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On this date in area sports history…
On this date eight years ago, Feb. 2, 2001, Catholic Central’s Bruno Lucke, a foreign exchange student from Brazil, scored 18 points in a 79-49 victory over Tippecanoe.
Published in the Feb. 3, 2001 edition of the News-Sun:
LUCKE OF THE IRISH SPURS CATHOLIC CENTRAL
By HOWIE MAGNER, News-Sun Sports Writer
They do things a little differently on Brazilian basketball courts.
For one thing, the lane is the wrong shape, wider at its base than the traditional American one. The result of the trapezoid is more emphasis on perimeter play and a less physical game inside.
But you couldn’t tell by watching Bruno Lucke.
The Catholic Central senior, an exchange student from Campinas, Brazil, scored a career-high 18 points in leading the Irish to a 79-49 win over Tipp City Friday night.
Most of Lucke’s baskets on his 9 of 10 shooting night came inside that narrower lane, the one the local players are fond of, the one that requires more banging around.
Looks like Lucke’s adjustment to this foreign court is going just fine.
“Yeah, it was a good game. Everybody helped inside,” Lucke said in somewhat accented English. “It’s a different game. Defense-wise it’s harder. Pretty much everybody goes to the board hard and here, we have some big boys we have to keep an eye out for.”
Friday night, he was one of them. Lucke teamed with perimeter sharpshooter Matt McCurdy, who also had 18 points, to give the Irish an unstoppable combination.
“Yeah, Bruno can play. We talked about getting the ball inside to him and the kids did a nice job tonight,” Central Coach Richard Quisenberry said. “Matt’s a nice shooter and we’ve got some kids that can stroke it from the outside, but we have to be able to go inside-out. It makes us much more effective.”
Central, which improved to 12-4 overall and 3-1 in Southwestern Rivers Conference play, also got 15 points from freshman Isaiah Carson to go with nine points and seven rebounds from Ricky LeLewis. Tipp City fell to 6-9 and 1-4.
Tipp only trailed 36-30 at halftime because of David Banas’ outside shot, one which produced a trio of three-pointers. But when the Irish clamped down on Banas after the break, the game became a rout.
Central switched to a 3-2 zone defense in the third quarter, denying Banas the room needed for his arching shot. He had just three of his team-high 16 points after halftime, and those came at the free-throw line.
“It was a good move on their part. We didn’t free him up as much as we needed to,” Tipp City Coach Matt Pond said. “But you’re gonna have to have more than one kid step up against them. Our other shooters didn’t get the shots we needed to make.”
The Red Devils were a collective 5 of 22 after halftime. Andy Heinl had was the only starter to score in double figures with 12 points as Banas, still recovering from an early-season ankle injury, came off the bench. No other Tipp City player had more than five points.
Tipp also juggled the ball too much. The Red Devils finished with 21 turnovers, a problem that reached epidemic proportions in the third period.
Neither team got a shot off on the quarter’s first six possessions, each turning it over three times. Central finally found the handle, while Tipp turned it over six more times in the period, and the Irish went into the final stanza with a 54-38 lead.
“We took turns turning the ball over early in the third quarter and finally somebody decided to capitalize on it,” Pond said. “Unfortunately, it wasn’t us.”
Central got the lead up to 30 points with authority, as McCurdy found LeLewis for an alley-oop dunk that made it a 73-43 game with 2:47 left to play. Quisenberry then called off the dogs, subbing for all five regulars.
The Central coach could’ve gone to his bench much earlier, but he left them in for a reason. The Irish have made a habit of blowing big leads in the fourth quarter this season, a habit Quisenberry is trying to break with the tournament on the horizon.
“I think we have to go with the mindset that if we don’t finish what we started, we could be in trouble and it’s over for us,” Quisenberry said. “We just talked about playing each game like it’s your last game and giving 110 percent.”
Central got points from 11 different players, and four Irish players had at least five rebounds. Overall, Central held a 33-22 edge on the boards.
The Irish are back in action at 1:45 p.m. today, when they play Lehman at University of Dayton Arena.
TIPP CITY (49) _ Banas 5 3-5 16, Heinl 4 4-6 12, Sweet 2 0-0 5, Crawford 0 4-7 4, Dix 1 0-0 2, Fouts 1 0-0 2, Meyers 0 2-2 2, Howard 1 0-0 2, Potts 0 2-2 2, Green 1 0-0 2. Totals: 15 15-22 49.
CATHOLIC CENTRAL (79) _ Lucke 9 0-0 18, M. McCurdy 7 2-3 18, Carson 5 4-4 15, LeLewis 3 3-4 9, Petty 2 1-2 5, Maloney 2 0-0 4, Evilsizor 1 0-0 2, Wal 1 0-1 2, G. Kimball 1 0-1 2, T. Kimball 1 0-0 2, S. McCurdy 1 0-0 2. Totals: 33 10-15 79.
Three-point goals: Tipp City 4 (Banas 3, Sweet), Catholic Central 3 (M. McCurdy 2, Carson)
Records: Tipp City 6-9, 1-4 SRC; Catholic Central 12-4, 3-1 SRC
Reserves: Catholic Central 52 (Saunders 12, Baker 12), Tipp City 42
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