IHSAA basketball: Monroe Central holds off Daleville to win its first regional in 15 years

NEW CASTLE, Ind. — Monroe Central took down Daleville, 66-58, in the Class 1A regional at the New Castle Fieldhouse on Saturday, claiming its first regional championship since 2010.

For Monroe Central coach Brian Klein, the moment was a long time coming. He took last year off from head coaching after he was let go by Blue River Valley after 16 seasons. Now, in his first year leading the Golden Bears, Klein is a regional champion for the first time in his head coaching career.

"I like the ring of that, regional champs," Klein said. "Just super proud of these guys. This senior group has bought into everything we've asked them to do my first year with them. It's not always an easy thing to come in new and get your leaders to buy in from the get go, and they have."

The game was delayed for a few minutes when some bad weather in the area caused a brief power outage as starting lineups were being announced. Once the lights came back, the teams warmed up again and got to business.

The first half was a physical, defensive battle. Senior forward Easton Foster, Monroe Central's primary offensive threat, drew plenty of attention from the Daleville defense. Daleville senior Joshua Wilson was Foster's primary matchup, and he had Foster visibly frustrated.

"Josh Wilson definitely took that assignment to heart," Daleville coach Ashley Fouch said. "[Foster] clearly still got his points, and he did great, one of the best players in our conference, so a lot of respect towards him. But Josh Wilson, I mean, you can't expect much more from a kid that is a head shorter than he is, and he gave everything he had."

Daleville senior Hunter Suchyna drew similar attention on the other end, but he fought through it for a strong start as the Broncos took an early lead. Monroe Central reclaimed that lead by the end of the first quarter, though, and never let it go.

The emotional intensity of the rivalry matchup hit a boiling point in the second quarter. Foster, who had remained calm despite the early frustrations, converted a tough and-one and immediately drew a technical foul when his celebratory yell brought him face-to-face with Daleville's Cooper Sexton.

There was no lingering beef, as Foster and Sexton had a positive exchange after the technical free throws, and both teams kept their emotions in check for the rest of the game. After that sequence, the momentum shifted in Monroe Central's favor as Foster got into a groove as a scorer and distributor.

"I feel like after that technical, I got my second wind because I wasn't feeling great, and then after that happened, it's like, I got to kick it in gear," Foster said. "Because even when I don't feel the best, I've still got to be there for my guys, because they're there for me."

Foster is usually the star of the show for the Golden Bears, but it was an unsung hero who led the way to the regional title. Junior Ta'Shaun Beatty came off the bench and provided a big energy boost, finishing with a team-high 18 points.

"Just play ball, stick together, team brotherhood," Beatty said. "I love it. I love the crowd and student section; they gave us the boost we needed every time, every game. They're always at our back no matter what's happening."

The Golden Bears dominated the regular-season matchup with their Mid-Eastern Conference rival, winning 78-59 back on Dec. 6. Daleville had made significant strides since then and was playing its best basketball coming into the matchup, largely due to Suchyna, who finished with 33 points on Saturday.

"23 is really, really good, as good as we've seen off the bounce. He was cooking today, you know, and the whole team is, it's like their chemistry has gotten a lot better," Klein said. "You could watch their sectional and tell that to change their energy, their want-to for each other was a lot better, and that's why they didn't give up today. That's attributed to Coach Fouch and that team."

Although Daleville came up short of the school's first-ever regional title, Fouch was proud of the way her team carried itself throughout their postseason run that surprised everyone but the Broncos.

"They took my 'all grit, no quit,' foundation that was already being built for the last four years, and they added another layer on top of it, and it's exactly what I needed out of them," Fouch said. "It's a special group, and I'm just proud of them, so I'm happy that they made a little bit of history with me."

Contact Cade Hampton via email at cbhampton@muncie.gannett.com or on X, formerly known as Twitter, @CadeHamp10.

This article originally appeared on Muncie Star Press: Monroe Central holds off Daleville to win IHSAA basketball 1A regional

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