EDINBURGH
The Trinity Lutheran and Medora boys basketball teams wrapped up Edinburgh Holiday Classic play Wednesday afternoon.
Jac-Cen-Del bests Trinity
Trinity was put in a position of having to play catchup against Jac-Cen-Del on Wednesday afternoon.
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The Cougars got off to a good start by holding an 11-7 lead after four minutes of action before slowing down offensively for the remainder of the first period and first part of the second quarter, and lost to the Eagles 83-70 in the battle for fifth place.
Trinity held an 11-7 lead following a 3-point shot by Jacob Rowe with 4:10 left in the opening period.
The Eagles then went on a 20-7 run the remainder of the period to take a 27-18 lead, then scored the first nine points of the second period to double its lead to 36-18.
Jac-Cen-Del was leading 47-27 later in the period before the Cougars closed the half on a 6-0 run to trail 47-33 at the half.
Cougars coach Brian Stuckwisch said he was hoping for a better start for his team.
“We didn’t get off to a good start,” he said. “I think we took things for granted and figured we would just show up and we’d win.
“Our defense was not ready and their size underneath hurt us. We weren’t shooting the ball very well, and we got behind.”
Trinity shot 11 for 30 in the first half, and the Eagles held a 16-13 advantage in rebounds in the first half and a 32-22 advantage for the game.
Jac-Cen-Del’s starting lineup included 6-foot-9 Conner Hubbard and 6-5 Brandon Baber, who combined for 18 rebounds and 32 points.
The Eagles came out and scored the first six points of the third period to regain a 20-point lead, but the Cougars outscored their opponents 12-10 in the period to trail 57-45 going into the final quarter.
Trinity, behind the hot shooting hand of Rowe, cut its deficit to 64-55 with 4:40 remaining but couldn’t get any closer.
Rowe finished with a career-high 28 points as he hit eight 3-pointers, a deuce and two free throws.
His eight 3-pointers tied the school record held by Luke Stuckwisch.
“Jacob basically kept us in the game, and kept us close so we had a chance,” coach Stuckwisch said. “We cut it under 10, but then we couldn’t get a break that we needed. We would have a turnovers or a foul or something.
“We didn’t get a good bounce. The loose balls went Jac-Cen-Del’s way. We didn’t capitalize when we had a chance. I’m a little disappointed.”
Trinity committed 12 turnovers and Jac-Cen-Del had 14.
AJ Goecker finished with 20 points and Trent Shoemaker had 11.
Trinity (3-7) will host Indianapolis Lutheran on Jan. 5.
Christel House beats Medora
Medora has had slow starts to most of its games this season, and that was the situation the Hornets found themselves in Wednesday afternoon.
Christel House Academy (2-9) scored the first 11 points, held a 24-5 lead after one period and topped the Hornets 70-33 in the seventh-place game at Edinburgh.
Hornets coach Mark Morin said he can’t figure out how to have his team get off to a better start.
“We had a slow start; we were still only down 14 at halftime, then we come out slow the first two or three minutes of the third period, which we’ve been doing it lately,’ he said.
The Hornets started the game shooting 0 for 6 from the floor and had three turnovers, and the Golden Eagles took advantage to lead 11-0 following a basket by Jeff Davis with 4:20 on the clock.
Medora finally got on the scoreboard when Owen Sullivan hit a jump shot in the lane for an 11-2 score at the 4:12 mark.
The Hornets’ only other points in the opening period came from JD Fish on a basket and a free throw as the Hornets shot 2 for 12 in the period.
Medora’s offense picked up in the second period when Fish got hot with a 3-pointer and a total of seven points in the quarter, while Sullivan and Skylar Jones added 2-pointers as the Hornets outscored the Eagles 11-6 to trail 30-16 at the half.
Morin said the second period was one of Medora’s best quarters of the season as the Hornets shot 5 for 10 in those eight minutes.
The Hornets again started out cold and had trouble hanging into the ball at the start of the third period as Christel House scored the first eight points of the period to lead 38-16 before Sullivan drove for a layup at the 5:50 mark.
The Indianapolis team outscored Medora 23-8 in the period to lead 53-24 going into the fourth period. Sullivan had three baskets for the Hornets in the third period.
Sullivan added a basket and two free throws, and Zakk Owen made a 3-pointer in the fourth period.
Sullivan topped the Hornets with 14 points and Fish added 10.
LaMont Jackson topped the Eagles in scoring with 24 points, Jerome Hilliard scored 17 and Jeff Davis had 15.
Medora (0-11) finished with 15-for-50 shooting from the floor and committed 26 turnovers.
“Either we’ve got to get a lot better defensively, or we’ve got to score more points,” Morin said. “We’re not going to beat too many people hanging in the mid 30s. We’ll just keep trying to get better. We see a lot of good things in practice but it’s not converting over to the game.
“We’re not consistent. When we go a couple minutes and can’t get a bucket, we’re looking for that guy to step up and get us one. We’ll put this one behind us and get ready for Columbus Christian Saturday.”
The boys JV game Saturday will start at 1 p.m., followed by the boys varsity and girls varsity games at the Hornets’ nest.