Bloomington South defeated Bloomington North 48-37 to complete a county sweep early in the girls basketball season.
The annual rivalry matchup was pushed up a month due to schedule adjustments prompted by South joining the Mid-State Conference, as detailed in “previews and outlooks for area teams”.
Freshman Quinn Wurtzman hit a crucial three-pointer with 2:10 remaining in the game to help the Panthers fend off a late second-half rally by the Cougars.
South built a 29-16 halftime lead by forcing 11 turnovers, though North head coach Kiley Jarrett noted that foul trouble disrupted her team’s typical rotation.
Jarrett discussed the atmosphere during an interview covered by “Yahoo Sports coverage”.
“We wanted to simulate a playoff atmosphere and that’s what it was,” Jarrett stated, according to Yahoo Sports.
South head coach Larry Winters also addressed the early-season rivalry intensity after the game.
“Playing them this early, I kind of figured it would be like that,” Winters said, as noted by “local sports reporting”.
Junior transfer Kate Lehr contributed 12 points for South, scoring eight of them in the opening period against her former team.
Rilynn Williams led North with a game-high 13 points, helping narrow the deficit before South pulled away in the final minutes.
Earlier in the week, South opened its schedule with a 62-20 rout against Edgewood on Tuesday, Nov. 11.
Edgewood coach Noah Stuckey reflected on the difficult opening contest after the Mustangs quickly fell behind following an 8-8 tie in the first quarter.
“We got punched and wilted a little bit and didn’t bring the energy in the second half,” Stuckey said, per “recent game accounts”.
Additional coverage surrounding local athletes can also be found through “Herald-Times reporting on school sports”.