Bloomington South, Martinsville boys basketball go head-to-head in rivalry game
BLOOMINGTON — The Bloomington South boys’ basketball team took off from the jump on Saturday, racing ahead of Martinsville to open the game.
The Panthers put up 11 points before the Artesians could get on the board and even that Jack Wolff layup didn’t do much to turn the tide. South led 16-2 at the end of the first quarter thanks in part to 11 points from Gavin Wisley in the period.
It was about as good of a start as you could ask for and though the Panthers couldn’t keep that pace through the rest of the evening, they did enough to come away with a 45-38 victory.
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“I was very pleased because we talked about not being satisfied with last night’s victory and being able to carry over to the next night,” Bloomington South coach J.R. Holmes said.
“With all the hoopla and all that stuff going on, we came out and really got off to a good start and got the game where we wanted it, where they couldn’t just hold the ball and run their offense.”
Bloomington South shines in front of returning heroes
That hoopla came courtesy of Bloomington South’s 2009, 2010 and 2011 teams, who were honored between Saturday’s junior varsity and varsity contests. Those teams, two of which won state championships while the third was a regional finalist, compiled an overall record of 75-3 and featured multiple players who would go on to play college basketball.
Many of the people involved in that historic run were able to return to South for the ceremony, including former Indiana All-Stars Dee Davis and Erik Fromm, making for a truly special night.
“It was neat. That brought back a lot of memories and they were special teams for us. Two state championships, a 75-3 record and they had a really good chance to win three in a row,” Holmes said. “They were very coachable, they played hard, they worked hard and they had basketball savvy, they understood the game of basketball.”
Martinsville zone slows down Panthers
After a struggle to begin the game, Martinsville made up ground in the second quarter, outscoring the Panthers 18-6. The burst came courtesy of its zone defense, which allowed them to slow the game down and get to work offensively.
Skyler Pruett and Will Bastin, with Pruett putting up six of his 10 points in the second quarter and Bastin scoring all seven of his points in the same period.
It was quite the counter-strike after the Panthers had dominated the first quarter.
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“I was proud of how our guys bounced back. I thought we had some shots that just rimmed out there in the first quarter, but we stayed the course, continued to work and we went to the zone and slowed them down a little bit,” Martinsville coach Kip Staggs said.
“I thought it was probably the most physical game we’ve played all year on both ends of the floor. We battled, but we just let a couple of their shooters get loose and that’s something we’ve got to clean up a bit.”
Looking ahead
Martinsville (7-8, 1-3 MSC) has now dropped four contests in a row, but all have come against strong competition. Though the Artesians are looking forward to getting back on the right side of things, they also know that the experience they’ve gained against quality opponents like Decatur Central, Bloomington North and Bloomington South will help them in the long run.
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“We’re hanging in there. We’re battling and fighting,” Staggs said. “I’m proud of our guys, proud of our effort. I love this team. We’re just going to continue to get better and get ready for the tournament.”
The win was the fourth in a row for Bloomington South (11-5, 1-2 CI), which completed a weekend sweep by beating the Artesians on Saturday after knocking off Castle on the road in a Friday thriller.
The Panthers will try to keep playing at a high level defensively, which is what’s propelled them through their recent surge, but they’ve also got their eye on making some offensive improvements. They’ll need them as they prepare to head down the home stretch of the season.
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“It’s frustrating that we’re 15, 16 games into the season and we’re not better at running the offense. We don’t have to hit the shots, but we have to be able to get the shot that we’re looking for in a particular scheme of offense,” Holmes said. “We’ll come back Monday and start practicing again and see what we can do.”
Contact sports reporter Auston Matricardi via e-mail at amatricardi@tmnews.com or on Twitter at @amatricardiTM.
This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: Bloomington South, Martinsville boys go head-to-head in rivalry game
