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FRANKFORT — Clinton Prairie all-time leading scorer Jake McGraw was forced into a box during the opening 16 minutes against Central Catholic.
His town. His backyard essentially at Case Arena and where his team battled for the IHSAA Class A regional title.
After being held scoreless in the first half, McGraw converted a pair of and 1s in the third quarter.
Each bucket igniting the mostly pro Clinton Prairie crowd that watched McGraw hit two free throws with 3.0 seconds in overtime to help the Gophers beat Central Catholic 58-55 in overtime.
McGraw scored 17 points and Nick Curtin led with 28 points to help Clinton Prairie (24-2) capture its first IHSAA regional championship and continue the longest postseason run in the school's history.
More: Big brothers play role in Clinton Prairie's all-time leading scorer Jake McGraw's rise
"I don't think anyone can guard me for 32 minutes," McGraw said. "It's cocky but its really tough. You have to push me around and you have to be rough. But being down 28-24, I didn't want a repeat of last year."
Clinton Prairie exorcised its doubts, frustrations in the first half and managed to come out on top against Central Catholic. The Knights had knocked Clinton Prairie from the IHSAA 2A sectional playoffs.
Central Catholic, at least in the first half, had found the recipe to take away McGraw's jumper and if not for a career performance from Curtin — the hole dug by the Gophers would've been even harder.
More: Gopher 10! Clinton Prairie guard Alex Farley's career scoring night
"At halftime Coach (Chad) Peckinpaugh got Jake fired up," Curtin said.
The pair of and 1 buckets around the rim ignited McGraw who had been face guarded and bumped around by Central Catholic senior Bobby Metzger's pressure.
Clinton Prairie led 44-38 with 5:53 to play but Central Catholic with its senior class of Metzger and Ray Clayton rallied.
Clayton's layup tied the game 48-48 with 1:45 to play. Central Catholic junior Romeo Huerta had a go-ahead 5 footer negated after being called for traveling with 12.4 remaining before the game was sent to overtime.
Metzger opened overtime with a 3-pointer before Clinton Prairie battled back to secure its regional title.
More: Guards Jake McGraw and Alex Farley form basketball Gopher Gang at Clinton Prairie
McGraw's final free throws made him the first 2,000-point scorer in Clinton Prairie history.
"We all bought in," McGraw said.
Junior Mikey Stapleton who opened the first quarter with two 3-pointers finished with 18 points. Metzger added 11 points, Huerta scored 10 points and Clayton finished with nine points.
Central Catholic (12-15) didn't have a true number one scorer but played as a unit and proved having a competitive nonleague schedule could prepare it for an atmosphere like Case Arena and a neutral game that felt like road territory.
"I know not a lot of people gave us a shot," Central Catholic coach Drake Barrett said. "We were 20-point underdogs but our guys aren't afraid of any other team. We came in here and we executed the best we could."
Clinton Prairie will see its dream season of firsts continue next week at the IHSAA Semi-state round in a town where basketball inventor James Naismith wrote that "Indiana was the center of the sport."
The center of attention belonged to McGraw, Curtin and Clinton Prairie who signed autographs for children in red and black face paint and seeing their high school heroes succeed on the big stage.
"I try to be a role model and I try to be a role model to everybody," McGraw said. "And when I was little there were a lot role models I looked up to."
Ethan Hanson is the sports reporter for the Journal & Courier in Lafayette. He can be reached at ehanson@jconline.com, on Twitter at EthanAHanson and Instagram at ethan_a_hanson.
This article originally appeared on Lafayette Journal & Courier: Clinton Prairie boys basketball beats Central Catholic in IHSAA regional
Continue reading...
His town. His backyard essentially at Case Arena and where his team battled for the IHSAA Class A regional title.
After being held scoreless in the first half, McGraw converted a pair of and 1s in the third quarter.
Each bucket igniting the mostly pro Clinton Prairie crowd that watched McGraw hit two free throws with 3.0 seconds in overtime to help the Gophers beat Central Catholic 58-55 in overtime.
McGraw scored 17 points and Nick Curtin led with 28 points to help Clinton Prairie (24-2) capture its first IHSAA regional championship and continue the longest postseason run in the school's history.
More: Big brothers play role in Clinton Prairie's all-time leading scorer Jake McGraw's rise
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"I don't think anyone can guard me for 32 minutes," McGraw said. "It's cocky but its really tough. You have to push me around and you have to be rough. But being down 28-24, I didn't want a repeat of last year."
Clinton Prairie exorcised its doubts, frustrations in the first half and managed to come out on top against Central Catholic. The Knights had knocked Clinton Prairie from the IHSAA 2A sectional playoffs.
Central Catholic, at least in the first half, had found the recipe to take away McGraw's jumper and if not for a career performance from Curtin — the hole dug by the Gophers would've been even harder.
More: Gopher 10! Clinton Prairie guard Alex Farley's career scoring night
"At halftime Coach (Chad) Peckinpaugh got Jake fired up," Curtin said.
The pair of and 1 buckets around the rim ignited McGraw who had been face guarded and bumped around by Central Catholic senior Bobby Metzger's pressure.
Clinton Prairie led 44-38 with 5:53 to play but Central Catholic with its senior class of Metzger and Ray Clayton rallied.
Clayton's layup tied the game 48-48 with 1:45 to play. Central Catholic junior Romeo Huerta had a go-ahead 5 footer negated after being called for traveling with 12.4 remaining before the game was sent to overtime.
Metzger opened overtime with a 3-pointer before Clinton Prairie battled back to secure its regional title.
More: Guards Jake McGraw and Alex Farley form basketball Gopher Gang at Clinton Prairie
McGraw's final free throws made him the first 2,000-point scorer in Clinton Prairie history.
"We all bought in," McGraw said.
Junior Mikey Stapleton who opened the first quarter with two 3-pointers finished with 18 points. Metzger added 11 points, Huerta scored 10 points and Clayton finished with nine points.
You must be registered for see images
Central Catholic (12-15) didn't have a true number one scorer but played as a unit and proved having a competitive nonleague schedule could prepare it for an atmosphere like Case Arena and a neutral game that felt like road territory.
"I know not a lot of people gave us a shot," Central Catholic coach Drake Barrett said. "We were 20-point underdogs but our guys aren't afraid of any other team. We came in here and we executed the best we could."
Clinton Prairie will see its dream season of firsts continue next week at the IHSAA Semi-state round in a town where basketball inventor James Naismith wrote that "Indiana was the center of the sport."
The center of attention belonged to McGraw, Curtin and Clinton Prairie who signed autographs for children in red and black face paint and seeing their high school heroes succeed on the big stage.
"I try to be a role model and I try to be a role model to everybody," McGraw said. "And when I was little there were a lot role models I looked up to."
Ethan Hanson is the sports reporter for the Journal & Courier in Lafayette. He can be reached at ehanson@jconline.com, on Twitter at EthanAHanson and Instagram at ethan_a_hanson.
This article originally appeared on Lafayette Journal & Courier: Clinton Prairie boys basketball beats Central Catholic in IHSAA regional
Continue reading...
