PREP BOYS BASKETBALL: Miller draws crucial charge to solidify Bethany Christian's outright conference title

Feb. 16—GOSHEN — Senior Carter Miller drew applause multiple times Friday night.

A senior-night celebration may have been the quieter of the bunch.

With the Bruins up 30-29 Friday night in the final Hoosier Plains Conference game this season against Trinity Greenlawn, the Titans controlled the ball with 40 seconds remaining.

Trinity's Ian Abbott took the game into his own hands, coasting the right sideline before sharply cutting in on a path to the rim. A defending Miller planted his feet and absorbed the contact as both crumpled to the ground. The baseline official brought his arm to his head, signaling a charging violation on Abbott and returning the ball to Bethany with 18 seconds left.

Junior Jacoby Reinhardt split his pair at the line, leaving the window open for the Titans to tie or take the lead with 14 seconds left. A pullup jumper from the right baseline wound up misfiring for the visitors, securing the homestanding Bruins (12-10, 5-0 HPC) the win, and the outright conference title in the 31-29 victory.

"It was huge, I thought it was the right call," Bethany head coach Daniel Mast said following the win. "He was definitely in position, the guy had his shoulder lowered, I thought it was a great defensive play."

The officiating was a target all night, but the charge call down the stretch certainly was not well-received by some who needed to be held back in the stands. Still, Miller's effort in the second half on numerous positions was key for the Bruins to win a defensive game.

"I think we've had a lot of good offensive games and we're a good offensive team but we were not tonight," Mast said, laughing off the poor shooting night in which the Bruins were 10-of-34 from the floor. "Part of that is because they are a hard team to play against. We tell the guys all the time 'you can't take varsity wins for granted, a win has to be earned.' Tonight, we earned it on the defensive end."

Bethany needed to win defensively and used high-energy plays to transition the hard-working defense to scores on the other end. Trinity up 18-16 in the third quarter, it was Miller once again who drew the crowd's support.

Trapping the Titans on the far sideline, Miller stepped in front of a heave to a Trinity teammate, speeding down the court and scoring the layup off the defending Abbott. Knocking down the foul shot, Bethany soon led 18-17 and for the first time since the middle of the second quarter.

Lead changes continually flopped between the two teams before the Titans pulled again for the final time. A 29-26 Trinity lead at the 2:30 mark in the fourth quarter was followed up by the final five points going the Bruins way.

The full conference title was a better verdict than last season's share of the title says Mast.

"It feels different," Mast said. "I think it's more like, sharing it feels like you're kind of in second. When you're not sharing it, you know you're in first and that feels good."

Reinhardt led the Bruins scoring with 10 points and also grabbed a team-high 14 rebounds. He was followed by Ayden Falcon off the bench (5 points) and an uncharacteristic five points from Tyson Chupp. Miller scored four points, trailed by Justin Hochstedler (3), Trey Caffee (2) and Tristan Mast (2).

Bethany shot 1-of-13 from distance but cashed in 10-of-15 shots at the foul stripe. Trinity shot 11-of-33 but were just 1-of-6 at the free throw line.

"Ayden plays super hard, he's a little bit of a wildcard for us and tonight it worked in a lot of instances for sure," Mast said.

The Bethany head coach also saw the benefit in winning a game where both rims played havoc and kept things close.

"It's important for teams to know they can win in different ways," Mast said. "Yeah, I think it's important that the guys know that we can win a grind-it-out game too."

Bethany Christian now awaits its final game of the season on the road against Fremont Feb. 23.

To follow, will be the IHSAA sectional round. The Bruins will host Sectional 51 and will see Elkhart Christian, Lakewood Park Christian, Lakeland Christian and Hamilton all tangle for the title once the action begins Feb. 27.

Bethany and Elkhart Christian played to an overtime verdict earlier this season, certainly putting the sectional targets on the backs of both teams.

"I think us and ECA are certainly the frontrunners but LCA's been playing much better," Mast said. "I think the Hamilton coach has the program going in the right direction. I think there's a bit of a talent gap but there was a talent gap tonight and we had to win it in the final seconds."

The sixth-year head coach also wanted to mention the job of his senior which take up eight spots on the roster.

"They've brought us a ton of wins in their four years," Mast said. "This is three double-digit winning seasons in a row for them and they've been a huge part of that."

PREP BOYS BASKETBALL

Trinity Greenlawn

6 9 3 11 — 29

Bethany Christian

2 8 8 13 — 31

JV score: Trinity Greenlawn def. Bethany Christian 25-21

Reach Matt Lucas at 574-533-2151, ext. 240325, or at matt.lucas@goshennews.com.