By Mike McGraw
Executive Director
INDIANAPOLIS – Arlington’s 66-53 victory over Chatard in the Dec. 18 semifinals of the Indianapolis City Tournament most surely left both teams thinking. For Arlington, it was a testament to the fact that athleticism and good shooting can cure a lot of ills. Chatard, meanwhile, is left thinking about a lot of “what ifs.”
What if the Trojans hadn’t allowed Arlington (7-2) to race to a 10-point halftime lead? What if they had extended their defense earlier in the second half? What if they had simply taken advantage of the opportunities they were given?
Arlington’s impressive collection of athletes controlled play in the first half of this contest. The Golden Knights used their size to control the boards and their quickness to penetrate the Trojan defense consistently.
The result was a seemingly comfortable 35-25 lead at intermission in the first of two contests held at Cathedral.
It appeared the same was going to take place in the second half, but the scoreboard failed to show the result of Arlington’s dominance of most of the third quarter. Late in the period, the Golden Knights were still up a dozen despite seemingly controlling play as they were holding Chatard (5-4) at bay with excellent shot selection and shooting prowess.
Suddenly, that was no longer the case as Arlington began making some careless turnovers late in the stanza. As a result, its lead shrank to 48-39 heading to the fourth.
Those turnovers became an epidemic during the fourth quarter. Unofficially, the Golden Knights had 10 turnovers in the final nine minutes of the game. Many of those were forced by a trapping Chatard defense that the Trojans extended further and further out on the floor.
The scene was set for a Trojan comeback, but it never took place. There were two reasons for that.
First, every time Arlington needed a big basket, Lindsay Shepherd was there to answer the call. She drilled two jumpers and finished a fast break during the key minutes early in the fourth quarter and ended the evening with a game-high 22 points.
Secondly, the Trojans simply could not take advantage of the many chances that Arlington presented them – they had the ball once down seven and twice down only eight, yet failed to score on any of the three occasions.
Chatard was never able to creep close enough to make the Golden Knights begin to doubt themselves. Down the stretch, Arlington staved off any rally with free throws.
Three Arlington players joined Shepherd in double-digit scoring, with Tierra Golightly next in line with 14 markers.
The Golden Knights’ reward is a Saturday finals date with nationally ranked Heritage Christian (9-0), an 87-42 conqueror of Northwest in the other semifinal. Senior Miss Basketball candidate Kelly Faris posted a double-double of 21 points and 11 rebounds while adding six assists and five steals for the Eagles (9-0), who scored the first 20 points of the game en route to a 36-14 halftime lead.
Sophomore Liz Stratman added 16 points for HC, while senior Emily Anderson had 15. Cierra Dotson had 21 points for Northwest (8-4).
After Arlington’s victory, Shepherd spoke with HoosierAuthority.com and made it clear that she and the Golden Knights do not fear the challenge.
Check out her comments in the video player on this page!
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