Harrison (West Lafayette) beats Kokomo 59-56, wins second straight 4A sectional

Brody Baker poured in 30 points and Quinn Clary scored 23 as Harrison (West Lafayette) survived a late Kokomo surge to beat the Orioles 59-56 and win its second straight Class 4A sectional title at Lafayette Jeff. Harrison improved to 18-8 while Kokomo fell to 18-7 in a game decided in the final five seconds.

Baker opened the night hitting his first five shots and finished 11 of 19 from the floor with four steals, providing the offensive engine for the Raiders. Clary’s 23 pushed the Harrison duo to a combined 53 points, a production that covered for the team’s shortfall up front with Brady Henchon sidelined with a torn ACL. Harrison relied on shot making and mismatch angles to stay in front against Kokomo’s length.

Kokomo mounted a furious late rally behind Korbyn Hammel and Jake Schremp. Hammel drove for a layup after being fouled with 5.0 seconds left and converted the free throw, then Schremp was fouled on the following possession with 4.9 seconds to play. Schremp missed the first free throw, made the second after Kokomo called timeout, and an inbounds play left Hammel scrambling to secure the ball before launching a last-ditch prayer that fell short of the front rim, sealing Harrison’s victory.

“We definitely put on a show tonight, and we needed that expertise,” Baker said. “We came up and we showed out.” His line — 30 points, 11-for-19, four steals — framed a performance that moved Harrison into the regional bracket and left Kokomo one clutch sequence short.

Harrison will travel to the regional round to face Homestead of Logansport next Saturday at 4:00 p.m., a matchup drawn in the Class 4A regional slate. West Lafayette also advanced out of its sectional and is listed in the Class 3A regional pairings against New Haven. In all, five Lafayette-area teams captured sectional titles Saturday night: Harrison, West Lafayette, Benton Central, Tri-County, and Rossville.

Local track and field results underscored a broader weekend of area success: Milesplit lists Harrison (West Lafayette) winning the girls 4x800 meter relay in 9:18.16, with West Lafayette second at 10:48.38 and Benton Central third at 10:51.05; North White ran 11:06.31, Carroll (Flora) 11:25.66, Twin Lakes 12:03.80, Rossville 13:34.64 and Frontier 13:36.42. The Milesplit entries also include individual names tied to the Lafayette-area programs, such as Meredith Anderson and Emily Harley for Harrison (West Lafayette).

Separately, Harrisonathletics archived a fall 2025 tennis note: on Sep. 30, 2025 Harrison swept Lafayette Jeff 5-0 in a sectional opener with every match ending 6-0, 6-0, and Clemente Martinez at No. 3 singles delivering a golden set, a dominant performance reported by Jordin Youst. That tennis sweep is a different event and date from the March boys basketball sectional.

Harrison advances to regionals with Baker and Clary carrying the scoring load; the Raiders will need the same late-game grit when they meet Homestead next Saturday at 4:00 p.m.