North's Splash Brothers keep rolling past Edgewood

During warm-ups for Thursday's home game against Edgewood, Gavin Reed joined several of his Bloomington North teammates hanging around the 3-point line, lofting shot after shot.

JaQualon Roberts from the corner, Luke Lindeman, Shyy McDonald, Dawan Daniels free throw line extended, Connor O'Guinn from the 'K' in Tom McKinney Court (about 24 feet out). Reed top of the key. Back a few steps. Then at the volleyball line 10 feet from mid-court. Swish. Swish. Swish.

Not surprisingly, it's translating into games, like Thursday's 68-26 rout of the Mustangs. That group (minus O'Guinn) was 10-of-19 from the arc.

Reed missed three games prior to January due to an injury, but still stands second to JaQualon Roberts in 3-pointers made (26). North is clicking and Reed is thrilled to be stretching the floor and giving opposing defenses headaches.

"Sitting out and watching us lose to Southport and have a battle against Franklin, and watching them each and every day at practice, it was motivating and tough to watch," Reed said. "But coming back, I knew I had to have my confidence and play at an all-time high to make sure I get my spot back.

"That's where the shooting's coming from, looking for my shot, making sure I'm confident enough in myself to go out there and do it every night."

He's been much more than just a spot shooter. Reed is averaging 11 ppg and had just seven this time out, with a couple of 3s. But he also had five steals, several assists and hustled for two offensive rebounds.

"Defense has always been a main focus of mine to work on," the 6-foot-2 senior guard said. "I've never been the most athletic, longest, tallest, any of that. So I've always got to work on the fundamentals, watch the belly button, making sure I can keep my guy in front of me.

"We have a long team, so being able to stretch out into a full-court press and trapping like that, its just reading the passes and getting in the passing lanes."

North's lineup looks nothing like it did on Day 1, with a starter and a sixth-man out for the season. But the team has morphed, coalesced and stands 12-3, having won nine straight.

"In all four years of high school, this is the most together team I've witnessed," Reed said. "The guys, we all go and do stuff together outside of practice. It's not just inside the game. We get along great and we know what our strengths and weaknesses are. We know when to look for guys and when they're hot and when to get them the ball."

Reed's been that guy, shooting 60% (30-of-50) in his last five.

"He's been a difference maker for us," North coach Jason Speer said. "Just continues to be a weapon, from being able to shoot the basketball, he takes the ball to the basket really well. Guarding his area. Just a good all-around player that is showing up high and higher on other team's scouting reports.

"Which I knew he could do and knew he could do it earlier in the season. But right now, he's just super hot. We'll just keep riding the wave as long as we can."

Pressed into points

North's defense was also on point, forcing 22 turnovers with at least 15 steals. Edgewood shot just 32% and was 1-of-12 on 3s, harassed all over the floor all night long.

"I really liked our length in the press," Speer said. "We were able to force them into some turnovers and maybe force them into the bad shots or take shots they didn't want to. Then we were able to turn those into some easy baskets. So it was really good to see our press be effective."

Edgewood's only highlight in the first 11 minutes came at the first quarter buzzer when Mialin White grabbed a loose ball at the opposite free throw line and fired it 60 or so feet. It rattled inside the rim a few times before falling.

Those were the only points the Mustangs would score as North bolted out to a 22-3 lead with 5:10 left in the second quarter. The Cougar press was in high gear that period, producing eight turnovers and 29 points, and not whistled for a single foul until 1:52 was left in the half, to make it 40-11 at the break.

North didn't let up, scoring the first 13 points of the third and setting the running clock in motion at the 6:40 mark.

"For us to be able to lean on our defense until our offense gets going, that's OK," Speer said.

Roberts finished with 22 points, getting 16 in the second quarter without missing a shot. Lindeman added 17 points and McDonald eightas North claimed the biggest margin of victory in the series dating back to a 79-36 North win in 2003.

Edgewood struggles

Edgewood has had a few tough nights this season, not entirely unexpected given some retooling was going on.

The 4A teams on the Mustangs schedule have been the most troublesome, with the last two, Bedford North Lawrence and North, using pressure to turn Edgewood over. It's a battle they're still waging.

"We just got to look at this as not so much as what we didn't do on the court but what we did in our heads in order to stay strong mentally and play through it," said senior guard Xzander Hammonds, who had a team high 12 points, but also went 0-of-6 on 3s. "We did the best that we could against size and athleticism that they have.

"This is the one team we play where their size is really an issue. We just have to come together, play as a team and try to get through that together."

Carl Norris went 4-for-4 to add nine points in a game they will quickly forget.

But there's still plenty to play for: Edgewood (7-11) is 3-2 against possible sectional foes with Northview coming up Feb. 14. The Mustangs will have nine days off to regroup before a trip to 1A No. Orleans (15-2).

North shooting on fire

The Cougars were an average team at best from the 3-point line prior to a Jan. 13 trip to Martinsville, hitting at a mere 34% clip. Since then, the Cougars have been laser sharp, going 54-of-115 for a sizzling 47%.

"We certainly want to get downhill to the rim," Speer said. "And Edgewood and many other teams, they do a good job of playing help-side defense. So kicking it out there to some confident shooters is really what we've leaned on the last few games. No reason to not have confidence for a catch-and-shoot 3."

Lindeman went 3-of-6, Reed 2-of-3, Roberts and McDonald 2-of-4 and Daniels 1-of-2. The Cougars seldom just launch them without at least one pass as the double-digit assist total attests.

"For us to be able to move the basketball, share the basketball, that's a big deal for us," Speer said.

Finding Nemo

Junior Nememiah Dangerfield has moved into the North starting lineup, a place he certainly didn't expect to be before the season got going. Already without guard Stephon Opuku after a football injury, then Lucas Vencel and Bril Kante after in-game injuries put them on the shelf, the Cougars needed some help inside.

Cue up the 240-pound, 6-7 Dangerfield, who had six points and four rebounds.

"Nelo has always been a defensive person first, a team guy," Speer said. "He's a great passer out of the post. So the more that we learn to play through Nemo, he attracts a lot of attention around the basket if those guys collapse in and to be able to kick it out to those open shooters, it's just one of those things that we'll continue to work on and obviously, his confidence should be growing."

BLOOMINGTON NORTH 68, EDGEWOOD 26

Edgewood (26): Boggs f 0-3 0-0 0, Norris f 4-4 1-1 9, K.Ranard f 0-2 0-0 0, Hammonds g 5-13 2-2 12, White g 1-5 0-0 3, McCullough 1-3 0-0 2, Huttenlocker 0-2 0-0 0, Young 0-1 0-0 0, Waugh 0-0 0-0 0, McGovern 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 11-34 3-3 26.

Bloomington North (68): Roberts f 9-14 2-3 22, Dangerfield f 3-5 0-1 6, Daniels g 2-5 1-2 6, Lindeman g 7-12 0-1 17, Reed g 2-4 1-2 7, McDonald 3-5 0-0 8, O'Guinn 1-3 0-0 2, Wellman 0-2 0-0 0, McIntyre 0-0 0-0 0, Stegemoller 0-0 0-0 0, Speer 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 27-50 4-9 68.

Edgewood (7-11) 3 | 8 | 7 | 8 — 26

Bloomington North (12-3) 11 | 29 | 18 | 10 — 68

3-point goals: Edgewood 1-12 (White 1-2, Boggs 0-2, Huttenlocker 0-2, Hammonds 0-6), Bloomington North 10-22 (Lindeman 3-6, Reed 2-3, Roberts 2-4, McDonald 2-4, Daniels 1-2, Wellman 0-1, O'Guinn 0-2). Rebounds: Edgewood 21 (White 4, Norris 3), Bloomington North 26 (Roberts 5, Daniels 4, Dangerfield 4). Team fouls: Edgewood 9, Bloomington North 6. Technical foul: Daniels. Turnovers: Edgewood 22, Bloomington North 6. JV result: Bloomington North, 62-38.

Contact Jim Gordillo at jgordillo@heraldt.com or 812-331-4381 and follow on Twitter @JimGordillo.