When the 2022 Hall of Fame Classic ended Friday night in New Castle, coach Don Carlisle stepped back and enjoyed the scene.

His Class 4A No. 1 rated Giants had just completed its second win of the day — a 60-42 win over Class 3A No. 3 Northwood — and Carlisle just wanted to soak in the moment.

“I believe when we play as a team and they embody what we try to preach daily it is terribly hard for anyone to withstand what we are able to do as a TEAM,” Carlisle said.

That team started the day with a 65-53 win over Class 4A No. 2 Penn that featured a high-pressure defense in the second half. Sophomore guard Mark Zachery was the catalyst in the first win, hounding Notre-Dame-bound guard Markus Burton all ove the court. Burton did manage 22 points but hit only 9 of 26 shots.

“That was a great job by Mark,” Carlisle said. “He (Burton) was held under his average and shot 26 shots in a high school game. We wore him down and mark was a huge reason why.”

Zachery earned MVP honors for his defensive efforts in both games. Senior guard Sheridan Sharp joined him on the all-tourney team

The Giants take a 12-0 record on the road his Friday at North Central and then host Washington on Saturday.

Next week the Giants will play in the Marion County tournament — a tourney BD has not won since 1995 — starting with a home game against Beech Grove on January 10. Last year the Giants took an eight-game win streak into the county tourney before winning three games and then blowing a double-digit lead in the championship game against North Central.

Carlisle does not expect any easy outings this season.

“Well since I have been at Ben Davis as a player and coach we have always had to defend against everyone’s best shot whether we are number one or unranked, it just comes with the Giant territory,” he said. ” But we also have goals that I remind them of daily, and I definitely convey my dismay with/to them when we don’t play the way we try to teach them to play.”

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