Bloomington North falls 49-47 to Center Grove in physical, down-to-the-buzzer battle
Bloomington North's first two boys' basketball games of the season have come down to the last possession and with those margins, errors and heroes shine just a bit brighter.
A bad pass, a rebound not chased down and a breakdown on defense all conspired in the final moments to put the Cougars on the wrong side this time around in a 49-47 loss to Center Grove on Friday in the home opener.
The unranked Trojans (4-0) came to play. Hard. They were better finishers on both ends and their physicality wore on the Cougars all night giving them something to think about.
"I think just how physical basketball can be," North coach Jason Speer said. "When you're the team that gives instant credibility, you have two teams, Bedford and Center Grove, who wanted what we have and again, we fell short. Disappointing. But we had opportunities and we know what those opportunities were. I can't fault their effort."
It ended with Center Grove's Marcus Ankney, the game's leading scorer with 19 points, striking twice, once on each end.
First, he barreled into the lane again for a layup with 30 second left for the winning margin. Then North set up its final play for Dawan Daniels to drive off the right side with JaQualon Roberts, who hit the buzzer-beater at Bedford North Lawrence, in the corner to occupy a defender.
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Daniels got into the paint and tried to feed Bril Kante, but Ankney foiled the pass and Kante reached in to knock the ball loose, but the referee ruled it hit the end line with .4 left.
"Teams are coming at us hard," North senior forward Lucas Vencel said. "Obviously, we achieved a lot last year and I think we take it as a compliment. Going forward we're going to take it head on and take it as a challenge.
"I think we can learn a lot. I don't think we need to. Like Coach Speer says, 'We don't need to learn any hard lessons but unfortunately, we did tonight.' And it's something I think we'll use this season."
From road race to rockfight
Both teams came out red hot, Center Grove 8-of-11 behind three post scores from Will Spellman, North 6-of-12 with three 3-pointers. It was 8-0 North, then 19-13 Trojans before Gavin Reed's banked in 3 to end the period.
From there, both defenses settled in and slugged it out. North led 29-28 at halftime. It was tied 31 after three.
Reed found Vencel for a layup with 3:52 to go for a 44-43 lead, but the three Cougars failed to track down a missed 3 by Center Grove and as a result, Spellman scored inside for a 45-44 lead with 3:01 to go. Vencel had a putback with 1:38 to go to tie it at 45.
The defense broke down on a backdoor cut, giving up a Trojan layup just 13 seconds later, then Daniels fed Luke Lindeman for a score inside with 51 ticks to go. CG set up Ankney at the top of the key and he went right and right to the bucket for the go-ahead score.
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North ended up shooting only 30.6% (15-of-49) and just 6-of-23 from the arc. The Cougars won the glass by a wide 36-27 margin, with 15 coming on the offensive end. But more than a few putbacks and shots in the paint never made it through the rim.
The Vanderbilt-bound Roberts was blanketed all night and was just 4-of-13 and 1-of-6 on 3s for 13 points to go with eight boards, but no other Cougar scored in double figures. Lindeman had eight points, Reed and Daniels six each, but Lindeman (two) was the only one who scored after halftime. Vencel had seven points, five in the second half, and Connor O'Guinn hit a 3.
"We had some of those that went in and out and I don't necessarily see many of those that happened to Center Grove," Speer said. "But we got to the rim enough to be able get some of those contested shots and we've got to make more of those and probably a little bit better percentage from the 3-point line.
"We've got to have more guys in double figures. Such a low scoring game in a 4A basketball game, it's a toss-up."
Push comes to shove
For North, this figures to be the kind of game they're going to get many nights throughout the season.
"Just the way high school basketball's going, it's getting more and more physical," Vencel said. "And honestly, we love it. These refs, they did a good job. They let us go. maybe a little too much sometimes, but it really builds character.
"It starts in practice when we're beating on each other. It really builds those championship moments. We saw it last year."
The Trojans did not shoot particularly well, 45% from the field, 20% on 3s, 44% at the line. But Center Grove has yet to allow any team to reach 50 and played the kind of defense that was North's calling card much of last year.
The Trojans sometimes sent three defenders at Roberts when the ball came to him near the basket. Up top, his attempts to put the ball on the floor were also met by two or three defenders.
Blame the defense or a lack of varsity minutes just two games into the season, maybe a bit of both, but it was extremely difficult for North to once again live on the edge and escape unscathed.
"It's a learning process. Every season is new," Speer said. "I like our progression. I think it's on an upward trend, even though we did fall short tonight.
"We have to find a way to be more physical with the basketball. Because that's how I think teams are going to try to play us. They are going to try to beat us up, so we've got to be a little more strong with the fundamentals."
Contact Jim Gordillo at jgordillo@heraldt.com or 812-331-4381 and follow on Twitter @JimGordillo.
This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: Center Grove tops Bloomington North, 49-47, boy's basketball
