LOGANSPORT – Over the first three quarters of the Class 3A semistate championship game Saturday night, New Haven junior guard Tarvar Baskerville had scored just two points against Columbia City.
That all changed in the fourth. Baskerville scored for 15 points in the final quarter, including a drive down the lane for the game’s go-ahead bucket with 2.4 seconds to go. The game wasn’t quite over just yet – there would be four more timeouts called and two Bulldogs free throws made by Baskerville before the clock finally hit zero. But Baskerville’s clutch shot secured New Haven’s 59-55 victory and the first semistate title in Bulldogs history.
“It feels good that my team trusts me with the ball in my hands,” Baskerville said. “It feels good bringing (a semistate title) back to the school, all the teachers, all the administrators, all the students. They’re going to buy-in for us at state.”
Waiting for New Haven (22-7) at the state finals is Class 3A No. 3 Indianapolis Cathedral (24-5), which knocked out No. 1 Silver Creek 73-68 in the Seymour semistate on Saturday night. The state championship game will be played at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis at 6 p.m. next Saturday.
“It’s still surreal, it’s still hard to bring it all in right now,” New Haven coach Brandon Appleton said. “I’m so proud of our kids, this is what dreams are made of here.”
It was New Haven’s second victory over No. 6 Columbia City (24-5) this season. The first, a 70-67 overtime win on Jan. 31, proved the be the difference in the NE8 title race.
“I told them at the start of the fourth, we were down, I think, eight at their place, and hats off to Columbia City, they do a great job, and we happened to find a way last time,” Appleton said. “Same thing this time. Each possession matters, and luckily we had the right timing and the right possessions there.”
The Bulldogs and Eagles traded blows for the entire first half, with neither team pulling ahead by more than five points. Columbia City senior forward Trey Deckman tipped in a bucket just before the halftime buzzer to cut the New Haven lead to 28-27. Eagles senior guard Owen Marshall opened the third quarter with a 3-pointer to put Columbia City ahead 30-28 and the Eagles’ lead grew to as many as seven points in the third quarter. Heading into the fourth quarter, New Haven trailed 42-37.
Although the Bulldogs pride themselves on their depth and wealth of scoring options — seven different players scored for New Haven in the first half – they clearly needed a late-game spark. Baskerville, who had 13 points in the morning semifinal and led the team with 20 points against West Lafayette in the regional championship, was an obvious candidate, even though he was only 1 of 4 from the field with five turnovers over the first three quarters.
“I was preaching to them all night, this is just another day of hoops, don’t let the stage get too big. (Baskerville) finally calmed himself down, he struggled early, but he’s just one of those players who is going to make those plays,” Appleton said. “That’s the way he’s been all season. I was going at him pretty hard, and for him to not tuck-tail and be mad, he knew his opportunity was coming and I couldn’t be more proud of him.”
Baskerville finished with 17 points and senior guard Jadrien Ezell scored 16. He hit a 3-pointer in all four quarters, including one in the fourth quarter that cut Columbia City’s lead to 44-42 with just under six minutes to play.
The Bulldogs had to overcome an outstanding final game for Columbia City senior forward Landon Richmond, who scored 21 points and had 11 rebounds. Marshall scored 13 points, nine of them coming in the second half.
The Eagles are still in search of their first semistate title since 2004.
The Bulldogs’ title-game comeback was their second of the day. At halftime against Delta (16-11), New Haven trailed 27-23. The Bulldogs were badly losing the rebounding battle (20-7), they weren’t shooting particularly well (35.7% from the field, while Delta was shooting 58.8%), and they were just 2 of 8 at the free throw line. But that all turned around immediately in the third quarter: In just two minutes of play, senior forward Daylen Jackson had two steals, eight points and two rebounds, and New Haven was suddenly up 31-27. A 3-pointer by senior forward DaMarcus Wright gave the Bulldogs a 34-27 cushion, and they would go on to outscore the Eagles 21-8 in the third quarter.
Despite the lackluster rebounding in the first half, the Bulldogs dominated the boards in the second half, grabbing 17 rebounds to Delta’s four. They shot 17 of 30 (56.7%) in the second half, and over the course of the game they had 11 steals and forced 15 Delta turnovers.
Columbia City didn’t need a similar second-half surge against East Chicago Central (15-13) in the noon semifinal game. After the Cardinals took a 7-6 lead early in the first quarter, the Eagles went on a 27-2 run that wouldn’t end until 3:14 in the second quarter. The Eagles led 37-15 at halftime, and they picked right back up in the second half, opening on a 10-3 run.
“We really had three keys: Control the pace of the game, take care of the basketball with an attack mindset still, not just playing keep-away, and rebound the basketball,” Columbia City coach Matt Schauss said. “We did those three things really, really well.”
Richmond shot 9 of 11 from the field and finished with 21 points. He also had a team-high 11 rebounds and six assists. Marshall scored 15 points, sophomore guard Ian St. John had 12 points and senior forward Trey Deckman had 10 points, eight rebounds and nine assists.
