Monday night the city came out to the highly – anticipated rematch of last yearās City Tournament Championship Game ā Cathedral vs Crispus Attucks. The parking lot outside of Arsenal Techās Behlmer Memorial Gymnasium was full 20 minutes prior to tip. Cathedral came into the game 12-1 and ranked #4 in the state. Crispus Attucks came in 12-3 positioned #6 in the Indiana Basketball Coaches Association Poll.
The action was fast paced, up and down to begin the game. Ā A pace that seemed to favor Attucks as the Tigers got out to a 20-13 lead after the first period. The second quarter was more of the same. Even with Senior guard Ronnie Rutland saddled with foul trouble and playing limited minutes the Tigers pushed the lead.Ā A little over midway through the second quarter a Jacson Payton 3 pushed the lead to ten at 33-23.Ā Attucksā big Dezmon Briscoe made a layup with 1:30 left before the half giving Crispus Attucks their largest lead of the game at 15.Ā But Cathedral would answer as Junior Aidan Hughes sparked a quick 7-2 Irish run to end the half and cut the deficit to 10 heading into intermission.
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Cathedralās momentum continued into the second half as the 10 – point deficit they inherited from the first sixteen minutes was trimmed to 5 just two minutes into the 3rd quarter. More pressure from the Irish as 6ā7 Senior Sheldon Gatlin would hit two triples in quick succession followed up by an Aidan Hughes layup. With 4 minutes to go in the third Cathedral was all the way back, equaling Attucks at 44 points apiece. The two teams would struggle through the last 4 minutes of the period even. At the end of the 3rd quarter the two teams found themselves knotted at 50.
The fourth quarter was exciting. Both teams came out very aggressive defensively. Both offenses were up for the challenge, converting possessions into points at an impressive clip. With seven seconds left in the game Attucks had scored 21 points in the quarter while Cathedral put up 18. The Irish had a chance to inbound the ball for one last shot. Junior LeBron Gough got the ball, dribbled to the left corner, found himself open, pulled up for threeā¦ the shot fell short. Buzzer sounded. Ball game. Crispus Attucks retained their crown becoming the defending, back-to-back City Tournament champions!
Austin Taylor is the executive director of The City League. Email him at Austin@TheCityLeague.org. For more news courtesy of Austin Taylor and the Indianapolis Recorder, click here.