Sports

Hoops: Bloomington South, Terre Haute North Vigo set for sectional championship showdown

Bloomington South and Terre Haute North Vigo advanced through Friday’s semifinals to set up a 7 p.m. Saturday showdown for the Sectional 13 championship at Martinsville. South beat Terre Haute South Vigo 60–45, while North Vigo cruised past Bloomington North 78–39 to reach the final.

**Left:** Bloomington South Panther Max Surdam collects 2 of his 18 points against Vigo South. **Right:** Bloomington South Panther Jack Clark collects 2 points against Vigo South. (Dave Askins, March 6, 2026)

After surviving semifinal tests on Friday night, Bloomington South and Terre Haute North Vigo will meet Saturday (March 7) at 7 p.m. for the Sectional 13 championship at Martinsville High School.

The finalists arrived by dispatching their directional counterparts. Bloomington South defeated Terre Haute South Vigo in Friday’s semifinal, while Terre Haute North Vigo advanced by beating Bloomington North.

The two Bloomington schools entered post-season play with aspirations of a Sectional 13 title. Bloomington South and Bloomington North both finished the regular season with winning records.

The Cougars of Bloomington North had to play an extra game against Martinsville to advance to the semifinals, defeating the Artesians 56–34 on Tuesday. But on Friday, both Bloomington schools had a chance to play in Saturday night’s sectional title game.

Terre Haute North Vigo 78, Bloomington North 39

In the pairings, Bloomington North drew the short end of the stick, matching up against a 21–3 Terre Haute North Vigo squad that hadn’t lost a game since December. Riding a 19-game win streak, the Patriots cruised past Bloomington North 78–39 Friday night.

The Cougars couldn’t get their offense flowing throughout most of the game, finishing 16 of 40 from the field and 4 of 17 on their 3-point attempts. Junior guard Derrick Cross Jr. finished with a game-high 23 points, but his effort couldn’t will Bloomington North past a superior team. Junior forward Tevin Bridgewaters was the next leading scorer with 10 points.

Terre Haute North caught fire through the last three quarters Friday night. The Patriots knocked down 25 of their 32 shots, including going 7 of 9 from 3-point range, after only scoring 11 points in the first quarter. Terre Haute North also got to the free throw line consistently, converting 15 of 19 from the charity stripe.

It was a balanced scoring attack from Terre Haute North, as junior forward Tyler Renn and senior guard Cam Fennell both finished with 15 points each. Junior forward Blake Hammond, senior guard Brady Klopfenstein and senior forward Traishun Brown also produced 13 points each.

Bloomington North kept the game close early in the first quarter after tying it at 4–4 with 3:45 left, however, Terre Haute North went on a 7-0 scoring run. Cross Jr. hit a layup to end his team’s scoring drought, but turnovers hurt the Cougars, as they finished the first quarter with six giveaways.

Bloomington North took the lead multiple times to start the second quarter, but by then Terre Haute North had found its offensive rhythm. A technical foul on the Cougars head coach Jason Speer, over a disputed traveling call, boosted the Patriots lead to 31–20 with 2:15 remaining in the first half.

Terre Haute North finished the second quarter 10 of 12 from the field to take a 12-point halftime lead. Then, the Patriots started rolling in the third quarter, outscoring Bloomington North 20-12 to lead by 20 points. The Cougars couldn’t mount a comeback attempt in the final eight minutes—they were outscored 67-23 after the first quarter.

With the loss, Bloomington North finishes the season with a 14-8 record. The Cougars ended an up-and-down regular season with a loss to New Albany on Feb. 27, but found their stride in the latter half of the season, rattling off five straight wins.

Bloomington South 60, Terre Haute South Vigo 45

On paper, Bloomington South had an easy chance to win coming into Friday night’s semifinal action. Terre Haute South entered the contest 3-20 this season and on a 12-game losing streak. The last win for the Braves came against the Indianapolis Homeschool Wildcats on Jan. 6.

However, Terre Haute South stood firm for most of the game, all the way to the third quarter, when they were down just 38–35. But the strengths of the Panthers showed up late in the tight game, as Bloomington South scored 12 straight points to end the third quarter and hold on for a 60–45 victory.

Senior guard Max Surdam finished with a game-high 18 points, as Bloomington South shot 27 of 55 (49%) from the field throughout the contest. Surdam also corralled seven rebounds for the Panthers. Senior forward Matt Tierney and junior forward Duncan Combs thrived down low, finishing with 13 and 12 points, respectively.

South’s defense locked down Terre Haute South for most of the contest, as the Braves finished 17 of 43 (39%) from the field. Senior forward Tre Lewis had a team-high 12 points, but no other Brave finished with double digits. Junior forward Ace Snider and sophomore guard Jeremiah Riddle added nine points each.

Surdam started the game hot from the field, finishing the first quarter with 10 points. Along with Tierney’s six points, Bloomington South managed to take an 11-point lead after the first eight minutes. The Panthers forced six turnovers from Terre Haute South in the first quarter.

The lead was trimmed to seven points with 5:01 remaining in the second quarter after a layup from Riddle. The score by the Braves forced Bloomington South head coach J.R. Holmes to call a timeout, but his Panthers were able to hold onto a nine-point lead at halftime.

Bloomington South finished the first half 15 of 24 from the field, but went quiet to start the third quarter. Terre Haute South capitalized on the mistakes by the Panthers. Sophomore guard Austin Semmler rained down two 3-pointers, followed by a steal and score from Riddle, reducing the Braves deficit to three points.

However, a six-point, five-rebound quarter from Combs helped push Bloomington South’s lead out to 15 points from the start of the fourth quarter. The Panthers held onto the lead in the fourth quarter to pick up the semifinal victory.

After the victory Friday night, South advances to the IHSAA Class 4A Sectional 13 Championship game on Saturday. The matchup between Bloomington South Terre Haute North will take place at 7 p.m. at Martinsville High School. South won the regular season game between the two schools 71–68 on Dec. 19.