By Austin Bishop
All season the McAdams High School boys basketball team lived offensively off of Patrick Lewis' ability to penetrate the lane.
When the senior point guard picked up his second foul of the game with 5:47 left in the first half and McAdams tied 15-15 with Ingomar in the MHSAA Class 1A State Championship Game, their fortunes turned for the worse.
"That's his strong point," McAdams first-year head coach Joe Garrett said. "He likes to drive and dish and drive and shoot. When they called back-to-back charges on him, that changed everything."
Ingomar, which won the game 72-60, built up a 29-23 lead at the half and was up 38-25 with 4:02 left in the third quarter before the Bulldogs began to mount a comeback.
The McAdams 3-point shooters struggled most of the night, despite making 11 from long range during the game.
"I thought we would shoot better than we did," Garrett said. "We didn't, but we still gave them a good game. I'm glad the guys made it. That put their all into it and that's what it is all about."
The Bulldogs used a pair of 3-pointers and a driving basket by Lewis — who finished the game with 21 points — to cut it to 53-49 with 4:56 left to play in the game. But the Falcons scored nine of the next 12 points to regain control of the game and then made their free throws down the stretch to take the win.
Zach Carnell led Ingomar with 25 points, while Matt Purvis scored 21. John Allen had 14 and Jekle Snow 10 for McAdams.
