Ben Vessa, For the Journal & Courier Published 9:55 p.m. ET Sept. 29, 2017
WEST LAFAYETTE - Trailing 5-3 in the third set, and with their team’s season in jeopardy, West Lafayette’s No. 2 doubles team decided to make a strategic and desperate adjustment - they went on the attack. In a feverish stretch that often found both players crashing the net, Addison Jordan and Rohith Tudi rallied to win four straight games,and gave the Red Devils a thrilling 3-2 victory over Harrison for the West Lafayette Sectional championship. “I told the kids, if you’re going to lose, you want to lose being aggressive,” West Lafayette coach Tim Wright said about the furious final moments of the match. “You could see it in our steps; we were quicker to the ball, and we weren’t as tentative.” When the sectional championship began, it did not look like high drama was in store. At No. 1 singles West Side’s Jonas Lill upped his record to 16-7 in a virtually flawless performance against Harrison’s Noah Irr 6-1, 6-1. “He’s a former soccer player that came over to tennis,” Wright said of Lill. “It’s hard to hit winners against him because he has such good footwork.” The Red Devils No. 1 doubles team of Sanjay Ganimella and Bennie Zhang also made short work of their opponents, rallying from a 2-0 deficit in the first set to win 6-3, 6-1. Leading 2-0, West Lafayette needed to win only one of the remaining three matches to hoist the sectional trophy, but as the afternoon went on, it seemed like that win was not going to happen. At No. 3 singles, Harrison’s Jake Webb defeated Kang-Seok Lee in a second set tiebreaker, helped in part by his ability to adjust to the blustery wind conditions. “My coach gave me great advice as to what do on each side, how to get him deep, and how to change my playing style with the wind,” Webb said. At No. 2 singles, Harrison’s James McBride used his towering height to make life difficult for West Lafayette’s Nathan Hu. McBride’s overhead smashes at times catapulted over the fenced-in playing surface, but a gutsy Hu rallied from down 5-4 to win the second set 7-5. When McBride jumped out to a quick 4-1 lead in the third set, the sectional championship was essentially tied 2-2, and all eyes turned to the drama that was unfolding on court 10. The No. 2 doubles match was a whirlwind of momentum twists. Harrison’s Eli Webb and Andrew Santos led 3-0 in the first set, only to see Jordan and Tudi cut it to 5-4. Harrison held on to win that set, but West Lafayette cruised in the second 6-2, setting up the dramatic finish. Trailing 5-3, Jordan knew that something had to change. “It was just a matter of fixing a few things,” Jordan said, “We tried to be more aggressive-minded.” For Tudi, the change was not in strategy, but in confidence. “We just had to keep believing in ourselves and not let it slip away,” he said. As the last Harrison shot was swallowed by the net, a collective exhale was heard by the West Lafayette players, fans and coaches. “I knew it was going to be dogfight, but not that type of a dogfight,” Wright said. “I feel fortunate to get out of here with a victory.” For Harrison coach Chastity Bradley, it marks the second straight year suffering a heartbreaking 3-2 loss to West Lafayette in the sectional. “It was really close,” she said. “All five courts had a very high level of tennis, great sportsmanship and great tennis. It was fun to watch.”
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Ben Vessa, For the Journal & Courier Published 9:09 p.m. ET Sept. 28, 2017
WEST LAFAYETTE - West Lafayette and Harrison earned convincing boys tennis victories on Thursday to set up a meeting of heavyweights for Friday's sectional championship. Despite some tense moments, West Lafayette earned a 5-0 victory over Lafayette Jeff. No. 2 singles player Nathan Hu was heavily challenged by Lafayette Jeff’s Lukas Riley, but emerged a 6-4, 6-4 winner. West Side’s No. 2 doubles team of Addison Jordan and Aaron Morris overcame adversity, trailing 4-2 in the second set, and earned a hard-fought 6-3, 6-4 victory over Tanner Ritchie and Nathan Franklin. “I thought we came out and played really well from start to finish in all five positions today,” West Lafayette coach Tim Wright said. “Jeff always plays us tough in the postseason, and we knew this would be no exception.” For Harrison, late heroics were in store for its No. 2 and No. 3 singles players. At No. 2, James McBride outlasted McCutcheon’s John Shambaugh 7-5 in the first set, and then carried that momentum into a dominating 6-1 second set victory. At No. 3, Jake Webb trailed McCutcheon’s Rowan Farrell 4-3 in the second set, only to put together a series of acrobatic shots down the stretch to win the match 6-1, 6-4. “I was proud of the boys,” Harrison coach Chastity Bradley said. “We got off to a little bit of a slow start in No. 2 singles, but I was glad (McBride) was able to close out that first set, and then he kind of rolled in the second, so that will give him confidence going into tomorrow’s match.” Both coaches lavished praise over their No. 1 doubles teams, who dominated their matches from start to finish. Friday's matches should be closely contested. West Lafayette defeated Harrison 4-1 in one of the first matches of the season, but both teams have changed their lineups since then. Wright expects tight matches in both singles and doubles. “(Harrison) is well coached, they have an athletic team, and they’re good tennis players,” Wright said. “I think it will come down to who’s ready to compete for the whole match, who keeps their head on, and who plays their style of tennis.” Bradley still remembers a crushing 3-2 loss to West Lafayette in last year’s sectional. “We’re looking for some revenge tomorrow,” she said. The tennis sectional championship will begin at 4:30 at Cumberland Elementary courts in West Lafayette. Ben Vessa, For the Journal & Courier Published 9:20 p.m. ET Sept. 23, 2017 BATTLE GROUND - On a day when umbrellas and water bottles were just as important as wedges and putters, the Lafayette Jeff girls golf team shot a 322, and not only advanced past regionals for the first time since 2012, but won the regional championship at Battle Ground Golf Club on Saturday. Getting through regionals was the boulder in front of the Bronchos. For the past three seasons, regionals ended in disappointment, as they finished fourth in a tournament that only advanced three teams. And just like Sisyphus, it looked as if the boulder may again come rolling back down the hill. Courtney Walter’s putter betrayed her on the back nine, and as the first Jeff golfer to turn in a card, her 91 brought a sense of dread. “I was the Duke of driving today, but I was not the princess of putting,” she said. Soon thereafter, Ashlynn Cox came to the 18th green, but found disaster in a bunker, overshooting the green, and taking a triple bogey. She tied teammate Sydney Gregory with solid rounds of 84, but the Bronchos were in desperate need of their top two players to be brilliant. And they were. Jordan Cox arrived at the 18th green having been challenged by her coach, Brian Keene. “I told her on the 16th tee I needed three pars, and she took a bogey on 17,” he said. Cox then stared down a 22-foot, sidewinding putt on the 18th and holed it for birdie, carding a score of 78. “I kept a smile on my face, and when I had a bad hole I didn’t let it get to me,” Cox said. She finished her 18-hole round with 28 putts, and made up for a disappointing performance at regionals last year. “Last year I did terrible at regionals; I shot an 86 or 88 so it felt really good today,” Cox said. Lafayette Jeff’s No. 1 player had even more heroics in store. Megan Donahue spent most of the back nine under par, but when her drive went wayward on 18, she found herself among a forest of trees and staring down a crooked number on the scorecard. Luckily her coach was right beside her. “It was a matter of how aggressive we were going to get with the punch out, and she decided that she wanted to take a very safe route, which I was happy with,” he said. Donahue salvaged bogey on the 18th for a round of 76, good for fifth place overall. “I had a rough start on the first four holes, but I was able to put it back together,” Donahue said. “When I get in those kind of situations, I just have to keep cool and stay calm and get my head into it." According to Ashlynn Cox, the mindset of the Bronchos all year was to get past this stage; actually winning is just icing on the cake. “We all just wanted to get out (of Regionals), but I think it’s really cool that we actually won, and we’re still going to get out too,” she said. “Obviously it’s been a drought for the Jeff program, so it’s good to back (to states),” Keene said. “I thought as long as we played our game, we should get out (of regionals), and we did that." Culver Academy (326) and Valparaiso (331) will be joining the Bronchos at state, which will take place September 29 and 30 at Prairie View Golf Club in Carmel. Ben Vessa, For the Journal & Courier Published 11:18 p.m. ET Sept. 22, 2017
MONTICELLO - Twin Lakes' 421 yards rushing and three second half Central Catholic turnovers were too much for the Knights to overcome in a 42-27 loss Friday night. CC quarterback Carlos Velasquez put up his own impressive numbers, throwing for 370 yards and four touchdowns, but three costly interceptions – a pick six and two in the red zone – eventually thwarted the Knights’ attempt at a comeback. “I thought we moved the ball pretty well on offense most of the night except for late in the game,” CC head coach Don Coller said, “We got in the red zone and made some critical errors down there.” The Indians owned the ball nearly the entirety of the first quarter, running 23 plays to only three for CC. After Twin Lakes’ first drive stalled on fourth down after 14 plays, they marched 10 plays on their next possession, scoring on a 13 yard run Zion Cosgray to open the second quarter. A theme to the night would start to emerge, as one team would immediately answer another. Velasquez would be sharp on the next drive, hitting David Schwartz with his sixth completion, a 13 yard strike to give CC a 7-6 lead. Twin Lakes answered right back. Ten straight runs, the last by Kaleb Cauble from 11 yards away put the Indians on top, only to be answered before the half by Velasquez and Schwartz. They combined for 59 yards on the drive, and Jack Hudson’s 1-yard bubble screen on fourth down tied the score at 14-14 at halftime. The third quarter saw Twin Lakes start where they left off. A 51-yard run by Jeremy Pugh set up a Cosgray10-yard run, and the Indians had regained the lead. ADVERTISINGIt was time for CC to answer, but for the first time in the game, Velasquez was feeling the pressure of the Indians’ pass rush. He blindly threw a pass that was picked off by linebacker Kaden Clugston, and he chugged 36 yards to give Twin Lakes a 27-14 lead. Velasquez showed his composure by leading the Knights right back into the end zone, hitting Jordan Turpin on a 4-yard pass, but the winded CC defense could not keep Twin Lakes from mounting another long drive, and after Graham Howe scored from 8 yards away, the Indians led 36-20. Velasquez again answered, hitting Turpin for a 49-yard score, and twice more led the Knights into the red zone, but on both occasions, faced a ferocious Twin Lakes pass rush, and threw hurried passes that were picked off by Owen Crowell. “We just have to function better in the red zone,” Coller said. “We had plenty of opportunities to score tonight, but we did not capitalize on things we should have capitalized on.” CC saw its two game winning streak come to an end despite heroic efforts from Velasquez, a taxed defensive unit, and receiver David Schwartz, who put up 153 receiving yards. Twin Lakes moves to 3-3, and had monster performances from Jeremy Pugh, who gained 153 yards, and Zion Cosgray who churned out 136 on the ground. TWIN LAKES 42, CENTRAL CATHOLIC 27 Central Catholic 0 14 13 0 — 27 Twin Lakes 0 14 22 6 — 42 Second Quarter TL— Cosgray 11 run (kick failed) CC — Schwartz 11 pass from Velasquez (Taylor kick) TL - Cauble 11 run (Howe run) CC - Hudson 1 pass from Velasquez Third Quarter TL - Cosgray 10 run (run failed) TL - Clugston 36 interception return (Cauble run) CC – Turpin 4 pass from Velasquez (Taylor kick) TL – Howe 13 run (Howe run) CC - Turpin 49 pass from Velasquez (pass failed) Fourth Quarter TL — Crowel 1 run (run failed) INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS RUSHING — Central Catholic, Dienhart 4-8; TL, Pugh 14-153, Cosgray 21-146, Cauble 8-66, Pulliam 5-20, Howe 3-20, Crowel 8-14, Robbins 1-2 PASSING — Central Catholic, Velasquez 26-42-4-3-370; TL, Crowel 4-8-55-0. RECEIVING—Central Catholic, Schwartz 14-153, Turpin 3-67, Hudson 9-57, Roach 3-57, Dienhart 3-57; TL, Dennis 2-25, Collier 1-16, Pugh 1-14 Twin Lakes is 3-3; Central Catholic is 2-4 Ben Vessa, For the Journal & Courier Published 8:17 p.m. ET Sept. 16, 2017 Ben Franklin once said, “Nothing can be said to be certain except death and taxes.” He was not familiar with the Lafayette Jefferson girls golf team. On an unseasonably hot day at Coyote Crossing, the Bronchos shot a blistering 320, secured their 11th straight sectional tiitle, and earned a trip to regionals next Saturday at Battle Ground Golf Club. Joining them will be Harrison (359) and McCutcheon (384), which wedged out Benton Central by seven strokes in the race for the third and final spot. Lafayette Jeff was led by medalist Megan Donahue, who shot a five-over-par 77. Minus a double bogey on the fourth hole, Donahue played a virtually flawless round. “Coming in, on the last three holes, I definitely felt (the heat),” she said. “I had to take a lot of deep breaths and just focus on what I was doing and make sure I finished strong.” The two Broncho seniors, Courtney Walter and Jordan Cox, both shot 80, but arrived at that number very differently. For Walter, birdies on the third and seventh holes saw her make the turn at 38, but she played the last five holes at four over par, keeping her from a round in the 70s. “Warming up, I was a little worried about today. It didn’t go so well on the range,” Walter said, “I was really happy that I was able to turn it around, but hole 14 got me, and then I just started bogeying.” Cox started slow, but fired a 38 on the back nine to post her 80. “I felt good going to the back (nine) because I had nine holes to change things,” Cox said. “My putting on the front was not too good, and I was just making silly mistakes, but I was hoping to bring it together on the back, and I did.” The 320 shot by the Bronchos was four shots better than their total at the City/County tournament earlier this week, despite a drop in score from Jeff’s No. 3 golfer Sydney Gregory. Gregory posted an even-par 72, winning medal honors by 10 strokes on Wednesday, but shot a pedestrian 83 on Saturday. “It wasn’t my best day. I had a lot of short game problems,” Gregory said, “but it’s definitely something I can work on and get better at before next Saturday at regionals.” Regionals has been to Jeff what Waterloo was to Napoleon: the place where the march has ended. The last three seasons, the Bronchos have finished fourth at regionals, an event where only the top three advance, but this year’s team envisions a different result on Saturday. “In the past, we’ve had one girl who’s amazing, and all the rest of us would be in the high 80s somewhere,” Gregory said, “but this year, we have five people who are capable of shooting great.” The data would seem to back that up as only eight strokes separated Donahue’s 77 from fifth place Ashlynn Cox’s 85. According to head coach Brian Keene, the secret to climbing the regional mountain may just be occurring at team dinners and as players check in with each other while out on the course. “They have really come together. We had a little bit of separation early, but they’ve really come together as a team and really bonded,” he said. Donahue added, “On the holes, we support each other, try to boost up everyone’s morale, and make sure everyone’s staying happy.” Wesley Brady and Sophie Long led Harrison, shooting 86 and 89 respectively. Jessica Wood led McCutcheon with a 92. Katy Benefiel and Sydney Cesare from Frankfort and Abigail Matson of Benton Central also advanced to regionals. Ben Vessa, For the Journal & Courier Published 11:15 p.m. ET Sept. 1, 2017
TIPTON - Central Catholic remains winless on the 2017 high school football season when a comeback attempt fell just short in a 21-17 loss to Tipton. The Knights seemed to have won the game in the final seconds when a fourth down “Hail Mary” pass from CC quarterback Carlos Velazquez fell into the arms of Daniel Roach in the back of the end zone. However, Velasquez’s pass was deemed illegally thrown. Tipton had demolished its first two opponents by a combined score of 127-6, but CC went toe-to-toe with the Blue Devils. The first big break for the Knights came on a roughing the punter call in the first quarter. Immediately, Central Catholic went deep, but what appeared to be a 54-yard scoring pass from Velasquez to Jack Hudson was called back on a holding penalty. As the clock was winding down in the first quarter, Tipton tried to quickly run a play, but a miscommunication by the Blue Devils’ receivers caused the pass to flutter into the arms of CC safety Kyle Onken, and the Knights were in business. Again Velasquez looked for Hudson, who got behind the Devils’ defense for a 41-yard reception. From there, Velasquez found Andrew Page in the corner of the end zone and CC had a 7-0 lead. That score seemed to ignite the Tipton offense, as the Blue Devils marched down the field on the ensuing possession. Spurred by a 29-yard pass from KJ Roudebush to Luke Stoker, the Blue Devils would tie the score on a Sebastian Connor 3-yard run. CC would answer with some special teams magic. Hudson's 54 yard punt pinned the Devils at the 1. A stalwart defense and a crafty punt return placed the ball at the Tipton 25. Austin Taylor booted a 42 yard field goal on the final play of the quarter to give CC a 10-7 lead at the half. Tipton received the kickoff to start the second half, and drove the length of the field. Roudebush hit Luke Stoker five times on the drive, including a 32-yard pass that placed the ball at the 2-yard line. Roudebush would sneak it in from there and Tipton had a 14-10 lead. The fourth quarter was a dramatic back and forth affair. CC recovered a Tipton fumble, and Velasquez found his tight end David Schwartz on a fourth down to keep the drive alive. The duo then hooked up for an 11-yard go-ahead touchdown. Again, the Blue Devils offense responded immediately. Roudebush found Caleb Burkett behind the Knights’ defense and 71 yards later, Tipton was hovering near the goal line. Roudebush punched it in from in close and Tipton had regained the lead, 21-17. All hopes seemed lost when Velasquez threw an interception that put the Blue Devils deep in CC territory late in the fourth quarter, but the Knights’ defense forced a fumble on the next play. Velasquez led CC to the Tipton 16 yard line with under a minute to play. On fourth down, Velasquez scrambled and eventually launched a pass to the end zone. But Velasquez had passed the line of scrimmage when he threw it, and CC’s comeback hopes were ended. Velasquez threw for 268 yards and Jordan Turpin had 74 yards receiving to lead the Knights (0-3). |
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