Crothersville’s Zachary Helt reaches for the rebound during the home game against Austin on Feb. 25. Crothersville is set to play Edinburgh in the sectional semifinal Friday night.
Greg Jones | For The Tribune
Crothersville will look to even things up with Edinburgh when they meet in the second game of the Edinburgh Class A Sectional on Friday night.
After Medora and West Washington play at 6 p.m., the Tigers (3-19) will play the Lancers (20-3) at about 7:30 p.m.
The Lancers, ranked No. 2 in the state in Class A, defeated the Tigers 72-32 at Edinburgh on Feb. 5.
Crothersville coach Bryant Layman said looking back at the earlier game, “We competed well with them in the first quarter. We had a couple players coming in off COVID that ruined the momentum. They did handle us on their floor. I think they’ll be a little bit guard letdown as we come in. We’ve got a good chance of making their life a nightmare. Let’s give them a little scare at least and put ourselves in a good position.”
Layman said his team needs to get off to a good start and make its shots.
“We just have to play well and do a little bit of praying that we have a great shooting night and that they have a subpar night,” he said. “Edinburgh has a great basketball program. They are a great team.”
Layman said a key for the Tigers will be having Curtis Thompson, a 6-foot-3 junior, for the sectional. He was the leading scorer for the Tigers’ junior varsity this season and just became eligible for varsity this week.
“A lot of people don’t know that he is going to be eligible for the sectional, so that will help our ability to guard and rebound,” he said.
Preston West leads the Tigers in scoring at 14.7 points per game, and Zach Helt is next at 8.6 per game, and Adam Turner is averaging 7.9.
Caleb Dewey, a 6-3 junior, tops the Lancers at 22.4 per game, followed by Travis Jones at 13 and Jarrett Turner at 10.
Layman said he is looking forward to the challenge.
“If we knock Edinburgh off, we’re in a pretty good situation. They went into double overtime with West Washington, and we competed well with West Washington,” he said. “The beauty is you’ve got to beat them sometime in the sectional, and you might as well do it there at the beginning. Edinburgh is out to prove something. They lost a sectional that they should have won. Trinity stole that sectional from them. We’re looking for that opportunity to be the Cinderella a little bit this year.”
The sectional began Tuesday night when West Washington defeated Shawe Memorial 53-38, and Edinburgh advanced by defeating Trinity Lutheran 57-38.
Tickets will be on sale at the school. Single-session tickets are $6.