Banner Graphic, Volume 18, Number 165, Greencastle, Putnam County, 21 March 1988 — Page 5

Terre Haute Semistate

Bailey, Stars deny GHS spot in state finals

By KEITH E. DOMKE Banner-Graphic Sports Editor TERRE HAUTE Damon Bailey is a great basketball player. Saturday evening in the championship game of the Terre Haute Semistate, the Bedford-North Lawrence sophomore sensation proved it The 6-3 Vi forward, heralded by many to be the best high school basketball player in the state, came ;to life in the fourth quarter and ; scored 17 points to lead the Stars to ;a 62-47 victory over Greencastle. The triumph allowed Bedford to : defend its semistate crown of a year ago and make a return trip to ; Market Square Arena in Indianapolis this Saturday, March 26, in the state finals. Greencastle closed a magnifiscent season at 179 which included the incredible and memorable ride through the postseason. “WE GOT the ball to the right person when we had to and in a position where he was hard to stop,” said BNL coach Dan Bush about his star player. “We always try to get the ball to him as much as possible for obvious reasons. The kid does what it takes every time he steps on the floor.” Bailey came into the semistate averaging 31.6 points per game through the season and 35.6 through the playoffs. He netted 28 against the Tiger Cubs in the semistate finale, but came through with the 17 fourth-quarter points including the first 13 tallied in the period. That turned a slim, 42-38 advantage into a 55-38 count with half the stanza gone. “Bailey really did it He just took over,” said GHS coach Doug Miller. “He is a great one.” * UNTIL THE fourth quarter, Greencastle junior Pete Huber had done an outstanding job in sticking tQ Bailey like glue as the Cubs used a:box-and-one defense against Bedford. Bailey did not register a field goal in the first and third quarters and only had 11 points heading into the final eight minutes, his lowest output of the season if it would have remained there. • But, Huber ran out of gas as after playing 33 of 35 minutes in the afternoon overtime win over Evansville Central and adding 23 of 24 minutes through the first three periods in the championship game, there was nothing left. Bailey took advantage of the situation and canned 5-of-5 from the floor and 7-of--7 from the free-throw line to seal

Tferre Haute SemUtate Semifinals Game One Bedford-North Lawrence 72, Loogootee 43 LOOGOOTEE (63) Doyle 10-16 0-2 5 20, Callison 2-8 0-0 3 4, Ackerman 7-12 2-2 2 17, Frye 4-7 0-05 10, Nome 1-2 0-0 1 2, Grindstaff 47 0-0011, Arthur 0-0 0-0 0 0, Seller* 0-0 0-0 0 0, Baugh 0-0 0-0 0 0. Totals 28-52 2-4 2263. BEDFORD-NORTH LAWRENCE (72) Ritter 5-10 2-3 0 13, Bailey 13-22 3-5 3 30. Byrer4-6 6-6 1 14. Pittman 3-3 2-3 2 8, Speer 1-10-0 12, Noel 1-3 3-7 2 5, Ikerd 0-1 0-1 1 0. Totals 27-46 16-25 9 72 Loogootee 12 16 16 25 —63 Bedford-North Lawrence 26 13 12 27 —72 Throe-point goals Loogootee 6-for-13 (Callison O-of-2, Ackerman l-of-2, Frye 2-of-4, Grindstaff 3-of-5), Bedford-North Lawrence 2-for--3 (Bailey l-of-2, Ritter 1-of-l). Rebounds Loogootee 24 (Doyle 11), Bedford-North Lawrenc; 24 (Bailey 10). Assists Loogootee 17 (Ackerman 10), Bedford-North Lawrence 17 (Bailey, Byter 5). Steals Loogootee 1 (Frye), Bedford-North Lawrence 6 (Bailey, Byrer 2). Fouled out Doyle, Frye. Turnovers Loogootee 10, Bedford-North Lawrence 7. Game TWo Greencastle 69, Evansville Central 65, OT GREENCASTLE (69) Huber 2-9 6-6 1 11, Hocko 9-15 9-10 0 27, King 0-10-110, VanBibber 3-7 1-1 4 9. Remsburg 5-10 0-0 1 10, Pettit 4-7 0-0 0 8, Barnett 1-1 0-1 22, hfiller 04) 2-2 0 2 Totals 24-50 18-21 9 69. EVANSVILLE CENTRAL (65) Bigg* 6-12 0-0 4 13, Johnson 3-7 0-0 2 6, Hales 6-7 0-0 5 12 Malone 4-6 3-3 311, Baker 8-14 0-0 4 16, Roberts 1-2 04) 1 2 Montgomery 2-5 1-2 0 5. Totals 30-55 4-5 19 65. Greencastle 15 19 11 16 8— 69 Evansville Central 14 15 29 12 465 Three-point goals Greencastle 3-for-10 (Huber l-of-3, Vanßibber 2-of-3, Remsburg 0-of--4), Evansville Central l-for-3 (Biggs l-of-2 Montgomery 0-of-l). Rebounds Greencastle 23 (Hecko 10), Evansville Central 28 (Baker 9). Assists Greencastle 17 (Vanßibber 7), Evansville Central 11 (Malone 4). Steals Greencastle 9 (Wnßibber, Remsburg 3), Evansville Central 6 (Johnson 3). Fouled out Hales. Turnovers Greencastle 18, Evansville Central 22 Championship Bedford-North Lawrence 62 Greencastle 47 GREENCASTLE (47) Huber 4-12 0-0 1 9, Hecko 8-13 2-4 3 18, King 0-3 0-0 4 0, Remsburg 3-7 4-4 3 11, Pettit 2-6 1-1 2 5, Barnett 0-1 0-0 3 0, Miller 0-2 0-0 1 0, Twigg 0-() 0-0 0 0, Rehlander 0-1 0-0 0 0, Bowen 0-0 04) 0 0. Totals 19-49 7-9 19 47. BEDFORD-NORTH LAWRENCE (62) Byrer 2-4 04) 3 4, Bailey 8-13 11-11 1 28, Noel 23 0-3 24, Pittman 1-4 3-5 25, Ritter 6-15 0-0 1 13, Ikerd 1-1 04) 0 2 Speer 2-2 0-0 2 4, Boshears 1-1 0-2 0 2 Jones 0-1 0-0 0 0, douse 04) OO 0 0. Mahuron 0-0 02 0 0, Flinn OO 04) 0 0. Totals 23-44.14-23 11 62 Greencastle 11 13 14 947 Bedford-North Lawrence 12 17 13 29 —62 Three-point goals Greencastle 2-for-8 (Huber l-of-6, Vanßibber 0-of-l, Remsburg 1-of-l), Bed-ford-North Lawrence 2-for-6 (Bailey l-of-2, Pittman 0-of-l, Ritter l-as-3). Rebounds Greencastle 29 (Hecko 6), Bedford-North Lawrence 27 (Bailey 13). Assists Greencastle 14 (Huber 6), Bedford-North Lawrence 14 (Bailey 7). Steals Greencastle 7 (Vanßibber, Remsburg 3), Bedford-North Lawrence 8 (Byter, Bailey 2). Fouled out None. Turnovers Greencastle 15, Bedford-North Lawrence 8. All Tournament Turn Daman Bailey Bedford-North Lawrence Brett Hecko Greencastle Jay Ritter Bedford-North Lawrence Brant Ackerman Loogootee Pete Huber Greencastle

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the win for the Stars. “Ideally, we would have liked to have kept fresh people on Bailey,” Miller said. “But, we really didn’t have any fresh people left It was a hard game earlier in the day and we just ran out of gas. Pete did an excellent job and deserves a great deal of credit All of us gave it everything we had. To play as hard as we did in the first game and then come back and play just as hard in the second is a tribute to our kids.” GREENCASTLE HAD played Bedford nip-and-tuck through the first three quarters as a Brett Hecko 15-foot baseline basket made it a 42-38 contest with the final eight minutes to play. But, Bailey took advantage of a pick on Huber and cut free to the baseline and popped in a 13-footer to begin his sensational run in the final period and the Stars were ahead by six with one minute gone in the stanza. After hitting two free throws at the 6:38 made that gave BNL its largest lead of the game at eight points, Bailey leaped over two GHS defenders and sank a 10footer that stretched the margin to 10 points at 48-38. An offensive rebound basket followed as did a successful free throw to complete a three-point play, before he banked one home from five feet out at the 5:25 mark, increasing the lead to 53-38. Then, Bailey again drove to the basket and laid one up and in to finish his 13-point spurt that brought “We’re on our way to MSA” chants from the Bedford fans. “WHEN WE need him, he’s always there,” Bush said. “Greencastle did as good a job defensing him as anyone had done all year, but you just can’t completely step him. He turned himself loose and did what it took.” Bailey ended up with four more free throws before the game ended and before both coaches emptied their benches. Baskets by Chad Remsburg and Hecko brought Greencastle to within 14 during the final stages of the contest, but the damage had already been done.

Vanßibber sparks Tiger Cubs into Final 8

By KEITH E. DOMKE Banner-Graphic Sports Editor TERRE HAUTE Brad VanBibber is the kind of basketball player who usually goes about his business quietly and without much notice. But on Saturday, in the semifinal game of the Terre Haute Semistate, the small, 5-8 Greencastle High School senior guard made his presence known. And, he did it in hero-like fashion, coming through with the game-winning points as the Tiger Cubs outlasted Evansville Central, 69-65, in overtime. The victory placed the Purple and Gray into the final eight in the state, a position they had not been in for 50 years. AND, IT was golden. “What a way to come back,” said Greencastle coach Doug Miller of Vanßibber. “He’s such a valuable player for us. He’s made great plays all year but has done a lot of them without notice. He loves the game of basketball and he is dedicated to the game. What he did was a tribute to him.” And, what Vanßibber did was turn a bleak situation into a hysterical one for the Tiger Cubs and their nearly 2,000 fans that packed Hulman Center’s southeast comer. With 58 seconds remaining in the overtime session. Evansville Central had taken advantage of an intentional foul and had built a seemingly insurmountable, 65-61 lead after Floyd Malone sank both free throws. And, it was Vanßibber that had committed the intentional foul, giving the Bears the two freebies and the ball out of bounds afterward. “WE WANTED to foul Malone in that situation, but not intentionally,” Miller said. “We got a little excited and a little confused and did foul Malone, but not like we wanted to. That wasn’t really

“We were vary effective vfith our defense in what we wanted to do,” Miller said. “Unfortunately, we just wore out and our offense suffered because of the total concentration on defense. Our offensive game did suffer because of the intense defensive effort and that certainly didn’t help us any.” THE TIGER Cubs entered the semistate connecting on 54 percent of their shots from the floor. In the title tilt, they managed to make 19-of-49 for 39 percent “Our shooting just wasn’t there,” Miller said. Bailey’s 28-point output added to the 30 he scored in Bedford’s 72-63 win over Loogootee allowed him to establish a new semistate scoring record with 58 points. He also ended up with 23 rebounds and 12 assists. The day’s effort earned him Most Valuable Player honors for the semistate. Joining Bailey on the squad were Hecko rebounds and Huber from GHS, Brant Ackerman from Loogootee and Jay Ritter, another BNL player. GREENCASTLE LED three times, all in the first quarto- and always just by one point, before the Stars got back-to-back hoops by Ritter toward the end of the opening quarter that put them ahead for good. Hecko scored to close the opening period, making the score 12-11 BNL, and Bailey opened up the second stanza with a threepointer that staked his team to a four-point lead. Another Bailey basket made it a six-point game and the difference moved to seven at the 4:30 mark when Ritter again found the range from the outside. It was still a seven-point affair the 1:26 mark of the quarter before Hecko converted a three-point play with 1:16 to go before halftime. Jeff Speer countered for Bedford, but Hecko sank a free throw and Remsburg drove the lane for two and the lead was back down to three points at 27-24 with eight seconds left on the clock. Troy Boshears sewed at the buzzer to give the Stars a five-point bulge, an advantage that improved

good strategy on our part, but I knew we wouldn’t quit Then Brad ... wasn’t that great?” On their ensuing possession after the two Malone charity tosses, the Bears only had the 58 seconds to worry about But, Gavont Baker made a mistake of his own as he went for the slam dunk and missed, giving the ball to GHS’s Chad Remsburg on the rebound. Remsburg passed the ball to Vanßibber, who hit nothing but net on a three-point try with 29 seconds to go, bringing Greencastle to within one at 65-64. Vanßibber then stole the inbounds pass under his basket, laid it in and was fouled. He hit the free throw with 27 seconds left, completing an individual six-point spurt, and the Tiger Cubs were in front, 67-65. JEFF BIGGS misfired for Evansville and Brett Hecko rebounded and was fouled with three ticks to go. He sealed the triumph with the pair of ensuing free throws. “In the tournament, we have come back before and the kids have a tremendous amount of confidence in their ability,” Miller said. “We know we can score a lot of points in a hurry with our defensive pressure and at that particular time (in the overtime) we crossed them up and went from zone to man-to-man pressure. Things had to go our way and we made that happen. Our kids deserve all the credit. We played well when we had to. Our pressure, we wouldn’t have won without it” “High school kids, what can you say?” said Central coach Morris Clark, who closed his season with a 15-11 record and with the trip to the Sweet 16. “We’re disappointed. We made some mistakes and did not show the discipline it takes to win tournament games. We left ourselves open for a lot of criticism. We didn’t do a good job

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The tough, Greencastle pressure defense was on the Hulman Center floor again Saturday in the Terre Haute Semistate as seniors Brett Hecko (left) and Chad Remsburg trap Bedford-

to eight after Ritter opened the second half with a three-pointer. BUT, GHS battled back and rattled off the next six points. Remsburg took a nifty pass from Hecko for a basket from underneath before Hecko grabbed an offensive rebound and laid the ball back up and in. Jeff King then tallied for the Cubs, also after grabbing an offensive rebound, and at the 5:38 mark, BNL was clinging to a 32-30 lead. A Huber jumper at the 3:20 marie brought Greencastle to within one at 35-34, but Bailey converted two free throws and Greg Pittman tur-

at all at the end. But, give Greencastle credit They didn’t give up and kept with it. They made the plays. We didn’t.” GREENCASTLE HAD to scramble during the final seconds of regulation as well as the Bears used a Jeff Biggs basket with five seconds left in the fourth quarter to assume a 61-59 lead. The Tiger Cubs called a timeout to set up a final play, where Jeff King fired the inbounds pass to Hecko at midcourt, who in turn fired the ball to Chad Remsburg on the baseline. Remsburg drove to the hoop and put the ball through as the horn sounded to force the extra session. ‘That’s a play we’ve worked on since the first day of practice,” Miller said. “It’s a designed play all the way.” Remsburg’s tying points helped cap an eight-point GHS rally after the Cubs had found themselves down by a 53-45 count with 6:33 left in the contest Central’s David Montgomery beat a triple team at that point and scored from close range, before Greencastle rattled off the next eight points to move into a 53-53 tie. DAVID PETTIT began the surge with a nifty hook, before Hecko got hot from the baseline and canned a 17-footer, then a 16footer to pull his troops to within two. Pete Huber tied it with a pair of free throws. Kirk Hales double pumped a shot through at the 4:05 mark, but Hecko responded with two freebies to knot things up again. Baker and Pettit exchanged baskets as the clock ticked to under three minutes to play before Remsburg scored at the 2:35 mark that gave GHS a 5957 advantage. Baker scored at 2:26, tying the score and the Tiger Cubs played for the last shot At 1:10, the ball was stolen and the Bears decided they

North Lawrence’s Jay Ritter in the corner during the championship game. (Banner-Graphic photo by Gary Goodman)

ned a steal into a three-point play that increased the margin back to six. Huber and Hecko sandwiched baskets around one by Byrer, finishing the third quarter at the 4238 count. REMSBURG WHO played his usual stellar game despite still having a bad case of the flu that kept him out of school both Thursday and Friday joined Hecko in double figures with 11 points, while Huber netted nine for GHS. Ritter added 13 for Bedford, which will take a 26-1 record

would be the ones to run out the clock, setting the stage for Biggs’ basket and Remsburg’s hoop that added three more minutes to the contest. ‘THIS WAS not our best basketball,” Miller said. “We made a lot of mistakes and committed an uncharacteristic (high) amount of turnovers (18). But, we never gave up. We never lost sight of winning.” The first quarter featured the Cubs jumping to an 11-6 advantage after Hecko nailed a baseliner at the 4:45 mark. But, the Bears rallied and scored eight of the final 12 points of the period, including a Malone basket that brought Central to within one point, 15-14, at stanza’s end. Baker gave the Bears the lead by scoring the first basket of the second quarter and Central was ahead by four points, 29-25, with 2:18 before the half after Baker capped a 7-0 run. But, Greencastle tallied the final nine points before

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Brad Vanßibber, left, pumped in six straight points in the overtime session that led Greencastle to its 69-65 win

March 21,1988 THE BANNERGRAPHIC

against top-ranked Muncie Central Saturday in the state semifinals. “We really gave a gutty performance,” Miller said. “Considering all the circumstances of the day, the injuries (ankles to David Pettit and King), illness and tiredness ... We gave it our all. What a run. These kids are great. The only reason we are sad is because we know we won’t be together as a team ever again.” Hecko closed his outstanding prep career with 622 points this season and with 1,077 in his career at GHS.

the intermission to take a 34-29 lead into its locker room as VanBibber canned a three-pointer, Remsburg nailed a 16-footer, and Hecko hit from underneath, then from the baseline. THE CUBS kept hold of the lead except for a 39-39 tie at 5:13 for the first half of the third quarter until Malone turned a steal into a three point play and into a 42-41 lead with 3:59 left. Central never trailed for the rest of the period and moved to the eight-point bulge during the opening 1:27 of the fourth quarter. “Maybe our luck ran out,” Clark said. “But, Greencastle has a nice team and they played well. They pulled together at the end and stuck it to us after things looked pretty good. We had our chances.” Hecko paced all scorers with 27 points while Huber added 11, Remsburg 10, Vanßibber nine and Pettit eight. Baker netted 16 for ECHS, Biggs scored 13, Hales 12 and Malone 11.

over Evansville Central Saturday afternoon. (BannerGraphic photo by Gary Goodman)

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