By Daniel Allar
Indiana University Student Journalist
NOBLESVILLE – The theme of Class 4A top-ranked Bloomington South’s Feb. 19 Conference Indiana-clinching home game against and Perry Meridian was simple: Whenever South’s starters were in, Perry Meridian couldn’t counter their explosive scoring.
All five of the Panthers’ starters scored in double figures, led by Indiana University commit Matt Carlino’s 15 points. South’s 44th consecutive win by a count of 75-59 wasn’t indicative of South’s dominance as 28th-year coach J. R. Holmes sat his starters for nearly the whole fourth quarter.
The two teams played a competitive first few minutes, and Bloomington South (18-0 overall, 7-0 in league play) only led 10-7 in the middle of the first quarter. Then the Panthers reeled off a 13-3 run – highlighted by the play of Carlino and Xavier commit Dee Davis – to finish the quarter with a 23-10 lead.
Perry Meridian (11-8, 1-5) battled to keep it close in the second quarter. Amir Blackshear hit two second-quarter 3-pointers for the Falcons, and guard Jazz Drane used his quickness to get to the bucket for seven first-half points.
But with 3:05 left in the half, Butler signee Erik Fromm slammed home an alley-oop from Davis. At halftime, South led 37-26.
Fromm also owned the first few minutes of the third quarter. With 4:22 left, he already had seven points in the stanza as South had pushed its lead to 21. The 6’9” Fromm even stepped out and drained a three during the stretch.
A Davis crossover drew a murmur from the crowd with a minute and a half left in the third. He changed directions so quickly that his defender leaped the other way, leaving Davis a clear path to the hoop to drive in and draw a foul.
After his two free throws and another South basket, the Panthers finished the third quarter ahead 64-40.
In the fourth, Perry Meridian cut into the margin final as Bloomington South delved deep into its bench. Blackshear forced a Panther timeout after a wide-open lane enabled him to dribble from the 3-point arc all the way in for a dunk.
Perry Meridian was paced by 12 points from junior Max Landis, while Blackshear and Drane each added 11.
Next up for Bloomington South, which could break Lawrence North’s all-time record of 50 consecutive victories in the upcoming regional or semistate, is a Feb. 20 home clash against Evansville Harrison (12-7). The Panthers finish their regular season Feb. 25 at home against Decatur Central (3-13).
South’s last loss was a shocking 33-30 defeat at the hands of East Central in the sectional opener two years ago.
Perry Meridian returns to action Saturday with a home game against Conference Indiana arch-rival Southport (2-14, 0-6) in a game rescheduled by the recent bevy of snow The Falcons wrap their regular season Feb. 23 at home against Indianapolis Tech (6-14).
The box score, courtesy of heraldtimesonline.com:
Perry Meridian 10 16 14 19 – 59
Bloomington South 23 14 27 11 – 75
PERRY MERIDIAN 59
3P AFG FT R PF Pts
Rupe, f 1-4 1-6 1-2 5 2 4
Blackshear, f 3-8 4-13 0-0 3 1 11
Cooper, f 0-0 3-6 0-0 5 2 6
Drane, g 0-0 4-7 3-4 1 3 11
Landis, g 3-7 5-11 0-2 1 1 13
Person 0-0 0-1 0-0 4 3 0
McDuffee 0-2 3-6 0-1 3 2 6
Reed 0-2 1-3 0-0 1 0 2
Triplett 0-0 0-1 0-0 1 0 0
Shaler 1-1 1-2 0-0 2 0 3
Casey 1-1 1-2 1-2 0 1 4
Totals 9-25 23-58 5-11 26 15 59
Shooting .360 .397 .455
SOUTH 75
3P AFG FT R PF Pts
Fromm, f 1-1 4-6 2-4 6 1 11
J. Forney, f 0-0 3-5 4-4 2 1 10
Turner, g 2-6 3-8 3-5 4 1 11
Carlino, g 1-2 7-13 0-0 7 1 15
Davis, g 2-5 3-8 3-4 4 0 11
Whitlatch 0-0 2-2 0-1 1 4 4
Marks 0-0 2-3 0-0 2 1 4
C. Fletcher 0-1 0-1 0-0 0 1 0
Peck 0-1 0-2 2-2 2 1 2
K. Fletcher 0-1 2-3 0-0 0 1 4
A. Forney 0-0 0-0 0-0 1 1 0
Stowell 0-0 1-1 1-2 0 0 3
Franz 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Totals 6-17 27-52 15-22 29 13 75
Shooting .353 .519 .682
The updated Conference Indiana standings (through Feb. 19), courtesy of John Harrell’s website:
CONFERENCE INDIANA
Conf. All Off. Def. Margin Streak
Bloomington South 7-0 18-0 71.5 53.8 17.7 Won 18
Pike 6-1 12-6 67.1 60.5 6.6 Won 1
Bloomington North 4-3 13-5 62.5 56.3 6.2 Lost 1
Franklin Central 4-3 11-8 49.0 44.6 4.4 Lost 1
Columbus North 3-4 13-5 65.0 57.3 7.7 Won 1
Lawrence Central 2-5 6-11 60.4 60.9 -0.5 Won 1
Perry Meridian 1-5 11-8 58.1 55.5 2.5 Lost 1
Southport 0-6 2-14 54.1 63.1 -9.0 Lost 1
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