Cathedral does not fold, knocks off top-ranked Silver Creek in Class 3A showdown
SEYMOUR – Before Saturday night’s Class 3A semistate clash between No. 1 Silver Creek and third-ranked Cathedral, Irish head coach Jason Delaney quipped that his game plan to contain the Dragons’ Dane Caldwell was to pray.
Well, that prayer went unanswered – Caldwell scored 31 points for Silver Creek – but a different prayer was in Cathedral’s thrilling 73-68 comeback win to advance to the state final.
“The (other) prayer was us coming together and not folding,” Delaney said. “We had many chances to fold. At halftime, there were some nerves there. Guys stuck together.”
Cathedral trailed by eight points entering the fourth quarter but erased the deficit within minutes to tie the game up 52-52 with under five to play. From there, the Irish kept attacking and warded off a late Dragons’ rally that kept it close.
The toughness of senior guard Keaton Aldridge and his ability to match Caldwell’s scoring gave Cathedral a huge lift. At one point, Aldridge took a blow to the face that drew blood. Later, severe cramps got the best of him as he was barely able to stagger to the free throw line.
But Aldridge persevered thanks to his courage and leadership. He finished with 29 points, mostly in the paint on tough takes to the bucket.
“That’s the type of player I am,” Aldridge said. “I know how to get to the rim very well, put it on the right angle of the glass.”
After Aldridge netted Cathedral’s first eight points, Dragons head coach Brandon Hoffman immediately subbed in junior forward Donovan Whitehead, whose 6-6 frame might trouble Aldridge.
It worked for a while, as Aldridge cooled off in the second quarter. But Silver Creek eventually went away from that matchup, which allowed the Detroit Mercy commit to get going again in the second half.
“I was a little surprised because (Whitehead) was doing good,” Aldridge admitted. “Silver Creek has got some great players, great defenders. But it didn’t matter, we wanted to win. Whatever I had to do to win the game I was going to do.”
Cathedral also got quality minutes from freshman Ryan Gold Jr. off the bench. The 6-1 guard scored all eight of his points late with the game on the line.
“Ryan Gold hits a huge three, then gets the layup,” said Delaney. “He’s been fighting injury, didn’t even practice all week. He’s been in and out the last like three, four weeks.”
Cathedral will face New Haven, the winner of the other Class 3A semistate at Logansport, next weekend in the state final. It will be New Haven’s first appearance in the championship game.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: IHSAA basketball: Cathedral takes out No. 1 Silver Creek in 3A semistate…Read more by Kevin Johnston, For Indy Star