Local Sports News: October 30, 2023

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is Local-Sports.png

#3 Bloomington South takes down #1 Bloomington North in HS Football Sectional Semifinal
The #3 Ranked Bloomington South Panthers took down the #1 in Bloomington North Cougars 44-31 Friday Night in the Class 5A Sectional 15 Semifinals 44-31 at Dennis O. Martin Memorial Field on the Northside of Bloomington. The Panthers are 9-1 and get revenge on their cross-town rivals for handing them a 25-24 overtime loss at home on September 8.  Bloomington South will travel to Seymour on Friday for the Sectional Championship game to face the Owls who beat Columbus East 39-20 in the other semifinal game in Columbus Friday night. Seymour loss at Bloomington South 47-0 in the regular season finale on October 13, but as the Panthers showed it is hard to beat a team twice in the same season and Seymour for its 5th Sectional Championship in school history and first since 2001. Bloomington North ends the season at 9-1 and will look back at what was the first perfect regular season in school history and a Number 1 ranking and think what could have been if they had beaten their cross town rivals a second time. The game lived to the expectations with teams combining for 991 yards of total offense. Dash King was 25-39 for 442 yards with 3 touchdown passes and 1 rushing touchdown. King breaks his own school record which he set last year against Columbus North throwing for 406 yards. King threw 2 interceptions in this game but since he has started as a freshman, he has shown that he handles the pressure of being the signal caller. Jorian Brooks had 228 receiving yards with 2 touchdowns on 7 catches. Cole Grupenhoff finished 9 catches for 108 yards.

Bloomington South was led by Running Back Gavin Adams who finished 201 yards on 24 carries along with 121 of those yards on 16 carries coming in the second half. Quarterback Jarrin Alley was 14-24 for 218 yards and six touchdown passes. Wide Receiver Lucas Waldon had 5 catches for 94 yards and 3 touchdowns. DeAndre Black had 4 catches for 70 yards and 2 touchdowns. The Panthers racked up 251 rushing yards but only 50 of those came from somebody other than Adams along with 13 of the 37 total carries in the game. The Panthers lead the all-time series 49-15 and are 10-2 all time in sectional meetings against their cross-town rivals. The game was back and forth all night as Bloomington South scored first and then Bloomington North responded to tie the game at 7-7 after the first quarter. The game went to halftime tied 21-21 as both teams exchanged two touchdowns a piece in the second quarter.

The Cougars had 300 yards of offense going into the locker room while the Panthers had 212. In the Second Half the Panthers defense came up big with Ben Godar picking off Dash King as the Panthers got a 46-yard field goal from Bryce Taylor to make it 24-21 with 9:49 left in the third quarter. Bloomington North missed two field goals that proved to be costly. The Panthers went up by 10 with three seconds left in the third quarter when Jarrin Alley found Lucas Waldon on a 37-yard touchdown pass. The Cougars got one play at the end of the quarter and made the most of it as Jorian Brooks flew 80 yards up the sideline for a touchdown to make 31-28 Panthers going into the final quarter.

De’Andre Black scored on a 21-yard touchdown run with 8:01 left to make it 38-28. Noah Nelson added a 32-yard field goal with 6:17 left to make 38-31. Jarrin Alley from Tysen Smith on a 9-yard touchdown pass with the extra point no good to make 44-31 with 1:52 left. The Cougars got the ball at their own 33-yard line and Dash King went with the flea flicker and wanted to throw it out of bound but Lucas Waldon picked him off as the ball was sailing out of bounds at Panthers 34 yard line as he tapped the toes in bounds and sealed the win for the Panthers and will advance to their third straight sectional championship game and looking to three peat as sectional champions.

Indiana University Men’s Basketball overcomes slow start to beat University of Indianapolis
The Indiana Hoosiers Men’s Basketball team took the floor for the first time as they beat the Division II University of Indianapolis Greyhounds 74-52 Sunday afternoon at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall in the first of two exhibition games. The Hoosiers will host NAIA Powerhouse Marian University from Indianapolis on Friday Evening at 6:30pm.  The Hoosiers are 6-0 all time in exhibition games with the Greyhounds and 30-0 against Non-Division I team dating back to 2004-05 season when in the NCAA allowed these types of preseason exhibition games.

The Hoosiers added 10 new players in the offseason and fans were excited and curious to see how this new look team would all start to gel together under Mike Woodson. As with the first game in any season nerves and trying to find their rhythm play a factor and the Hoosiers got off to a slow start. The Greyhounds took a 3-0 when Paul Zilinskas drained a three pointer one minute and 14 seconds into the game. Malik Reneau scored the first bucket for the Hoosiers at 17:51 mark ending a two minute and nine second drought. The Hoosiers took the lead as Trey Galloway made a driving layup to the rim to make it 4-3 with 15:53 left in the first half. The Hoosiers were going inside instead of settling for the outside shot but were unable to finish a lot of shots around the basket.  

The Hoosiers led 10-8 with 10 minutes to go in the first half. Indiana led 17-11 with 6:24 left in the first half and the Greyhounds tied the game 19-19 with 4:02 left. Kel’el Ware’s jumper in the paint gave the Hoosiers the lead with 2:55 left before the break. Xavier Johnson hit two free throws with 53 seconds left to give the Hoosiers a 25-23 lead. Zliinskas hit a turnaround jumper and was fouled by Trey Galloway with 27 seconds left and hit a free throw to give the Greyhounds the lead 27-25 going into the locker room. “We had a nice halftime talk and we were tight to start the game. Give them credit that team plays hard and won 26 games last year and brought everybody back and they played their butts off in the first half, but we started to play Indiana Basketball,” Head Coach Mike Woodson said after the game.

In the second half the Hoosiers tied the game on a second chance layup by Malik Reneau to tie the game 27-27 53 seconds into the half. The Greyhounds took the lead 29-27 on a hook shot by Kendrick Toucha at the 18:40 mark. Kel’el Ware had a dunk that tied the game up 29-29 and IU took the lead on a Xavier Johnson bucket with 17:42 left. UIndy tied the game 31-3-1 on a made jumper by David Ejah. Reneau gave the Hoosiers the lead with 16:58 left on a driving layup and IU increased the lead to double digits with 11:25 left in the game. The Hoosiers started Xavier Johnson, Trey Galloway. Mackenzie Mgbako, Kel’el Ware and Malik Reneau to start the game. Mgbako finished with 14 points and 8 rebounds, Ware had 14 points and 6 rebounds, Reneau had 12 points and 6 rebounds, Johnson had 9 points, 6 assists and 4 rebounds and Galloway finished with 3 points and 3 assists. Coach Woodson brought in a second unit of Anthony Leal, Gabe Cupps, Payton Sparks, CJ Gunn and Anthony Walker as they contributed 22 points, 14 rebounds and 8 assists. Coach Woodson has been stressing depth all preseason long and with Kaleb Banks and Freshman Jakai Newton out with injuries this was the perfect time to experiment with his plan.  “We wanted to see if the two Units could play and we don’t have Kaleb Banks with us and he is a big piece a of the puzzle, I want to be able to play 9-10 guys and if we can do that, we will have a some left in the tank throughout the season” Woodson said

CJ Gunn had 8 points, 4 rebounds and 2 assists and he was glad that he finally was facing somebody others than his teammates every day. “it’s a blessing to be back out there on the court and we have been beating each other up all summer and its great to play another team and I had a lot of fun today” Gunn said after the game. Miami Florida Transfer Anthony Walker scored 6 points, pulled down three rebounds and dished three assists and said that the first half struggles were the best thing happened to this team and that Coach Woodson would get them straightened out in the locker room. “The real Coach Woody came out at halftime and he told us to play in Indiana Basketball and it showed in the second half and he has always been real since he has been coaching since he has been here” Walker said after the game. Indiana ended the game on a 7-0 run and the Greyhounds went scoreless for the final two minutes and 21 seconds going 0-4 from the field.

The University of Indianapolis coached by Paul Cosaro finished 26-7 in Division 2 last season and the Greyhounds were going to give the Hoosiers a battle in the first half and they did that will help them go forward in their season. Jesse Bingham who played at Warren Central led the Greyhounds with 13 Points and Paul Zilinksas added 11 points as they were outscored by the Hoosiers 45-29 in the second half.   

Indiana University Men’s Soccer Clinch a Share of the Big Ten Regular Season Title and #1 seed in the Big Ten Tournament Indiana men’s soccer (9-4-4, 4-2-2 B1G) won a share of the Big Ten regular season championship and the No. 1 seed in the conference tournament after a 4-1 victory over Rutgers (5-7-3, 3-4-1 B1G) Sunday (Oct. 29) on Jerry Yeagley Field at Bill Armstrong Stadium. The conference title is IU’s 33rd overall and its 18th regular season championship. IU shares the title with co-champion Penn State. The Hoosier will play No. 8-seeded Wisconsin in the quarterfinal round of the Big Ten Tournament on Friday at Bill Armstrong Stadium. The Hoosiers will host the Semifinals Next Wednesday November 8, and the Championship game on Sunday November 12.

The Hoosiers had goals from Hugo Bacharach, Collins Oduro, Patrick McDonald and Samuel Sarver. Curt Calov scored the lone goal for Rutgers who will be the seventh seed in the Big Ten Tournament and travel to Second Seed Penn State. Third seed Michigan State will host six seed Ohio State while fourth seed Northwestern hosts fifth seed Michigan. Penn State tied 1-1 at Wisconsin for its 7th Big Ten Regular Season title. The Hoosiers played Wisconsin to a scoreless draw in Bloomington on September 15.

Indiana University Football hangs with #10 Penn State in 33-24 loss The Indiana Hoosiers battled with the #10 Penn State Nittany Lions Saturday afternoon before an announced crowd of 107,209 at Beaver Stadium as the Nittany Lions held off the Hoosiers 33-24. The Hoosiers are 2-6 on the season and 0-5 in the Big Ten. Indiana now has to run the table needing to win their final four games in order to become bowl eligible. Penn State is 7-1 overall and 4-1 in the Big Ten will be heading to another Bowl game as they have 52 times before with a record 31-19-2 all time and 2 National Titles in 1982 and 1986. Indiana hosts Wisconsin Saturday at Noon and with most expecting this game to be one sided this game gives renewed hope to Indiana fans that the Hoosiers can finish the season on a positive note and have not given up on the season. The Hoosiers will travel to Illinois before hosting Michigan State and traveling to archrival Purdue. Wisconsin is 5-3 on the season and coming off a 24-10 home loss to Ohio State Saturday Night. Illinois is 3-5 while Michigan State and Purdue are 2-6 on the season.

The Hoosiers struck first when Brendan Sorsby found DeQuece Carter on a 90-yard pass with 7:37 left in the first quarter to the stun the Beaver Stadium crowd. Penn State responded with Drew Allar touchdown pass to Khail Dinkins for 9 yards with 1:37 left in the first quarter to tie the game at 7-7. Sorsby connected with Donaven McCulley on a 69-yard pass to make it 14-7 with 13:26 left before halftime. Penn State running back Nicholas Singelton scored on a 2-yard touchdown run with 2:51 left to make 14-14. Penn State would add a 50-yard field goal by Alex Felkins to give the Nittany Lions the lead 17-14 heading into the locker room. Penn State would score with 8:39 left in the third quarter when Allar found Theo Johnson on a 16-yard pass to make it 24-14. The Hoosiers kept fighting back as Sorsby connected with Omar Cooper Jr. on a 26-yard pass with 10:54 left in the game to get the Hoosiers back within three points. Chris Freeman would tie the game at 24-24 on a 35-yard field goal with 2:58 left. Penn State would respond with Allar finding Keandre Lambert-Smith on a 57-yard strike with 1:46 left to make it 31-24. The Hoosiers would get one more chance as Penn State came with the pressure and hit Sorsby as the ball was fumbled and there was a 25-yard backward scramble for the ball with ball being knocked out of the end zone for a safety and Penn State leading 33-24 and escaping with a win and Penn State improves to 25-2 all time and 13-0 at home against the Hoosiers.

Brendan Sorsby finished 13-19 with 269 Passing Yards 3 touchdowns and 1 interception. Josh Henderson had 12 carries for 57 yards. DeQuece Carter had 3 catches for 104 yards, Donaven McCulley 4 catches for 96 yards and Omar Cooper Jr. 3 catches for 52 years as all three had a receiving touchdown. The Hoosiers had 3 sacks and Josh Sanguinetti picked off Drew Allar in the fourth quarter as that was Allar’s first interception all season. Allar was 20-31 for 210 yards passing 3 touchdowns and 1 interception. Kaytron Allen and Nicholas Singleton had a combined 131 of the team’s 132 rushing yards along 33 of the teams 43 carries. Keandre Lambert Smith caught 6 passes for 91 yards and a touchdown. Theo Johnson had 2 catches for 21 yards and a touchdown along with Kahil Dinkins one touchdown pass for nine yards. Penn State had 3 sacks and Jayden Reed had an interception. Both Chris Freeman for Indiana and Alex Felkins for Penn State were 1-2 on field goals and combined 7-7 in extra points.

BLOOMINGTON, IN - August 6, 2023 - goalkeeper Jamie Gerstenberg #1 of the Indiana Hoosiers during Indiana Women’s Soccer Media Day at Bill Armstrong Stadium in Bloomington, IN. Photo By Christopher Conaway/Indiana Athletics

Indiana University Women’s Soccer player Jamie Gerstenberg named Big Ten Goalkeeper of the Year
After posting their best finish in conference play to end the regular-season, four Indiana women’s soccer members earns Big Ten postseason awards. The Hoosiers earned one specialty award with two members being named to the All-Big Ten First Team.

Junior Goalkeeper Jamie Gerstenberg is the first ever Goalkeeper of the Year for the Hoosiers. The Indiana goalie was also named to the All-Big Ten First Team after her stellar performance between the posts this season. She has played in all 18 games, with 0.63 goals against average and holds a .796 save percentage. The Birkenwerder, Germany, native has 12 victories on the season and holds the single-season shutout record with 10. She leads the Big Ten in shutouts per game (10, .556), and holds the second-highest goals against average (11, .629). Gerstenberg also ranks fifth in saves with 43 on the year. Gerstenberg was also named to the All-Big Ten Third Team in 2022 and made the Big Ten All-Freshman Team in 2021.

Graduate forward Paige Webber joins Gerstenberg on the All-Big Ten First Team after leading the Hoosiers’ offense this season. She has scored 12 goals, four assists combined for 28 points. Webber holds .426 shots on goal percentage and has netted five game winning goals this season. The Grand Blanc, Mich., native is ranked second in goals (12) and game-winning goals (5) and third in shots (61) and points (28). Webber is also fifth in the league in shots on goal (26). Webber has started in all 18 games for the Hoosiers and played over 1100 minutes on the pitch. She was named NCAA Player of the Week, Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week and earned a spot on TopDrawerSoccer’s National Team of the Week after setting a single-game record of four goals against Hanover on Sept. 6. In addition, the graduate striker earned the No. 26 spot on the TDS Midseason Top-100 list. Gerstenberg and Webber were also named to the Big Ten women’s soccer Preseason Watch List. The two All-Big Ten First Team is the first since 2008 and the only the first time two Hoosiers have been named in the name season.

Freshman Defender Piper Coffield has made a huge impact for the Hoosiers in her rookie season on the offensive and defensive side of the ball. She has collected three Big Ten Weekly Awards after aiding in the Hoosiers’ 10 shutouts this season and scoring her first two goals off penalty kicks this season. The Mars, Penn., native has scored a total of three goals along with a pair of assists for eight points this year. Coffield has made 17 starts and appearances on the pitch for the Hoosiers totaling 1530 minutes this season. Rounding out the awards, sophomore defender Olivia Albert was one of 14 recipients of the Big Ten Sportsmanship Award. Albert has stepped up this season for the Hoosiers. A native of East Lansing, Mich., Albert has played in 15 matches this season helping the Hoosiers to shutout 10 opponents. 

Former Indiana University Men’s Basketball player Jamarcus Ellis dies in a Car Accident at age 38
Former Indiana basketball player Jamarcus Ellis has passed away at the age of 38. The Chicago Sun Times is reporting Ellis died early Friday in a car accident. According to the report, Ellis is survived by three sons.  He was no stranger to tragedy.  His father was killed when he was 6 and his mother died of lung failure when he was 14. In his lone season at IU, the ill-fated 2007-08 campaign, Ellis averaged 6.8 points, 7.0 rebounds and 3.4 assists in 30.6 minutes per contest.  He was dismissed from the team following that season that saw coach Kelvin Sampson get fired.  The Hoosiers began 24-4 before losing four of five at the end.

Ellis was a Chicago native and product of Westinghouse High School.  He led Westinghouse to the city title as a senior. The 6-foot-5 guard came to IU in 2007 as part of a six-man recruiting class that ultimately included a pair of NBA guards Eric Gordon and Jordan Crawford. Prior to arriving at Indiana, Ellis was named the National Junior College Player of the Year after the 2006-07 season.  That year he averaged 17.1 points, 8.5 rebounds and 5.9 assists per game for Chipola (Fla.) Junior College, helping guide the team to a 33-3 record and a runner-up finish in the Junior College National Tournament. He transferred to Oklahoma City University following his lone season in Bloomington. Ellis was currently working as a paraprofessional at a school in the Chicago western suburbs.

Follow us on Facebook

Image result for Facebook button

For more local news . . . Check out our archived episodes of What’s Happenin’ and Talkin’ Sports with Nick Jenkinson