The Carroll Cougars (19-4) successfully defended their Class 2A Sectional 37 title by defeating Seeger (13-9) 56-53. The score was almost identical to last year's win over Seeger, 56-54.

The Spesard cousins, Adam and Carson, led the way for Carroll. Carson had a doubledouble with 16 points and 11 rebounds, while Adam had 15 points. Adam was also Kiss Country 103.1's MVP of the sectional and player of the game. Kyle Geheb was also in double figures with 12 points for the second straight night and was 3 of 5 (60%) from behind the arc.

The Cougars continued their hot shooting from the night before. They were 5 of 8 (63%) on threes and 19 of 35 (54%) overall. From the foul line, Carroll shot a poor 13 of 24 (54%), while defensively the Cougars held Seeger to 5 of 25 (20%) and 19 of 53 (36%) overall. The Patriots were 10 of 12 (83%) from the line.

Seeger came out of the gates quick. Nathan Pruitt had 11 of his 16 points for the night in the first quarter, helping the Patriots to their biggest lead of the night, 7 points, 16-9 after one.

A. Spesard's free throw and a three-pointer by Geheb pulled Carroll to within three points at 16-13. Pruitt scored Seeger's only basket in the quarter, giving them an 18-13 lead. From there it was all Carroll the rest of the half. The Cougars went on a 13-0 run to go up 26-18 at half-time.

Carroll outscored Seeger 17- 2 in the quarter. C. Spesard had 12 of his 16 points in the half. Geheb's three pointer with five minutes left in the half gave Carroll the lead for good at 20- 18. Carroll continued its run in the third as A. Spesard had 5 points and Noah Allen 2 points with three minutes gone in the third. When the smoke cleared, Carroll had outscored Seeger 20-0 for a 33-18 lead. The two teams played even the rest of the quarter with Carroll up 42- 28 after three.

Back-to-back three pointers by A. Spesard and Primmer Zook gave Carroll its biggest lead of the game at 18 points , 48-30, with 6:30 minutes left. Seeger picked up its defensive pressure forcing the Cougars to turn over the ball six times in the next two minutes. Carroll's lead dropped to single digits, 48-39. The Cougars turned the ball over three more times and with 17.2 seconds left, Alexander Hutson was fouled while shooting a three. He made all three free throws and Seeger had closed the gap to three points, 54-51. Geheb hit one of two free throws, giving Carroll a 55-51 lead with 14 seconds left. Hutson's layup with 1.7 seconds pulled the Patriots to within 2 at 55-53. Geheb was fouled with .2 seconds left. He hit the first and missed the second and Seeger could not get a shot off in time. Hutson scored 12 of his game high 17 points in the final stanza.

Carroll won its way into the championship game with wins over country rival Delphi (7- 14) 59-40 Friday night in the semi-final round and a 60-48 overtime win over Fountain Central (5-16) in the opening game.

Vs. Fountain Central

Fountain Central packed its zone defense the entire game to stop Carroll's big men, Adam and Carson Spesard's inside game, and force Carroll to beat them from the outside. It almost worked. Carroll was 4 of 16 (25%) from three-point range, 19 of 47 (36%) overall and 7 of 11 (64%) from the line.

There were two ties and 4 lead changes in the first quarter before the two teams were tied at 14 all after one. In the second quarter there were two more ties and two lead changes before the Mustangs took the lead at 23-22. They held a fivepoint, 28-23, lead at half-time.

Fountain Central was still up by five with 4:33 left in the third quarter when A. Spesard scored four points and Brad Benson two to reclaim the lead at 35-34. The Mustangs regained the lead, but 3 points each by the Spesard cousins gave Carroll the lead at 41-38 after three periods. The Cougars opened up a 5 point lead at 45-40, but the Mustangs fought back to tie the game at 48 on a three-pointer at the end of regulation.

Carroll took over in overtime. A three-pointer by Geheb got things started as the Cougars outscored Fountain Central 12-0 in the extra period.

A. Spesard led all scorers with 24 points, tying his career high. C. Spesard added a double double with 11 points and 14 rebounds and Benson added 7 points and 9 rebounds.

Vs. Delphi

Friday night was the third meeting this season between Carroll and Delphi. The Cougars claimed the first two meetings, 62-48 and 58-48.

Delphi tried the same strategy as Fountain Central, but this time it did not work. Red hot Geheb hit back-to-back three-pointers to push Carroll out to an 11-2 advantage early. The Oracles closed to within 7 at 13-6, but Zook and Geheb hit back-to-back threes again to push Carroll's lead back out to 13. The Oracles trailed by 7, 19-12, after one. Carroll was 5 of 6 from behind the arc with Geheb hitting 4 of 5 and Zook 1 of 1. The Cougars were 7 of 10 overall with Geheb getting 12 of his 13 game points in the first quarter.

The Oracles would get no closer the rest of the way as Carroll outscored their rival 17-6 in the second quarter to double the Oracles up on the scoreboard, 36-18. The Cougars were 2 of 3 (67%) on threes and 7 of 9 (78%) overall in the quarter. Tim Ruby led the way with 7 points off the bench. The Cougars were 14 of 19 (74%) overall and 7 of 9 (78%) on threes in the half while the Oracles were 3 of 9 (33%) on threes and 7 of 19 (37%) overall.

Carroll put Delphi away early in the third quarter when they came out of the locker room with a 12-0 run to go up by 30 points, 48-18. The Cougars coasted the rest of the way for the win. Carroll's shooting did not drop off in the third quarter as they went inside for their points.

Carroll was 7 of 9 (78%) from the three-point line, 24 of 36 (67%) overall, and 4 of 9 (44%) from the line, while Delphi was 4 of 19 (19%) on threes, 14 of 45 (31%) overall, and 8 of 17 (47%) from the line.

Carroll's 19 wins sets a new school record for the most wins in a season. The old mark was 18 and was set by the 1991-92 team.

It appears that Clinton Central is the team's home away from home. The Cougars are 5-0 at Central after winning the Holiday Tourney and the Sectional.

Next up for the Cougars will be the Tipton Regional. Carroll will face North Miami (18-5) in the first game that starts at 10 a.m. on Saturday. The last time the two schools played each other was Feb. 5, 1965.