IHSAA boys basketball: End of the line for Bloomington, North and South knocked out

For the first time since 2013 and just the second time this century, the local Class 4A boys basketball sectional trophy will find a home in some place other than Bloomington.

Friday was the premature end of the road for both South and host North in the semifinals, with the Panthers tripped up by a hungrier now four-win Martinsville squad, 65-61, while the Cougars saw No. 9 Center Grove pull away in the final five minutes for a 52-38 win.

It left out-of-towners to duke it out at 7 p.m. Saturday night for the title with Center Grove taking on upstart Martinsville.

Upset warning goes unheeded

South (15-11) has struggled all year to put strong back-to-back games together and this week turned out to be no different. The Panthers scored in just five seconds off the tip, but it was the Artesians who pushed the pace and played with complete abandon all night.

A 12-point lead with 5:33 left slipped down to as little as three, but the Arties made just enough plays, including a free throw by Rhys Wolk with 5.4 seconds left, to hold on and whoop it up after upsetting their rivals to end a 16-game losing streak that began after a win over Monrovia on Dec. 16.

"They played hard, but I told them, 'You're not any better today as a team than you were the first game against Edgewood,'" South coach J.R. Holmes said. "We play hard, but you never progressed mentally in focusing in and understanding what we need to do.

"That goes back on the coaches. We have to take some responsibility that we kept playing the wrong guys. The accountability, I'm disappointed in as I look back."

South was sluggish and couldn't hit from distance early, but still managed to go up 21-19 with 2:47 left in the second quarter after a steal and layup by Zach Sims. But that's where the game got away as Martinsville scored the last nine points going into halftime. Hunter Stroud scored the last five, including a three-point play with 2.9 seconds left.

"The game was lost at the end of the second quarter when they scored four or five straight layups on us," Holmes said. "And every time we'd make a basket, they'd get an offensive rebound. Then we finally got a couple stops. It's a shame, but they were better than us tonight."

That momentum carried over as Martinsville surged out to a 44-31 lead with 3:02 left in the third. The Arties still led 53-41 with 5:33 left when South made a final push, chipping away while scoring 24 points in the fourth.

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A 3-pointer by Vincent Moutardier cut the deficit to 58-54 with 1:20 to go. Then after Martinsville split a pair at the line, Moutardier hit a pull-up to make it 59-56 with 1:05 left. But that was South's last gasp.

Martinsville got a layup out of the press break, then two free throws after a missed 3 by Jack Clark and it was 63-56. At 64-58, Andrew Elsesser hit a 3 to make it a one-possession game with 12 seconds left, but Wolf went to the line with 5.4 seconds left, missed the first but made the second to sew it up.

Nothing to lose for Arties

Stroud finished with 20 points and eight rebounds as Martinsville won the glass, 31-23. Grady Gardner added 16 and six to the effort and Jace LaFary hit the Panthers with four first-half 3s for 14 points. Martinsville shot 50% (23-of-46).

South got a balanced effort as senior Alex Shaevitz had 11 points and 10 rebounds while TJ Spears had 11 points, Jack Clark and Moutardier had 10 each and Sims and Cruz Sanchez had eight apiece. The Panthers were just 25-of-55 and 5-of-22 from the arc.

"They played loosey-goosey," Holmes said. "Our guys, they got down early and tensed up. We couldn't hit. Then we missed three or four layups in the first half.

"They outplayed us entirely. They hit some shots early to get some confidence. For us, following instructions from the huddle to the floor was really sketchy. But if we had another minute or two, we might have won. (Martinsville coach Kip Staggs) did a great job with his team."

Center Grove too much in 2nd half

In a way, it was similar to their first encounter back in early December as CG's defense continued to be a binder on North's ability to score as Luke Lindeman and Connor O'Guinn had tough counterparts to deal with all night in 6-7 Peyton Byrd and pesky guard Jalen Brady.

"We worked hard," Speer said. "I felt like we were trying to do the best that we could to take high-percentage shots, try to work the ball inside and out. We had some good things going to the basket, but it got more and more difficult for us as the game went on."

With a big, boisterous crowd on both sides and had the atmosphere of a third straight sectional title game for the Cougars. North (12-12) came out hot to go up 17-12 early in the second quarter after hitting 6 of 9 shots.

But it was a major struggle from there. The Cougars just made it to halftime tied at 22-22, but the Trojans' older, more physical squad started to impose its Will in the second half, going up 36-31. Yes, a capital 'W' as in Will Spellman.

The 6-7 senior piled up 16 points and eight rebounds after halftime to finish with 20 and 11.

"We made him work for everything," Speer said. "I will say that."

Fight to the finish by North

North was still tough to shake off as a Jalen Williams three-point play with 5:48 left got the Cougars within 38-36. But from there, it was all CG, scoring the next 12 points as North struggled with more turnovers, finishing with 16 and scored just two points the rest of the way.

"We were right there and then, it's a game of runs," Speer said. "And the timeliness of their runs in terms of getting a couple buckets there and stringing together some stops together, it makes it tough."

Center Grove did not turn the ball over once in the second half and held North to just 7 of 28 shooting over the last three periods.

"They have a plethora of seniors who have been through the wars," Speer said. "So being able to take care of basketball and distribute it the way they did was good enough to win tonight."

O'Guinn led North with 13 points but was 0 of 6 on 3s, Lindeman had 12 points and nine rebounds and Williams had 11 points.

"To be 1-6 and to able to dig it out of the dirt and be able to collectively do what we were able to accomplish record-wise and play-wise the second half of the season," Speer said, "Super proud of them. A lot of teams just quit at 1-6 and these kids didn't."

MARTINSVILLE 65, BLOOMINGTON SOUTH 61

Martinsville (65): Wolf f 0-2 2-4 2, LaFary f 5-9 0-0 14, H.Stroud g 9-13 2-2 20, Gardner g 6-16 2-2 16, Dodson g 0-1 4-6 4, Taylor 1-2 0-0 2, Capshaw 2-3 3-4 7. Totals 23-46 13-18 65.

Bloomington South (61): Shaevitz fg 5-7 1-4 11, Spears g 5-10 0-0 11, Sims g 3-7 2-2 8, Sanchez g 4-8 0-0 8, Moutardier g 4-14 0-0 10, Ja.Clark 3-6 3-4 10, Elsesser 1-3 0-0 3. Totals 25-55 6-10 61.

Martinsville (4-19) 11 | 17 | 20 | 17 — 65

Bloomington South (15-11) 11 | 10 | 16 | 24 — 61

3-point goals: Martinsville 6-16 (LaFary 4-5, Gardner 2-7, Wolf 0-1, H.Stroud 0-3), Bloomington South 5-22 (Moutardier 2-7, Ja.Clark 1-2, Elsesser 1-2, Spears 1-5, Sanchez 0-2, Sims 0-4). Rebounds: Martinsville 31 (H.Stroud 8), Bloomington South 23 (Shaevitz 10). Team fouls: Martinsville 15, Bloomington South 14. Turnovers: Martinsville 9, Bloomington South 7.

CENTER GROVE 52, BLOOMINGTON NORTH 38

Center Grove (52): Byrd f 3-8 0-0 7, Ephraim f 4-4 0-0 8, Spellman f 8-14 4-5 20, Bundy g 0-4 3-4 3, Schmitz g 3-11 5-5 14, Meador 0-1 0-0 0, Chestnut 0-4 0-0 0. Totals 18-46 12-14 52.

Bloomington North (38): Lindeman f 3-8 4-4 12, Dangerfield f 1-2 0-0 2, Williams g 4-7 1-1 11, O'Guinn g 5-13 3-6 13, Cross g 0-7 0-0 0, Vaughns 0-0 0-0 0, Speer 0-0 0-0 0, Stegemoller 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 13-37 8-11 38.

Center Grove (19-4) 12 | 10 | 14 | 16 — 52

Bloomington North (12-12) 15 | 7 | 9 | 7 — 38

3-point goals: Center Grove 4-16 (Schmitz 3-11, Byrd 1-2, Bundy 0-1, Meador 0-1, Chestnut 0-1), Bloomington North 4-19 (Williams 2-5, Lindeman 2-5, Cross 0-3, O;Guinn 0-6). Rebounds: Center Grove 25 (Spellman 11), Bloomington North 30 (Lindeman 9, O'Guinn 6). Team fouls: Center Grove 14, Bloomington North 16. Turnovers: Center Grove 5, Bloomington North 16.

Contact Jim Gordillo at jgordillo@heraldt.com and follow on X @JimGordillo.

This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: Bloomington North, South knocked out in boys sectional semifinals