Cardinal basketball planning another winning campaign

Bloomfield has five seniors in Brett Sherrard (left), Hank Skomp, Justin Beard, Brasey Neill and Peter Combs.

Nathan Pace

BLOOMFIELD – After some injury luck curtailed regional and even state title hopes in March, Bloomfield boys basketball is ready to get back at it for the 2022-23 season.

“These kids play hard,” Coach J.B. Neill said. “We’re probably ready to play against somebody else. We’ve been beating on each other. Got a scrimmage this Friday. Look forward to that. This group is fun to coach. They work hard. The five seniors they’ve been together since kindergarten. They’ve been a big part of our program prior to even me being here.”

Bloomfield went 20-7 last year and won sectionals for the fourth time in the last five years. It could have been more though as players such as Ethan Dean and Brett Sherrard were out for most if not all of the season due to recovering from surgery. Foul trouble in the regional game with Jac-Cen-Del led to a 63-54 defeat.

“We’re after a deep tournament run. We played uphill in that first game of the regional last year. Got some foul trouble. Just didn’t work out for us,” Neill said. “That’s what we are trying to get back to this year.”

Bloomfield will have to replace several seniors including starters in Baylin Graf, Ryan Schulte and Christopher Royal. Graf was the leader in points as he was even a candidate for the Indiana All-Star team.

“That’s 20 points per game that just left you so we’ll have to fill that by committee,” Neill said.

Bloomfield will get Sherrard back for his senior season as he signed with Butler for college baseball last week. Four more seniors include Peter Combs, Justin Beard, Hank Skomp and Brasey Neill. Combs is back as a force in the paint as he grew an inch over the year. At 6’8” Combs will continue his role of drawing defenders inside to open up the shooters in Beard and Skomp.

With Graf, Schulte and Royal graduating, Bloomfield will be a little smaller on defense when it comes stopping perimeter players.

Junior Quentin Ross is expected to play more varsity minutes this season.

“We’ve got a good mix. We’ve got some young guys and obviously five seniors. I think size is a bit of an issue because we’re not real big in a lot of spots. We’ve got some guys that pass, dribble and shoot so we’ll see what we can do,” Neill said.

Bloomfield will take on Forest Parke in a scrimmage at home Friday as the season opener is against Owen Valley next Wednesday on Nov. 23.

The Cards will play at the Gobbler Games Shootout next Saturday at Rose-Hulman when it plays Mitchell at 11:30. Bloomfield will play two games 15 hours when it hosts Shakamak on Dec. 2 and will play Class 4A North Central in Brownsburg the following morning. The North Central game is the opener of the Sneakers for Santa basketball showcase that Linton is also in. Bloomfield will also take part in the Wabash Valley Classic after finishing fifth in the event last year.

Bloomfield defeated North Daviess last year as the Cougars went on to win the Class 1A title. Neill knows though success from last year will not matter much when the season starts.

“Basketball you are only as good as your last game,” Neill said. “Tough schedule this year. We’ll get tested. Hopefully we’ll stay healthy for the tournament right here at the end.”

Notable games

Nov. 23 vs. Owen Valley 7:30

Nov. 26 vs. Mitchell 11:30 at Rose-Hulman

Dec. 3 vs. North Central (Indianapolis) 10 a.m. at Brownsburg

Dec. 26-29 Wabash Valley Classic in Terre Haute

Jan. 13 at Linton 7:30

Feb. 2 vs. North Daviess 7:30