By Justin Sokeland
WBIW.com
BEDFORD – Darth Vader, hissing through that villainous helmet, confronted hero Luke Skywalker during their lightsaber duel at the conclusion of The Empire Strikes Back. “You are beaten. It is useless to resist. Don’t let yourself be destroyed.” That was after cutting off his Luke’s hand.
Bedford North Lawrence’s resistance was futile. Bloomington South did more than chop off BNL’s fist, it lasered out the heart. The Purple Empire struck again, destroying the Stars while continuing its reign of dominance. Welcome to the dark side.
For the 22nd consecutive time, the Panthers overwhelmed BNL’s rebel force, and this one was devastating. South shifted into hyperdrive while crushing BNL 79-40 on Friday night, recording its most one-sided victory in the history of the series. Max Surdam scored 17 points as the Panthers (2-1) triggered the running clock with a sensational assault in the third quarter.
South attempted 10 shots during that period. Made them all. BNL offered no resistance. For the third straight game this season, the Stars surrendered 70-plus points, and only the mercy-rule circumstances kept it from being more. The Panthers finished with shooting percentages (30 of 45 overall, 12 of 19 from long range) that defy logic. The emperical evidence points to great execution and little opposition.
“We seemed like we were in a comfort zone,” South coach J.R. Holmes said after adding to his state record for career wins. “When you do that, you will obviously be in the game. We shot well and played hard.
”We just shot the ball really well. Our defense was really good early. A couple of tendencies they have, we took away from them. That stopped their offense a little bit. But we just shot well.”
South blasted to an 11-0 lead before the Stars (0-3) broke through with a Dax Short jumper at 3:39. That was just foreshadowing of the danger ahead. The Panthers exploded to a 20-point lead in the second quarter (at 27-7), then went nuclear in the second half. They tripped the mercy-rule wire with 1:15 left in the third when the margin hit 63-28.
Four scorers hit double figures for South, with Jack Clark totaling 14, Duncan Combs contributing 13, and Julius Smithers coming off the bench for 11. Smithers didn’t miss a shot. Neither did many of his partners.
“With a great team like them, they will make you pay,” BNL coach Jackson Ryan said. “Give them credit for putting us in that position.”
Parker Kern paced BNL with 13 points, but most came after South had made the outcome inevitable. Gibson Crane and Easton Moore added 7 points each.
“Our biggest thing right now is consistency,” Ryan said. “That starts in practice. What we saw tonight was a result of our practice. I would love to be talented enough to just roll the ball out and go. We have to get a lot more consistent, a lot more disciplined with everything we do.
“That’s all it is. The sun will come up tomorrow. Our challenge is being accountable, having a sense of pride, a sense of urgency. Our effort is so inconsistent. It’s like one step forward and three steps back.”
BNL needs something positive, a win would definitely help. But the early schedule provides little respite.
“They’re in a rebuilding situation, and it’s tough,” Holmes said. “I just hope they give Jackson some time to get his program going, get his feeder system going. As long as it’s not against Bloomington South. It’s worked out pretty good for us. The biggest thing is these guys don’t want to be the ones that make it 1-22. It’s unreal to be that away against anybody.
“I’ve been where he is a couple of times in my life. You have to keep positive, keep working, get things going.”
BNL’s worst start came during the 2007-08 season when that team dropped its first five. The 79 points was the most allowed since Evansville North totaled 82 (in double overtime) during the 2021-22 campaign. There’s a lot of work to do.
“If we’re not going to consistently give effort on both ends of the floor, nothing else matters,” Ryan said. “Until we change that, this will be the result.”
BNL will visit Bloomfield on Wednesday.
BLOOMINGTON SOUTH PANTHERS (79)
3s FGs FTs R F Pts
34 Duncan Combs, f 1-4 6-12 0-0 3 1 13
11 Carter Graham, f 2-4 2-5 0-0 3 3 6
3 Jack Clark, g 2-4 5-7 2-2 5 3 14
12 Max Surdam, g 3-3 6-8 2-2 3 1 17
5 Nate Lukes, g 1-1 2-3 0-0 3 3 5
33 Matt Tierney 0-0 2-2 0-1 3 1 4
14 Julius Smithers 3-3 4-4 0-0 1 1 11
4 Ezra Douglas 0-0 1-1 0-0 0 0 2
20 Desmond Edwards 0-0 2-2 1-1 0 1 5
2 Connor Parker 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 1 0
30 Oliver Parker 0-0 0-0 0-0 1 0 0
21 Ben Barada 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
10 Holden Prall 0-1 0-1 2-2 0 1 2
Totals 12-19 30-45 7-8 23 16 79
BEDFORD NL STARS (40)
3s FGs FTs R F Pts
40 Ben Conner, f 0-0 1-2 3-5 3 2 5
24 Gibson Crane, f 0-0 3-3 1-2 2 0 7
5 Dax Short, g 1-2 2-9 1-2 2 3 6
1 Parker Kern, g 1-3 5-7 2-2 3 0 13
11 Jace Nicholson, g 0-2 0-6 2-3 0 0 2
12 Dayson Kirby 0-1 0-1 0-0 0 1 0
2 Driven Axsom 0-0 0-2 0-0 1 4 0
10 Easton Moore 1-4 2-6 2-2 4 0 7
20 Jack Parsons 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
23 Jett Alvey 0-0 0-0 0-0 1 1 0
22 Garrett Chaillaux 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Totals 3-11 13-35 11-16 18 11 40
Bl. South 19 20 27 13 – 79
Bedford NL 7 9 14 10 – 40
Turnovers – South 8, BNL 13
Field goal percentage – South 30-45 (.667); BNL 13-35 (.371)
Free throw percentage – South 7-8 (.875); BNL 11-16 (.688)
