West Lafayette's offensive balance fuels 60-50 victory over Lafayette Jeff

Caleb Shinn didn’t need to look at a box score to tell you the only statistic that mattered Saturday night at Crawley Center.

West Lafayette 60, Lafayette Jeff 50.

One night after Nai Carlisle’s 21 points lifted the Red Devils to an emotional victory at Central Catholic, WL got double-digit scoring from three players to earn road wins against Tippecanoe County foes on consecutive nights.

“I think we are a pretty unselfish bunch,” said Shinn, who contributed 17 points and nine rebounds. “We don’t really care who is getting all the points and who is getting the credit. We just like winning.”

Since starting the season 2-2, the Red Devils have won a lot. They’re 11-2 with a one-point loss at Tipton and a five-point loss at Frankfort.

Like West Lafayette, the Bronchos were coming off an emotional Friday night, getting a buzzer-beater to defeat Avon. West Side (14-4) got a huge first half from senior Justus Stanback to build a 27-17 halftime advantage and never allowed the Bronchos to get closer than six in the second half.

“We lost focus, because they had an emotional game last night too,” said Jeff senior Lucas Wallace, who had 17 points. “They were more ready to go and came out with more energy and worked harder than us.”

Stanback had 14 of his game-high 18 points in the first half, and he also had seven rebounds, helping the Red Devils dominate the boards 39-16. Stanback also had two blocks.

“Justus was awfully good, especially in the first half,” WL coach David Wood said. “He was awfully good rebounding, defending and scoring.”

Joining Stanback and Shinn in double figures scoring for the Red Devils was Tory Eger, who made 3 of 5 3-pointers and finished with 13 points.

The Bronchos (7-10) closed the gap to six on seven occasions in the second half, putting pressure on West Lafayette to continue scoring.

The Red Devils obliged with big shots from Eger and a 3-pointer from Carlisle followed by an uncontested drive to the basket by Carlisle to end the third quarter and give WL a 47-38 lead.

“They never gave up. You think once you get 10 points ahead and you keep scoring, other teams will give in,” Shinn said. “We kept doing our part and they kept hitting tough shots. It was difficult for us to pull away.”