VANDALIA — If one didn’t know any better, they would have thought the seeds were switched after watching Indian Lake and Carlisle in their Division III boys sectional basketball tournament opener here Tuesday night.
The Indians came into the game as the fourth seed, while the Lakers were seeded 11th despite playing a very challenging regular-season schedule.
The tough battles during the regular season paid off for the Lakers against Carlisle as Indian Lake dominated the Indians on both ends of the court for a 62-51 victory at Vandalia Butler High School.
The Lakers (12-11) advance to play 13th-seeded Anna in the sectional semifinal round next Tuesday at 6 p.m. in Vandalia.
“Our regular season is a gauntlet,” said Indian Lake head coach Zach Overturf. “And that’s the way we want it. I don’t want to play anybody that can’t help up us prepare for this time of the year.
“We played a very tough non-league schedule and our league has a lot of good teams, too. We feel like we are a battle-tested basketball team.”
Carlisle went 19-3 during the regular season and breezed to the Southwestern Buckeye League West division title with an 11-2 league record.
The Indians entered Tuesday’s tourney game with an 11-game winning streak.
However, Carlisle did not have an answer for Indian Lake’s one-two offensive punch of juniors Caiden Nicol and Camdon Tuttle, while also struggling to get into any kind of flow against a stingy Laker defense.
Nicol scored a game-high 28 points, and in the process went over 1,000 points for his career with the rest of this season and his senior campaign still awaiting him.
Nicol became the fifth boy in Indian Lake history to reach the 1,000-point threshold.
“Caiden is just a competitor,” said Overturf. “He loves to scrap. But it’s like I told our guys, you don’t typically get a 1,000-point scorer on a bad team and you don’t score 1,000 points with bad teammates. The other guys do a great job of getting him the ball. It’s a team thing, too.”
Tuttle was a handful for the Indians as well as he put 22 points on the scoreboard.
Nicol and Tuttle are the two veterans on what was an otherwise inexperienced roster coming into the season.
“We rely on those guys so much,” said Overturf. “The experience they have is invaluable. They do a great job helping the other guys. At one point when Carlisle made a run, I looked out and saw Cam bring all the guys in and talk to them. That’s the kind of leaders those two guys are.”
After a first quarter that went back and forth and resulted in a 12-12 tie, Indian Lake began to impose its will in the second period.
The Lakers outscored Carlisle 14-2, with the Indians’ lone bucket not coming until 14 seconds left until halftime, as Indian Lake opened up a 12-point lead (26-14) at the break.
“That’s the type of defense we have been striving to play,” said Overturf. “When we defend like that, we are a really good basketball team.”
Indian Lake kept its foot on the gas pedal coming out of halftime.
The Lakers led by as many as 19 points in the third quarter and held a 17-point lead (42-25) going into the fourth stanza.
Carlisle was unable to get any closer than nine points to the Lakers in the final period.
Freshman Avery Pequignot chipped in six points for the Lakers, who will now prepare for a rematch against Anna in the next round.
The Lakers were defeated by the Rockets 70-55 in the third game of the season.
“Anna is a tough, physical team and the Shelby County League is one of the best conferences in southwest Ohio,” said Overturf. “We did not play very well the first time we played them. We are going to have to play much better this time around.”
Indian Lake 62, CARLISLE 51
Indian Lake (12-11)
Hall 1 0-0 2; Nicol 8 11-16 28; Pequignot 1 1-2 3; Tuttle 8 4-6 22; Murphy 0 1-2 1. Totals: 21 17-26 62.
CARLISLE (19-4)
Burney 1 2-2 4; Rave 4 1-1 9; Allison 1 0-0 2; Smith 2 4-5 10; McIntosh 1 0-0 2; Lawson 4 6-7 15; Taylor 1 2-3 4; Harmeyer 1 1-2 5. Totals: 15 16-20 51.
Lakers 12 14 16 20 — 62
Indians 12 2 11 26 — 51
Three pointers: Indian Lake 5 (Tuttle 2, Pequignot 2, Nicol); Carlisle 3 (Smith 2, Lawson).
Team fouls: Indian Lake 18; Carlisle 20.