Third-quarter scoring woes allow Fort Wayne Wayne to end Mishawaka's season
ELKHART – Mishawaka’s Cinderella hopes for a trip to the Indiana Class 4A state championship came crashing down before midnight even approached early Saturday afternoon in the northern semistate at North Side Gymnasium.
With everything seemingly going their way against Fort Wayne Wayne in the first half of Saturday’s second semifinal, coach Bodie Bender’s Cavemen couldn’t get out of their own way after halftime as the Generals scored the first 20 points of the third quarter on their way to a 62-47 victory over Mishawaka.
Mishawaka, which won a share of the Northern Lakes Conference title in Bender’s second season and then won their second straight sectional before winning their first regional title since 1955 last Saturday in Michigan City, missed all nine of its third-quarter shots and turned the ball over five times during the Generals’ 20-2 third quarter run which erased a 32-23 halftime deficit to the Cavemen.
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“They turned it up on the attack,” Bender said. “That run broke our back.”
Winners of five straight coming in, Mishawaka closed its season at 20-8 despite a double-double from 6-foot-4 senior Brady Fisher (15 points, 11 rebounds) and 13 points from junior point guard Jackson Snyder.
Junior Chase Barnes had 23 points, senior point guard Jevon Lewis 16 and Preston Comer added 10 points for coach Anthony Brewer’s Generals, who won their 15th straight game and improved to 23-3 going into Saturday night’s championship game against top-ranked Fishers (27-1), a 48-37 winner over Crown Point in the opening semifinal.
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“I can’t be any prouder of this team,” Bender said. “It’s going to take me a little time to cut off the high (of the season) and reflect on this (loss) a little bit. But when I do, I could probably make a list of things that were just crazy in what these seniors did. It was a crazy ride they took us on.”
Fisher, who quarterbacked Mishawaka’s football team in the fall, was one of seven seniors who played their final game for Bender. Fisher could have used his football pads the way he got beat up by the Generals, who managed a 28-28 draw on the backboards with the Cavemen. Fisher, who hit just three field goals in seven shots, had 13 free throws, making eight, including two at the end of the third quarter to prevent the Cavemen from being shut out in the quarter. He made a quick exit from the gymnasium after Bender’s final talk to the team and wasn’t available for comment.
“Brady was taking a lot of contact,” said classmate Cooper Pritchett, who had eight points and six rebounds. “When he drove, there was like four guys there and he was getting hammered. But there’s nothing we can do about it now.”
Trey Thomas, another senior who was a receiver for Fisher during football season, had six points, all in the fourth quarter. His basket with five minutes remaining in the game after a steal by Fisher was the first field goal of the second half for Mishawaka, which made just five in the final 16 minutes.
“These guys (his fellow seniors) are my best friends,” Pritchett said. “To go on this run with them was unbelievable.”
Things looked good early for Mishawaka, which jumped to a 6-0 lead thanks to Fisher’s 3-pointer to open the game, a Fisher free throw and a Pritchett basket off a Fisher feed. The Cavemen led 12-8 after the first quarter and maintained the momentum into the second quarter, eventually opening up a 10-point lead, 29-19, on Snyder’s third 3-pointer of the quarter. It would become 13 points when Mishawaka senior Anthony Nelson rained down a three of his own with 30 seconds remaining, but the Generals scored the final four points of the half to trail 32-23 at halftime.
“I think we got away with what we do best,” Pritchett said of his team’s third-quarter scoring funk. “We started playing the way they wanted us to play, and they upped the pace a little bit. We just couldn’t find a response.”
Try as he might, Fisher just couldn’t supply one for his teammates.
“Brady is special, he’s a different athlete,” Bender said. “He doesn’t get rattled. There were a lot of nights this season we went the way he went. He would put us on his back sometimes. He just ran out of gas at the end.”
Years from now, Fisher and his teammates will realize the mileage they traveled this basketball season was worth it for all the good memories provided.
FORT WAYNE WAYNE 62, MISHAWAKA 47
At North Side Gymnasium, Elkhart
FORT WAYNE WAYNE (62): Jevon Lewis 16, Chase Barnes 23, HJ Dillard III 9, Preston Comer 10, Qualon Miles 0, Khalyn Williams-Thomas 0, Kharrington Terry 4, Ziare Sullivan 0, TOTALS 25 11-13 62.
MISHAWAKA (47): Brady Fisher 15, Cooper Pritchett 8, Trey Thomas 6, Anthony Nelson 3, Jackson Snyder 13, Rasauun Johnson 2, Jack Troyer 0, Landon Johns 0, TOTALS 15 12-20 47
Fort Wayne Wayne | 8 | 23 | 43 | 62
Mishawaka | 12 | 32 | 34 | 47
3-point goals: Fort Wayne Wayne 1 (Barnes 1), Mishawaka 5 (Snyder 3, Fisher 1, Nelson 1). Shooting: Fort Wayne Wayne 25 of 52 for 48.1 percent; Mishawaka 15 of 38 for 39.5 percent. Rebounds: Fort Wayne Wayne 28 (Dillard 6, Comer 6), Mishawaka 28 (Fisher 11, Pritchett 6). Turnovers: Fort Wayne Wayne 9, Mishawaka 18. Total fouls (fouled out): Fort Wayne 16 (none), Mishawaka 14 (none).
Records: Fort Wayne Wayne 23-3, Mishawaka 20-8.