Cards ascend to top spot in 1A

We have a top-ranked team here in Greene County.

The Bloomfield Cardinals were voted Class A No. 1 in this week's Associated Press poll.

Previous No. 1 Liberty Christian lost by 20 (79-59) at 2A third-ranked Northeastern.

Just like on the Billboard charts, the Cards are rising to No. 1 with a bullet.

I still remember in 1969 when Harry Caray, then the St. Louis Cardinals radio play-by-play man, would sing, "The Cardinals are coming, tra-la-la-la" as the Cubbies faded.

Looks like "our" Cardinals are coming too.

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With the girls basketball sectionals going on it's a light schedule on this week's boys basketball calendar with four Thursday night games and one Saturday afternoon contest.

Three of Thursday night's games were Southwestern Indiana Athletic Conference tilts.

Bloomfield won 44-35 at North Daviess and finished its conference slate undefeated.

Eastern Greene defeated White River Valley at home, 63-49 after the Wolverines rallied from an 18-point deficit to pull within five with just over two minutes to play.

Shakamak was unable to contain Clay City's Hunter Wolfe and lost to the Eels 47-44 at the Eel Dome.

Linton-Stockton won 44-30 at home over South Knox.

The Cardinals host 3A Northview Saturday afternoon.

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Bloomfield played just once last weekend. The Cardinals handled visiting North Central 67-53 despite 33 points from the Thunderbirds' Gavin Stanifer.

Bloomfield had an answer in Brandon Van Sant who put up 32 points of his own.

At North Daviess the Cardinals were pursuing their first undefeated conference season since the mid 1980's and Bloomfield's first SWIAC championship since 2006.

Every time the Cougars made a run, Zach Skinner, Brandon Van Sant and Eli Combs answered for the Cardinals.

Northview poses an interesting matchup Saturday.

The Knights are just 8-9 but have the height to challenge the Cardinals inside.

The 2:30 start will give the players enough time to make it to Clay City and cheer on the Lady Cardinals in the sectional championship.

North Central was swept in its visit to Greene County last weekend.

Saturday night the Shakamak Lakers dispatched the Thunderbirds just as easily as they did in the Greene County Invitational, sending the T-Birds back to Sullivan County with an 85-59 loss.

Six Lakers cracked double figures in that game, led by Rylee Landry's 16 markers.

I said last week Landry was developing into another scoring option for Shakamak.

North Central has now lost 10 straight in what has become a lost season in Farmersburg.

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I'm not the only one who has noticed Shakamak's rise this season.

Bloomington Herald-Times sportswriter Andy Graham wrote in his Class A Sectional 57 preview, "But, then again, here comes Shakamak. Former White River Valley coach J.B. Neill has brought the Lakers along well in his first season in Jasonville, with Shakamak having won three of its last four games with the only loss to 2A Cloverdale, 71-70 and a 72-59 win at 3A West Vigo."

But just when it looked like the Lakers were rolling they were unable to contain Hunter Wolfe in the loss at Clay City. Wolfe burned Shakamak for 25 points and the Lakers struggled offensively, shooting just 30 percent and missing 8 of 21 free throws.

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White River Valley has made strides of late.

In recent losses to Shakamak, Sullivan and Loogootee the Wolverines were right in the thick of the battle early but were unable to sustain their momentum.

The opposite happened Saturday at Clay City.

WRV fell behind 46-30 after three quarters before coming back to pull within two. The Eels hung on for a 56-51 win in what Wolverine coach Joe Pigg called, "One of the best games we have played all season."

It was more of the same Thursday at Eastern Greene. WRV trailed 50-32 headed into the fourth quarter before mounting a comeback.

It's clear how badly the Wolverines missed senior forward Tyler York during his absence. Since returning from his injury, York has given WRV a much-needed boost. York scored 18 points in his two previous outings, against Loogootee and Clay City, and came back with 23 in the loss to Eastern Greene.

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Linton-Stockton has won six straight, including the last three against potential sectional opponents.

Thursday's 44-30 win over visiting South Knox wasn't that close.

The Miners outscored the Spartans 24-2 in a 14-minute stretch from midway through the second quarter into the final stanza.

Linton-Stockton held South Knox scoreless in the third quarter.

And the Miners limited Spartan ace Isiah Stafford to just 3 points.

South Knox outscored Linton-Stockton 9-1 in the last two minutes after both coaches cleared their benches to make the final score appear closer than the game really was.

Friday the Miners dealt Eastern Greene a 14-point loss.

I did not attend this game so I'll reserve comment.

This much I do know - Barr-Reeve coach Brian Hughes was in attendance. I'm pretty sure the Miners didn't look like the same team that lost by 17 at Barr-Reeve December 11.

Tyler Meurer and Jacob Clothier delivered strong second-half performances in Saturday's win over North Knox.

After Clothier gave Linton-Stockton a five-point halftime lead, burying yet another of his patented buzzer-beating bombs, Meurer ignited a 17-4 third-quarter run scoring 10 of his 15 points in that stretch.

Clothier's personal 7-0 run at the start of the fourth quarter put away the Warriors for good as the Miners rolled to a 20-point win.

Linton-Stockton has just four regular season games left. The Miners are on the road at North Vermillion, North Central and Rockville before returning home to host West Vigo in the regular season finale.

If they run the table they'll enter the postseason on a 10-game winning streak.

I know, Linton-Stockton lost to West Vigo in the Wabash Valley Classic. I don't think that will happen this time around.

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Speaking of Clothier, former Rose Hulman standout Julian Strickland attended the North Knox game to watch Jacob. Clothier has received interest from Rose Hulman.

Strickland ranks fifth on Rose Hulman's all-time career scoring list with 1,747 points. The Indianapolis Pike graduate averaged 23.1 points per game for the Engineers as a senior in 2013-14.

Terry's Weekly Rankings

1. (tie) Bloomfield (16-2, 7-0); Linton-Stockton (16-4, 5-1)

3. Eastern Greene (12-6, 3-2)

4. Shakamak (9-11, 2-4)

5. White River Valley (2-15, 0-6)