TIPTON — The No. 1 Tipton Blue Devils looked every bit the top-ranked team in Class 2A Friday, hitting on all cylinders as they completely dismantled Eastern 72-14 in the second semifinal game of their own Tipton Boys Basketball Sectional at The Inferno.
Any hope by the Comets of a Tipton letdown following the Blue Devils’ hard-fought, four-point decision over No. 7 Oak Hill on Wednesday was quickly put to rest.
Tipton (22-2) scored the game’s first 10 points and led 10-3 at the first stop before really pouring gasoline on the fire, outscoring Eastern 25-4 in the second quarter.
This evening the Blue Devils will face Guerin Catholic, a 78-52 winner over Madison-Grant, for the sectional title.
“There’s always that concern you get for overlooking an opponent,” Tipton coach Travis Daugherty said. “I was just really pleased with how focused we were and we did a good job of sticking to the plan and executing that plan. Our guys deserve a lot of credit for a really good win.”
That plan included going inside early and often against the Comets, exploiting Tipton’s considerable size and weight advantage in the form of starters 6-foot-9 Derek Elston and 6-5 wide body Kyle Coleman.
Those two scored all of the Blue Devils’ 10 first-quarter points, with Coleman netting six, and both were in double figures before halftime.
With the inside game firmly established, Tipton went to work outside, canning five 3-point field goals in the second quarter — two by the Indiana University-bound Elston, who led everybody with 16 points and eight rebounds.
Coleman finished with 14 points while 7-foot reserve Ethan Jacobs netted 11 points and grabbed six boards. The Blue Devils shot 62 percent (29 of 47) from the field in the ballgame.
“It’s easy to say [working the ball inside] is something you want to do but it takes the responsibility of the post guys and the guards to be aware that we have an advantage in there,” said Daugherty. “I thought everybody worked really hard to make sure that happened first.
“And then after that some other things were set up from the post play and we were able to take advantage of those things too.”
Virtually nothing went right for Eastern, which finished the season 11-11, the first non-losing record since 1990-91.
The Comets’ one flash of competitiveness came as a result of holding Tipton scoreless the final 4:40 of the first quarter and outscoring the Blue Devils on a 5-2 run that ended with a basket by Joey Price on the second possession of the second quarter.
From that point on, though, Eastern’s scoreless streaks weren’t just dry spells, they were droughts of biblical proportions. The Comets recorded only three field goals in 41 attempts and none in 13 tries from 3-point range.
The Comets were led by reserve guard Caleb Gibson, who sank five fourth-quarter free throws. Price added four points while leading scorer Joby Renbarger was held to just one point by the interior of the Tipton defense.
“I thought our kids kept working hard. I’ve got to give them credit for that,” said Eastern coach Duane Keisling. “The shots they did have were good shots. You can’t ask any more of a ballclub. If the thing doesn’t go in, it doesn’t go in.
“Hand it to Tipton — they’ve got a fine ballclub. They’ve got the entire package.”
Eastern’s lone senior, Steven Boomershine, did make an appearance in the ballgame in the fourth quarter but reinjured his left knee and left at the 3:54 mark.
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