By Justin Sokeland
WBIW.com
BEDFORD – Everything has changed drastically since 1970.
Bellbottom pants were the fashion rage. The average home cost was $23,000, new cars stickered for $3,400, the average income was only $8,700. Cigarette ads were banned on television. The nation held its breath as the damaged Apollo 13 spacecraft staggered back to Earth. The Beatles broke up, and John Wayne won an Oscar for True Grit.
The constant since that long-ago time and history lesson? J.R. Holmes has coached basketball.
Starting at Tunnelton (one of the Lawrence County schools swallowed by consolidation), as a brash 24-year old with a wide white tie, after migrating to Mitchell for a decade, Holmes has been a fixture at Bloomington South, setting the state record for career wins with 930 during his remarkable 56-year tenure. That mark, a gold standard for prolonged success, might be unbreakable.
On Friday night, Holmes and the Panthers will invade BNL Fieldhouse once again, with Bedford North Lawrence seeking to crack another mark that has seemingly become impervious. The Stars have lost 21 straight games in a series it once ruled.
Both teams are vulnerable. South (1-1) has been wrecked by injuries. BNL (0-2) is rebuilding following a mass graduation exodus. Both are working through issues of adjusted role identities and consistency. Growing pains are part of the process.
“It’s a very similar situation,” BNL coach Jackson Ryan said. “There were a lot of holes to fill.”
Start with South. The Panthers lost two standouts with season-ending injuries, then projected 6-8 starter Matt Tierney suffered an ankle injury in late November. In that void, senior guard Jack Clark (24.5) and junior Duncan Combs (12 points and 9 rebounds in the latest outing against New Albany) have shouldered a heavy load. South opened with a 66-47 win over Indianapolis Homeschool, then dropped a 75-57 decision to the Bulldogs.
“It definitely starts with Clark and Combs,” Ryan said. “Clark does a great job of being steady, they really try to get him the ball in spots. They do a great job of getting Combs the ball on the block, and I was impressed with how patient he is. He’s a smart player.”
“We’re sort of like Bedford,” Holmes said. “We’ve got two starters back, and everyone else has not played before. It will be a typical South-BNL game, low scoring, each team trying to drag out some points.“
BNL will start its tinkering on the defensive end. The Stars are allowing 74 points per game, getting outrebounded by 10 per game in that small sample size. The first two opponents have shot a combined 56 percent.
“Rebounding is the biggest problem we have,” Ryan said. “Competing and playing hard, doing things right culturally, will help fix that. We need to clean that up. Opposing teams are getting 59 percent of the rebounds, and that’s inexcusable.”
Ryan’s self-scouting went a little deeper than numbers.
“I got caught up in getting things in,” he said. “But I didn’t spend enough time, put enough emphasis, on culturally how we do things. When there’s a dead ball, you hand it to the official and say ‘Thank you, sir.’ When we huddle, we talk about team things. We watched a lot of film this week on ourselves, how not to do things, trying to get back to square one on our culture, this is how we act, this is what we stand for. Get on the same page for what this program will be and what we expect.”
BNL’s scoring leaders have been junior guard Parker Kern (15.0) and senior wing Dax Short (12.5).
“Kern is a good player, Short is a strong athlete who tries to drive it a lot,” Holmes said. “They’re going through growing pains like we will go through. We’ll be the easiest game they’ve had in their three games. They’re probably hoping our bus doesn’t break down.”
South won last year’s battle 62-57, with Clark scoring 18 points and Vince Moutardier adding 13. The Stars owned a 52-49 lead with five minutes left before South reclaimed control. Patric Matson paced BNL with 24 points while Logan Miracle posted 13 points and 9 rebounds. Combs partially blocked a late Matson trey that would have forged a 60-60 deadlock. It was not to be.
BNL’s last win over South came during the 2003-04 season. Last year’s single-digit finish was only the sixth during the 21-game run. Nobody on the BNL roster was born when it started.
“These kids have not been around and don’t know what that rivalry was back in the day,” Ryan said. “I’m worried about us, worried about today. It’s no secret we have a really tough stretch of our season right now, and that continues with South. We have to worry about us getting better. If we’re ready to take that step and pull off an upset, I’m excited for it.”
BLOOMINGTON SOUTH at BNL
When: Friday, 7:30 p.m.
Records: Bloomington South 1-1; BNL 0-2
Series: Bloomington South leads 37-26
Last meeting: Last year at South, the Panthers prevailed 62-57. Jack Clark had 18 points and Vince Moutardier added 13 for South. Patric Matson scored 24 points while Logan Miracle totaled 13 points and 9 rebounds for BNL.
Previous game story: Two touches from Fate propel South
Game notes: South has won 21 straight games in the series. South coach J.R. Holmes, who holds the state record for career wins with 930 in 56 seasons, owns a 32-17 career record against the Stars while at South. BNL has not surrendered 70-plus points in three consecutive games since the 1991-92 season.
Starting lineups
Bedford NL Stars
F – Ben Conner 6-3 Sr.
F – Gibson Crane 6-3 Sr.
G – Dax Short 6-1 Sr.
G – Parker Kern 6-1 Jr.
G – Jace Nicholson 6-0 Jr.
Bloomington South Panthers
F – Duncan Combs 6-6 Jr.
F – Carter Graham 6-3 Sr.
G – Jack Clark 6-0 Sr.
G – Max Surdam 6-0 Sr.
G – Nate Lukes 5-10 Sr.
