Caleb Ferguson
Columbus North and Bloomington South were tied in the closing seconds of the third quarter Friday night, when the game changed in a a matter of seconds.
The Panthers got a steal and three-point play with three seconds left in the third quarter to take the lead. Then, Jack Clark stole an inbounds pass near midcourt, took a couple dribbles and hit a 3-pointer to make it a six-point game heading to the fourth.
Bloomington South then limited the Bull Dogs to three points in the fourth quarter in posting a 50-40 win to clinch at least a share of the Conference Indiana title.
“We had a play that we have in that Nate inbounds, and it just slipped out of his hand,” North coach Paul Ferguson said. “They caught it and hit a 3. That was a killer momentum-wise. We just couldn’t close the gap after that.”
The Panthers (11-8, 4-1) led by as many as eight in the first quarter and seven in the second period. The Bull Dogs (6-11, 0-2) cut the lead to 29-28 at halftime, then took their only lead of the game at 30-29 on a Garrett Long basket to start the third quarter.
Bloomington South scored six in a row to go back up by five before North came back to tied it at 35-35 on a 3-pointer and basket by Nate Enneking and again at 37-37 on a basket by Caleb Ferguson.
That set up the fateful few seconds of the third quarter.
Caleb Ferguson led the Bull Dogs with 11 points, whiler Enneking and Long each added eight. Long grabbed five rebounds to lead North top a 25-15 advantage on the boards.
The Bull Dogs, however, were plagued by 18 turnovers.
“They’re a really good defensive team, and they made it very tough on us in the fourth quarter,” Paul Ferguson said. “It was a grind-it-out-game, and we just couldn’t score enough. A lot of that was due to their physicality.”
Bloomington South 50, Columbus North 40
Bloomington South;22;7;14;7;—;50
Columbus North;16;12;9;3;—;40
Bloomington South (11-8, 4-1): Tucker Simpson 0 0-0 0, Jack Clark 3 2-2 9, ALex Shaevitz 1 1-3 3, Taye Spears 3 0-0 7, Andrew Elsesser 0 0-0 0, Zach Sims 4 2-2 11, Josh Clark 0 0-0 0, Cruz Sanchez 1 2-2 4, Malakai Goodman 0 0-0 0, Cooper McCrea 0 0-0 0, Matt Tierney 1 1-1 3, Vincent Montardier 3 5-5 13. Totals: 16 13-15 50.
Columbus North (6-11, 0-2): Caleb Ferguson 4 2-2 11, Nate Enneking 3 1-2 8, Austin Perry 0 0-0 0, Max Coomes 2 0-0 5, Nolan Pickup 2 2-2 6, Ben Ferguson 0 0-0 0, Drew Schiefer 1 0-0 2, Garrett Long 3 2-3 8. Totals: 15 7-9 40.
3-point goals: Bloomington South 5 (Moutardier 2, Ja. Clark, Spears, Sims); Columbus North 3 (C. Ferguson, Enneking, Coomes).
