Bloomington South achieved an impressive feat on Friday night, handing Franklin Central its third home loss of the season, 61-48, and pushing its win streak to 40 spanning this season and last.
The accomplishment is not lost on Panthers head coach J.R. Holmes, whose program sits alongside some exclusive company in the storied history of Indiana basketball. At 40 wins, Bloomington South is just barely in the shadows of two giant teams. The 2005 and 2006 Lawrence North squads, led by now-NBA stars Greg Oden and Mike Conley, posted 50 straight wins, and the Oscar Robertson-led Crispus Attucks teams of 1955-1956 won 45 straight.
"It’s a tough thing to do, because you have to do it over the course of more than one season, so (players) have to keep stepping up," said Holmes, who lost three key bench players and two starters from last year’s 4A championship team. "We were very cohesive last year and each player made some sacrifices for the good of the team. We have a tougher schedule this year and a target on our backs, but they‘ve handled it very well."
Darwin Davis and Erick Fromm led the way for Bloomington South in their win over Franklin Central with 17 points apiece, with Fromm also pulling down 11 rebounds. Matt Carlino added 12 points and Spencer Turner dropped-in 10. The Flashes’ Kyle James led all scorers with 20 points. On their way to 14-0 this season, the Panthers have beaten some of the state’s top teams, including ranked New Albany, Carmel, and Center Grove. Bloomington South has also toppled sharp-shooting Terre Haute North (12-3) and Lexington Catholic (Ky.). The Panthers play five of their remaining six games against teams with winning records, starting with No. 8 Pike on Friday.
Pair of Patterson powers Broad Ripple to city title
Searching for a fifth consecutive Indianapolis city championship, Cathedral ran into a brick wall in Broad Ripple. The Rockets' stingy 2-3 zone defense held the Irish to just 10-of-36 shooting in the game, stifled Indianapolis Manual, then clamped down on high-powered Howe for Broad Ripple’s first city title since 1986.
The tournament really belonged to Ron and Armond Patterson, who put up big numbers during the Rockets’ run. Against Cathedral, sophomore Ron went 6-of-8 from behind the 3-point line and poured in 28 points as the Rockets led by as many as 31 in the 61-48 win. He then scored a team-high 15 points in a 59-46 win over Manual and dropped in 14 against Howe.
Armond scored 19 points in the first two games, but saved his best performance for last. Down by 18 with less than three minutes left in the fourth quarter, the Rockets rallied for a thrilling 62-61 comeback on a last-second 3-pointer by Patterson, who had 20 points and 11 rebounds. The Rockets (10-4) travel to Chatard on Wednesday, aiming for their sixth consecutive win.
Boys wrap-up
4A No. 2 North Central improved to 13-2 with a pair of wins over Lawrence North and Muncie Central. Purdue-bound guard Terone Johnson was 10-of-11 shooting for 32 points in the 99-55 win over Lawrence North and chipped in 19 in the 65-50 win over Muncie Central.
P.J. Hubert scored 22 points, and Daniel Turner added 13 points and 10 rebounds as 3A No. 5 Mount Vernon (12-2) topped Knightstown 66-43. Jack Isenbarger scored 22 points for Zionsiville in a win over Fishers, and Demetrius Lawson tallied 17 points and 11 rebounds in a victory over Plainfield. The Eagles (12-4) improved to 4-2 in their conference and have won three straight.
Down 16 points after one quarter, Perry Meridian fought back behind a 29-point night from Amir Blackshear to knock-off Columbus north 67-61.
Girls basketball: Ben Davis win streak at 48
Ben Davis is now tied for the fifth-longest win streak in state history at 48 by virtue of a 68-46 pasting of Center Grove. The Giants got little help from star guard Dee Dee Williams, who was limited for the second straight game due to an ankle injury, but the Giants’ 10-player rotation was too much for the Trojans to overcome.
Despite the lack of Wiliams, who leads the team in assists and is second in scoring, the rest of the team kept hitting on all cylinders, sparked by Illinois State recruit Vivian Holcomb off the bench, who dropped in 11 of her 13 points in the first quarter. Junior Bria Goss led the team with 19 points and Jordan Huber, a Ball State recruit, chipped in 15. The Trojans, led by Melody Doss with 15 points, went down 28-11 in the first quarter and never cut the defecit to less than 14. The Giants (18-0) will host Franklin Central (6-11) on Tuesday.
Girls wrap-up
3A No. 3 Hamilton Heights improved to 15-1 with a 54-50 win over 2A No. 8 Taylor (16-3). Diane Silberberg hit the go-ahead 3-pointer with four seconds left to give the Huskies the edge. Hamilton Heights then dominated 2A Lewis-Cass 78-27 on Monday.
Brownsburg got a huge 21-point, 13-rebound performance from Stephanie Mavunga as the Bulldogs (15-4) toppled 4A No. 8 Westfield (16-2) 54-35.
Carmel improved to 13-5 with a 74-26 win over Terre Haute South. The Greyhounds were led by Blaire Langlois with 23 points and five rebounds, and Torrie Thornton with 18 points, seven rebounds, and five assists.
Pendleton Heights (13-5) got an 18-point, six-assist performance from Hannah Douglas in a 53-43 win over conference rival Yorktown (10-5).
Cathedral (9-7) hit 11-of-19 3-pointers and got 22 points from Christie Cates as the Irish beat Indianapolis Arlington (12-8) 75-67.
4A No. 9 Bloomington South powered past Pike with a 60-39 win. Maureen Hirt scored 16 points, while Kaity Hoy added 15 points and 10 rebounds.
Football
Highly-touted linebacker/defensive end Blake Leuders (Zionsville) had been set on playing football for Notre Dame for the past several months, but after the coaching changes in South Bend, Leuders has opted to play for Stanford next year. Leuders amassed 93 tackles, recovered three fumbles and tallied one interception last year. Leuders also spent some time at fullback, where he scored five touchdowns.
