ICBA Indy Shootout (Indianapolis), January 16, 2010

The Tornados Varsity Boys team won their first ever ICBA tournament.

First Round

Summary: The Noblesville Lions, who eventually played 5 games and got fourth place in the tournament, would not go away after struggling in the first quarter and rallying in the second to tie the game 29-29 at halftime. However, a strong third quarter by the Tornados helped them to restore a high single-digit lead.

A McNeely bucket with 5:04 left in the first quarter gave the Tornados an early 7-0 lead. Mull extended the lead to 16-3 with a transition bucket with 2:37 left and Heber put-back with 0:30 left made it 19-6.  The Lions cut the lead to 5 before a 3-point play by McNeely at 4:11 in the second quarter made it 24-16.  However, they kept storming back to cut the lead to 1 point when Sebald’s three-pointer made it 29-25 with 1:45 left in the half.  Two quick buckets by the Lions then tied it going into halftime.  However, they could not get a lead over the Tornados as the third quarter opened with a McNeely bucket off a Heber assist followed by a Moore bucket and a free throw. A Heber three pointer at 5:51 in the third made it 37-29 to cap an 8-0 run by the Tornados to start the second half.  A Hurless three followed by another Heber trey at 1:19 in the third extended the lead to 45-36.  The Lions quickly closed the lead back to 49-46 but another McNeely 3-point play at 5:07 to go in the game made it 52-46 and another three by Heber at 3:13 made it 55-48.  Banks stole the ball at 1:20 to go resulting in a Heber bucket to extend the lead to 57-49.  Heber’s two free throws at 0:45 sealed the deal 59-49.

Clay McKneely reached the 500 pt career milestone and joined teammates Andrew Moore and Matt Heber in the 500-pt club. 

This marked the fifth straight victory over the Lions this year. 

TIPPECANOE TORNADOS 61 NOBLESVILLE LIONS 52

TIPPECANOE – Banks 0-1 0-0 0, Moore 2-10 2-4 6,  Sipple 0-4 0-0 0,  Mull 3-10 2-2 9, Sebald 1-6 0-0 3, Hurless 1-2 0-1 3, Harris 0-0 0-0 0, McNeely 11-17 3-9 25, Heber 5-12 2-2 15.  Total: 23-62 9-18 61.

NOBLESVILLE – Maakesta 7 0-0 19, Murray 2 2-4 6, Hartzell 2 0-0 4, Patton 0 0-0 0, Lee 8 0-0 19, Kerchal 2 3-4 6. Totals: 21 5-8 52.

Noblesville      8    21    12    11     52

Tippecanoe     19   10    18    14     61

3-point goals – Tippecanoe 6-20 (Heber 3-6, Moore 0-3, Mull 1-4, Sebald 1-5, Hurless 1-2), Noblesville 6 (Lee 3, Maakesta 3). Total fouls - Tippecanoe 10, Noblesville 18 (Patton).

Rebounds - Tippecanoe 40 (Moore 13, Heber 11).

Assists - Tippecanoe 18 (Moore 10).

Steals - Tippecanoe 11 (Sebald 3, Heber 3).

Tippecanoe is 15-8. Noblesville is 2-16.

Semifinals

The Tornados started with a very strong first quarter against the Living Water Marlins in the semifinal game. Nathan Mull spotted for a three followed by another by Matt Heber to put them up 6-2 with 5:40 left in the first.  An old-fashioned three by Heber at 3:42 and a bucket by Moore at 2:38 put them up 11-3.  With the score 11-6, Heber nailed another three with 0:50 on the clock and a bucket at the buzzer to give the Tornados a 16-6 lead after one quarter.  Isaac Sipple joined Heber in the fun with a layup and a three-pointer in the first 2 minutes of the second quarter and with 6:13 to go in the half, the Tornados were up 23-8, as they blew the Marlins out of the water early!  Two more Heber buckets and one by Moore gave them a 31-19 halftime lead.  Heber, Moore and McNeely could only muster 8 points among them in the third quarter as the Marlins came swimming back to close the gap to 39-35 at the start of the fourth stanza.  Powered by 5 McNeely points, a Mull three-pointer and good free throw shooting by McNeely and Moore, the Tornados extended their lead to 10 points as Moore took a defensive rebound and coast to coast for a layup with 2:50 left in the game.  The Marlins scored 5 straight points followed by 3 Tornado points including two free throws by Matt Banks at 0:18 to keep the Marlins out of reach for a 58-50 victory. 

Banks pulled down 7 rebounds, had 3 steals, and 2 assists. Heber scored 23 points with 11 coming in the first quarter.  Moore had 12 points, 13 rebounds, and 6 assists before fouling out in the fourth quarter.  Moore moved into second place on the all-time Tornados career scoring chart with 928 points, surpassing Dan Sebald’s 911.  The victory sent Tornados to their first ICBA tournament championship game.

Matt Heber’s cousin and Indianapolis Wildcats JHB player Ian Gjertson videotaped this game and posted the highlights at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tUH-vHJpR9A.

TIPPECANOE TORNADOS 58 LIVING WATER MARLINS 50

TIPPECANOE – Heber 10-20 1-2 23, Mull 2-8 0-1 6, Moore 5-6 2-2 12, McNeely 2-4 3-6 7, Banks 0-0 2-4 2, Hurless 1-2 1-2 3, Sipple 2-2 0-0 5, Sebald 0-3 0-0 0, Harris 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 22-45 9-17 58.

LIVING WATER – Wooldridge 3 2-3 9, Gaidis 1 1-2 3, Bricker 10 6-8 27, Bolding 1 1-2 3, Adams 2 1-2 5, Corey 0 0-0 0, Myer 1 1-2 3. Totals 18 12-19 50.

Tippecanoe       16    15    8   19     58

Living Water      6    13   16  15     50

3-point goals – Tippecanoe 5 (Heber 2, Mull 2, Sipple), Living Water 2 (Bricker, Wooldridge). Total fouls - Tippecanoe 16 (Moore), Living Water 16 (Bolding).

Rebounds - Tippecanoe 34 (Moore 11).

Assists - Tippecanoe 18 (Moore 6).

Tippecanoe is 16-8. Living Water is 13-7.

Championship

The Tornados were victorious over a higher ranked ICBA team for the second time this year, and it earned them their first ever championship trophy at an ICBA tournament.

A big first quarter helped them jump out to a 22-10 lead, and a strong defensive third quarter made it 49-36 at the end of three quarters. After Matt Heber scored off of Andrew Moore's control of the tip, the Tornados jumped out to 22-6 lead from 71% FG shooting in the first quarter and never looked back. The Rams charged back to close the gap to a 6-point halftime deficit with a buzzer beater bucket. An 11-0 run to start the 2^nd half was fueled by Clay (2), Matt (3) at 5:19, Clay (2) at 4:56, Matt (2) at 4:20, and Moore (2) at 4:11. Heber’s signature spinning layup and 2 technical-foul free throws made it 50-34 at 1:57, and the qtr ended 50-36. Great free throw shooting in the fourth quarter helped resist a vicious 24-point fourth quarter onslaught by the Rams and capture a 12-point victory. 

Matt Heber and Clay McNeely each had double-doubles and combined for 43 points, 26 rebounds, 5 blocks, 7 assists and 19-27 free throws. Master Thief Matt Banks had a career high 8-points and 3 steals, and Mull and Heber each had 5 assists. Mull and Moore contributed 12 and 9 points in the scoring column. Mull was 3-4 from 3-point range.

The 27 free throws made and the 41 attempts are new team single-game records for the Tornados.

TIPPECANOE TORNADOS 72 LAUREL RAMS 60

TIPPECANOE – Heber 6 9-13 21, Mull 2 4-7 9, Moore 5 2-3 12, McNeely 6 10-14 22, Banks 3 2-4 8, Hurless 0 0-0 0, Sipple 0 0-0 0, Sebald 0 0-0 0, Harris 0 0-0 0. Totals 22 27-41 72.

LAUREL – Seamon 4 0-1 9, Murray 0 0-1 0, Isaacs 7 0-0 15, Batta 11 5-10 28, Hountz 0 0-0 0, Johnson 3 2-2 0 8, Sailor 0 0-2 0, Mullins 0 0-0 0. Totals 25 7-16 60.

Tippecanoe       22    12    15   22     72

Laurel               10    19      7   24     60

3-point goals – Tippecanoe 1 (Mull), Laurel 2 (Isaacs, Seamon). Total fouls – Tippecanoe 15 (Moore), Laurel 30 (Murray, Batta, Sailor)

Tippecanoe is 17-8. Laurel is 12-5.