Undefeated, 4A No. 1 Bloomington South got a rigorous test in the semi-state, but not from whom they expected.
Many thought the Panthers, who dispatched No. 2 New Albany in the regional, would be facing either No. 3 Lawrence North or No. 4 North Central in the semi-state.
Indianapolis’ best, though, was represented by upstart Franklin Central, who took out Lawrence North in its regional final. South walked away with a 58-55 win last weekend in a game that turned out to be much closer than anticipated.
While a good program with some good wins in the post-season, the Flashes were believed to be a runaway win for the Panthers, especially after a 32-point pounding at the end of January. Franklin Central, however, had found its rhythm over the past five games and was looking like a much different team.
"They were not my first choice to play (in the semi-state)," said Bloomington South head coach J.R. Holmes. "It’s tough to beat the same team twice in a year, and when you’ve got two D-I players and a D-I caliber coach, you’re going to be a tough match-up for anybody."
Through the first two quarters, Franklin Central built its lead up by as much as six and went into halftime down only two.
With only three minutes left in the third quarter, the score was tied at 30, but Franklin Central lost its stride when point guard Casey Coons went to the bench with foul trouble. Bloomington South proceeded to score nine of the next eleven points, seven of which came from senior point guard Jordan Hulls.
Franklin Central was down by eight with 22 seconds left to play in the game when Coons hit a three-pointer and Kyle James added a lay-up. With four seconds left, the Flashes had cut the lead to three, but had no time-outs left.
"We made a couple of uncharacteristic mistakes towards the end of the game, so we’ll have to watch that," said Holmes. "Aside from that last 30 seconds, we’ve played pretty well all season."
Hulls, an Indiana recruit, had 20 points and four assists in the games, while Patrick Bade, a Purdue recruit, added 16 points and seven rebounds. Coons, who will play at Taylor University next year, had 21 points six rebounds, and five assists.
Bloomington South (25-0) will head to Conseco Fieldhouse on Saturday to face No. 6 Fort Wayne Snider (25-1). Snider squeaked by Munster (24-2) with a 63-60 in its semi-state behind a 17-point performance by senior Jonathan Sims.
The Snider Panthers should be a tough match-up for the South Panthers, who play a fairly similar style of ball. The similarities even extend down to last game, where both teams had 17-point leads in the fourth quarter, but only hung-on to win by three. In addition,
Snider is more experienced that South, boasting a starting line-up of five seniors, all of whom can score and have great chemistry.
"It’s a big challenge," said Holmes. "They can get up and down the floor pretty well, but they also have athletic big men, so they can run a half-court offense when they need to. Besides that, they’re a very cohesive group who have been playing together for a while. Anymore, though, these kids play so many games at a young age that even as freshmen or sophomores they’ve got a lot of (in-game experience)."
Snider’s only loss on the year came against 2A state finalist Fort Wayne Bishop Luers. This is the first time that no Indianapolis-area team is represented in the state finals since the state’s four-class system was introduced in 1998.
3A: Princeton Tops Greensburg to Remain Unbeaten
Princeton advanced to its first state finals appearance since 1983 with a 66-56 win over Greensburg on Saturday.
The No. 1 Tigers (28-0) were led by Trevor George with 25 points. They will face No. 7 Rochester (23-3) in the state finals. The Zebras are making their first title appearance since 1937.
Rochester is led by senior guard Bruce Grimm, Jr., an East Tennessee State recruit, who is averaging 25.5 points per game, 5.7 assists, and 4.9 rebounds while shooting 53 percent from the field.
Princeton is undefeated on the year and has only come within five points of a loss five times this season.
2A: Bishop Luers Trounces North Judson, to Face Brownstown Central
Defending 2A champion Fort Wayne Bishop Luers stomped all over North Judson, advancing to the state finals with a 78-48 win.
Sophomore DeShaun Thomas, the state’s leading scorer and an Ohio State recruit, led the way for the Knights with 27 points and 15 rebounds. Teammate Lawrence Barnett added 17 points.
Luers will face unranked Brownstown Central, whose stifling defense propelled the Braves to a 54-43 win over No. 4 Winchester. The game was tied going into the fourth quarter until Brownstown Central went on a 7-0 run to start the quarter. The Braves were led Spencer Allman with 17 points and Blaze Ayers with 15, all of which came in the second half.
The Braves (20-6) managed to hold the Golden Falcons to just 3-of-24 from behind the arc, but face a Luers team averaging 72 points per game on its six-game winning streak.
1A: Triton Looks for Repeat
For the second straight year, defending champion Triton is playing in the single-A state title game, and for the second straight year, the Trojans’ road ran through Lafayette Central Catholic. No. 3 Triton (24-2) got passed the No. 6 Knights (20-7), 50-47.
The Trojans were led by Griffyn Carpenter with 14 points, and face No. 1 Jac-Cen-Del in the finals. The Eagles are making their first trip to the state finals after a 38-32 victory over No. 7 North Daviess.
Jac-Cen-Del’s (24-2) two losses have come against 3A power Batesville. North Daviess was one only two 1A teams to lose to the Eagles by single-digits. Triton’s (24-2) two losses came against 2A Bremen in overtime and 3A state finalist Rochester.
All-Marion County Team Named
North Central junior guard Terone Johnson, a Purdue recruit, was named the Marion County Player of the Year by the Marion County Coaches’ Association.
The other members of the All-County first team are Franklin Central’s Patrick Bade (Senior, Purdue), Lawrence North Dominique Ferguson (Junior, Kentucky), Stephan Van Treese (Senior, Louisville), and Marquis Teague (sophomore). Franklin Central’s Mark James was named Coach of the Year.
South Bend Washington’s Skylar Diggins (Senior, Notre Dame) was named Indiana’s Miss Basketball, in addition to begin named the Gatorade National Player of the Year and the Naismith National Player of the Year.
Diggins averaged 29 points, 6.3 rebounds, 6.2 assists, 5.4 steals and 2.2 blocked shots this year and graduates as the third-leading scorer in state history with 2,790 points.
