Butler's 2010 Final Four run mirrors Brownsburg's 2008 State Championship path

Other than both teams having Gordon Hayward, the Butler Bulldogs' run through the 2010 NCAA tournament is similar to the path that the Brownsburg boys team took to the state championship in 2008.

Both teams won games early on that nobody thought they could win. Pike had taken out Brownsburg in the sectionals in 2005 and 2006, and even though Pike was 11-9 and BBurg was 16-5, many people still thought that Pike would win the game. However, there was no doubt in the outcome as the Dogs beat Pike by 17 points. For Butler, they were the 5-seed playing an always dangerous 12-seed in UTEP. Many pundits, including those on the CBS telecast, thought that Butler would have a hard time against UTEP. But, Butler proved them all wrong in rolling to an easy 18 point win.

The next game for both teams should have been easy wins, but they ended up winning on last-second shots. Brownsburg played a 11-10 Decatur Central team in the sectional final. It was an ugly basketball game. Austin Fish hit a 3-pointer from the right corner off of a pass from Gordon Hayward with 2 seconds left to give Brownsburg a 37-35 victory and the team's first sectional title since 1997. Butler played 13-seed Murray State and had the same kind of struggles. Ronald Nored has a three-point play with 25 seconds left and Gordon Hayward made a key defensive play to lead Butler to a 54-52 escape.


Both teams were significant underdogs in their next two games. Brownsburg played North Central in the regional semi-final, a team that had beaten them at home 2 weeks earlier. It was a nip-and-tuck game, but BBurg prevailed down the stretch to win 62-58. The regional final was against Carmel, a team that beat the Dogs by 12 earlier in the season. But, just like the morning game, Brownsburg took control late and beat Carmel 63-59. Butler played 1-seed Syracuse in the regional semi-final. Butler jumped out to a 10-1 lead and led by 10 at the half, but could not hold the lead. Syracuse led 54-50 with 3 minutes left, but the Bulldogs used a 13-5 run to end the game, winning 63-59. Next for Butler was 2-seed Kansas State in the regional final. Just like the Syracuse game, Butler had an 11-point lead in the first half only to lose that lead in the second half as KSU led by 1 with 5 minutes remaining. Butler went on a plus-8 run to finish the game and win 63-56.

Note the similarity of the scores in the regionals. 62-58 and 63-59 for Brownsburg and 63-59 and 63-56 by Butler. Strange.....

At this point, it seemed that Brownsburg could possibly beat any team that it played. That thought would get a great test as undefeated top-ranked New Albany would meet Brownsburg in the semi-state. The game started out very poorly for BBurg as New Albany led 9-8 after one quarter, 18-13 at the half, and 30-24 after three quarters. But, a 27-11 fourth quarter onslaught, made possible by 7-of-10 shooting from the floor and 8-of-12 free throws in crunch time, led Brownsburg to a 51-41 upset victory.

Considering that the Dogs had avenged two regular-season losses and beat the #1 team in the state, a state finals matchup against 7-time state champ Marion could bring Brownsburg it's first basketball championship. Once again, as they had done all year, Brownsburg played an ugly defensive-minded basketball game. To make a long story shot, Brownsburg had a 38-36 lead with 30 seconds to go. Marion held the ball for the last shot as Julius Mays dribbled at the top of the key with about 10 seconds left. He drove to the basket and kicked out to Scott Wood on the left wing for a three-pointer.....GOOD! Marion led 39-38 as Brownsburg called a time out with 2.1 seconds remaining......then Marion called time out.......then Brownsburg called time out.....then Marion called time out. Finally, Brownsburg had the ball on the side line with Austin Fish throwing the in-bounds pass. Gordon Hayward ran a curl route but was covered, so Fish went with option number two, a 45-foot pass to Julian Mavunga in the paint. The pass was knocked away by Marion's Jay Edwards Jr, but Hayward was there to pick the ball up and throw it towards the hoop.....GOOD! Pandemonium and chaos ensued!

Now, if Butler were to win the NCAA championship, I would imagine the same kind of excitement would occur. At this point, after beating Syracuse and Kansas State, who's to say that they can't beat Michigan State or the Duke/West Virgina winner? Only time will tell, but it has been a fun ride and a great way to relive some recent basketball events that have hit so close to home.