SADNESS AS
BLUFFTON – For Blackhawk Christian, Friday was more March Madness.
For Adams Central, it was continued sectional sadness.
BC’s Braves outplayed AC’s Flying Jets to the tune of 67-44 in the semi-final round of the Class 2A sectional, a far cry from last year’s Braves’ defeat of the Jets in the sectional title game, 39-32, which set Blackhawk off on another state championship run.
The key statistic last night was long-range gunnery: Blackhawk was nine for 24 (37.5%), but Central went zero for 10. That stark 27 to nothing differential was the story of the game.
BC rose to 19-6 and will play Bishop Luers, which ousted Whitko, 53-49, in Friday’s second game, for the sectional crown tonight.
(I’ll go out on a limb and predict that the winner of the Bluffton sectional will be the Class 2A champion.)
Adams Central ended its outstanding season at 20-5 – the school’s second-straight 20-win campaign, which are also the only 20-win seasons in AC’s 74-year hoops history. Last year’s mark was 20-6.
After the game, AC head coach Aaron McClure said he was happy and thankful for the big winning record, but said the Jets “offensively were a little bit out of sync” as the game began.
From being down 17-8 after the first quarter, everything kept going Blackhawk’s way as it outperformed Central in shooting, passing (perhaps 15 or more perfect sideline to sideline football-like throws), and defensive pressure.
McClure said he was immensely proud of the six seniors, three of whom were 25-game starters, including his son, Micah, who is also number one academically in the Class of 2024.
Isaac Schultz, the 6-7 center headed to Olivet Nazarene University on a full basketball scholarship, scored 18 and wound up with a threeyear total of 1,165, which ranks him fifth among boys at Adams Central. Ahead of him are Randy Mutschler (1,177), Landon Adler (1.135), Kevin Brown (1,200-plus), and 2023 graduate Ethan Poling (1,391). Isaac also took down three rebounds and had two blocks.
McClure wrapped it up with 12 points, four rebounds, and an assist.
Only three other Jets scored: sophomore Braylend Reber, six, and Kolton Littler and Trace Maller, four each. Maller, a junior, added six rebounds, two steals, and two assists.
Fittingly, Littler, one of the seniors, was the last scorer at the end of the game on an eightfoot jumper and two foul shots.
Seniors Ryan Tester, Max Hamilton, and Carter Steele played, but did not score.
The big weapons for the Braves were 6-9 junior Kellen Pickett and 6-5 senior Isaac Smith, both with 21. Pickett had just one point in last year’s win over the Jets, but did a lot of other things. He did lots again on Friday (rebounding, defense, passing, etc.), plus he scored at will, including two threes, two dunks, and a half-dunk/halflayup.
Pickett also had at least four blocks, three
BC 9 20 AC 1213
17 67 8 44
Central 3PFT TP McClure 0-2 4-6 Hamilton 0-0 0-0 VanDeWeg 0-0 0-0 Tester 0-1 Becher 0-0 Maller 0-2 Steele 0-0 0-0 Dalrymple 0-0 0-0 Roe
0-0 Littler 0-3 2-2 Schultz 8-15 2-3 18 Reber 0-0 Totals 0-10 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 2-6 10-17
Blackhawk 3PFT TP Muldoon 2-5 0-0 Pickett 2-4 1-1 Schwartz 0-0 0-0 Smith
21 11 2P
4-6 12 0-0 0 0-0 0 0-0 0 0-0 0 2-4 4 0-0 0 0-0 0 0-0 0 1-2 4 0-2
2-6 6 17-33 44
2P
2 10 7 21 0 0 3