The first two rounds have not been as easy as they were a year ago, but Donnie Bowling’s Anderson boys basketball team will return to the Madison County final to defend its championship.
Ahmere Carson led four Indians in double figures with 24 points and Damien King was dominant at times with 15 points and 10 rebounds as Anderson held off Liberty Christian 72-60 in the second semifinal Wednesday night.
Anderson (6-3) is in the championship game for the 14th time overall — breaking a tie with Pendleton Heights for the most — and will seek its eighth championship Friday to extend its record. The Indians will need to beat the home team Bulldogs after Lapel took care of Frankton 49-30 in the first game.
Liberty Christian (5-6) saw a three-game winning streak come to an end as it fell to the Indians in the semifinals for the second straight year. The Lions will face the Eagles at 6 p.m. Friday followed by the Indians versus Bulldogs title tilt.
Nothing has come easy this week for the heavily favored Indians. After surviving an overtime home battle with Pendleton Heights in the first round, they could not put away the Lions on Wednesday and had to hold off multiple challenges from the defending Class 1A Sectional 55 champions.
“The teams have gotten better, and I think we’re playing a little better. The competition has us playing better, like Liberty tonight,” Bowling said.
Anderson powered to a 40-28 halftime lead behind 13 points and eight rebounds in the first half from King. The sophomore showed off his athleticism with one dunk and his range with a 3-point basket to open the second quarter. That basket extended the Anderson lead to seven after Ethan Troutman scored to open the period.
Ingram’s efforts — along with a game-high 11 rebounds from senior Ja’Quan Ingram — helped the Indians dominate the glass with a 35-16 rebounding edge which included 12 offensive rebounds and 12 second-chance points — 10 in the first half.
“I think that was huge,” Bowling said. “I think Damien was huge. He really dominated the boards.”
After trailing by as many as 15 in the first half, Liberty Christian fought back in the third quarter.
Consecutive wing jumpers by Cedric Anderson, a three-point play by Devon Kelley and a post basket from Kobe Watson highlighted a 13-4 Lions run that trimmed the lead to 44-38.
But Carson scored five points and King added his dunk to close the third quarter on an 8-2 Indians run to send the game to the fourth at 52-40, and Liberty could not cut the deficit under 10 the remainder of the night.
Now Bowling knows his Indians will face the Bulldogs for the second time, and he expects them to be a much tougher out this time around.
“They’re better, and I saw something different,” he said. “When we first played them, (Lapel coach Kevin) Cherry was just getting his feet wet, so he played a lot man (defense) against us. I bet you we’ll see some different defenses.”
Ingram and Jaylen Murphy added 12 points each for Anderson while Ethan Troutman led four in double figures for Liberty Christian with 17. Watson scored 14, and Eric Troutman and Cedric Anderson added 10 points each.
This article appeared in The Herald Bulletin.