West Lafayette, Lafayette Jeff set for Hoops Classic championship
Three days after earning his first career head coaching victory, Jacob VanArsdel's second was a major one.
The first year West Lafayette basketball coach's team upset VanArsdel's alma mater Harrison 38-36 at May Gymnasium Friday night to advance to the IU Health Hoops Classic championship.
The Red Devils will face Lafayette Jeff for the title at 7 p.m. Saturday in Jeff's Crawley Center. Jeff is the four-time defending champion while West Side has never won the Hoops Classic, now in its 19th year.
Lafayette Jeff's 51-45 semifinal victory was propelled by 6-foot-6 tandem Javan Buchanan and EJ Reese.
Buchanan scored 15 points and Reese added 13, while Clark Obermiller and Clark Barrett had 10 apiece for CC, which will play Harrison for third place prior to the championship game.
For West Lafayette, Jack Montes scored 15 points against the Raiders while Harrison had no answer for Divine Adeyanju down low. Adeyanju secured a double-double with 15 points and 13 rebounds. Ben Henderson led Harrison with 12 points.
In other games Friday night, Benton Central got 22 points from Blake Buchanan and 12 from Joe Widmer in a 55-49 win over Rensselaer. Nole Marchand's 10 points topped the Bombers.
Twin Lakes defeated McCutcheon 62-52, getting an early boost from Clayton Bridwell, who finished with 26 points. Colin Seymour added 15 for the Indians. Landon Waeltz's 14 points were a team high for McCutcheon.
Sam King covers sports for the Journal & Courier. Email him at sking@jconline.com and follow him on Twitter and Instagram @samueltking.
This article originally appeared on Lafayette Journal & Courier: West Lafayette, Lafayette Jeff set for Hoops Classic championship
