LCA head coach Chris Hohm talks strategy with senior Carter Twombly during Friday night’s sectional game. (Photos by Nick Goralczyk)

FORT WAYNE — Sometimes the other team is just that much better.

That was the case in Friday’s second semi-final of the 2016 IHSAA Class 2-A Sectional Tournament at Fort Wayne Blackhawk. The host Braves wasted no time punching their ticket to a third consecutive sectional championship game appearance with a 95-40 victory over Lakeland Christian Academy.

There’s no point to beating around the bush or trying to divert people from what actually happened, the Cougars had no answer for what Blackhawk was doing on either end of the court. LCA was giving it a valiant effort but it simply did not matter, the speed, physicality and height of the Braves was just too much to handle.

“We shot over 50-percent from the floor and 60-percent from three. I can’t ask for anything better than that,” said LCA head coach Chris Hohm.

That’s right, the Cougars were shooting lights out. Well, when they were actually shooting.

LCA struggled to get shots off. There was little to no inside opportunity for the Cougars, leaving Josh McDaniel and Jon Harmon to take shots from deeper than usual just in an attempt to generate points. McDaniel scored nine points on 3-6 shooting from beyond the arc. Harmon led the team with 13 points and was a perfect 3-3 from deep. Connor Blum and Jake Harmon each hit a three as well, bringing LCA’s total to eight for the night. Blackhawk was 9-23 on three-point attempts while the Cougars attempted a total of 25 shots all night.

“Blackhawk was definitely the better team tonight,” Hohm stated. “They were more talented, more athletic and very tall. There was nothing we could do to combat their height. If we were in the right spot they just shot over us and if we were ever out of position then there was absolutely nothing we could do.

“I thought our guys fought. I thought they played well. Blackhawk just showed it was the better team. I’d rather go out fighting than to just have it handed to us with our heads down. That’s a big difference with the team this season compared to last year.”

Blackhawk had five players in double digits for Friday’s game. Ric Hall led all players with 17 points. Drake Thompson added 15, Will Davidson had 13 while Ben Walters and Jared Fiedler each had 12. Walters had a game-high four shots made from three.

LCA will lose four players going into next year with the graduations of Harmon, Blum, Carter Twombly and Skyler Harris. The group has helped Hohm lay a foundation over the past two season and the coach is grateful for the time he’s had with the group.

“They changed things for this program,” said Hohm. “Things weren’t really clicking when I showed up. A few kids came to games, there wasn’t much excitement. These kids helped to change that. Tonight was one of the biggest crowds we’ve had for a road game in a few seasons.

‘We had four wins this year, which doesn’t sound like a lot but it is when you had just one the year before and only three the year before that. This year’s seniors did a good job of laying a foundation and now we turn to our sophomores because we have no juniors. So, those sophomores immediately become quote unquote ‘seniors’ and I’m excited to see what they can do for us.”

LCA finishes the season at 4-20 and will return several key players next season including McDaniel, who scored a team-leading 316 points this season, and the younger Harmon (125 points).

Blackhawk (15-11) will face Elkhart Christian (10-13) for the sectional championship Saturday night.