Sports
Indiana high school basketball: Leaking roof postpones Guerin … – IndyStar
INDIANAPOLIS – Guerin Catholic senior Ty Sanders was set to shoot a pair of free throws Friday night late in the fourth quarter during the Class 3A Sectional 27 semifinals at Shortridge High School, but those attempts will have to wait.
With 3A No. 12 Guerin Catholic up 44-34 against 3A No. 16 Brebeuf Jesuit in the first of two semifinal games, the sectional tournament was officially postponed until Saturday and reconfigured due to a leak in the Shortridge gymnasium roof.
IHSAA basketball sectional scores: Half-court buzzer-beaters, power outages, a leaky roof
The first semifinal game was halted with 3 minutes, 12 seconds remaining after officials noticed water on the court near the top of the key due to rainwater dripping from the ceiling.
Initially, the contest was stopped at approximately 7:17 p.m. before a 30-minute delay was announced at 7:28 p.m.
Shortridge athletic administrators deliberated with each of the four competing schools’ athletic department representatives and coaches before a decision was made at approximately 7:58 p.m. to postpone the tournament semifinal round until Saturday.
Guerin Catholic (15-8) and Brebeuf Jesuit (15-8) will resume their game at 6 p.m. with the second semifinal to follow between host Shortridge (11-11) and Indianapolis Bishop Chatard (14-9). The championship game has been moved from Saturday to Monday at 7 p.m.
“After a 30-minute delay, we couldn’t fix the leak, so at this time, we’re just going to postpone it until tomorrow,” Shortridge athletic director Craig Huljak said. “We don’t want to risk any injury to any athlete.”
Prior to the delay, a Guerin Catholic player noticeably slipped on the court while dribbling. Minutes later game officials brought the issue to the attention of Huljak and both sidelines.
“That was No. 1. That was paramount,” Huljak remarked on the players’ safety. “That was the four (athletic directors’) decision and the four coaches’ decision. It was unanimous that we’d move it to Monday, especially with the first game having only around three minutes left to play, and it’s not an entire game.”
A towel was placed on the court to absorb the trickling rainwater dropping from the ceiling above before a trash can was brought out onto the floor, as droplets continued to fall slowly onto the playing surface.
“It was a complete agreement. All the ADs did great. The coaches did great, so we’re just moving it all until tomorrow,” Huljak said. “Got to love Mother Nature. So, we’ll be working on that early in the morning. This is kind of unprecedented. Otherwise, we wouldn’t have hosted it.”
If the fix can’t be repaired in time, the games would move to either Heritage Christian or Tech.
Huljak stated the gymnasium hadn’t shown any prior signs of roof damage anytime this season, but with steady rainfall in the Central Indiana area throughout Friday, the problem became apparent as the two rival Circle City Conference programs competed for tournament advancement.
“I think there were 15 other sectionals that didn’t even run tonight up north with snow. It was four earlier, but then the number grew pretty quick,” Huljak said.
Guerin Catholic was 182 seconds away from potentially avenging their 38-35 regular-season loss to Brebeuf Jesuit on Jan. 20. Last year, the Braves beat the Golden Eagles, 37-35, in the sectional finals for the program’s 12th championship overall and second since 2020.
Guerin Catholic, a 2021 sectional champion, tied with Brebeuf and Bishop Chatard for the 2022-23 Circle City Conference team title with records of 3-2. Chatard lost to Brebeuf, 57-52, at home on Jan. 27. Guerin Catholic lost to Chatard this season, 51-44, on Jan. 6.
Brebeuf trailed Guerin by as many as 10 points in the third quarter Friday night, but a 7-0 run cut the deficit to 32-29 by the start of the fourth. Guerin strung together a 9-0 run to lead 41-29 with 4:57 remaining.
Brebeuf’s Cameron Freeman had 13 points at the time of the postponement, followed by Evan Haywood with eight points and Javawn Brooks with six. Guerin’s leading scorer was Kamea Chandler with 11 points. Lucas Parker had nine points, while Dylan Murans sat at seven points, and both Jack Cherry and Robert Sorensen each added six apiece.
“It’s still a game, right? I don’t care if it’s tomorrow morning, tomorrow night, our guys still have to come out and compete like they want to win a championship,” GC head coach Bobby Allen said. “We’re going to come out and play the game as if it’s 0-0 and try to win a 3-minute, 12-second game. We trust our guys. We’re going to put it in their hands, and we’re going to let them try to close it out tomorrow.”
