Wildcats win T-Mobile Invitational

On Tuesday night, Lawrence North head coach Jack Keefer paid South Atlanta's Derrick Favors the biggest of compliments. "That's Greg Oden walking into a gym with a jump shot," Keefer remarked while comparing today's top-ranked big man in the nation to his once former Indiana All-Star center. "Once he gets the ball, there's not much good that's going to happen." After converting a perfect 12 field goal attempts and hauling in 21 rebounds en route to a 30-point night against Duncanville in Tuesday's 67-53 win, Favors had no such luck against the Lawrence North Wildcats. Limited to 10 points in 22 minutes on Wednesday night, Favors watched from the bench after fouling out with 4:12 remaining as the Wildcats breezed to a 58-44 and the T-Mobile Invitational championship inside Ball State University's Worthen Arena. "Each game I see an improvement," Keefer said after his Class 4A No. 4 Wildcats seized its sixth consecutive victory to improve to 8-1. "I was proud of how they handled themselves. They made too many errors early because they were trying too hard. But they stayed within themselves. They did their job." And they adjusted after a rough first quarter with the score standing 9-6 in Lawrence North's favor. Making the switch from their patented man-to-man defense to zone, the Wildcats neutralized the Hornets ability to find Favors in the post while the 6-foot-9 senior racked up three quick personal fouls by halftime. In the third quarter, Favors played only four minutes and 18 total minutes entering the fourth before getting whistled for his fifth foul in the final quarter as Lawrence North led 42-32. At game's end, however, it was the shortest man on the Lawrence North roster that provided the biggest numbers. While the 6-9 trio of Dominique Ferguson, Stephen Van Treese and Jeff Robinson combined for 22 points, 6-0 senior guard Alonzo Bass finished with a team-high 15 points. "I thought our kids adjusted well," Keefer said. "Sometimes when you play a guy like that and you read the headlines, you try to play bigger than he is. I don't think our kids tried that. They stayed within their skills." The victory also gave the host state its first T-Mobile Invitational title in the tournament's three year history - not to mention a sweep. Prior to Lawrence North's win, South Bend Washington defeated Bob Jones (Alabama) 64-55 in the girls' championship game. On Tuesday, the Wildcats beat Garfield (Washington) 61-37 to advance to the title game. In order to participate in the tournament, Lawrence North had to receive permission from the Indiana High School Athletic Association. IHSAA policy states no Indiana team can compete against an opponent residing more than 300 miles beyond the state's borders. According to Ferguson, the Wildcats intend to build from the experience and the opportunity. "When we come back and play Indiana ball, we're going to be used to playing this type of ball. We've come a long way since that first lost (to Terre Haute South)," the junior said. "I think doing this is going put us out there and let everybody know we're really good ... I'm not saying we're going to be cocky after this, but we're going to be a lot more confident." In other tournament news: Franklin Central defeated Tipton 43-41 in overtime on Tuesday to win the Hall of Fame Tournament in New Castle. The Class 4A No. 8 Flashes improved to 9-1 while handing top-ranked Class 2A Tipton (8-1) its first loss of the season ... Class A Bethesda Christian (5-2) topped Indianapolis Lutheran 73-52 to win the Scott Bostick Memorial Tournament title on Tuesday. Lutheran dropped to 5-3 on the season ... North Central kept its unbeaten season alive on Tuesday by defeating Class 4A East Chicago Central 89-82 on Tuesday night to win the North Central Tournament. The Panthers are ranked second in the recent Class 4A polls and stand a perfect 8-0 on the year ... Class 3A Rushville (6-2) beat Roncalli 57-54 to claim the Rush-Shelby Shootout title at Shelbyville High School. Class 3A Roncalli is 3-2 on the year.