Leal, Bloomington South Advance to Sectional Final

COLUMBUS, Ind. — One of the best things about Bloomington South’s difficult schedule in hostile environments all year as that the No. 1-ranked Panthers are prepared for just about anything.

They saw that again Friday night at Columbus North, when they had to take on the tough Bulldogs on their home court. North tried to slow the game down on Indiana signee Anthony Leal and the Panthers, but it didn't work. South won 59-49 to advance to the Class 4A-3 sectional final on Saturday night against East Central, a surprising winner over Bloomington North in the first game.

"We knew to be patient when they came out and held the ball. We've seen that before. We've seen everything,'' said Leal, who watched North hold the ball on its first possession for 1 minute and 16 seconds before a turnover. They held the ball for more than a minute two other times as well, but once South raced out to a 10-2 lead, the strategy stopped.

Columbus North, who finished 18-6, scratched back to 14-12, but then South point guard Noah Jager, who's going to play basketball at Army next year and is the younger brother of former IU walk-on Johnny Jager, hit three three-pointers in a row to stretch the lead to 23-14 before halftime.

Midway through the third quarter, Leal took over. He scored on a drive with an and-one and then hit a three-pointer on the next possession. Connor Hickman followed with another three-pointer and that nine-point outburst in less than a minute gave South the cushion it had been looking for all night.

"That's what usually separates us from other teams, where we can go on big runs like that,'' Leal said. "It took a while for it to come, but when it did, we felt pretty good.''

Columbus North fouled most of the fourth quarter, and South responded well, with 13 of their 19 fourth-quarter points coming from the free throw line. They made 13-of-16 free throws in the period, good for 81.2 percent.

"That was good that we knocked them down, but we should have had two more,'' said Leal, who was 6-for-8 himself. "It's a good win at their place. They're a good team and they really know us well. It was good to get past them.''

Leal only took six shots from the field all night. He let the game come to him, and his talented teammates helped out a lot.

"We always talk about the fact that we always have five guys on the floor who can play, and that's really true. We have a deep team,'' Leal said. "I didn't need to force anything, and I attacked when I could. We're one step closer now. We're looking forward to playing for a sectional championship (Saturday) night.''

Bloomington South's championship showdown with crosstown rival Bloomington North got derailed by East Central in a stunning 67-55 upset. East Central got 22 points from Indiana football target Luke Collinsworth, a 6-foot-6, 300-pound center who has a nice touch around the rim.

"We were like 19-point underdogs, but we came into the game with a lot of confidence,'' Collinsworth said. "We handled their press pretty well and I got a lot of good looks around the basket, especially in the first half. They weren't doubling me at all, and that was nice. I don't usually get that.''

CLASS 4A-3: Indiana signee Trey Galloway and Culver Academy had no trouble advancing to Saturday's title game, easily beating Plymouth 66-24. Galloway finished with 19 points to lead the way. Deonte Craig, an Iowa football signee, finished with 17. Culver will play South Bend Adams in Saturday night's championship game.

CLASS 4A-16: Indiana commit Khristian Lander had a huge game in Evansville Reitz's 84-67 victory over Evansville Harrison. Lander finished with 32 points on 12-of-14 shooting including 5-of-5 on three-pointers. He also had six rebounds, five assists and three steals.

Class 4A pairings around the state

Class 4A-1 at East Chicago Central

FRIDAY'S RESULTS
Merrillville 63, Munster 53
Lake Central 52, East Chicago Central 34
SATURDAY'S FINAL
Merrillville (11-12) vs. Lake Central (14-11), 8:30 p.m. ET

Class 4A-2 at Valparaiso

FRIDAY'S RESULTS
Valparaiso 69, Portage 51
Chesterton 63, Crown Point 52
SATURDAY'S FINAL
Valparaiso (16-8) vs. Chesterton (23-2), 8:30 p.m. ET

Class 4A-3 at LaPorte

FRIDAY'S RESULTS
Culver Academy 66, Plymouth 24
South Bend Adams 56, Michigan City 52
SATURDAY'S FINAL
Culver Academy (18-4) vs. South Bend Adams (22-3), 7 p.m. ET

Class 4A-4 at Elkhart

FRIDAY'S RESULTS
Northridge 70, Elkhart Memorial 51
Warsaw 58, Penn 54
SATURDAY'S FINAL
Northridge (20-5) vs. Warsaw (13-9), 7:30 p.m. ET

Class 4A-5 at Fort Wayne Carroll

FRIDAY'S RESULTS
Fort Wayne Northrup 44, Fort Wayne Carroll 30
Fort Wayne Snider 66, East Noble 52
SATURDAY'S FINAL
Fort Wayne Northrup (13-12) vs. Fort Wayne Snider (18-6), 7:30 p.m. ET

Class 4A-6 at Huntington North

FRIDAY'S RESULTS
New Haven 68, Huntington North 51
Homestead 84, Fort Wayne South 63
SATURDAY'S FINAL
New Haven (17-6) vs. Homestead (16-8), 7:30 p.m. ET

Class 4A-7 at Lafayette Jeff

FRIDAY'S RESULTS
Marion 63, Logansport 47
Harrison 51, Lafayette Jeff 48
SATURDAY'S FINAL
Harrison (19-6) vs. Marion (13-11), 7:30 p.m. ET

Class 4A-8 at Noblesville

FRIDAY'S RESULTS
Westfield 32, Zionsville 31
Carmel 39, Noblesville 37
SATURDAY'S FINAL
Westfield (17-6) vs. Carmel (17-7), 7:30 p.m. ET

Class 4A-9 at Muncie Central

FRIDAY'S RESULTS
New Palestine 59, Mount Vernon 40
Muncie Central 60, Richmond 54 (17-7)
SATURDAY'S FINAL
New Palestine (13-12) vs. Muncie Central (11-13), 7:30 p.m. ET

Class 4A-10 at Lawrence Central

FRIDAY'S RESULTS
Warren Central 77, North Central 69
Lawrence North 76, Indianapolis Attucks 73
SATURDAY'S FINAL
Warren Central (18-5) vs. Lawrence North (24-2), 7:30 p.m. ET

Class 4A-11 at Southport

FRIDAY'S RESULTS
Pike 55, Perry Meridian 46
Decatur Central 68, Southport 56
SATURDAY'S FINAL
Pike (16-9) vs. Decatur Central (14-8), 7:30 p.m. ET

Class 4A-12 at Mooresville

FRIDAY'S RESULTS
Brownsburg 44, Terre Haute South 29
Plainfield 46, Mooresville 34
SATURDAY'S FINAL
Brownsburg (20-4) vs. Plainfield (20-4), 7:30 p.m. ET

Class 4A-13 at Shelbyville

FRIDAY'S RESULTS
Greenwood 43, Shelbyville 23
Center Grove 42, Franklin 32
SATURDAY'S FINAL
Center Grove (9-14) vs. Greenwood (18-6), 7:30 p.m. ET

Class 4A-14 at Columbus North

FRIDAY'S RESULTS
East Central 67, Bloomington North 55
Bloomington South 59, Columbus North 49
SATURDAY'S FINAL
East Central (17-8) vs. Bloomington South (25-0), 7:30 p.m. ET

Class 4A-15 at Seymour

FRIDAY'S RESULTS
Floyd Central 61, Jeffersonville 47
Jennings County 44, Bedford North Lawrence 43
SATURDAY'S FINAL
Floyd Central (17-6) vs. Jennings County (14-11), 7:30 p.m. ET

Class 4A-16 at Evansville North

FRIDAY'S RESULTS
Evansville Reitz 84, Evansville Harrison 67
Castle 57, Evansville North 52
SATURDAY'S FINAL
Evansville Reitz (16-7) vs. Castle, 8 p.m. ET

Related Items on Indiana Basketball

- NEXT GENERATION: Meet Culver's Trey Galloway, the first commit in Indiana's Class of 2020. CLICK HERE
- NEXT GENERATION: Meet Bloomington South's Anthony Leal, leader of the No. 1-ranked team in the state and an Indiana commit . CLICK HERE
- HUGE COMMITMENT: Evansville's Khristian Lander, the No. 1-ranked player in the Class of 2021, commits to Indiana. CLICK HERE
Add us as a preferred source on Google
Follow