BB: 1A #7 Central Catholic roars past 1A #13 Rossville, 83-57

By Mike McGraw
Executive Director

FRANKFORT – Round 1 goes to Lafayette Central Catholic – decisively. That, in a nutshell, is the story Feb. 20 from the Class A seventh-ranked Knights’ 83-57 road throttling of Rossville.

This was a statement game for CC. In keeping Central Catholic in a first-place tie with fellow Hoosier Heartland unbeaten Carroll (Flora) one week ahead of their championship conference clash at 2A No. 12 Carroll (14-3), it’s largely assumed these two teams will meet again in the Sectional 53 finals at Tri-Central.

The lessons learned from Friday night’s verdict are numerous.

First, Rossville will have to do something defensively to cool the Knights’ shooters. Lafayette Central Catholic (14-6) shot 62 percent (33 of 53) from the field in this contest. Much of that shooting performance can be attributed to the Knights easily breaking Rossville’s pressure and finishing with easy shots.

Secondly, the Hornets (11-7, third in the conference at 3-2) will have to shoot far better than they did on this night (just 20 of 55 for 36 percent). The poor shooting cannot really be attributed to Central Catholic’s defense, however – the Hornets had numerous point-blank looks that simply did not go down.

Thirdly, Rossville will have to avoid the big runs Central Catholic used to salt this contest away. The Knights started the game on an 18-3 blitz over the first four minutes. From that point until the last two minutes of the third quarter, Rossville actually outscored Central Catholic.

But the Knights then went on a 9-0 run spanning the end of the third quarter and the start of the fourth, eliminating any doubt as to the outcome.

Finally, the Hornets may want to pay a little extra attention to Dru Anthrop. The talented CC guard went for 31 points Friday night. If that was not impressive enough, he scored 15 of those points in the first quarter.

There were a couple of bright spots for Rossville. The Hornets forced Central Catholic into nearly 20 turnovers, 11 of those in the first half. They also succeeded in forcing the tempo of the game – Rossville likes to play at break-neck speed, and this game was fast and furious.

And Rossville’s big weapon, senior Aaron Martin, also had a big night, canning 23 points in the loss. The Hornets will be back in action Feb. 24 vs. Tri-County (2-16).