Jared Jeffries provided ample evidence why he is the front-runner for Mr. Basketball Friday night.
The Bloomington North Senior did something that no Cougar had ever done before: he scored 42 points in a basketball game. The 6-foot-9 forward broke the school record by four points, a mark he had held with Duany Duany. Jeffries scored 38 points last season against Dugger and Duany, now a senior at the University of Wisconsin, had 38 against Indianapolis Manual when he was a BHSN sophomore in 1993-94.
"I was kind of glad to break it,” Jeffries said. “I’ve had a couple of games here where I haven’t scored all that much.”
Jeffries, headed to Indiana University on a basketball scholarship, made 17 of 26 from the field to lead the third-ranked Cougars to an 83-42 win over Owen Valley Friday at North. Five of his baskets were three-pointers on nine tries from behind the arc. His two best shots were amazing. First, he made an acrobatic alley-oop dunk off a pass from Scott May that harkened back to Duke’s Grant Hill against Kansas in the NCAA final in 1991.
"I thought we had it guarded really well and he just reacted a half a second before we did,” Owen Valley coach Steve Goddard said.
“Jared is a great kid. Congratulations on what he did tonight. You know we tied him 42-all. Shoot.”
Jeffries wasn’t sure if he would be able to pull the play off.
"We work on it all the time in practice,” Jeffries said of the alley-oop play. “My guy was kind of close to me, so Scott threw it up high enough and far enough that I could catch it and get it down. It was higher than I am used to. I didn’t know if I could get up and catch it and bring it down."
The second Jeffries’ jewel was a 26-foot three-pointer on the first shot of the fourth quarter. Jeffries was so far out that it appeared he was throwing an alley-oop pass of his own, but no teammate ever materialized around the basket and the ball swished through. That turned out to be the end of the night for North's talented senior. After Jeffries threw that bomb in, Cougar coach Tom McKinney had seen enough and took his senior captain out of the game with 7:31 still on the clock. Jeffries added nine rebounds, five steals, two assists and a blocked shot to his record point total. With two minutes left in the game McKinney, after asking for Goddard's permission, had the public address announcer proclaim Jeffries' feat.
Jeffries was the standout shooter on this night, but North as a team shot well throughout the game. The Cougars finished with a 60-percent night. They shot 65 percent in the first half and 85 percent in the third quarter. Jeffries scored 32 points in the second and third quarters. North outscored Owen Valley 50-24 in those 16 minutes.
"Hat’s off to Bloomington North,” Goddard said. “North is an excellent basketball team. They play with a lot of class.”
North’s McKinney was happy with his team’s defense. The Cougars (11-0) limited the Patriots (3-9) to a 27-percent shooting night. Meanwhile, North caused 23 Owen Valley turnovers. The guard-rich Cougars had only nine turnovers themselves.
"Once again I thought all of our guards did a good job with pressure,” McKinney said. “We felt we would create some turnovers if we got good pressure and we also wanted to run. Owen Valley played hard and is well coached, but we have too many horses.”
The Cougars jumped to an early 8-2 lead and were ahead 17-5 by the end of the first quarter. A 21-5 run to start the second quarter effectively put the game out of reach.
"We wanted to get the ball inside,” McKinney added. “But I was pleased that we made some shots from the perimeter against the 2-3 zone.”
Owen Valley started in man-to-man, but it switched to the zone to try to slow down the Cougars.
North’s Mike Bridgwaters shook off the effects of the flu and finished with 15 points and nine rebounds. Sean May started slowly but finished with nine points and 11 rebounds. Junior guard Kelvin Boatner had nine points, most of them late.
The Patriots were led by 6-6 senior Fritz Heib, who had 17 points. Heib, who scored 65 points in two games last weekend, is a left-hander who is a bit remindful of former Big Ten player of the year Brian Evans. Heib is getting looks from Division III programs.
North is scheduled to host Indianapolis Northwest (5-8) Saturday night at 7:30. Northwest is coached by IU legend Bobby Wilkerson and will bring a trapping style to town.
"Facing that and not having any time to practice will do us good for the playoffs,” McKinney said. "Northwest will match up with us at guards. They will test us."
Jeffries said this first of three straight weekends of two games offers a chance for the Cougars to get ready for IHSAA post-season competition.
“We will have Friday-Saturday games in sectionals and this helps us,” Jeffries added. “We’ve got to be able to play two games in a row.”
Owen Valley hosts Cloverdale Saturday.
North won Friday's JV game 46-35.
Owen Valley (42) -- Fritz Heib 17, Josh Morrison 8, Heath Patterson 7, Drew Heckman 4, Corby Heckman 2, Jason Justice 2, Kevin Smeltzer 2, Adam Hornaday 0, Nate Fair 0.
Bloomington North (83) -- Jared Jeffries 42, Mike Bridgwaters 15, Sean May 9, Kelvin Boatner 9, Scott May 4, Matt Kalua 2, Clay Ludlow 2, Errek Suhr 0, Mike Davis 0, Josh Girvin 0, Dan Christy 0, Danta Horton 0.
First quarter: North, 17-5.
Halftime: North, 38-12.
Third quarter: North, 67-29.
© 2000 dbulla@indiana.edu