GIRLS BB: Strong start sends TC to sectional title
Feb. 6—Tri-Central's girls basketball team took control early and went on to beat Cowan 55-20 in the Class A Tri-Central Sectional championship Saturday night.
The Trojans had the Blackhawks in a 15-2 hole by the close of the first quarter. The Trojans went on to lead 27-7 at halftime.
Tri-Central also had a strong start against Daleville in the semifinal round (32-8 first quarter). TC coach Mathew Corn said the semifinal start was keyed by 3-point shooting while the championship start was fueled by defense.
"We kind of locked them down and allowed our offense to just execute without any pressure in terms of the score," Corn said.
The Trojans avenged a 33-31 loss to the Blackhawks in the 2022 sectional final.
"It's one of those games as a coach that you always remember because I thought we had the better team. We just shot it so bad in that game," Corn said of the 2022 loss. "I went back [Saturday] morning and re-looked at that game. We just didn't play well either outside of the shooting. To see the same group of kids on film in the same type of situation last year to the group of kids they are now, it's totally night and day.
"I'm thrilled with what they were able to accomplish and what they're still wanting to accomplish."
Tri-Central (11-13) advances to face Hoosier Heartland Conference rival Rossville (15-10) in a one-game regional Saturday at Wes-Del. The Hornets beat the Trojans 34-29 in an HHC game on Jan. 13.
Karley Leininger led the Trojans in the sectional final with a season-high 19 points. She scored 12 points in the first half, hitting a pair of 3-pointers in the second quarter, to lead the early attack.
TC backed Leininger with balance. Gracie Grimes scored nine points, Allie Younce had eight, Autumn Hurt had seven and Ariana Jankoviak had five.
The Trojans opened the season 7-5 before hitting a rough stretch. They have regrouped to win four of their last six, including three in a row.
"We have six seniors this year. Two years ago, when they were sophomores, they were a part of the sectional title team that year. It was kind of new to them. The plan this year was that and more," Corn said. "We've been up and down with our level of play. We had a rough January, but then practices started getting better and everything started clicking a little bit.
"We were still playing teams [from higher classifications], which can be tough because you're not seeing results. But this weekend, we were really on top of our level of play. I'm proud of the kids."
