Fast start too much for Argos to overcome
ARGOS — The perfect ending didn’t materialize as Elkhart Christian Academy upset 11th-ranked Argos Friday night at Phil Weybright Gymnasium, 64-49.
With the victory, ECA and Argos share the Hoosier Plains Conference title, each with a 4-1 mark. The loss also snaps the Dragons’ eight-game winning streak to end the regular season.
“We weren’t ready to play, but give them credit,” said Argos head coach Gordon Mosson. “They didn’t do anything that surprised us. I warned (our team) about their quickness, just the speed of their team. We flat-out were lethargic on defense.”
Speed and quickness also describes the way the Eagles took control of the game. On its first three possessions, the Senior Night visitor connected on three 3s and in less that three minutes of game time the score was already 15-0.
“That’s all it takes sometimes,” Mosson added. “They came out and hit some big shots, got on a roll, then we
got in a hurry and tried to catch up too quickly. Started firing up 3s instead of whipping the ball around a bit. We played right into their hands. We allowed them to play quicker because we shot the ball quick. Turnovers were huge. We gave it to them on a silver platter.”
By the end of the first quarter, ECA had put up 30 points, including six triples, four coming from Bryce Courson and another pair from freshman Aiden Hibbard.
After the initial flurry, the Dragons played the Eagles even (49-49). The lead reached as high as 39-13 in the second quarter, then 52-25 midway in the third. Argos put together a 13-0 run to close the third frame then scored the first points of the fourth to pull within 12, but ECA was able to keep any thoughts of a major comeback at bay.
“This is a great win for us,” said ECA head coach Chad Hibbard. “We have shown that we are capable, but we have not shown that we can carry it for 32 minutes. We could not be more proud of the way we came out. Argos has had a great year. We could see them in regionals. They are a good team. We’re super excited to be conference champs.”
Besides the early success from long range, ECA forward Noah Hunt had a fantastic game, finishing with 20 points - 10 in each half.
“He has been our most consistent player, in practice and games,” added Hibbard. “He just brings it.”
Courson and Matthew Elmerick were also in double figures with 13 apiece. Hibbard finished with nine on a trio of 3s.
ECA’S triangle-and-two defense stifled the Argos offense and Jake Stults was the only Dragon in double digits with 10. JJ Morris and Kayden Brady added nine each and freshman Sean Richard had eight.
“(The triangle-and-two) definitely worked for a while tonight,” continued Hibbard. “We played (Michael Richard) and (Morris) man-to-man and it worked overall. I think it wore them out. You could see fatigue in the second half. Argos made a run. We
knew they would, but we were able to withstand that.”
“We were trying to jam things in on the ball side,” Mosson said of his team’s offensive woes. “The back side was wide open. We wanted to reverse the ball, maybe have some skip passes and attack from there. We did it a little bit, but not consistently enough.”
Argos will now need to regroup as its next game will be the Sectional 50 opener on Tuesday against Lacrosse at Culver Community HS. Tip-off is 6 p.m.
• ELKHART CA 64, ARGOS 49 At Argos
ECA 30 41 52 64
Argos 13 21 38 49
ARGOS: Michael Richard 2 0-0 4, JJ Morris 4 1-1 9, Caden Nifong 0 0-0 0, Jake Stults 4 1-2 10, Kayden Brady 3 1-1 9, Ted Redinger 1 0-0 2, Sean Richard 3 2-2 8, Dylan Kindig 0 4-5 4, Zac Heiman 0 0-0 0, Elijah Osborn 1 0-0 3. TOTALS: 18 9-11 49.
ECA: Jacob Becker 2 0-0 4, Matthew Elmerick 5 2-3 13, Bryce Courson 4 1-2 13, Bryce Schrock 0 0-0 0, Tony Maxwell 1 1-3 3, Aiden Hibbard 3 0-0 9, Noah Hunt 10 0-2 20, Andrew Stevens 1 0-0 2, Beau Cox 0 0-0 0, Aaron Buckles. TOTALS:.
3-pointers: Argos 4 (Brady 2, Stults, Osborn), ECA 8 (Courson 4, Hibbard 3, Elmerick). Fouls (fouled out): Argos 15 (none), ECA 16 (none). Records: Argos 16-5 (4-1 HPC), ECA 8-13 (4-1 HPC).
JV score: ECA 44, Argos 43