Gordon goes down in Panther victory

By Justin Albers
basketballss132002@yahoo.com
Fishers, Ind.-The North Central Panthers beat the Hamilton Southeastern Royals on Saturday night 81-67, but there was a bigger story than that.
IU bound Eric Gordon was injured in the Panther victory. With 1:23 remaining in the 3rd quarter, Gordon dribbled the ball up court full speed and was tripped by HSE's Nick Deschepper. Eric fell hard on his knee and laid on the court for approximately 5 minutes before heading to the locker room where he spent the rest of the night. During the first 24:47 of the game, Gordon was held to just 16 points on 4-10 shooting.
HSE started the game hot, but North Central was stride for stride. The Royals hit 7 of their 9 first quarter field goals, but still trailed 21-20. The second quarter was much of the same, but the Panther press proved to be a problem for the Royals causing several turnovers. North Central led 41-31 at the break.
The Royals came out firing in the 3rd quarter. They went on an 8-0 run during the first 2 minutes to cut the lead to 2. However, the Panthers responded quickly with a 5-0 run of their own. The Panthers took a 61-49 lead into the final quarter.
Even without their best player, North Central played well in the 4th quarter, led by Evan Gordon. Evan may be in the shadow of his older brother, but he proved what he is capable of on Saturday night. Evan scored 22 points to lead all scorers, and led his team to an 81-67 victory. Adnad Hodzic scored 14 points on 6-9 shooting as well.
HSE was led by junior Chris Carlino with 17 points (7-11 FG) and 4 rebounds. Seniors Nick Deschepper and Billy Pappas each had 12 in the losing effort. Overall the Royals were 23/54 from the field and 13/20 from the foul line. HSE was also plagued by their 14 turnovers. Following the loss the Royals are 3-3 and will be in action again on December 27th against Carmel.