By E. Shawn Aylsworth
Managing Editor
MOORESVILLE – Class 4A third-ranked Mooresville kept its perfect season alive and nailed down coach Mart Hurt’s 200th win at the Morgan County school Dec. 18 with a decisive 54-45 victory over Mid-State Conference rival 4A No. 6 Decatur Central.
Senior center Maegan Callaway dominated play in the paint with a game-high 16 points. The 6’2” Valparaiso recruit – tied for the state lead with 4.0 blocks per game – also collected another five blocks as the host Pioneers led at every stop and were never truly threatened.
Junior 5’8” point guard Jama Sharp had 12 points and 6-foot senior forward Bailey Wellspring added 10 for Mooresville (9-0 overall, 3-0 in the conference), which held the Hawks’ high-powered 5’10” senior guard, Indiana State-bound Anna Munn, in check with only eight points.
Decatur Central (9-2, 2-1) was led by the 14 points of 5’9” senior forward Diana Jovanovic, while 5’7” junior guard Jaimie Childress added 12.
The Hawks grabbed their only lead at 7-6 just over two minutes into the game on a 3-pointer from Childress. But Mooresville held Decatur Central scoreless for the next 4:30 – a sign that the Pioneers would kick it up a notch whenever Decatur seemed to be on the cusp of a serious rally – and ended the first eight minutes up 12-9.
The Pioneers pushed their lead to 22-13 before a Hawks rally cut the lead to just three and forced a timeout from Hurt with 2:54 left in the first half. But quicker than you could say only seven miles of State Road 67 separate these two rivals, the Pioneers answered with a Callaway putback, a three from Sharp, and a Callaway layin on their next three possessions to ramp the lead back up to 10 at 29-19.
Decatur Central pulled within 31-24 at the half on a pair of free throws from 5’6” sophomore guard Lexus Murry. But the Hawks – and Murry in particular – struggled all night with their outside shooting as they finished just 3 of 15 from behind the 3-point arc.
The Pioneers’ lead fluctuated between four and nine points until a Childress scoop shot with 2:43 to play made it a 45-42 game. But Decatur Central picked the exact wrong time to put Mooresville in the bonus just 12 seconds later, and 5’5″ junior guard Sierra Chabra responded to the gift by canning both free throws on the next three Pioneer possessions.
When Chabra finally made just one of her two tosses after yet another foul with 1:12 left, Mooresville had combined that charity stripe excellence with a trio of empty Decatur possessions to stretch the lead to 52-42.
That prompted a chant of ‘YOU CAN’T BEAT US!” from the rowdy Mooresville cheer block – an apt utterance in light of the eight-game winning streak that Mooresville now owns over the Hawks.
Next up for Mooresville is a Dec. 22 Madison Tournament doubleheader against the host Cubs (5-4) and either 4A No. 18 Center Grove or Franklin Central. Then it’s a week off before heading to the World’s Largest and Finest High School Gymnasium in New Castle for the annual Hall of Fame Tournament, where Mooresville will open with 3A top-ranked Rushville before facing either arch-rival Plainfield or Jay County.
Decatur Central also returns to action Dec. 22 with a 1:30 p.m. date at Southport (4-4).
The box score:
Decatur Central 9 15 7 14 – 45
Mooresville 12 19 7 16 – 54
Decatur Central: Jovanovic 14, Childress 12. Munn 8, Murry 7, B. Capps 4, Smith 0, Dailey 0, A. Capps 0. 3-pointers: Childress 3, B. Capps. Totals: 14 13-19 45
Mooresville: Callaway 16, Sharp 12, Wellspring 10, Chabra 7, Nelson 6, Fisher 3, Johnson 0, Clark 0. 3-pointers: Sharp 3, Nelson 2. Totals: 19 11-18 54
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