Big Early Run Propels Culver Academy to First State Championship
Culver Academy used a 30-4 spurt in the first half to build a lead that led to a 64-49 win over Evansville Bosse in the Class 3A state championship game.
The Eagles trailed early, 4-0, before the big run allowed them to take a 30-8 lead with 5:55 left in the second quarter. While Bosse did rally within 34-29 early in the third quarter, the Eagles never lost the lead. Culver Academy hit 17-of-23 free throws in the fourth quarter to ice the game.
Also aiding the winners was an 18-10 advantage in turnovers that led to a 26-9 bulge in point-off-turnovers.
The victory for coach Mark Galloway’s club avenges a 74-64 loss to Bosse on Dec. 16 and it gives the Academy its first state championship in any sport. Junior guard Ethan Brittain-Watts led the Eagles (23-6) with 20 points, while sophomores Deontae Craig and Trey Galloway each added 14 points.
Coach Shane Burkhart’s Bulldogs (25-5) were led by Mekhi Lairy with 28 points and Jaylin Chinn netted 10.
Class 3A State Championship Records
Team (2)
Most Blocked Shots (since 1979): 7 by Evansville Bosse
Most Combined Block Shots (since 1979): 10 by Evansville Bosse (7) and Culver Academies (3)
Individual (1)
Most Blocked Shots (since 1979): 5 by Kiyron Powell, Evansville Bosse
Jaylin Chinn from Evansville Bosse wins the Tester Mental Attitude Award for 3A
Following the game, members of the IHSAA Executive Committee named Jaylin Chinn from Evansville Bosse as the winner of the Arthur L. Trester Mental Attitude Award in Class 3A Boys Basketball.
The award is annually presented to a senior participant in the state finals who best demonstrates mental attitude, scholarship, leadership and athletic ability and is nominated by his principal and coach.
Chinn is a starting guard for Bosse and averages 15.2 points per game. Along with basketball, he has participated in football, cross country and managed for track and field. Outside of athletics, Chinn is part of the yearbook staff, was a member of the homecoming court and a three-year student council member.
He donates his time to teaching a bible camp at Liberty Missionary Baptist Church monthly, the local soup kitchen and is a peer mentor. Chinn holds a 3.22 GPA in Bosse’s senior class of 168.
Jaylin Chinn is the son of Wendy Chinn of Evansville, Ind, and his future plans are undecided.
The 4A, 3A and 2A awards are named in honor of the late Arthur L. Trester, who served as first commissioner of the Association from 1929 to 1944. Trester helped Indiana high school sports and the IHSAA emerge from the Great Depression in a position of preeminence unmatched by perhaps any other state in the nation.
The Indiana Pacers and Indiana Fever, the presenting sponsor of the IHSAA Boys Basketball State Tournament, presented a $1,000 scholarship to Evansville Bosse High School in the name of Jaylin Chinn. Since 1989, more than $840,000 in college scholarships have been presented to deserving high school athletes in Indiana.