March 29, 2014
Indianapolis Tech holds off Lake Central in Class 4A
After four runner-up finishes in state boys basketball, the Indianapolis Arsenal Technical Titans had their photo taken this time with the championship trophy in hand.
Tech captured a frenetic 63-59 victory over the Lake Central Indians in the Class 4A title game. The Titans, after leading by as many as 23 points in the third quarter, had to hold off a furious Lake Central rally that saw the Indians pull within three, 62-59, with 11 seconds left in the game. But a free throw by Tech's Trey Lyles then gave the Titans the breathing room they needed.
The fourth quarter proved dramatic with various runs by both teams. First, an 8-0 push by Lake Central sliced Tech's lead to nine. Then the Titans mounted a 7-0 run to re-establish the lead at 16.
Then came the one final surge by the Indians before Tech put away its first state crown and the Titans' followers at Bankers Life Fieldhouse erupted with cheers.
Tech becomes the first Indianapolis Public Schools team to win a boys state championship since Indianapolis Broad Ripple did it in 1980.
Jeremie Tyler led Tech with 19 points. Lyles had 16 points and 12 rebounds. Mikey Jones scored 15 points.
Coach Jason Delaney's Titans, ranked second in the Associated Press poll, finished at 27-2. Delaney became the seventh coach to win a state title at two different schools. He led Waldron to the 2004 Class A crown.
Tye Wilburn topped Lake Central with 20 points, including 14 in the second half. Tyler Wideman collected 19 points and 12 rebounds.
Coach Dave Milausnic's Indians, ranked eighth in the AP poll, completed their season at 22-4. Lake Central was making its second appearance in the state finals and first in 30 years.
Class 4A Championship Game Records
Highest Field Goal Percentage (min. 10 attempts)
.818 (9-11) by Tyler Wideman, Lake Central vs. Indpls. Arsenal Tech, 2014.
(Old Record) .750 (9-12) by Zach Randolph, Marion vs. Pike, 1998.
Listen: Arsenal Tech Post-Game | Lake Central Post-Game
Arsenal Tech’s Trey Lyles wins Trester Mental Attitude Award
Following the game, members of the IHSAA Executive Committee named Trey Lyles of Arsenal Technical High School as the winner of the Arthur L. Trester Mental Attitude Award in Class 4A 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. The award is named after the IHSAA’s first commissioner who served the Association from 1929 to 1944.
Academically, Lyles ranks in the top five percent of his senior class of 446 students. He has taken the initiative to give motivational speeches to elementary students, teach basketball skills at various camps and visit kids at Riley Children’s Hospital. He has also served as a spokesperson for the Indianapolis Public Schools Athletes of Character.
As co-captain of the Tech basketball team, he leads the team in scoring, rebounding and assists. He is the third student in school history to receive an IHSAA mental attitude award, all in boys basketball, joining Emmett Lowery in 1929 and Joe Sexson in 1952.
He is the son of Jessi and Tom Lyles of Camby and plans to study Business Administration at the University of Kentucky next fall where he also will play basketball.
The Indiana Pacers and Indiana Fever, the presenting sponsor of the IHSAA Boys Basketball State Tournament, presented a $1,000 scholarship to Arsenal Technical High School in the name of Lyles. Since 1989, more than $800,000 in college scholarships have been presented to deserving high school athletes in Indiana.