2018 Indiana High School Basketball State Tournament: State Finals Scores

It was a great crowd on hand today at the Indiana high school basketball state finals at Bankers Life Fieldhouse. I attended the 1A and 2A games with my son to see a pair of teams with a family connection play. The 3A game was a bit of a surprise, as Culver Academy reversed a regular season loss and held the state’s most powerful offense in check. In the end, we have four new champions as all 4 winners were first time state champions.

Class A

Morristown 89, Southwood 60

This was a pretty close game for a while as Southwood started strong, but Morristown’s offense was way too good in the second half. They had 51 second half points and established a new record for most points scored in the 1A title game.

Eli Streeval had a fantastic game for the Yellow Jackets, scoring 35 points on 14 of 18 shooting. Hayden Langkubel was mostly held in check and finished with 16, but was under double figures for most of the game. He finished his career with 2,186 points, passing Eric Gordon for 23^rd in state history. Logan Laster also had a great game with 24 points.

Peyton Trexler led Southwood with 18 points, and Carson Blair won the Trester Mental Attitude Award for the Knights.

Class 2A

Oak Hill 56, Forest Park 44

While the 1A game was a game that was up and down the floor with lots of scoring. The 2A game was a sloppy, foul-filled affair. All told, 37 fouls were called and it really could have had 37 more. Oak Hill was able to balloon a 6-point lead after three quarters into the win, but both teams lacked any consistent offense.

Oak Hill’s Caleb Middlesworth was 8 of 14 from the field and finished with 25 points and 9 rebounds to lead the Golden Eagles. David Arens also had 13 points for Oak Hill. Freshman Curt Hopf led Forest Park with 10 points, but the Rangers were only 14 of 41 as a team from the field. Forest Park’s Collin Hochgesang named Trester Mental Attitude Award winner.

Class 3A

Culver Academy 64, Evansville Bosse 49

On December 16 Bosse beat Culver Academy 74-49. They also had the state’s highest scoring offense at over 82 points per game. Today Culver was able to reverse that loss with a resounding win and take home its first state championship in any sport. Mekhi Lairy had 28 points for Bosse to finish with 2,238 points, 18^th in state history, but Culver did a great job of shutting the rest of his team down.

2020 Purdue prospect Trey Galloway was 4 of 10 from the field for 14 points. Ethan Brittain-Watts (a 2019 PG who has visited Purdue and Wisconsin) led the Eagles with 20 points. Culver led 22-8 after closing the first quarter with a 10-0 run and never looked back from there. Bosse’s Jaylin Chinn won the Trester Mental Attitude Award.

Class 4A

Warren Central 54, Carmel 48

Warren Central went up 7-0 early, then did not score for about 10 minutes in falling behind 17-7. Like they have done all season, the Warriors fought back. They were able to pull back in front thanks to Dean Tate (22 points, 13 of 14 from the line) and Antwaan Cushingberry(10 points). David Bell, the 4-star WR/DB that Jeff Brohm is very interested in, was the hero of the semi-state last week, but tonight he was limited by foul trouble. He played 25 mintues and fouled out with just five points. He added seven rebounds, but was 3 of 8 at the line.

Warren Central tied the Indiana single-season record with 32 wins, but they were a perfect 32-0 while 1995 Ben Davis was 32-1. They are the 14th perfect champion in Indiana history and they became the second school, joining Class A’s Oregon-Davis in 2007, to pull off the girls/boys double in the same year.

Butler commit John Michael Malloy had 21 for Carmel to lead them, but it wasn’t quite enough.