Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
SOUTH WHITLEY - Last Thursday, Rob Irwin saw his Carroll Chargers basketball team lose to Warsaw because the Tigers fed the ball inside into the post at will.
On Tuesday, Irwin saw Carroll (12-9) beat Whitko (6-15) 68-50 in the Whitko 3A Sectional because the Chargers fed the ball into the post at will.
"We did to Whitko what Warsaw did to us last week," he said.
Indeed, inside scoring, along with scoring from guard Sam Gensic in the first quarter, propelled Caroll to a second-round match with 18-3 Peru, which advanced with a 111-107 double overtime win over 14-7 Tippecanoe Valley.
Gensic led all scorers with 21. Carroll 6-foot-6 sophomore Gabe Miller added 18, 6-6 sophomore Scott Bushong 12 and 6-4 senior Ryan Maifeld nine.
"Our big guys dominated inside," Irwin said. "We hammered the ball inside and got easy shots around the basket."
Gensic, who leads Carroll with 16 points per game, poured in 11 in the first quarter to help Carroll to a 21-14 lead after one quarter.
Carroll's inside game went to work in the second quarter, when Miller scored 10 of his 18. The Chargers' big men supplied 13 of 15 second-quarter points as Carroll took a 36-23 halftime lead.
The Chargers put the game away for good by opening the third quarter on a 16-7 run to extend the lead to 52-30.
To Whitko coach Fred Fields, the key wasn't so much the big men but the players who got the ball to the big men, Carroll's guards.
"The surprising thing to me was their dribble penetration," he said. "Their two starting perimeter guys, Gensic and (Luke) Amstutz, hurt us, but so did the players off the bench. They would get one dribble and be past us."
CARROLL 68
WHITKO 50
Carroll (12-9) 21 15 18 14 - 68
Whitko (6-15) 14 9 11 16 - 50
Carroll FG FT Pts.
S. Gensic 10 0-0 21
Miller 8 2-4 18
Bushong 5 2-2 12
Maifeld 3 3-5 9
Ogle 1 0-0 3
P. Gensic 0 2-2 2
Wynn 0 2-2 2
Shippy 0 1-2 1
Mahlan 0 0-0 0
Amstutz 0 0-0 0
Poston 0 0-0 0
Auer 0 0-0 0
Totals 27 12-17 68
Whitko FG FT R A S Pts.
Grant 4 2-3 4 1 0 10
Waybright 3 0-0 2 2 4 7
A. Wendel 3 0-1 0 0 1 7
Gonzalez 3 0-0 1 2 1 6
Mohr 3 0-0 2 1 0 6
Ryan 2 1-1 5 2 0 5
Henderson 1 2-2 1 1 0 4
Goble 1 0-0 1 1 0 2
Martin 0 2-2 2 0 0 2
J. Wendel 0 1-2 2 0 0 1
Howard 0 0-0 0 0 0 0
Kessie 0 0-0 0 0 0 0
Totals 20 8-11 20 10 6 50
Three-point goals -ÊCarroll 2 (Gensic, Ogle), Whitko 2 (A. Wendel, Howard). Total fouls -ÊWhitko 15, Carroll 14. Fouled out -ÊNone.
Officials -ÊRick Scott (Logansport), Jon Davenport (Plymouth).
