach at Eastern High School from 1987 until last season, Paul Nicholson’s parting message to his team was simple: “Don’t deny the gift.”
That motto left such a lasting impression on the Comets’ returning athletes that they had it screen printed on their 2013 season T-shirts.
With Nicholson in attendance to celebrate with them, new coach Austin Roark and the Comets outlasted host Kokomo to win their first sectional title since 1998 Thursday night, topping the Wildkats by 3.5 points, 124.5-121.
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Eastern, Kokomo favored in boys track sectional
Some of the names and faces have changed, but the plot remains much the same.
The Kokomo boys track and field sectional, much like last year, will likely be a two-horse race between the host and three-time defending champion Wildkats and Eastern, a team looking to break through and win its first sectional title since 1998. -
Cole to jump at Miami University
Eastern athlete Grant Cole has only been a long jumper for two seasons, but being turned on to the event late in his career has landed him a scholarship to Miami University.
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Comets roar to sectional title
As the old adage goes, it’s harder stay on top than it is to reach the top.
Eastern’s girls track and field team entered the 2012 postseason hoping to put in a strong enough effort to claim the program’s first sectional title.
Having done so, the Comets entered Tuesday’s postseason opener — the Madison-Grant Sectional — with a much larger bull’s-eye on their backs than in previous years.
Eastern proved up to the challenge, scoring a landslide victory to repeat as sectional champions with 125 points. -
Dexter leaving Eastern
Eastern girls basketball coach Jeremy Dexter has stepped down from the Comet program after accepting the AD job at Churubusco last week. Churubusco is in Whitley County about 15 minutes west of Fort Wayne.
Dexter led the Comets to a Class 2A state runner-up finish this past season. -
Hunter edges Shrout in Thunder Car thriller
Two drivers who are no strangers to Victory Lane returned there Sunday night at the Kokomo Speedway. Meanwhile, a third driver scored just the second feature win of his career at the local oval to highlight the racing action.
Chris Hunter, the winningest Thunder Car driver in the history of the local oval, ground out a gritty win over defending track champion Jason Shrout to highlight the chilly night. -
Girls track sectional is tonight
Eastern’s girls track and field team is ready to chase some more championship hardware.
Two weeks ago, the Comets won their fourth straight Howard County meet. Last week, they won their fourth straight Mid-Indiana Conference meet. Now, the postseason is here, with the Madison-Grant Sectional tonight.
“We’re looking forward to taking the next step,” Eastern coach Michael Goodspeed said. - More Sports Headlines
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