INDIANAPOLIS | East Chicago Central stunned the state Saturday night when it ran out to a 19-point lead and then held off a fierce comeback attempt by North Central to take the boys basketball 4A title.

The 87-83 victory at Conseco Fieldhouse for the Cardinals is the first for the school since it opened in 1986 and the first won by a Northwest Indiana team since Gary West Side won in 2002. Gary Roosevelt captured the single-class title in 1991.

It was a special night for Cardinals fan John Reyes, who graduated from East Chicago Washington before the 1986 consolidation.

In 1985, he traveled with his dad to watch Washington make an ultimately unsuccessful run, losing in the state semifinals. He's been waiting that long for the same father-son moment with his children.

"I wanted my boys to have the experience that I had with my dad," Reyes said. "I went home last week when we beat Marion and watched 'Hoosiers.' I had to watch 'Hoosiers' with my boys. I told them 'that's what we're going to do.'"

Reyes, clad in his E.C. Washington Senators T-shirt, brought 15-year-old Alex and 16-year-old Felix Jr. to Saturday's Class 4A State Finals.

"This is a great thing for the community of East Chicago," E.C. Central coach Pete Trgovich said. "You see how many people came out here, and they were behind us 100 percent."