Bloomington South vs. Bloomington North: The 10 Best

In the biggest game of the year for these two rivals, foul trouble was the storyline early. South’s Connor Hickman picked up three fouls in the first half, and he was forced to sit for the majority of the quarter. For North, guard Nick Klaiber was in foul trouble when he picked up his second late in the half, and he was forced to sit for the remainder of the half. The rest of the story was up to Anthony Leal as he racked up 16. As the third quarter came to an end, Bloomington South led 40-27. However, Anthony Leal picked up his fourth foul with 6:27 remaining in the game. At this moment, the crowd got back into the game, and North mounted their comeback. Finally, Coach Holmes had seen enough and put Leal back into the game when the Cougars had cut it to 5. The next possession, Nick Klaiber drove to the rim, made the shot, and fouled Leal out of the game. This was the second break that North needed. They cut it to 3 and had a three-point shot with three seconds to go, but Tim Brewster left the three-point attempt short, and Bloomington South survived.   Now, onto the 10 best…   MVP: Connor Hickman (Bloomington South) Hickman certainly showed both sides of the coin in this game. In the first half, he struggled mightily to hit shots, and he ended up with three fouls in the first half. However, when he came back out of the locker room, he was an entirely different player. He threw down a monster alley-oop dunk to bring the Bloomington South crowd to its feet at the end of the third quarter, and he drove to the rim for a throw down in the fourth quarter as well. He ended with 11 points and two huge rebounds in the final 30 seconds to seal the victory. Hickman is definitely a strong player to watch for the remainder of the year, and he may just be the key to the Panthers success.   Best offensive performance: Noah Jager (Bloomington South) The Army recruit is one of the top point guards in the state of Indiana. He takes care of the ball well, and he can drive past someone at will. Tonight, he was able to get to the rim at ease and finish through contact or kick to an open shooter. Jager was also able to handle the ball late with their normal late-game ball-handler, Leal, out of the game. He helped the Panthers salt the game away, and he is going to be a useful piece of the puzzle for Jimmy Allen and the Black Knights in the coming years.   Best defensive performance: Anthony Leal (Bloomington South) Despite the fouls, Leal had a great game on the defensive end. The future Hoosier racked up 4 steals and a block in the box score, but his impact was more in a way that stats cannot show. Leal was able to body up on the inside to lock down the inside offense for North and even take a charge. Bloomington South has been built on defense this year, and Leal will be a huge part of their defensive prowess going forward.   Best coaching decision: Coach Holmes putting Bloomington South in a zone Bloomington South has been known for its man defense this entire year. With the size and length of Anthony Leal and cousins, Joey and James Bomba, opponents have had a major problem scoring on the Panthers. But for their rivalry game, Coach Holmes decided to change things up and switch to a zone defense against a Bloomington North team who struggles to shoot from the outside. With the length of Joey Bomba and Anthony Leal on the outside and the great on-ball defending of Noah Jager and Connor Hickman at the top, the Cougars could not get anything going on the offensive end, and the big lead that the Panthers built in the first three quarters with the zone led to the victory in the end.   Best intangibles: Isaac Vencel (Bloomington North) The 6’1 shooting guard may not have shot the ball lights out in the game, but he definitely showed that he can have a positive impact in different ways. Vencel was able to step in front of driving players from Bloomington South to draw two charges in the ball game. These charges got the student section and bench going crazy and were big momentum changers throughout the ball game.   Best aspect of the environment: Both School’s Student Sections The fans were out in full force as The Cougar Den was sold out before noon on Friday. From the moment that the players took the floor 20 minutes before the tip-off of the game, the two student sections had made themselves known. They were going at it back and forth for the entire game and made it feel like a true Indiana basketball game. Both of the student sections definitely made a case for being the best student sections in the state of Indiana.   Best play: Monster Alley-Oop by Tim Brewster from Isaac Vencel (Bloomington North) With 6:37 remaining in the game, Anthony Leal had just picked up his fourth foul to start to change the momentum of the game. On the next possession, Isaac Vencel pulled up just inside half court and threw a pass to the rim. At that moment, senior Tim Brewster rose up, grabbed the ball with one hand and cocked back to throw down a monster slam dunk to bring the roof of the building and keep the crowd into it for the rest of the game.   Best under-the-radar performance: Jeremiah Blair (Bloomington North) Jeremiah Blair was able to be the big body inside that North needed to keep themselves in the game. Blair came up with some big offensive rebound putbacks, and he was also able to make a couple of defensive plays for stops late in the fourth quarter. His performance may have gone unnoticed to some, but he was a big reason for the late push by North.   Best underclassmen: Nick Klaiber (Bloomington North) Sophomore Nick Klaiber didn’t have his best of games, but he was able to show signs of good things to come in the future. He was able to drive to the rim and find his spaces in the South zone to get some buckets at the rim late in the game. He also hit big free throws to cut the lead down to one possession with just 30 seconds remaining. Klaiber is a young talent who should be on every college coach’s radar in the future.   Player to watch in the near future: JaQualon Roberts (Bloomington North) Roberts is a freshman for the Cougars who are currently sitting as the number 7 freshman in the state of Indiana had a decent game last night. He played about 24 minutes and tallied 6 points and 5 rebounds. However, his bigger impact was on the defensive end where he was able to switch from guarding Leal and Hickman to try to shut them down. Roberts is going to be a very good player in the years to come.