Caleb Furst dominates second half in 2A state title win

INDIANAPOLIS — Almost four minutes into the second half on Saturday afternoon at Bankers Life Fieldhouse, Caleb Furst had barely made a mark on the Class 2A state title game, with just two points and a couple rebounds after a foul-plagued first half.

Had the Purdue signee and Mr. Basketball contender remained quiet by his lofty standards, Blackhawk Christian probably still would have hung on to beat Parke Heritage — it led 29-22 at the time — but it was Furst's second half eruption that gave Blackhawk Christian not only its second consecutive 2A title, but put the exclamation point on it.

Furst scored 18 of his 20 points in the game's final 12:19, carrying the Braves for what amounted to a full quarter, as Blackhawk cruised to a 55-40 win. This was Blackhawk's second consecutive 2A win and might have been its third straight had last season not been cut short by the pandemic.

That lost opportunity — and all the uncertainty that surrounded this season — was every team's reality this season, and probably a relevant one for those who missed out on likely championship runs.

"First and foremost, we're just grateful for the opportunity to have this," Furst said after the Parke Heritage game. "You don't realize what you have until it's taken away. To just have the opportunity to play for another state title, and then win it, we're just very grateful."

As it has been for four seasons, Blackhawk Christian was thankful Furst was on its side, as he finished with 20 points on 9-of-16 shooting — after a 2-of-7 start — and seven rebounds, with six blocked shots.

"He's been making that case for four years," Braves coach Marc Davidson said when asked about Furst's Mr. Basketball candidacy. "There's no one in the state I'm taking over Caleb Furst ... and I don't think it's even that close. Today was an exclamation point on that."

Starting with a second-chance dunk at 4:19 of the third quarter, Furst scored 10 straight for the Braves, generating good looks in the post and capitalizing on them. Parke Heritage coach Rich Schelsky said he believed his team wore down some and Furst took advantage by generating better post position that he'd gotten in the first half.

"The problem with (defending) them is you have to play (Furst) straight up," Schelsky said, "because he's such a willing passer and they have so many weapons around him."

But the 6-foot-10 big man did more than the control the interior on offense.

With seven-and-a-half minutes left and Blackhawk up 10, it advanced the ball quickly up the floor, finding Furst in transition, right in front of his own bench. The lefty let fly a quick-trigger three and splashed it, extending his team's lead to a then-game high 13.

Meanwhile, Furst's rim-protection presence — the half-dozen blocks, included — affected Parke Heritage considerably at the other end of the floor. The Wolves shot 28 percent for the game.

"He had looks at the basket that are normally buckets for us that he totally changed," Schelsky said.

When all was said and done, Furst changed the game. Again, Blackhawk Christian likely would have won anyway, but this way, the school got one last look at the best of a player who concluded his brilliant four-year high school career on Saturday.

Furst played just 11 minutes in the first half after he and several other Braves picked up two first-half fouls.

"For him, having to sit there and watch in the first half, I'm guessing that added a couple logs to the fire where he just wanted to come out in that third quarter and play with a lot of aggression," Davidson said. "We've told him from Day 1 that when he plays with a high level of assertiveness and aggression, we're a completely different team and we walk into every game knowing we have the best player in the gym.

"That's been a nice luxury for us to have and in the second half we were determined to get him the basketball and let him go to work."

Afterward, Furst — one of the top students in his class and a well-known upstanding individual — was awarded the Arthur Trester Mental Attitude Award for Class 2A.

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