Lawrence North over Bishop Luers for Circle City Classic title 69-57

Inside disadvantage catches up to Knights

Greg Jones
High school sports editor

INDIANAPOLIS – For three quarters, it was the matchup everybody expected.

But in the fourth, Class 4A No. 4 Lawrence North used its height advantage to pull away for a 69-57 win over 2A No. 1 Bishop Luers in the Circle City Classic finale Saturday at Southport.

The much-taller Wildcats (4-1) outscored the Knights (4-1) 23-13 in the fourth quarter, using a lineup that includes three regulars who are 6-foot-9.

Luers’ lineup has one player taller than 6-7.

The scored was tied at 44 late in the third quarter before the Wildcats scored the final basket of the third and the first three of the fourth. The lead topped out at 16, at 65-49.

The Knights made only 12 of 35 in the second half, including six of 20 in the fourth quarter.

The Wildcats outrebounded Luers 10-5 in the fourth quarter and made 11 of 15 from the field, many on layups.

“We gave up easy buckets,” Luers coach James Blackmon said. “When you let a team with that size get second opportunities under the basket, that’s tough. They got a lot of high-percentage shots. A team with that size shooting from point-blank range is going to hurt you.”

Deshaun Thomas led the Knights with 31 points, seven below his season average.

But the 31 points does put him alone atop the school’s all-time scoring list with 1,619.

Game MVP Dominique Ferguson, who is 6-9, led Lawrence North with 19 points, and 6-7 Justin Martin had 14, all in the first half. Louisville signee Stephan Van Treese, who is 6-9, had 12, despite battling foul trouble.

Read more via JournalGazette