Cardinals stay close until final three minutes

TERRE HAUTE -- Trailing by one point with three minutes remaining, Bloomfield was in perfect position to avenge a 53-26 loss to Owen Valley on Dec. 15.

But the Patriots, ranked No. 9 in Class 3A, closed the game on an 11-0 spurt to come away with a 33-21 victory in the opening round of the Pizza Hut Wabash Valley Classic at Terre Haute South High School Wednesday.

"We had them right where we wanted them," said Bloomfield boys basketball coach Ron McBride. "We were down 22-21 and missed a free throw to tie it.

"With the exception of the last three minutes, we did exactly what we wanted to do. We just have to learn to finish games when we are in that position."

Bloomfield, who had limited Owen Valley senior Jared Maners to six points through three quarters, did not make many mistakes defensively but McBride said one cost them down the stretch.

Antonio Marshall found Maners open at the top of the key and the 6-0 guard swished a 3-pointer which put the Patriots (7-0) ahead 25-21 with two minutes, 29 seconds to play.

"Our defense did a great job," said McBride. "That shot by Maners came because of a mistake by our defense.

"Even after that shot, we were down four and still right it."

With Bloomfield (4-5) trailing by two possessions and forced to extend its defense, Maners found Shawn Madorin behind the Cardinals for a lay-up. Kaleb Mumma was whistled for a foul on the play and Madorin, who had 10 points, three rebounds and one steal, hit the free throw for a 28-21 Owen Valley advantage with 69 seconds remaining.

"We came up here to win the game," said McBride. "When they made the old fashion three-point play, we had to go out and play them.

"We really thought we were going to be playing at 8:30 p.m. game tomorrow (winner's bracket)."

Madorin hit two free throws and Maners added a free throw and a basket to complete the scoring.

"We don't care about the final point spread at the end," said McBride. "We did exactly what we wanted to do.

"We only had nine turnovers. We are really disappointed that we didn't win. We expected to win. We didn't think it would have been the upset of the century."

Maners, who averages 23 points per game, finished with a game-high 13 points, including seven points in the fourth quarter.

"We knew we were going to have to try and shut down Maners and get out on their other 3-point shooters," said McBride.

The Patriots, who will face Terre Haute North at 8:30 p.m. today, made 3 of 4 shots from the field and 4 of 5 free throws during the final eight minutes.

Although Bloomfield controlled the pace of the game, Owen Valley led 13-10, 18-14 and 22-18 at the first three quarter stops.

Byron Royal, who topped the Cardinals with 10 points, beat Cullen Cochran on the baseline and his a spinning shot, cutting the Owen Valley lead to 22-20 with 4:44 left.

Mumma made 1 of 2 free throws, after being fouled by Madorin, as the Cards climbed with one point.

Owen Valley connected on 11 of 21 shots, a 523 clip. Bloomfield made half of its 18 attempts.

The Patriots hit 8 of 12 free throws compared to 3 of 4 for the Cardinals.

Another advantage for OV was they hit on 3 of 7 from 3-point range while Bloomfield was 0-for-5 from long distance.

In a rematch of last year's championship game, Owen Valley will meet Terre Haute North (7-2) at 8:30 p.m. tonight. North won that meeting 52-46.

Bloomfield will face Crawfordsville (2-7) at 5:30 p.m. today in the loser's bracket. North defeated Crawfordsville 71-36 Wednesday. Bloomfield and Crawfordsville met in last year's Wabash Valley Classic at Terre Haute North. The Cards prevailed 49-46 in overtime.

Crawfordsville, which does not have a senior on its roster, will start 5-10 Blake Harris and 6-0 Tyler Whittington at guards, 6-3 Josh Boykin and 6-2 Andrew Swart at forwards and 6-4 junior Jared Lindley at forward.

Boykin had 11 points in the loss to North.

Other first-round scores included Greencastle 60, Rockville 42; Terre Haute South 56, West Vigo 43; Northview 54, Turkey Run 41; Marshall, Ill. 81, Riverton Parke 43; Bethesda Christian 54, Sullivan 43; and South Vermillion 76, Monrovia 65.

Today's schedule also includes Rockville (4-4) vs. West Vigo (3-5) at 10 a.m.; Turkey Run (6-1) vs. Riverton Parke (2-5), 11:30 a.m.; Terre Haute South (3-3) vs. Greencastle (5-3), 1 p.m.; Northview (4-3) vs. Marshall, Ill. (6-3), 2:30 p.m.; Monrovia (2-5) vs. Sullivan (3-6), 4 p.m.; and South Vermillion (3-5) vs. Bethesda Christian (6-1) at 7 p.m.

Play will continue Friday and Saturday. Bloomfield will meet either Sullivan or Monrovia Friday. They would need two wins in their next two games to guarantee them a fourth game on Saturday.

OWEN VALLEY (33) -- Madorin 3-6 4-6 10, Mullins 0-0 0-0 0, Maners 4-7 3-4 13, Temples 0-2 0-0 0, Marshall 2-3 1-2 6, Figg 2-2 0-0 4, Cochran 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 11-21 8-12 33.

BLOOMFIELD (21) -- Nickless 1-3 0-0 2, Mumma 2-2 1-2 5, Tally 1-1 0-0 2, Held 1-3 0-0 2, Royal 4-9 2-2 10. Totals 9-18 3-4 21.

Owen Valley 13 5 4 11 -- 33

Bloomfield 10 4 4 3 -- 21

3-point shooting -- Owen Valley 3-7 (Maners 2-3, Marshall 1-2, Temples 0-2), Bloomfield 0-5 (Held 0-1, Royal 0-2, Nickless 0-2). Fouls -- Owen Valley 9, Bloomfield 13. Fouled out -- None. Rebounds -- Owen Valley 12 (Figg 3), Bloomfield 9 (Tally 3). Assists -- Owen Valley 8 (Maners 4), Bloomfield 5 (Tally 2). Steals -- Owen Valley 7 (Marshall 4), Bloomfield 3 (Tally, Royal, Nickless). Turnovers -- Owen Valley 8 (Marshall 3), Bloomfield 9 (Royal 3). Blocks -- None.