Panthers Smash EC Central for Tourney Title

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Coach Doug Mitchell was all smiles, even as his team headed to the locker room at halftime of Saturday's annual North Central Holiday Tournament.  His joy was justified as the Panthers had just put together arguably their best half of the season.  North Central put 46 points on the board and led East Chicago Central 46-28 after 16-minutes of play.  NC's dominance continued throughout the championship game of the 15th annual tournament sponsored by Hyatt Place and Methodist Sports Medicine.  

Four Panthers scored in double figures as NC ran away for a 97-56 victory.  Freshman Evon Gordon had 19 points and 10 rebounds to lead a balanced scoring attack.  Darius Latham scored 18 points, including 3 of 3 from three-point land, while pulling down nine rebounds.  Perry Poindexter continued to show improvement scoring 16 points on 8 of 13 shooting which included a couple of authoritative slams.  Poindexter also had 8 rebounds.  Aaron Banks was the other Panther in double figures with 10 points.

The win marked North Central's 12th tournament title in the 15-year history of the event including championships in 12 of the last 13 years.  The victory is also the third straight for North Central which now owns a 6 and 3 record on the season.

The Panthers will host Ben Davis Friday night in a highly anticipated MIC matchup.  Tipoff is scheduled for 7:30.