THAT’S A FACT, JACK
Bailey tallies goal, assist as Lake Central wins semistate to reach finals
KOKOMO — Back in his usual position, Lake Central’s Jack Bailey didn’t take long to make an impact on offense.
The senior forward had a goal and an assist in Saturday’s Class 3A Kokomo Semistate as the Indians topped Noblesville 2-1.
Bailey spent the first half shadowing star midfielder/forward Harrison Christman. But to start the second half, he shifted back to the front line.
Bailey then scored the game’s first goal with 18 seconds elapsed after halftime. He assisted sophomore Jake Noldin midway through the second half for what proved to be the decisive goal.
He also impressed Lake Central coach Jereme Rainwater.
“It’s the best performance in his four years,” Rainwater said of Bailey. “And that’s saying a lot because he’s had a lot of good performances. I’m just extremely proud of that young man.
“He kept saying, ‘Coach, I’ll do whatever you say. But I want to be up top. I can do this.’”
Bailey accepted the challenge of defending Christman.
“He’s a special player,” Bailey said. “… He’s a really quick player. (Rainwater) thought I was a good option.”
By beating Noblesville (163-2), which ended the regular season ranked No. 8 in the state coaches poll, Lake Central (125-3) advances to next weekend’s state title game at Fishers High School.
The Indians will play No. 1 Zionsville (20-0), which lost to Chesterton in last season’s championship game.
“Our team, we’ve progressed so much ever since the tournament started,” Bailey said. “We’re ready.”
Lake Central secured its fourth semistate title and first since 2010, when it won the last state championship of the single-class format.
“There’s never an easy one at semistate, right?” Rainwater said. “Noblesville’s a quality side. It was a tale of two halves. We didn’t have very much pride or confidence in what we were doing in the first half.
“They haven’t recognized the fact they’ve earned the right to be here. (Saturday) was a statement they have. It’s just a fantastic group of boys. They had the will to win and followed the game plan.”
With sophomore Tre Adams taking on the role of marking Christman in the second half, Lake Central stunned Noblesville with Bailey’s goal less than 20 seconds after halftime.
Noblesville tied the score with 31:24 showing on the clock in the second half as Jack Miller converted a penalty kick.
Lake Central reclaimed the lead, however, with 25-plus minutes left. Bailey sent in a nice cross and Noldin beautifully volleyed the ball home.
“I just saw (Bailey) going and I saw no one in the box, so I just started floating in,” Noldin said. “I missed the first volley I had, so I had to put the second one away.”
Noblesville ratcheted up the pressure during the final 15 minutes, but Lake Central withstood the onslaught.
Sophomore defender Quentin Enyeart made a key play with 40 seconds left, heading a ball off the line to preserve the one-goal lead.
Rainwater also praised the play of senior defender Bryce Gross.
“He’s one of the best defenders I’ve coached, especially for his age,” Rainwater said of Enyeart. “He comes up in a huge moment there or we’re talking about overtime.”