Freshman Quinn Wurtzman stepped up with a decisive 3-pointer late in the game to help Bloomington South hold off Bloomington North 48-37 on Thursday night, completing a county sweep just two weeks into the girls basketball season.
The annual rivalry game was moved up a month this year to accommodate Bloomington South’s new Mid-State Conference schedule, creating an early test with a playoff-like atmosphere in front of a vocal home crowd. Both teams knew the stakes, and the physical intensity showed.
South built a 29-16 halftime lead thanks to a defense that forced 11 turnovers in the first half. North struggled with early foul trouble, which disrupted their rotation and contributed to costly errors. “We fought like hell to get it back within five points,” North coach Kiley Jarrett said. “But just a couple possessions here and there made the difference.”
Junior transfer Kate Lehr made her first appearance against her former team and started strong, scoring eight of her 12 points in the opening quarter. The rest of the Panthers’ offense spread out, with six players scoring five or more points. South shot 15 of 48 overall and 5 of 16 from three-point range but made 13 of 15 free throws.
South coach Larry Winters noted the unusual offensive approach. “We talked about trying to find the shots instead of letting the shots find us,” he said. “Everybody wants to show out in front of everyone, so that’s what happens.” Winters was confident the scoring will even out since many players have contributed so far. “If teams want to concentrate on a couple players, somebody else just has to step up.”
North chipped away in the third quarter, shooting 7 of 16 and cutting the lead to 33-27. They relied on strong half-court defense and more disciplined ball control, but South stalled offensively, going 2 of 11 in the period. A jump hook from Quinnly Fife and a banked-in three-pointer by Avery Schwartzman, who was fouled on the shot, pushed the lead back to nine points early in the fourth.
North’s Rilynn Williams, who led all scorers with 13 points, drilled a corner three to pull the Cougars to 40-35 with just over two minutes left. That’s when Wurtzman, a freshman, hit a 22-foot three-pointer to spark an 8-0 run and put the game out of reach.
“Knowing Quinn, she was ready for that shot and she’ll be ready for that again,” Jarrett said. “It may say she’s a freshman but she doesn’t play like it. That was a momentum changer because I definitely felt like momentum was on our side before that.”
Winters noted the pressure on Wurtzman in her first North-South game. “That was a big three, but there were three layups she missed. If you’re going to make the long one, make the short one.”
The Panthers started the week with a 62-20 win at Edgewood, where they quickly pulled away after the young Mustangs tied the score at 8-8 late in the first quarter. Edgewood committed 20 turnovers in the first half and managed just four field goals the entire game, with only one inside the arc.
Edgewood coach Noah Stuckey pointed to physical and experience gaps. “That first quarter, we competed as well as we possibly could. We handled their physicality and got to the free throw line, then we just kind of wore down,” he said. “We got punched and wilted a little bit and didn’t bring the energy in the second half.”
South (2-1) showed defensive consistency and balanced scoring against tougher competition, while North (0-2) will look to build on the late rally despite early setbacks. Wurtzman’s shot late Thursday gave South a clear edge in what promises to be a competitive Mid-State Conference season.
According to Yahoo Sports.
