What to expect at the North-South game Friday; updates on Edgewood, Lighthouse Christian

The boys' basketball teams from Bloomington North and South found themselves on big stages, albeit of different types, last week and will come together on the same one this Friday at South at 7:30 p.m.

Here's what we've learned about both squads heading into their annual rivalry clash, and we also checked in with Edgewood and Lighthouse Christian as well on their November-December stretch.

North keeping its poise

This will be a key for the Cougars (5-3, 0-1 CI) who still have a shot at a share of a league title if Southport (2-0), Columbus North (1-0) or Terre Haute North (1-0) falter along the way.

North has not won on South's floor since the 2014 sectional and hasn't beaten the Panthers there since 2003, but they certainly enjoyed last year's breakthrough wins since both could easily have gone either way.

See the game:North-South tickets on sale at Bloomington schools

This year, North has been through tight losses against Center Grove and Southport and a blowout loss to Fishers. The Cougars also come in off a 45-43 win over Zionsville at Gainbridge Fieldhouse. It's the fourth time this year North has held a team under 50 and did so this time without two of their top seven players.

"Zionsville is a very quality opponent," North coach Jason Speer said. "They do a lot of great things. So for us to have the opportunity to play on a big stage, where the Pacers play and the state finals are held is something you can't ever pass up.

"It's one of those things, you might not always remember everything about your season, but that was a watershed moment that will bring back good memories."

North overcame a bit of a rough start, jumped ahead in the third quarter and hung on as the Eagles missed a potential game-winning 3 with seconds left. JaQualon Roberts grabbed the rebound and dribbled out the clock.

Be-Deviled in Richmond

South got off to a great start in Richmond's Bob Wettig Tournament, beating a strong squad from Eastern Hancock (67-55) and North Decatur (64-51) to make the semifinals, where the Panthers took care of Lawrenceburg (56-38). Things didn't go as smoothly in the final against the host Red Devils, who pulled out a 51-40 win.

"We did a pretty good job against the 2A and 3A teams but against the 4A team, we didn't play well," South coach J.R. Holmes said. "We got down 13, then actually outscored them in the last three quarters. We cut it close several times. We had our chances. There were three or four times they didn't score, but we didn't score either."

It was a 36-34 deficit at one point, but South paid for too many turnovers early on and didn't handle Richmond's 1-2-2 zone defense very well. The press also bothered South early. On the first play, the wrong man took the ball out, Holmes said. Two more turnovers followed as South strayed from the gameplan.

The Panthers did shoot well, making 10 3s, but had only four 2s and made it to the line just once for two shots.

"We made some uncharacteristic mistakes," Holmes said. "We didn't run our offense very well in the half-court. We kept fighting though."

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Gavin Wisley and Aiden Schmitz made the all-tournament team. Schmitz hit 12 3s and Wisley had 44 points before struggling in the final. Rhett Johnson had a strong tourney inside on the boards, Holmes noted. Zach Sims did well and TJ Spears and Cruz Sanchez picked up more experience at the point.

Injury report

Neither team will be at full roster and that seems unlikely to change for the rest of the year.

North will have guard Gavin Reed back after he missed three games with a turned ankle. But the Cougars will be down reserve forward Lucas Vencel after he broke a bone in his arm against Southport, and South will remain without point guard Andrew Baran, who underwent surgery. Each senior had an important role to play and some of the things they brought to the floor will be hard to replace.

For North, it's meant more playing time for junior Shyy McDonald, who scored nine points in the win over Zionsville, and 6-7 Nehamiah Dangerfield. It's also forced sophomore Luke Lindeman to grow up a bit quicker and he had a night where it was all working against Franklin, torching the Grizzley Cubs for a career high 29 points in a 55-41 win.

"He's a very capable player," Speer said. "He can score at all three levels. It was just a matter of getting experience and understanding the speed of the game and the physicality as he gets more comfortable. He's definitely one of the other persons we need to be a big scorer."

Defensive standpoint

In three of the last four meetings between the two squads, neither team has reached 50 points, the outlier being the last time they played at South in the 2021 sectional final where the Panthers seemingly made everything they tossed at the rim.

South (8-4, 0-2) again has snippers North needs to keep control of in Schmitz, Wisley, Spears and Vincent Moutardier off the bench and Johnson and Sims can launch as well.

"We have to run our stuff better," Holmes said. "We will run our stuff better."

Defensively, the Panthers will have to find a way to slow down Roberts, hope he's off-target from the 3-point line, and keep him off the offensive glass. But North has conditioned itself to play in these types of games out of necessity given how good South has been on defense.

"The last 15-20 years, you won't play a better defensive team than South," Speer said. "They change the names and do some different things on offense, but they always do a tremendous job on defense."

Edgewood looking for momentum

It's been a learning process for Edgewood, which went 1-2 at the Wabash Valley Classic but had some positives to take away from it.

It was a chance to play in a tournament atmosphere and to tinker with the lineup, getting varsity floor time for younger players who need as much as they can get. Edgewood made a change to its starting five, adding 6-foot-2 sophomore Kam Ranard to the mix and he responded well.

"On the offensive end, he gives us a post presence," Edgewood coach Matt Wadsworth said. "Someone we can throw the ball inside to and opponents have to respect his scoring ability. He has a big body and he's hard to get around. On the defensive end, he's a solid rebounder."

Another sophomore, guard Carson Huttenlocker, is also earning more playing time. His 3-point shooting is important, but he also picked up a couple assists in Edgewood's tourney win.

Edgewood started off by playing well against Terre Haute South and hanging in for three quarters before the Braves rallied in the last five minutes to win, 59-47. But Edgewood came out flat the next morning against another good, tall team from Robinson, Illinois. With a chance to erase that ugliness in its final consolation game, Edgewood topped Cloverdale for the second time this year, 54-36.

So Edgewood (2-9) is hoping that jumpstarts the 2023 portion of the schedule, which starts Friday and Saturday with WIC home games against Brown County (0-9) and South Putnam (4-3)

"We talked in practice today, it's time to start a new streak," Wadsworth said. "On defense, how well do we rotate and help? This team defensively is one of the better teams I've had at Edgewood. Offensively, we've got to start making shots. As guys continue to gain experience, if they get better in terms of finishing around the basket and rushing their shots less, then we'll continue to get better.

Big win for Lighthouse

Lighthouse Christian opened the season 5-0 and part of that run included a 60-55 win at White River Valley. The Lions have played each SWIAC member at least once over the past three years, but not until Dec. 16 had they won one of those matchups.

"I told the kids going in, it was a chance, I don't want to call it a statement win, but it can show that we can get over that hump and beat a program that has tradition and is a potential sectional foe," head coach Jeff Mills said. "We played well most of the game and got up 16, 18 points, then we got off track and let them come back and we had to escape.

"But anytime you go on the road and get a win, I'll take it. And I think it opened some eyes on other teams. They realized we're a much different Lighthouse Christian team than in the past."

The run ended with a 47-45 loss at Shoals, a game the Lions went into without starter Will Wickstrom, one of the team's top scorers and rebounders. Still, LCA likes the direction it is headed and the play of 6-foot Cam Craft (14 ppg, 8 rpg) in the lane has been a big lift to go with the numbers being put up by Coda Snyder and Wickstrom.

The Lions are meeting Mills' goal of 65 ppg (69.2) and giving up 45.7, a 24-point margin that is one of the best in the state. The drawback is that LCA has played only six games. Mills would love to get the Lions into a holiday tournament, even a small four-teamer, just to break up the monotony of a 16-day break between games.

LCA jumps back into action Friday and Saturday with its only two home games before Jan. 28, with Columbus Christian and then a challenging game against another sectional foe, Clay City (6-4).

On Jan. 14, LCA heads to Columbus Christian for the finals of the Southern Roads Conference Tournament. The Lions, the favorites, drew a bye to the semis (Union Dugger withdrew from the league) and will play the winner between Columbus Christian and Cannellton.

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

This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: Boys basketball preview Bloomington North, South meet Friday