Published: November 18, 2008 11:56 pm         

South girls survive early test from Bloomington South

TERRE HAUTE — Terre Haute South survived a stern early-season test with flying colors in a battle of ranked girls high school basketball teams, pulling away from Bloomington South in the second half for a 56-39 victory in the Braves’ gym Tuesday.

Probably more amazing, the Class 4A No. 5-ranked Braves dominated — especially in the second half — by utilizing only their starting lineup of four seniors and one sophomore until the final 73 seconds in the game.

Not so unusual, the Braves were paced by the double-double of Butler University-bound Dragana Grbic. The 6-foot-3 center accumulated 23 points and 12 rebounds, dominating the post in the second half.

Grbic got ample scoring support from Kristina Smith and Tessa Johnson with 15 and 12 points respectively.

“These seniors have led us starting day one, the day after Labor Day,” stated first-year Terre Haute South coach Dave Cassell. “We had eight weeks of conditioning and I don’t think they started sweating until the third quarter.

“They got pressure on the ball, they had great energy … putting that investment in and the dividends showed up.”

Yet the Braves were not so dominant in the game’s opening moments of each half.

After Grbic scored off a pretty entry pass from Smith to go up 2-0 off the opening tip, the Panthers scored the next 10 points and still led 14-7 after the first period.

The Braves rebounded with 8-0 and 8-2 runs in the second quarter, leading by six points at intermission. But the Panthers regained the lead at 28-27 midway in the third quarter following back-to-back jumpers by Jessica Parker.

But with Grbic asserting her dominance in the post — whether it be shooting, passing, defending or rebounding — the home team took off like a rocket. The Braves scored or reached the free throw line on 18 of its next 21 possessions — enjoying a 29-11 run.

The Braves, led by guards Randa Rector and Haley Seibert, also handled the ball better as the game proceeded. South had six turnovers through its first possession of the second quarter, then had just six the balance of the game.

“I was proud of our character. It was just amazing,” Cassell added. “At no time, even when we were down 10-2 … we just took our time, made some adjustments on offense and got to do things we wanted to do from there.

“I tell ya, we’re trying to create some depth,” Cassell explained his utilizing only his five starters until the game’s final minute. “They didn’t lose a step … and it’s because of their commitment to the preseason and how hard they want us to be successful.”

Bloomington South was led by sophomore Kaila Hulls’ 16 points, its only scorer in double figures. The Panthers’ lone senior, 6-2 Madison Turner, pulled down nine rebounds, while Parker, a 6-0 junior, added eight boards.

“I thought we resembled a lot like our first game … played a great first quarter and just didn’t follow it up,” Bloomington South coach Frank Winters said. “Unfortunately tonight for us, [Terre Haute South] is a little bit better than Edgewood and so you can’t get away with that.

“[Terre Haute South has] four seniors out there that have a lot of experience and so you know they were going to battle back and keep coming at you. And we’ve got some youth that just hadn’t figured that out yet.”



Bloomington South 39

Player fg 3pt ft r s pf tp

Turner 1-3 0-0 4-8 9 2 5 6

Parker 3-12 1-5 0-0 8 1 4 7

Hulls 6-17 3-6 1-2 4 2 5 16

Ennis 1-5 0-1 0-0 6 1 3 2

Weiler 4-7 0-1 0-0 3 0 2 8

Towell 0-6 0-0 0-0 2 0 3 0

Ayrea 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0

Shields 0-1 0-1 0-0 0 0 0 0

Kish 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 1 0

Totals 15-51 4-14 5-10 36* 6 23 39

Terre Haute South 56

Player fg 3pt ft r s pf tp

Johnson 5-9 2-5 0-0 1 1 2 12

Smith 6-15 1-5 2-3 1 1 1 15

Grbic 8-15 0-0 7-8 12 1 2 23

Rector 1-2 0-1 3-4 5 4 4 5

Seibert 0-1 0-0 0-1 1 2 0 0

Metheny 0-0 0-0 0-0 1 0 0 0

Goss 0-0 0-0 1-2 1 0 0 1

Lee 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0

Vollrath 0-0 0-0 0-0 1 0 0 0

Bailey 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0

Totals 20-42 3-11 13-18 27* 9 9 56

Bloomington South 14 5 9 11 — 39

Terre Haute South 7 16 15 18 — 56

FG Pct. — BS .294, THS .476. 3-pt FG Pct. — BS .286, THS .273. FT Pct. — BS .500, THS .722. Turnovers — BS 17, THS 12. Blocks — BS 2 (Turner, Parker), THS 1 (Grbic). (*) Includes team rebounds — BS 4, THS 4.

JV — Bloomington South 31 (Jenna Walters 9), Terre Haute South 29 (Dallas Butts 26).

Next — Terre Haute South (4-0) travels to Paris, Ill. on Thursday. Bloomington South (1-1) hosts Southport on Friday.