BY MATTHEW CRESS

matthew.cress@newsandtribune.com

NEW ALBANY — It may be Christian Academy of Indiana’s annual tournament, but the Rock Creek Christian boys’ basketball team did everything it could to make the event its own on Saturday night.

The Lions clinched first place in the South pool of the three-day event by downing the host Warriors in the morning and then returning to the court to stun Henryville in the nightcap.

Meanwhile, CAI got one of the season’s best individual performances from senior guard J.T. Taylor, who scored 40 points and pulled down 13 rebounds in the Warriors’ 69-59 victory over Shawe Memorial in the evening’s final contest.

On Monday, CAI and Henryville, each 1-1 in the South pool, will meet for second place, while 2-0 Rock Creek will face 0-2 Shawe. Even if the Lions lose, their head-to-head wins over both CAI and Henryville will give them the tiebreaker.

Rock Creek will meet the winner of the four-team North pool for the overall championship on Tuesday at 7 p.m.



ROCK CREEK 66, HENRYVILLE 48

Rock Creek senior Kendrick Dale put together one of the finest performances of his career in the afternoon opener, narrowly missing a triple-double with 19 points, eight rebounds and eight assists to lead the Lions past the favored Hornets.

The 5-foot-10 senior kept his team in it in the first half, then exploded again as part of a 15-4 Rock Creek run that turned what had been a nip-and-tuck battle into a rout.

“Kendrick played an outstanding game,” said Rock Creek coach Chris Brown, who won his third straight over Hornet coach Perry Hunter. “All of our guards are doing a better job of getting into our offensive sets and making something happen. We’re improving and that’s very encouraging at this time of year.”

Rock Creek (4-3) weathered a first half that included four ties and nine lead changes and fell into a 19-13 hole early in the second quarter after a jump shot by Skyler Brooks.

But Dale found 6-5 center Dontale Mayes for a layup to jump start a 6-0 run that tied things up. Though Henryville (5-4) would reclaim its lead moments later, the Hornets couldn’t hold the quick-striking Lions off for long.

Shawn Austin emerged from the Rock Creek bench to score five consecutive points, one set up by a pretty no-look pass from point guard Decorise Major, and then Dale assisted on the next five Lion points, including a buzzer-beating 3-pointer from Eran McGregory than staked Rock Creek to a 31-27 halftime lead.

“They were ready to play and we weren’t,” said Hunter. “These guys have to understand that if they want to win championships, you can’t take possessions off. They were very physical. It wasn’t their quickness that hurt as much as it was how physical they were around the ball.”

The game was played at a lightning pace throughout, but the Lions seemed to move faster as the second half progressed.

It took Henryville more than four minutes to score its first points of the third quarter, and it would take nearly the entire period for the Hornets to get a field goal. By the time Kyle Robertson hit a 3 with 21 seconds to go, Rock Creek had opened a 46-34 edge.

Much of the credit belonged to Mayes and Dale, who constantly challenged the Hornet pressure to draw a crowd and then dished to a wide-open Mayes for easy baskets. Mayes had nine of his 13 points in the second half and showed the potential that had only been hinted at during the early part of the season.

“Dontale is coming into his own as a player,” Brown said. “When we establish him, we’re a much better team.”

The Lions shut the door on an Hornet comeback early in the fourth, embarking on a 9-2 run that made it 60-39 with four minutes left and time had run out on the South bracket favorites.

Brooks had 14 points to lead Henryville, while leading scorer Cory Munk added 10, but was held without a field goal in the second half.

Major had five points for Rock Creek, but passed for eight assists and dogged Hornet ballhandlers with speed and pressure defense.



CAI 69, SHAWE MEMORIAL 59

While Dale dominated the night’s first game, Taylor matched his offensive output in the third quarter alone.

Down 30-29 at the half, CAI appeared to be in for a dogfight until the senior guard exploded for 19 points in the stanza and, more importantly, led the Warriors from the one-point deficit to an 18-point lead.

It was a shocking outburst even for as prolific a scorer as Taylor, who had 11 points in the first three minutes of the period alone, as he found a way to score in nearly every situation.

Taylor struck for a layup in transition, followed with a 3 and then delivered a potential three-point play on a drive to the hoop. He missed the free throw, but charged into the lane to grab the rebound and put it back in for a four-point trip.

In between baskets, Taylor found open teammates, hitting Andrew Heinz and Justin Sturgeon for easy layups as the Warrior lead ballooned to 50-38. But he may have saved the best for last, hitting two free throws with 23 seconds left, getting a steal and then burying two more free throws as the third came to an end.

Still, Shawe (5-4) wasn’t ready to call it a night.

The Hilltoppers rallied with an 11-2 run to start the fourth quarter to trim their deficit to 58-49 with 5:32 left to play. Sophomore Michael Kring had five points during the run and seemed to relish a showdown with Taylor, scoring the majority of his 19 points in the second half.

The teams traded baskets until another salvo from Taylor, who scored CAI’s next seven points, including his fourth 3 of the night to make it 65-53. Kring fired back with two quick baskets, but the Hilltoppers didn’t have enough time to make a serious charge.

CAI (2-7) appeared ready to take control in the first half after Josh McKain and Taylor carried it to a seven-point lead midway through the second. The pair had 27 of the Warriors’ 29 first-half points, and only one other Warrior had taken a field-goal attempt.

“If they take those shots within the structure of an offense, I have no problem with that,” said CAI coach Joshua Hutchinson. “I feel like both of those guys did a good job with that and it just happened that way.”

The Warriors struggled playing with the lead at times, giving up an 8-1 run before halftime and committed seven fourth-quarter turnovers in the face of Shawe’s full-court press.

“I don’t know if it had anything to do with having the lead as much as we just didn’t slow down, let the defense run by and we didn’t make sharp, crisp passes,” Hutchinson said.

McKain finished with 21 points, combining with Taylor for 88 percent of the Warriors’ scoring output. Alex Hayes had 10 rebounds for the Warriors.



CAI TOURNAMENT

SOUTH BRACKET

Rock Creek 68, Christian Academy 64

Henryville 57, Shawe Memorial 42

Rock Creek 66, Henryville 48 (Rock Creek clinches South bracket)

Christian Academy 69, Shawe Memorial 59



Monday’s games

(at Christian Academy of Indiana)

Rock Creek vs. Shawe Memorial, 5 p.m.

Henryville vs. Christian Academy, 7 p.m.



ROCK CREEK 13 18 17 18—66

HENRYVILLE 17 10 7 14—48

Rock Creek (4-3) — Mayes 13, Dale 19, Major 5, Todd 7, R. Hawn 2, Barker 2, Austin 9, Kruer 0, E. Hawn 4, Bennett 0, McGregory 5.

Henryville (5-4) — Munk 10, Brishaber 7, Brooks 14, Mayfield 6, Weeks 0, Liburd 0, Robertson 6, Carlson 3, Wolf 2.

Three-point field goals — Rock Creek 3 (Dale, McGregory, Todd); Henryville 6 (Munk 2, Brooks 2, Brishaber, Robertson).

Rebounds — Rock Creek 34 (Dale 8); Henryville 21 (Brooks 7).

Turnovers — Rock Creek 15, Henryville 15.



SHAWE MEM. 13 17 8 21—59

CHR. ACADEMY 16 13 27 13—69

Shawe Memorial (5-4) — Bump 0, Anderson 2, Higbie 0, Jones 3, Armstrong 0, Sanders 3, Scroggins 9, Mingione 8, Kring 19, Hall 15.

Christian Academy (2-7) — Hammer 2, Sellers 0, Taylor 40, McKain 21, Heinz 2, Carruthers 0, Hayes 2, Sturgeon 2.

Three-point field goals — Shawe Memorial 4 (Hall 2, Mingione, Jones); Christian Academy 5 (Taylor 4, McKain).

Rebounds — Shawe Memorial 22 (Scroggins 8); Christian Academy 36 (Taylor 13).

Turnovers — Shawe Memorial 9, Christian Academy 19.