1999 IHSAA Boys Basketball
Class 4A State Finals
NORTH CENTRAL WINS FIRST BASKETBALL STATE CHAMPIONSHIP
North Central of Indianapolis went on a 11-0 run at the end of the first half to take control of the game and went on to a 79-74 victory over Elkhart Central in the IHSAA Class 4A state championship game on Saturday at the RCA Dome in Indianapolis.
Senior guard Jason Gardner of North Central scored nine of those 11 points over the last 3:01 of the second quarter, including three layups off of fast breaks that turned a 29-25 Elkhart Central lead into a 36-29 North Central advantage at halftime.
Gardner, headed for the University of Arizona on a basketball scholarship next fall, scored a game-high 24 points helping North Central, with the state's largest four-year enrollment, to its first basketball state championship. Overall, it was the 44th IHSAA state championship in the school's history, which is second only to Carmel's 62 championships.
Ranked ninth in the final Associated Press Class 4A poll, North Central (23-5) also received 20 points from Shawn Radford, who pulled down 10 rebounds. Nick Gardner contributed 11 points for the Panthers, who were coached by Doug Mitchell.
Unranked Elkhart Central, bidding for its first state championship in its sixth appearance at the state finals, was led by guards Anthony Kyle with 23 points and James Scott with 16. Center Justin Riley was a force on the glass with a game-high 17 rebounds (7 offensive) and also dropped in 14 points for the Blazers.
Elkhart Central finished 18-8 in Coach Mike Drews first year on the job.
ELKHART'S TIM CHURCH WINS CLASS 4A TRESTER AWARD
Tim Church of Elkhart Central High School was selected by the Executive Committee of the Indiana High School Athletic Association as the recipient of the Arthur L. Trester Award for Mental Attitude in Class 4A Boys Basketball.
The award, named in honor of the IHSAA's first commissioner, is awarded to one senior boy in each classification at the state finals who best demonstrates mental attitude, scholarship, leadership and athletic ability during the four years of high school.
Church, a three-year starter, helped the Blazers to a runner-up finish in the Class 4A championship game. He also was a four-year player on the school's soccer team and twice earned Academic All-State honors.
Academically, Church ranks atop his senior class of 301 students with a 4.4 GPA (on 4.0 scale). He is a member of the National Honor Society and plans to attend Duke University where he will study business.
Farm Bureau Insurance, the IHSAA corporate partner, presented a $1,000 scholarship to Elkhart Central High School in the name of Church.
CLASS 4A CHAMPIONSHIP BOX SCORE
Elkhart Central (18-8)
Name |
Min. |
FG |
3FG |
FT |
R |
A |
F |
S |
TO |
TP |
Brent Melvin |
27 |
3-5 |
0-2 |
2-4 |
1 |
2 |
5 |
1 |
3 |
8 |
James Scott |
32 |
6-17 |
2-9 |
2-4 |
1 |
2 |
1 |
0 |
4 |
16 |
Anthony Kyle |
32 |
10-18 |
3-8 |
0-0 |
4 |
4 |
4 |
6 |
3 |
23 |
Tim Church |
31 |
2-5 |
0-0 |
5-9 |
4 |
0 |
2 |
3 |
0 |
9 |
Justin Riley |
32 |
5-15 |
0-0 |
4-6 |
17 |
3 |
3 |
0 |
2 |
14 |
Tedric Harwell |
6 |
2-2 |
0-0 |
0-0 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
4 |
Team Total |
160 |
28-62 |
5-19 |
13-23 |
28 |
11 |
16 |
10 |
12 |
74 |
Percentages |
.452 |
.263 |
.565 |
Team Rebounds: 14
North Central (Indianapolis) (23-5)
Name |
Min. |
FG |
3FG |
FT |
R |
A |
F |
S |
TO |
TP |
Jason Gardner |
30 |
7-13 |
2-7 |
8-10 |
3 |
5 |
2 |
4 |
2 |
24 |
Nick Gardner |
25 |
4-6 |
3-4 |
0-0 |
0 |
3 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
11 |
Shawn Radford |
22 |
6-10 |
0-0 |
8-8 |
10 |
0 |
4 |
0 |
0 |
20 |
Erik Chapman |
13 |
2-7 |
0-4 |
4-4 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
4 |
8 |
Zach Scott |
4 |
1-1 |
0-0 |
0-0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
Lucas Query |
21 |
2-5 |
0-2 |
3-5 |
1 |
2 |
2 |
1 |
2 |
7 |
Eric Rhodes |
27 |
3-11 |
0-0 |
1-2 |
6 |
1 |
4 |
2 |
2 |
7 |
Donald Yates |
4 |
0-0 |
0-0 |
0-0 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
Max Matthews |
14 |
0-4 |
0-0 |
0-0 |
8 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
Team Totals |
160 |
25-57 |
5-17 |
24-29 |
32 |
13 |
18 |
9 |
13 |
79 |
Percentages |
.439 |
.294 |
.828 |
Team Rebounds: 7
Score by Quarters:
Elkhart Central |
21 |
8 |
21 |
24 |
- |
74 |
North Central (Indianapolis) |
14 |
22 |
22 |
21 |
- |
79 |
Attendance (Two-game session): 15,721
Officials: Larry Maxwell, David Raabe
POST-GAME QUOTES
North Central's Doug Mitchell
"Unbelievable, I didn't think their guards would ever quit knocking them down. We got some big stops when we had to. Every one of our seniors played a big role. A four year haul for these guys and they got it done.
"I've been dreaming about this ever since I was seven, eight, nine years old throwing up last second shots in the back yard and ever since I've been coaching.
"They're good. They've lost seven games but the games were when they were not at full strength.
"We really hesitated for a long time to any kind of pressure defense against them because they're pretty quick, but we're pretty quick ourselves. That's what we've been hanging our hats on for a long time."
North Central's Jason Gardner
Talking about North Central's seniors: "We've played together for four years. I had four years of varsity with Coach Mitchell and its been great. And I wanted to win the state for coach so bad. He said he was going to win it in five years and we got it in six years."
Elkhart Central Coach Mike Drews
Asked to analyze the flow of the game: "First quarter great, second quarter stunk, third and fourth quarter okay. The second quarter was key, especially the last three-four minutes. We had the momentum going our way in the first quarter , but they went to a little half-court trap. They did a nice job with it. They forced turnovers. They converted quickly and that ended up being the difference."
"Our kids fought hard even when they were down ten or 11. Until the last play of the game we were scapping, but we had to foul and they made some free throws.
"At the start of the game we moved the ball well and our defensive pressure surprised them. It was a pretty dog-gone physical game."