Arabians edge Trojans, earn HHC title

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NEW CASTLE — With two key players unavailable because of injury, the Pendleton Heights depth was put to the test Tuesday with the Hoosier Heritage Conference championship on the line.

Rather than play that hand conservatively, the Arabians went on the attack and crossed another major goal off the team’s 2017 to-do list.

Senior Mark Albers lit up the New Castle Fieldhouse for 29 points, and sophomore Karsten Windlan scored seven points during a key stretch of the fourth quarter as the Arabians locked up the outright HHC title with a 71-68 win against the New Castle Trojans.

Pendleton Heights improved to 16-5 (7-0, HHC), while New Castle fell to 14-5 (6-2, HHC).

It is the fifth conference championship the Arabians have won or shared in the past seven years and the first for second-year head coach Kevin Bates.

“It feels great,” Bates said. “I’m happy for the kids. This is them deserving this for all the hard work that they’ve put in — their time and their effort. I’m so happy for the seniors and what they’ve accomplished so far this season. We set three goals at the start of the year; county, conference and sectional. And we’re two out of three with the big one yet to come. What a great night — I couldn’t be any more proud of them.”

Junior guard Trent Miller and sophomore forward Dameion Warrum, both key reserves for the Arabians, were out with injury. Despite having basically six players at his disposal, Bates had plenty of confidence going into the game.

“The six players I played today play a lot of minutes,” Bates said. “I basically had my starting five that had been starting all year, and that lineup rattled off a 10-game winning streak. As long as we didn’t get into foul trouble or have anyone else go down (with injury), I felt pretty confident after the way we practiced Saturday and Monday without having everybody.”

That confidence was rewarded in the fourth quarter when Albers and Windlan combined to score 19 of the 26 Arabian points.

With Pendleton Heights nursing a 47-45 lead, Windlan sparked a 13-5 run when he connected for his only 3-point shot of the game and, two possessions later, followed with a baseline jumper. An Albers 3-pointer and driving layups by Windlan and junior Justin Shupe pushed the Arabian lead to its biggest of the game at 60-50.

Windlan, who did not start because of a technical foul Saturday at Fishers, was also battling injuries, but he impressed his coach with his play off the bench.

“Karsten did not practice Saturday because of the ankle injury,” Bates said. “I would say he was probably 90-95 percent Monday. I thought he was great. Not only did he stick it when we called his number, he did a great job of handling the ball. He’s a big reason we won tonight.”

With the lead, Albers took over. He scored seven points down the stretch, including three big free throws in the final eight seconds to help seal the win.

“What a competitor,” Bates said. “He wants to have the ball down the stretch. He wants to take the shot or go to the line. When you have somebody like that, you do whatever you can to get them the ball.”

Albers said clinching his third conference title in four years was the goal but not the only thing on his mind Tuesday night.

“We definitely wanted to come in here and get the conference all to ourselves,” he said. “That was our mind-set. And last time we played them here, they knocked us out of the sectional in the first round, so that was in our heads also.”

Albers added the experience of playing the Trojans on their home court could pay off in just a couple of weeks when the Arabians return to town for sectional play.

“It’s huge for the younger guys to get their feet wet in this type of atmosphere and environment against tough teams like that,” he said.

Shupe added 13 points in his first varsity start for Pendleton Heights in support of Albers and senior Brandon Helpling matched Windlan with nine points, including two big free throws in the final minute. Sophomore Eli Pancol led the Arabians with 11 rebounds and senior Eston Stull handed out five assists.

In the junior varsity game, the Arabians fell to the Trojans 51-49. Sophomore Christian Jones led Pendleton Heights with 14 points, sophomore Christian Conkling added 12 and sophomore Ryan Noel scored 10. Both Conkling and Noel had six rebounds while sophomore Cole Dunham handed out eight assists.

The Arabians will return to action Friday night as they host Guerin Catholic. It will be senior night for Pendleton Heights as Albers, Stull, Helpling, and Clay Stout will be honored prior to the varsity contest.