2007 IHSAA Class 4A State Championship: East Chicago Central 87, North Central (Indianapolis) 83

The East Chicago Cardinals used a balanced attack and defeated the North Central Panthers, 87-83, to capture the Class 4A basketball state championship.
Three Cardinals ended the night with 20 or more points. Senior guard E’Twaun Moore took game honors with 28, sophomore Angel Garcia added 25 and junior Kawaan Short finished with 20. Short also led the Cardinals with 10 rebounds.
North Central (21-5) was coached by Doug Mitchell, who was in his 14th season at the Indianapolis school. The Panthers were led in scoring by senior Eric Gordon with 25. Fellow seniors Adnan Hodzic, Joey Brown and Kevin Gant also finished in double-figures with 18, 14 and 12 points, respectively. Hodzic added 11 rebounds to lead the team in that category. Gordon’s 25 points tonight moves him to 14th on the career scoring list in Indiana with 2,178 points. It was the first runner-up finish for the Panthers to go along with their 1999 state title.
Trailing 21-20 at the end of the first quarter, East Chicago (23-3) picked up the intensity in the second and North Central’s shooting cooled off as the Cardinals built a 19-point edge and took a 50-32 lead into the lockerroom. At halftime, East Chicago had three players in double figures and was dominating the inside game with 26 points in the paint.
Just as it seemed East Chicago was about to run away, North Central began to chip away at the lead. They cut it to eight at 63-55 on a long three-pointer by senior Joey Brown at the third quarter buzzer.
Brown continued his hot shooting connecting on two more from beyond the stripe in the first two minutes of the fourth quarter, the latter drawing North Central to within 67-65. He had only made four three-pointers throughout the season and finished with four in the game.
The Panthers pulled even twice in the final quarter at 69-69 and again at 71-71 but could never retake the lead. East Chicago converted 10 of 16 free throws over the final 2:46 of the game to seal the victory. East Chicago finished the evening with a 42-32 advantage in the paint.
This was the first East Chicago team to win the state title since 1971 when an undefeated East Chicago Washington team defeated Elkhart 70-60. Second year East Chicago coach Pete Trgovich was a player on that 29-0 squad. Trgovich also became just the fourth individual to win a state championship as a player and a coach.
This was the fourth meeting between the two schools in the last four years and second this season. It was East Chicago’s first victory over that stretch and follows a 73-62 setback on December 29 in North Central’s holiday tournament.
Several 4A game records were set including East Chicago’s 87 total points, the 170 points between the two teams and North Central’s 51 second half points. East Chicago had scored 50 in the opening half.
Following the game, members of the IHSAA Executive Committee named E’Twaun Moore of East Chicago Central High School as the winner of the Arthur L. Trester Mental Attitude Award.
The award is presented annually to a senior participant in each classification who was nominated by his principal and coach and has demonstrated excellence in mental attitude, scholarship, leadership and athletic ability.
Academically, Moore owns a 3.2 GPA and ranks 33rd in his senior class of 236 students. Among his volunteer efforts, he has served as a mentor for elementary students in the East Chicago Schools.
He has earned a scholarship to Purdue University where he will study Business and also play basketball.
“There isn’t a better young gentleman that has a pleasant persona, is mild-mannered and approachable” says East Chicago Central Principal Darnell Adell of Moore.
He is the son of Ezell and Edna Moore of East Chicago.
Indiana Farm Bureau Insurance, the IHSAA’s corporate partner, will present a $1,000 scholarship to East Chicago Central High School in the name of E’Twaun Moore.
The award is named in honor of Arthur L. Trester, the IHSAA’s first commissioner who served the Association from 1929-44.