By Bubba Harnist
Staff Writer

SHELBYVILLE – Talk about getting your money’s worth. Fans of the postponed Class 3A Regional 7 at Shelbyville were treated to a couple gems March 10, including Rushville’s endurance test of a 105-101 win against Danville that took four overtimes.

That marathon clash preceded third-ranked Batesville’s 63-56 ending of No. 11 Beech Grove’s Cinderella season. The Hornets had won three contests in their own loaded sectional in overtime and on a pair of buzzer-beaters by senior guard Eric Weathers, but a balanced bunch of Bulldogs proved too much as Batesville advanced.

Will Rushville’s weary legs catch up to the Lions in Tuesday’s championship? Stay tuned to HoosierAuthority.com for all the details. Till then, here’s a report on the Monday night shenanigans in Shelby County …

Semifinal 1: Rushville 105, Danville 101 (4OT)
This is one that people are going to be talking about for quite some time. The unbelievable individual performances … the back-and-forth action … the will and determination of players from both teams … an atmosphere that was “Hoosier Hysteria” in its purest form.

Oh yeah, the game also took four quarters and four overtimes before we got a winner. Simply put, the regional’s opening semifinal was everything that high school sports are about: passion, determination, and heart.

“This was a great game, especially from the fans’ point of view,” said Danville coach Brian Barber.

It’s rare to see a team score 100 points in a high school basketball game. Even more rare is seeing both teams score more than 100. This wasn’t a game that Danville lost – it was a game that Rushville won as the Lions got 52 points from senior Kyle Morgan and 32 from senior Seth Stevens.

That 84-point outburst was just enough to trump the 38-point output of Danville big man Travis Carroll and four of his teammates that reached double digits in scoring.

“The crowd was going nuts,” Morgan said. “It was a big adrenaline rush and probably the most exciting game I have ever played in.”

Added Rushville coach Dan Carmony: “We tried to run different things to set up Kyle and Seth. We tried to get to the rim as often as we could.”

Both teams went back and forth at the start of this epic battle, foreshadowing what we would see the rest of the night. Rushville (13-10) didn’t have a lead bigger than four points in the first period, and Danville (18-6) scored the final four points of the quarter to make it 11-11 at the end of one.

Not much changed in the second quarter. Rushville couldn’t get ahead by more than three points, and Danville couldn’t go up by more than two. After the Lions missed the front end of a one-and-bonus with 39.3 seconds left in the half, Danville got a bucket from senior Colton Cooper to take a 31-30 lead into the locker room.

Slowly but surely over the course of the third quarter, Danville began to increase its lead. Five straight points from Tyler Weaver in the first minute of the third quarter gave the Warriors a five-point lead at 36-31, and Cooper scored the Warriors’ final six points over the final 1:20 of the third to push the lead to 53-46 after three.

But Rushville came out of the fourth-quarter gates firing. The Lions got four straight points from Stevens to make it 53-50 and, after Danville got a hoop from sophomore big man Travis Carroll, Rushville got five straight from Morgan to tie the game at 55 with 5:45 left.

After another Carroll bucket, Morgan scored five straight again to give Rushville a 60-57 lead with 4:45 remaining. After Danville scored the next seven points to go ahead 63-60, Morgan did it once more as the senior scored five in a row to cap his 15th straight point for Rushville.

With Morgan’s third run, Rushville was back up 65-63 with 2:17 left.

Danville tied the game at 67 after two free throws from Carroll with 1:31 left. After the Lions turned the ball over, Carroll struck again, getting a layup at 1:22 to make it 69-67 Danville. But the Lions tied the game with 58 seconds left after two free throws from, you guessed it, Morgan.

Neither team scored the rest of the quarter, sending it to overtime tied at 69.

“We were down and would hit a big shot to tie it,” Barber said. “Then they would come down and hit a big shot.

“It was like a roller coaster there for awhile.”

The stars of the fourth quarter were Morgan and Carroll. Morgan scored 17 of his team’s 23 points, including 17 of the last 19. In the meantime, Carroll had 10 fourth-quarter points to pace Danville.

In the first OT, Rushville got a three from Morgan with 2:52 left to jump ahead 74-73. But Danville responded with a bucket from Cooper and two free throws from Carroll to go ahead 77-74 with 2:10 left.

The biggest play of the first overtime? An offensive rebound by C.J. West that he turned into a three-point play with 1:39 left, tying the game at 77. Carroll had a shot in traffic in the lane at the buzzer that missed, sending us to the second overtime.

Rushville got two free throws from West with 41 seconds left to jump ahead by three, 84-81. The Warriors responded with a bucket from Michael Humphrey to cut it to 84-83 at :22.6. Danville quickly fouled Morgan and sent him to the free throw line with :21.9 on the clock, and he hit one of two to make it 85-83.

On the Warriors’ ensuing possession, Humphrey scored again to tie it at 85 with 13 seconds left. Morgan got a good look for Rushville but missed at the buzzer to send us to overtime number three.

“I had a good shot to win it, and I thought it was going in,” Morgan said. “I was hoping I would have made it but I missed, but we still won.”

Morgan continued his onslaught in the third OT, scoring all eight of the Lions’ points. Rushville pushed the lead to five, 93-88, with 1:30 left, but Danville got a layup from Devin Mabbitt and a three from Nick Phillips to tie the game at 93 with 32 seconds remaining.

After a Rushville turnover, Danville got the last shot. But a three from Cooper missed as time expired, sending the game into the fourth overtime.

“We had some opportunities there at the end of a couple overtimes,” Barber said. “We just didn’t get the ball in the basket, which happens sometimes.”

In the fourth overtime, Morgan and Stevens finally became too much for a Danville team that had already seen three players foul out. That duo scored all 12 of the Lions’ points in the fourth overtime as Rushville scored the first five points and never looked back.

“Losing those guys to foul trouble was big,” said Barber, who loses three seniors to graduation and saw Tyler Weaver (20 points), Cooper (14), Mabbitt (11), and Humphrey (10) join Carroll in double figures. “Morgan was hitting everything – you have to give him credit because he hit tough shot after tough shot.”

For his part, the high-scoring Morgan was just glad his team won the game.

“That made it (scoring 52) more exciting,” said Morgan, who was joined in double digits by Devon Nichoff with 10 points before fouling out in the fourth quarter.

Added Carmony: “I am not sure how many of those (four-overtime games) they have played in. It bothered us a little bit, but we dodged a bullet at the end.

“I told our guys that it was our time tonight, and they believed it.”

Up next for the weary Lions is the regional final versus Batesville – the last team to beat Rushville. That game was a 66-56 win Feb. 7 for the Bulldogs at Batesville.

“I’m exhausted right now, but the adrenaline is going so I am good for now,” Morgan said. “We just have to come back tomorrow and be ready.”

Semifinal 2: #3 Batesville 63, #11 Beech Grove 56
For Beech Grove, the magical season has come to an end. For Batesville, it’s business as usual as the Bulldogs try to get to the state championship for the first time since 2001.

Two years ago, Batesville bowed out in the regional semifinal against Danville. Last year, the Bulldogs made it to the semistate round before falling to Evansville Bosse. The task at hand Monday, though, was getting by a Beech Grove team that had survived one of the toughest sectionals in the state and won its last 12 games.

Despite trailing at the end of the first, second, and third quarters, the Bulldogs were able to come back and knock off the Hornets, 63-56, to advance to the regional championship against Rushville.

“It’s a great win for us,” said junior Colt Ryan. “Everyone played their role, and we got the win.”

Batesville (23-2) quickly jumped ahead 5-0 in the first 1:20, but the Hornets slowly got even. Trailing 10-7 with 3:54 left, Beech Grove went on a 10-2 run to end the quarter. The final basket in the run was a three from David Sanders as time expired, giving Beech Grove a 17-12 lead after one.

Beech Grove (19-4) got another bucket from Sanders at the start of the second to push the lead to 19-12 with 6:57 left. But Batesville responded with seven straight points over the next 2:20 to tie the game at 19.

With 1:54 left, Batesville got a three-point play from Alex Grimsley to cut the Bulldogs’ deficit to one point, 25-24. Beech Grove held for one last shot at the end of the second quarter to assure they would be leading at the half.

The plan worked as the Hornets got a tip-in at the buzzer from Adam Page to make it 27-24 at halftime.

“We knew that the first half wasn’t our best half – we knew we could come out and play better,” Ryan said. “We were disappointed with the first half, so we wanted to get out there and have a strong second half.”

Things didn’t start well for Beech Grove in the third quarter as Batesville got five straight points to open the quarter, giving the Bulldogs a 29-27 lead. Further wounding the Hornets’ effort was senior guard John Hart heading to the bench at 4:25 after picking up his fourth foul.

But as soon as Hart sat down, Beech Grove scored seven straight points to jump back ahead, 38-33, with 2:36 left. When the horn sounded at the end of the third, Beech Grove still had the lead, 44-41.

Batesville tied the game at 44 two minutes into the fourth quarter. After a layup from Page put Beech Grove back on top, the Hornets lost Hart for the rest of the game when he fouled out with still 5:20 left.

Beech Grove continued to battle, taking a 52-51 lead with 2:54 left after a bucket from Weathers. It was the last lead the Hornets would enjoy.

Batesville scored four straight to go ahead by three, 54-51. After a free throw from Sanders made it 54-52 with 2:09 left, Batesville hit four straight free throws to go up 58-52 with only 1:12 to play.

Beech Grove did get the deficit to three with 56 seconds left, but Batesville hit five of their last six free throws to seal the deal.

“This is a great team win,” Ryan said. “Everyone made contributions for us tonight.”

Leading the way for the Bulldogs was Ryan with 16 points. Also in double figures for Batesville was Sam Enncking with 15, Tony Narworld (14), and Grimsley (11).

Beech Grove coach Randy Males, meanwhile, has a lot to replace as eight seniors will be graduating. Leading the way in his final game on this night was Sanders with 21 points, while Page and Hart each added eight.

“Morgan is a great shooter, so we have to keep a hand in his face as much as possible,” Ryan said when asked about the looming battle with Rushville. “We just need another team effort as well as good defense and rebounding.

“I don’t want to lose. I don’t want to go home because I want to keep moving on and playing.”

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