Game Report: Bloomington North 53, Bloomington South 50

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>One of the more bitter rivalries in the state is the Battle of Bloomington with North taking on South. The Cougars beat South twice last year by a total of 6 points with the Sectional 14 championship game being decided in overtime. It was a packed house like it always is for the rivalry, and both fan sections were in it from the opening tip.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Both teams came out quickly scoring the ball with North getting some easy buckets on their end. <strong>Luke Lindeman</strong> finished the quarter with 7 points including a couple of buckets in the lane as well as an uncontested triple. The Panthers were able to stay in it in the early going thanks to a couple of and-one's from <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1556508' first='Rhett' last='Johnson']</strong> and <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1295381' first='Gavin' last='Wisley']</strong>. The Cougars led 15-10 after one quarter.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='868224' first='JaQualon' last='Roberts']</strong> facilitating early in the second for the Cougars. Driving to the rim and kicking to the corner for some wide-open triples. The Cougars would knock down four triples in the first four minutes of the quarter, all of them off of assists from Roberts. The last one would extend the lead to 12. Bloomington South would continue to battle as Johnson and Wisley kept controlling the paint on both ends of the floor, but turnovers killed the Panthers. Bloomington North led 33-25 at the half. Three-point shooting and turnovers were the difference in the first half with North shooting 6-16 from three to just 0-6 for South. The Cougars also forced seven turnovers while only committing one. Lindeman with 15 points to lead North. Johnson and Wisley with 9 and 7 to lead South.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Panthers came out of the gates strong to start the second half with a 7-0 run on that include a three from Wisley and the first four points of the game for <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1236653' first='Aiden' last='Schmitz']</strong>. Roberts answered the run with a two-handed slam in transition, but Schmitz quieted the visiting crowd with a tough step-back three, and <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1160271' first='Zach' last='Sims']</strong> hit a floater to tie the game with 2:30 to go in the quarter. In the final minute, Schmitz hit another triple to give the Panthers a 1-point lead, but <strong>Connor O'Guinn</strong> answered with a triple of his own. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1297116' first='Taye' last='Spears']</strong> then drove to the hole and finished to tie the game at 45 after three.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Spears then opened the fourth with a tough finish in the paint, but he gets called for a technical foul when he yelled to his student section and North was able to get a point back. After a slow start to the quarter, Lindeman hit a three off of another assist from Roberts to put the Cougars back in front by two. North's head coach got a costly technical foul with 3:39 to go, but Spears missed both of the technical free throws to keep the lead at two. After an offensive foul on <strong>Gavin Reed</strong>, South answered with two free throws from Wisley to put the Panthers back in front by 1 with 1:11 to go. However, North took the lead right back with Landeman making both free throws following a foul on the rebound. North led by 1 with 55 seconds to go. South had two chances in the final minute on drives from Sims, but Roberts came up with blocks on both plays and North escaped with a 53-50 win on the road.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Luke Lindeman</strong> led the Cougars with 23 points, and <strong>Dawan Daniels</strong> added 13 points. <strong>JQ Roberts</strong> with a quiet night, but he did everything that his team needed him to do to get the win. Roberts had 5 points, 6 assists, 4 rebounds, 3 blocks, and 2 steals. For Bloomington South, <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1295381' first='Gavin' last='Wisley']</strong> led the team with 12 points, 5 rebounds, and 3 blocks. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1297116' first='Taye' last='Spears']</strong> added a spark with 12 points, and [player_tooltip player_id='1236653' first='Aiden' last='Schmitz'] finished with 10 points all in the 3rd quarter. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1556508' first='Rhett' last='Johnson']</strong> also 9 points and 7 rebounds for the Panthers.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Bloomington North improves to 6-3 on the season with their third straight win over South. They return to their home floor on Saturday night to host Seymour. Bloomington South drops to 8-5 and suffers their second straight loss after a five-game win streak. The Panthers will host Columbus East next Friday in their next game. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->