Second-ranked Bloomington North had a simple game plan Friday night against ninth-ranked Perry Meridian: get the ball inside.
North coach Tom McKinney was not quite sure if his team was listening early on as the Falcons led 24-20 with less than four minutes left in the first half. The Cougar coach called a timeout at that point and apparently the message was finally heard, for BHSN would go on a 26-2 run over the next nine minutes to put the game away. North won the Conference Indiana game 77-52 before 3,400 at BHSN Gym.
"We regrouped at that timeout and we started playing a lot harder," North forward Jared Jeffries said.
McKinney felt the Cougars slowly began to wear the Falcons down and it took effect in the middle of the game.
"The game was won in the third quarter and at the end of the first half," McKinney said. "We jumped out there and I thought once again our guard rotation kept them from getting into sync offensively.
"We wanted to hammer it inside and when we started to do that, we took control. I had told them that just before we took the floor before the game. I guess there was a little delay in it taking effect. The last four or five years there's no secret that's what we like to do. The perimeter will open up for us if we can get the ball inside. The first play of the game we took five shots and only got one point. It looked like it might be one of those nights."
The front court of the 6-foot-9 Jeffries, 6-8 Sean May and 6-3 Mike Bridgwaters combined for 67 points and 34 rebounds. Indeed, North (6-0, 13-0) outrebounded Perry Meridian (4-4, 12-6) by a 39-12 count.
Jeffries, a senior, led the way with 30 points, 12 rebounds, five assists, two blocked shots and a steal. May, a sophomore, had 21 points and 16 rebounds. Bridgwaters, a senior, finished with 16 points and eight boards.
"Coach wanted us to run our post stack sets," May said. "He was telling our guards that we don't need to shoot jump shots. Get the ball inside because that's where their machups were weakest. He really emphasized getting it inside. He told Jared, Mike and I to get inside."
The Falcons had only one major answer for the threesome. That was 30 points, eight rebounds and two blocks from Andre Owens, who like Jeffries is a primary Mr. Basketball candidate. Owens hit six three-pointers and answered any criticisms that he is not a viable outside threat. The 6-3 Owens -- who like Jeffries is bound for Indiana University on a basketball scholarship -- admitted that the game plan was to go inside with his five-inch height advantage on the Cougar guards, but he was so hot that there was no reason to stop shooting the three."Even though Owens had 30 points, we did a good job of keeping him from getting a lot of assists," McKinney noted. "He's a nice player, an exceptional athlete. Right now he's being asked to do a lot of things for his team. The difference in his offensive skills between last year and this year is tremendous."
North guard Matt Kalua started on Owens and conceded that the Falcon guard was a load.
"It was a tough matchup," Kalua said. "He's quick so it's hard to stay with him. I didn't know which way he was going to go. After halftime I settled down and we did a better job guarding him."
North limited Perry Meridian to a 38-percent shooting night. The Falcons missed their first seven shots of the third quarter before an Owens bomb stopped the bleeding. By then it was too late. North was up 46-29.
"Our guard rotation puts a lot of pressure on the opposition," McKinney said. "We wore them down eventually."
Meanwhile, North shot 56 percent. Jeffries was 14 of 23 (61 percent).
The Cougars forced 15 Falcon turnovers. North only had eight turnovers.
Perry Meridian coach Mark Barnhizer was very impressed with the Cougars.
"They are by far the best team we've played," Barnhizer said. "People look at that and say it's all talent, but let's not forget that they are very well coached. I have as much respect for Tom McKinney as anybody in basketball. We didn't play very well, but we got hit by a buzzsaw. If there's a better team in Indiana, we don't want to schedule them.
"I'm going to hate to see Andre go, but it's going to be great to see him and Jared play in the IU program. He's worked his tail off the last four years to become the kind of player he is. He deserves that chance to play in such a situation."
North travels to Seymour Saturday. Game time is 7:30 p.m. (EST). Perry Meridian won Friday's junior varsity game 38-23.
© 2000 dbulla@indiana.edu