Elkhart Sectional: Central Rebounds, Rallies To Stun Penn
ELKHART – Cornell Conner still had enough bounce in his legs to bounce Penn out of the sectional in dramatic fashion Wednesday night.
The Elkhart Central senior scored on a rebound bucket at the final horn to lift his team to an incredible 75-73 triple-overtime win in first-round action of the Class 4-A Elkhart Central Sectional.
Conner’s heroics, which came after Central erased a 17-point deficit in the fourth quarter to force overtime, sends the hosts into semifinal play Friday night.
The Blue Blazers, who have now won 12 straight games in a program-best 20-2 season, face Warsaw (15-9) in the second semifinal Friday night. Goshen (14-9) plays Elkhart Memorial (11-11) at 6 p.m. Friday with Central-Warsaw to follow. The sectional final is Saturday at 7 p.m.
Warsaw advanced Wednesday night as Kyle Mangas drained a trey at the final buzzer to lift the Tigers past Northridge 36-33 in the second game.
Central beat Warsaw 50-45 back on Jan. 28 in North Side Gym.
It was only fitting that Central, who lost in the sectional final to Warsaw a year ago, won on a rebound bucket on the fourth shot attempt on a frenzied final few seconds. The relentless Blue Blazers out rebounded the much taller Kingsmen 36-23 in the marathon affair.
Conner’s rebound basket, off of his own miss on a rebound attempt, was the only points of the final four-minute overtime period.
Penn led 52-35 after scoring the first basket of the fourth quarter. The Kingsmen, who lost to Central 65-48 three weeks ago, still led 57-47 before the hosts closed regulation play with an 11-1 run over the final 2:44 to tie the game at 58-58 to force the first four-minute overtime period.
Central blazed to an 8-2 lead to open the contest. Penn, which then went to a smaller lineup, led 18-10 after the opening frame and 34-20. The Kingsmen, coached by former Warsaw coach Al Rhodes, led 50-35 at the end of the third quarter.
Senior Adonis Brown led Central with 28 points and 11 rebounds. He scored 19 of his points after the third quarter. Conner finished with 23 points and 10 rebounds.
Central won despite shooting just 11-22 from the free throw line. The hosts also had two more turnovers (17-15) than Penn and were whistled for a pair of technical fouls, one on player JT Webb and one on first-year head coach Terry Smith.
Sophomore Drew Lutz paced Penn with 23 points. Sophomore Noah Applegate scored 21 points and senior Brian Doslak 13 for the Kingsmen.
Penn was just 14-24 from the free throw line in the contest.
The Kingsmen close out their season at 10-13 after losing five of its final six games.