HIGH SCHOOL

Danville ends inspired Lebanon run to reach third-ever semistate

Brent Glasgow
Special to IndyStar
Danville High School senior forward Alec Burton (2) drives the ball to the basket during the first half of an IHSAA Boys' Basketball Regional semi-final game at Greencastle High School, Saturday, March 10, 2018.

GREENCASTLE – After knocking off defending Class 3A state champ and No. 2 Crispus Attucks earlier in the day, No. 6 Danville punched its first Final Four ticket in eight years Saturday night, with a 57-45 regional title game victory over Lebanon.

Dillon Ware (17 points), Alec Burton (15) and Connor Jones (10) led the Warriors, who once again took care of business down the stretch.

“We gutted it out here two games. We got to prepare all week for Attucks, then this game, there’s not much preparation,” Danville coach Brian Barber said. “You just have to grind it out, find ways to get things done and make plays.”

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Danville (22-4) will face No. 3 Evansville Bosse (24-4) in next week’s semistate — the Bulldogs’ third straight — for a shot at the program’s first state championship appearance.

“I know they want to pressure, press and get after it. I guess somebody to compared them to is Attucks,” Barber said of Bosse. “Our kids will be ready to go. We’ll take Monday off and enjoy this, then get back to work on Tuesday.”

Lebanon (12-16), which entered the tournament seven games below .500, made it to Saturday’s regional finale with a 59-56 double-overtime triumph over Edgewood (22-6), as Jaylen Washington scored 21 points, including a bounce-in 3-pointer to force OT. 

Washington had 24 points in the nightcap against Danville, but the Tigers didn’t have the firepower to pull off another upset. They were, however, an inspiration for a town reeling from tragedy, following the recent deaths of Boone County Deputy Jacob Pickett, City Councilman Jeremy Lamar and Western Boone senior Sydney Foster.

“We got a sip of water that was a good taste for our community, the sectional win, not that it overshadows anything that happened the last couple weeks,” Lebanon coach Albert Hendrix said. “The kids (were) playing with the community behind them, and the community needs something good. These guys delivered that for them.”

In a 21-point reversal of its Dec. 2 meeting against Attucks, Danville reached the championship with a 64-55 semifinal win. Burton had 21 of his game-high 27 points in the second half, as the Warriors came back from 11 down at halftime.

“I thought we came out and did a good job of establishing what we wanted to do in the second half,” Barber said. “Sixteen minutes is still a lot of time to play. We just kept chipping away at it, kept momentum going.”

Derrick Briscoe led Attucks (20-5) with 19 points. The Tigers shot 5-of-10 from 3-point range in the first half, but made just two in the second while Danville reduced second-chance looks.

“The first half we kind of closed the paint off. Second half, they were able to drive and Burton got going a little more,” Attucks coach Chris Hawkins said. “You have to make plays, and Danville was the better team today. They did it when they needed to.”

FINAL

DANVILLE 57, LEBANON 45

Danville     10       15       14       18      — 57
Lebanon     9        8       12       16       —  45

Danville (22-4) — Burton 15, Cowart 8, Jones 10, Ware 17, Comer 3, Thompson 2, To. Hiland 2, Stevens 0.

Lebanon (12-16) — C. Burton 6, Zimmerman 0, K. Burton 2, J. Washington 24, Reese 5, Jarrett 8, Welborn 0, Allen 0, Rakowski 0.

SEMIFINALS

DANVILLE 64, CRISPUS ATTUCKS 55

Attucks     17       15        6       17      — 55
Danville    17        4       19       24       —  64

Attucks (20-4) — Bennett 17, Poole 11, Harris 6, Briscoe 19, Edwards 0, Lewis 0, Williams 2, Coe 0.

Danville (20-4) — Burton 27, Cowart 6, Jones 16, Ware 9, Comer 4, Thompson 2, To. Hiland 0.

LEBANON 59, EDGEWOOD 56, 2 OT

Lebanon     10       4       12       15        10        8      — 59
Edgewood    7       5       19       10        10        5       —  56

Lebanon (12-15) — C. Burton 7, Zimmerman 0, Jarrett 11, K. Burton 4, J. Washington 21, Reese 16.

Edgewood (22-6) — Kido 8, Balcam 0, Banister 2, Cowden 0, Taylor 11, Collier 4, Howard 16, Norris 12, Harrington 3.