Silver Creek punches ticket to state championship game

By KENZIE WINSTEAD
Content Editor

SEYMOUR, Ind. — The Silver Creek community enjoyed an impromptu celebration Saturday afternoon — in the middle of the basketball floor at Seymour High School.

“I’m speechless when I see the whole town of Sellersburg here,” said Silver Creek coach Brandon Hoffman. “That’s what it’s about. I’m just part of the ride. It’s just surreal.”

The celebration came after a hard-earned 72-69 win over Indianapolis Crispus Attacks in the Class 3A Seymour Semistate.

The Dragons (24-3) — with just the right combination of gritty seniors and talented underclassmen — earned their first trip to a state final in boys’ basketball. They will take on Culver Academies on March 23 at Banker’s Life Fieldhouse in downtown Indianapolis.

“We just made play after play,” Hoffman said. “That’s chemistry. If we just take care of the ball, we’re better than they are.”

Even with an advantage in the paint, it didn’t come easy for Silver Creek.

The Dragons led 46-38 after Silver Creek senior Josh Landers hit a 3-pointer with 4:35 left in the third quarter.

Then, Attucks scored the next 11 points to tie it at 49.

“There was a lot of basketball left,” Hoffman said, recalling his timeouts during that stretch of the third quarter. “We needed to get the doggone ball inside to the horse (Trey Kaufman) and let him eat.”

Kaufman, who drew double teams much of the afternoon, tallied 17 points.

From there, the game stayed close.

In the fourth quarter, Silver Creek trailed 62-59 and then started a rally of its own.

With 43.9 seconds left, the Dragons took control on one play.

Ty Kessinger hit the first of two free throws to give Silver Creek a 66-63 lead. On the second attempt, he missed but sophomore Kooper Jacobi tipped in the rebound and the Dragons led 68-63.

Silver Creek iced the game in the final 10 seconds by hitting 3 of 4 throws — one by senior Zane Gross and two from Kessinger.

.⁦@KenzHHHoops⁩ with Silver Creek senior Zane Gross immediately after Seymour Semistate championship: pic.twitter.com/uHUlvfDllj

— Matt Denison (@HoosierHills) March 16, 2019

Jacobi led the Dragons with 20 points. “It feels great,” he said. “We worked so hard for this. I didn’t know we were going to win until the last 10 seconds. I still can’t believe it.”

Jacobi mentioned the large number of Silver Creek fans. “It was so loud,” he said. “My ears were hurting at halftime.”

Harold Bennett, who hit five long-distance 3-pointers, led Attucks with 30 points.

Now, the Dragons have a full week to get ready for the state title game.

“We’re going to enjoy it,” Hoffman said. “But we’re playing to win it. We’re going to play to win it.”

CLASS 3A SEYMOUR SEMISTATE
Silver Creek 72, Indianapolis Crispus Attucks 69
Silver Creek (24-3) — Zane Gross 7, Jack Hawkins 14, Josh Landers 3, Ty Kessinger 11, Kooper Jacobi 20, Trey Kaufman 17.
Crispus Attucks (20-9) – Jason Hall 5, Harold Bennett 30, SinCere McMahon 21, Jaylen Carson 3, Jaiquan Edwards 4, Tyran Lewis 6.
3-point goals: Gross 1, Hawkins 2, Jacobi 1, Hall 1, Bennett 5, McMahon 4, Lewis 1.