Red-hot Bowman heading to state

HUNTINGTON | Bowman Academy coach Marvin Rea is treading a mine field of sorts with his Class A state-finals bound Eagles.

The team is deep, athletic, explosive and encouraged by its coach to have fun. But against a blue-collar, undersized, heart-on-its-sleeve Monroe Central squad at Saturday's Huntington North Semistate, Bowman's talent overload was severely tested.

Tyrae Robinson's 8-for-10 foul shooting in the fourth quarter helped lead Bowman to an 89-79 win over the scrappy Golden Bears, who trailed by only five points twice in the final period.

"Heart can keep you in ballgames like this, but it's seldom enough to beat pure talent," Monroe Central coach Jeremy Duncan said.

Bowman toyed with Monroe Central the first half, leading 51-35, as nine different players scored, led by Christopher Bond's 14 points and eight rebounds. The Eagles worked the ball, looked for each other underneath and shot 59 percent.

But in the second half, with its tallest player only 6-foot-1, the Golden Bears pushed themselves and used Myles Merchand's 10 third-quarter points to trail only 68-59.

Bowman had been averaging 84.5 points per game but was outscored 44-38 after intermission.

"The second half, some of our guys were in foul trouble, they came out very aggressive and forced the refs to make some calls," Rea said. "It's the final four. Everybody wants to win. We've got to continue to play hard."

And under control.

DeJuan Marrero got a technical for taunting at 2:02 of the third quarter while celebrating his monster block, and Rea sat the 6-5 sophomore center down, knowing a second "tech" would lead to an ejection and force him to miss next Saturday's title game at Conseco Fieldhouse. Marrero finished with 12 points in barely 20 minutes.

With 27.2 seconds left in the game and Bowman up 86-76, Robinson attempted a breakaway dunk typical of the NBA All-Star Game and was called for carrying the ball.

Monroe Central fans booed unmercifully as Robinson drove and then slammed the ball off the floor, hoping to catch it in full flight for the 360-degree flush.

"I try to 'reel' them in sometimes. But I also tell my seniors to go out there and have fun," Rea said. "It's not their game if I reel them in too much. It takes them out of their comfort zone."

Robinson finished with 15 points, and the blown dunk was his fifth turnover.

"(Friday) we were shooting around at practice and I tried that dunk. Coach Rea said he bet I couldn't do it in the game today," Robinson recalled, smiling. "Man, we're all kids. We've got to have fun."

When Bowman (23-1) needed a big basket down the stretch, it went inside where the Golden Bears (20-6) had no answers.

Bond hit 10 of his 13 shots, many coming in the paint, to lead the Eagles with 23 points and 11 rebounds. Elijah Ray added 14 points and Nick Moore 11.

Trey Thomas' 27 points, including 7-for-12 from the arc, topped Monroe Central. Merchand had 22 and Logan Thomas 17.

"They're a small team, but they really played their heart out," Bond said.

Laughed Rea: "Before the game, I told our kids I don't want this to be a 'Hoosiers' ballgame and in the second half, it almost ended up being that."

BOYS BASKETBALL

Class A Huntington North Semistate

Bowman Academy 89, Monroe Central 79

Senior forward Christopher Bond had 23 points and 11 rebounds to lead the Eagles.