By Mike McGraw
Executive Director
ALEXANDRIA – Everything is a matter of perspective, and that is certainly true of a basketball game. It is safe to say that perspectives will vary widely after Alexandria’s 59-49 Central Indiana Conference victory Jan. 29 over previously undefeated Class 3A No. 6 Mississinewa.
Tiger fans will say it was a case of their team efficiently outplaying a team whose reputation was greater than its performance, at least on this night. Mississinewa fans will say it was the worst case of “home-cooking” officiating they have seen in many years.
In this reporter’s opinion, the truth lies somewhere in between. The Indians fell to another in the long line of outstanding coaching performances of legendary Alexandria mentor Garth Cone. His Tigers were impeccably prepared, and they executed the game plan to near perfection.
However, both teams fell victim to a very, very poor officiating effort.
Regardless of intent, the simple truth is that Mississinewa suffered far more on the stat sheet, especially on free throws: Alexandria (12-4) was 22 of 29 from the charity stripe, Mississinewa (15-1) was 8 of 13.
The game hinged on a 19-3 Tiger run bridging the third and fourth quarters.
During that span, the foul count was nine against Mississinewa and two against Alexandria. At the conclusion of the run midway through the final period, the count for the second half was 15 on Mississinewa and five on Alexandria.
The Indians’ 6’8” post player, Josh Cook, played fewer than 11 minutes in the game because of foul trouble. He picked up two infractions in the first 90 seconds of the game, a third in the first two minutes of the third quarter, and a fourth in the first minute of the fourth stanza.
The factor of note is that three of the fouls were offensive fouls AWAY from the ball. Bad calls? Not necessarily. It is also true to say, however, that no more than one of them would have been whistled in most contests.
None of this changes the fact that Alexandria stymied the Mississinewa offense in the half court, limited transition opportunities for the Indians, and generally outhustled Ole Miss for every loose ball and several key rebounds.
Alexandria set the tone very quickly by being extremely patient on offense and totally disrupting Mississinewa on offense in the first eight minutes. Despite being ice cold from the field and scoring just six points, the Tigers found themselves down only four at the initial break, 10-6.
They continued to eliminate any open-court opportunities for the Indians in the second period, enabling Alexandria to take a late 19-18 lead before Chris Birky hit a 3-pointer to give Mississinewa a 21-19 advantage at intermission.
It appeared for all the world as though the Indians had survived playing without the talented Cook for all but four minutes of the opening half.
Mississinewa’s Brandon Cragun opened the third quarter with a three, but the Tigers’ Zach Yeagy immediately matched it. When Cook quickly picked up his third foul and headed back to the Indian bench, the contest fell back into the same tense pattern that had dominated the opening two stanzas.
Mississinewa once again stretched the lead to five points at 33-28 late in the quarter, but Alexandria closed on a 7-0 run to hold a 35-33 margin at the end of three. The run was aided by three Mississinewa fouls in the final 70 seconds of the quarter.
Alexandria’s great play, the Indians’ frustration, and the foul disparity all exploded in the early minutes of the fourth period. The Tigers spent the first half of the final stanza beating Mississinewa to every loose ball and taking advantage of poor blockouts to steal several offensive rebounds.
By midway through the quarter, the lead had grown to 47-36. It should be noted that Mississinewa had been whistled for six more fouls during that time.
Ole Miss regained its composure and made one final desperate charge, cutting the lead to six at 53-47 with just over a minute to play. But it was too little, too late.
Alexandria kept the ball in the hands of Yeagy, and he sank free throw after free throw to keep the Indians at bay. The Tigers also got two key baskets in the late stages by taking advantage of Mississinewa crashing its offensive boards and leaking a player out for easy layups.
After the game, Cone credited his troops with executing the game plan and commented that he believed it was another stepping stone to being ready for tournament play in March. (His comments are in the video on this page.)
With both teams off till next Friday, the victory puts Alexandria in the driver’s seat for the CIC championship. The Tigers are now 5-0 in league play, while Mississinewa falls to third place in the CIC at 4-1.
Alexandria will travel to second-place Madison-Grant (11-3, 5-1), a 54-39 Friday night winner over CIC foe Oak Hill (4-10, 1-4), with the conference crown on the line. The Argylls’ lone league loss came Dec. 18 at home against Mississinewa, 64-54.
Ole Miss, meanwhile, will travel to Frankton for a league clash against the Eagles (4-10, 2-2), a 53-51 Friday winner over CIC foe Elwood (2-14, 0-5).
The updated Central Indiana Conference standings (thru Jan. 29), courtesy of John Harrell’s website:
CENTRAL INDIANA
Conf. All Off. Def. Margin Streak
Alexandria 5-0 12-4 68.8 53.9 14.9 Won 5
Madison-Grant 5-1 11-3 67.0 51.4 15.6 Won 7
Mississinewa 4-1 15-1 63.1 49.4 13.8 Lost 1
Frankton 2-2 4-10 49.0 57.6 -8.6 Won 1
Blackford 2-3 4-9 50.7 53.9 -3.2 Won 1
Oak Hill 1-4 4-10 53.9 61.3 -7.4 Lost 2
Eastbrook 1-4 2-11 47.4 64.5 -17.1 Lost 4
Elwood 0-5 2-14 39.3 68.0 -28.8 Lost 1
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