Bloomington North, Sullivan shut down Greenwood

Kenli Sullivan is the new kid on the blocks for Bloomington North.

On a Saturday afternoon at home where defense and rebounding had to carry the Cougars through a cool shooting day, the Eastern Greene transfer supplied plenty of both.

Her block with a minute to play in a tie game gave North the opportunity to take the lead and the Cougars scored the last four points in a 37-33 win over Greenwood in the season opener.

"I've played with the same girls since third grade so coming to here and adjusting to a new team has been a change," Sullivan said. "But I feel like it's going good."

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Sullivan finished with 10 points, 11 rebounds and two blocks as the Cougars overcame 36% shooting, 16 turnovers and a rough start to the second half before coming up clutch in the end. North won the glass 29-19 and saw Greenwood go just 3-of-8 at the line.

"It terms of offensively coming and going, we maybe didn't hit our mark, certainly not as effective as we will be down the road," North coach Jeff Turmail said. "But having the turnover and shooting woes that we had, defensively we were able to make enough stops there at the end of the game to get a four-point cushion.

"So making those game-winning plays at the end was the difference for us. They had a good game plan and took us out of what we wanted to do offensively. For a shorter team they did well with our height. But over time, in terms of us being able to get some of those offensive rebounds helped us tremendously in the fourth quarter."

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Sullivan had already been through a season of adjustment in volleyball, getting used to the higher physicality and faster pace that the schedule at a Class 4A school presents. She had but one point in the first half before getting seven in the third to help the Cougars keep pace when Greenwood starting finding its offense. She rebounded well all game.

"I feel like that's just something I try to do," Sullivan said. "Because I feel like that's my main role,"

Clutch Cougars

Greenwood (1-1) took the lead twice in the fourth quarter and both times North came up with solid answers.

Greenwood's Breanna Pierce split a pair at the line with 4:35 left and when she missed the second, North used it as an opportunity to get in transition. Mia Robbennolt was fouled and she sank both for the lead, 31-30. The Woodmen got back up 32-31, but North went inside to Sullivan. She was fouled and converted the 1-and-1 with 2:57 left.

Greenwood tied it at 33, again splitting two at the line with 2:40 to go, but that was the last the visitors would score.

"I feel like we could have just rolled over, especially after we were down for a second there," Sullivan said. "But we kept going and that's really important."

North kept a possession alive with two offensive rebounds by Ava Reitmeyer, but turned it over with 1:37 to go. Then Sullivan came up with her block. At the other end, Reitmeyer struck again, getting into the lane and hitting a reverse layup for the lead, 35-33, with 43 seconds left.

A missed jumper by Greenwood led to free throws for Avery Patterson with 24.4 left and she converted the 1-and-1 for a four-point lead that stood up.

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"It was us just finding a way to win," Turmail said. "That experience that we have in the year, that can certainly make a difference, especially in some of the early games this year."

North was just 4-of-11 at the line heading into the fourth quarter, but hit all six tries in the period, while Greenwood was just 2-of-5.

First half struggles

Both offenses were bit more stagnant in the first half, settling more for jumpers. Greenwood went six minutes with out a point until 5:25 was left in the second, and North didn't have a field goal from 3:03 of the first to 4:35 of the second.

But North's defense kept Greenwood scoreless over the last 3:51 to take a 15-11 lead at the break as Mia Robbennolt hit a 3 and had an offensive putback to build the lead after Reitmeyer's steal and score broke the ice.

Greenwood got a lot more aggressive taking the ball to the basket in the second half, drawing seven quick fouls to get in the bonus at 4:06 of the third. But credit North for also getting into the paint. Sullivan had six points and Reitmeyer got to the line four times to keep North ahead 23-22 at 2:11 of the period.

"I don't know how many offensive rebounds they had (5), but that was a big discussion at halftime, not allowing them any extra possessions," said Turmail, whose team gave up just two more after the first quarter.

Emily Metzger led Greenwood with 11 points while Mia Robbennolt finished with nine points, eight boards and three steals and Reitmeyer added eight points and Mallory Barrow six. North is at No. 2 Bedford North Lawrence on Tuesday.

Contact Jim Gordillo at jgordillo@heraldt.com or 812-331-4381 and follow on Twitter @JimGordillo.

BLOOMINGTON NORTH 37, GREENWOOD 33

Greenwood (33): Stivers f 4-7 0-0 8, Gardner f 1-3 0-0 2, Howe g 3-12 1-3 8, Metzger g 5-9 1-3 11, Pierce g 0-1 1-2 1, Hommell 1-1 0-0 3, Buckalew 0-0 0-0 0, Mayo 0-2 0-0 0, Ford 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 14-35 3-8 33.

Bloomington North (37): Sullivan f 3-4 4-6 10, Patterson g 0-2 2-2 2, Ma.Barrow g 2-7 0-0 6, Reitmeyer g 3-8 2-5 8, M.Robbennolt g 3-6 2-4 9, A.Robbennolt 1-4 0-0 2, Lian 0-1 0-0 0, Rice 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 12-33 10-17 37.

Greenwood (1-1) 6 | 5 | 13 | 9 — 33

Bloomington North (1-0) 6 | 9 | 12 | 10 — 37

3-point goals: Greenwood 2-7 (Hommell 1-1, Howe 1-3, Mayo 0-1, Metzger 0-2); Bloomington North 3-12 (Ma.Barrow 2-5, M.Robbennolt 1-1, Patterson 0-1, Reitmeyer 0-1, Lian 0-1, A.Robbennolt 0-3). Rebounds: Greenwood 19 (Garner 5), Bloomington North 29 (Sullivan 11, M.Robbennolt 8). Team fouls: Greenwood 18, Bloomington North 16. Fouled out: Pierce. JV: Greenwood, 31-11.

This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: Bloomington North, Sullivan shut down Greenwood