DANVILLE — It wasn’t always pretty, but Plainfield got the job done Friday night against Avon.
The Quakers were whistled for more than 20 fouls, but held off Avon 49-36 to advance to the final round of the Hendricks County Tournament.
“It’s always ugly basketball when you have the county tournament this early with rivals playing each other,” Plainfield coach Curt Benge said. “I don’t know how anybody would expect anything different. It’s just what you’re going to get.”
Julia Henson scored 15 points — including four three-pointers — to lead Class 4A No. 8 Plainfield (2-0).
The three-point shot didn’t always work for Plainfield — they shot 6-of-27 from beyond the arc — but it was effective enough to help the Quakers build a lead.
“We had a lot of discussion about how we can’t rely on that,” Benge said. “We’ve got kids who can do other things, and I think in the second half we started looking for other things rather than settling for that quick look.”
Haley Austin scored a team-high 10 points and grabbed seven rebounds for Avon (2-1). Jill Steinmetz added nine points and 10 rebounds.
The Orioles got to within nine points midway through the fourth quarter, but were doomed by turnovers and poor free throw shooting. Avon shot 3-of-10 from the charity stripe in the first half, and was whistled for three five-second throw-in violations.
“I’m not displeased with our girls at all,” Avon coach Steve Drabyn said. “Playing a team this good this early in the season gave us a bit of a measuring stick. As poorly as we shot it from the free throw line and as many turnovers as we had, we still had it within nine points with four or five minutes to go.”
Plainfield jumped out to an early 8-2 lead behind two Henson three-pointers and a breakaway lay-up by Samantha Smith.
The Quakers led 14-5 after one and 24-15 at halftime. The lead remained at double digits throughout the third quarter, but Avon cut the deficit to 39-30 on an Austin lay-up with 4:50 to play.
Plainfield responded with a 10-2 run, capped by a pair of free throws from Sarah Janssen.
“Our goal was to come out and to battle,” Drabyn said. “We knew they were going to take it right at us, and it was our challenge to meet that physicality. I thought pretty much, we did that.”
Plainfield will play Brownsburg (2-2) at 7:30 p.m. tomorrow for the county championship. Avon takes on Cascade (1-3) at 6 p.m. tomorrow in the third-place game.
kevin.leibrock@flyergroup.com
Sports
Quakers top Orioles to advance
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Bethesda makes history with sectional win
BROWNSBURG — Senior Olivia Harrison literally helped build Bethesda Christian’s field four years ago and Thursday night she was instrumental in breaking ground in another area for the Patriots — a sectional championship.
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Cadets fall to Eagles in sectional final
CLAYTON — Despite all of Cascade’s best efforts, the Cadets came up short in their sectional softball final for the second consecutive year. Three Cadet errors late in the game set up the South Putnam Eagles’ win.
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Heartbreaking loss ends Orioles’ season prematurely
INDIANAPOLIS — It was not supposed to end like this.
Graduating only two seniors from last year’s Class 4A state runner-up softball team and returning the core of its squad, this was going to be to the season the Avon softball team took the crown.
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Bulldogs bite Orioles
AVON — The contest between the Avon and Brownsburg baseball teams would have ended as a 1-0 advantage for the Bulldogs had the second and third innings not gotten away from the Orioles. Brownsburg caught fire in those two innings of Thursday’s sectional game and won convincingly, 7-1.
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Patriots eliminate Quakers
PLAINFIELD — Baseball legend Willie Keeler once said the secret of hitting was to “hit ‘em where they ain’t.” Unfortunately for the Plainfield Quakers baseball team, too many of their key at bats went to Terre Haute North fielders as the Patriots won a 5-1 decision over the host Quakers in the opening game of Class 4A Sectional 12 on Wednesday.
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Bulldogs wake up in sixth inning, pull off comeback win
INDIANAPOLIS— For five innings, it looked like Brownsburg’s postseason run would end the same night it begun.
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Cadets blow by Bulldogs, 9-0
CLAYTON — Following a 9-1 win over Cloverdale on Monday night, the Cascade softball team returned to the field for second round play against Monrovia on Tuesday in the 2012 2A Sectional No. 44 semifinal.
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Avon's doubles team advances
INDIANAPOLIS — Avon’s top doubles girls’ tennis team could have lost concentration after an early advantage.
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Bruins win late to advance in sectional, 3-2
BEECH GROVE - With three hits through five innings, the Tri-West softball team needed some offense and the bottom of its lineup came through.
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Bulldogs fall in sectional final
BROWNSBURG — Heading into the sectional final last Saturday, the Brownsburg girls’ tennis team sought its 10th sectional championship. After four matches had finished, it was knotted up at 2-2 with the No. 2 singles match heading into the third and deciding set.
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