By Jim McCarter
DELPHI — Carroll’s boys basketball team jumped to a quick 12-2 lead over Fountain Central and rode that quick start to a 49-36 victory in the Class 2A Sectional 37 title here Saturday night.
The Cougars, who had never won a boys sectional until 2008, have now won three straight.
“A lot of our younger players watched us win our first sectional at Fountain Central two years ago,” Carroll coach Jeff Hodson said. “Until then, no one here knew how to win a sectional. Now we’ve got to learn how to be successful playing at the regional.”
The Cougars (13-10) will face Guerin Catholic (14-10) in a Tipton Regional semifinal game next Saturday.
Carroll utilized 3-point shooting in the first half against Fountain Central, then went inside after intermission.
The Cougars got a good omen when Eric Miller scored the first basket of the game, a 3-pointer from the left wing.
“Eric hit a 3 for our first basket in all three sectional games this week,” Hodson said. “It was great to see him do it again [Saturday]. We were all smiles on the bench when he hit it.”
“Everyone at school told me I needed to hit the first shot again so I figured I might as well go for it,” Miller said. “That put a little pressure on me, but I knew if I got the chance, I’d hit it.”
The Cougars hit 4 of 6 long-range jumpers in the first quarter to build a 19-11 lead.
A 3-pointer and a nice baseline drive for a layup by Kyle Geheb to start the second quarter extended Carroll’s lead to 24-11 and the Cougars were never seriously threatened the rest of the way.
Geheb led the Cougars with 12 points. He also had five rebounds.
“Kyle hit a couple of big 3s for us and played very good defense on their shooters,” Hodson said. “It’s nice to have big people inside and good shooters outside. It’s hard to take away both. In the first half they were doubling down on our bigs and we did a good job of recognizing that to get our outside shooters some open shots. In the second half, we got some offensive rebounds and putbacks and got some penetration by Noah Allen to open things up for our bigs.”
Allen scored 10 for the Cougars and Seth Johnson narrowly missed a double-double with eight points and 10 rebounds.
Fountain Central went to full-court pressure in the second half, sending Carroll to the free-throw line 18 times over the final 16 minutes. The Cougars responded well, hitting 13 of the 18 to secure the win. Carroll led by as many as 20, 46-46, in the fourth quarter.
The taller Cougars, who seem to have figured out how to use their height at just the right time, dominated the boards. Carroll outrebounded the Mustangs 18-3 in the second half, and 31-14 for the game.
