On Saturday night, Carmel and Lawrence North, a pair of MIC schools, will face off in the boys basketball Class 4A State Championship. Both teams come into the game with just 2 losses on the season as Carmel has 25 wins and Lawrence North has 28.
This will be the third consecutive state championship appearance for the Carmel Greyhounds, as they won the latest title in 2019. āWe went into this year with the mindset of making your own story,ā said Carmel head coach Ryan Osborn. āItās not about defending anything. We won that, itās over. Now itās about winning this one.ā
For the Wildcats, it’s a chance to redeem what they felt they should’ve claimed last year. In 2019-20, Lawrence North finished #3 in the 4A AP poll and defeated the second-ranked Lawrence Central Bears on their way to a sectional title. The Wildcats were seemingly on their way to the state championship but less than a week later, the season was canceled due to COVID-19 and there was no state champion crowned.
Wildcats head coach Jack Keefer is still upset that LN didnāt have this opportunity last year, saying, āWe just felt like we were playing the best ball we had played all year at the right time.ā Keefer says that this yearās team is āhaving a lot of fun and trying to make up for maybe not getting there last year.ā
Both Osborn and Keefer will be highly prepared for this moment. As aforementioned, this will be the third straight championship appearance for Osborn and the Greyhounds, as they lost to Warren Central in 2018 and defeated Ben Davis in 2019. Keefer has coached the Wildcats for 45 seasons and is an impressive 4-0 in state championship games, including winning three straight championships with Mike Conley and Greg Oden from 2004-2006.
Saturday will be the third consecutive 4A championship between MIC teams. āItās one of the best conferences in the Midwest,ā said Osborn.
āWeāre the dominant conference thatās for sure,ā said Keefer. āI think itās a very good plus that weāre able to play in the conference and play against the best teams.ā
On March 15, the MIC Network named its top five players in the conference. Three players in this upcoming game made the list: Carmel forward Brian Waddell, Carmel guard Pete Suder, and Lawrence North guard Shamar Avance. Suder and Avance were awarded Co-Players of the Year.
This yearās championship games are separated by an unorthodox bye week, as the semi-state games were on March 20 and the state finals are this Saturday, April 3. This is due to there being a pair of NCAA Tournament games at Bankers Life Fieldhouse this past Saturday.
Keefer believes that the bye week could be āvery beneficial to the team that handles it properly,ā adding that the first week went āfairly fast.ā
ā14 days is a long time to not play,ā said Osborn. āHaving that long of a break and keeping the edge is challenging and itās something that weāre going to have to figure out.ā
Carmel senior Brian Waddell figures to play a large role in the teamās success on Saturday night. In the Greyhoundsā regional final against Lafayette Jeff, Waddell hit a pair of free throws with 17 seconds remaining to give Carmel a 50-49 victory. āItās all mindset,ā said Waddell. āIāve shot thousands of free throws in my life and these were going to be no different.ā
A sprained ankle forced Waddell to miss the first meeting between these teams on February 4, yet Carmel still won 63-49. āTheyāre going to be ready to go,ā said Waddell. āTheyāve still got a bad taste in their mouth from the last time we played them.ā
No matter the result of Saturday nightās game, it will be a passionate moment for Waddell in his final high school contest. āIt hasnāt really hit me yet that this is the last time Iām going to wear a Carmel jersey,ā said Waddell. āWinning games is great and winning all the championships is great. But Iām just going to miss the guys that Iāve been playing with all these years.ā
Overall, the game should be a competitive defensive battle. Carmel is giving up just 41.6 points per game in the tournament and Lawrence North is allowing only 48.7 points per game. This will be just the second-ever tournament meeting between the squads, as LN defeated Carmel 47-22 in the 2006 regional semifinal.
āItās rewarding to get there, now we just want to go and finish it off,ā said Coach Keefer. āTheyāre a very good team. I think weāre a very good team. So it should be a good game.ā