Columbus North’s Tyler Blythe (3) and Ty Ferguson (15) surround Bloomington North’s Marco Fitch during an IHSAA sectional game at Martinsville High School.
Tommy Walker | For The Republic
MARTINSVILLE — After two stirring comebacks to force overtime and subsequently a second overtime, Columbus North ran out of comebacks.
As a result, Class 4A No. 12 Bloomington North came away with a 60-55 double-overtime victory, ending the Bull Dogs season with a heartbreaking defeat in the semifinals of the Martinsville Sectionals.
“Our hearts are hurting in there,” Columbus North coach Paul Ferguson said. “We played a heck of a game, just kept competing the whole time and just weren’t able to get it done at the end.”
Bloomington North advances to tonight’s final, where it will play seven-time defending sectional champion Bloomington South.
The Bull Dogs (16-8) trailed by as many as seven in the third quarter, but fought back to take a 37-36 led with 6:55 remaining on a steal and layup by Tyler Blythe. The Cougars (21-3) went back up by three, but Columbus North tied it on another steal and layup by Blythe with 59 seconds left.
Following a Bloomington North turnover with 14 seconds remaining, the Bull Dogs had a chance to win it in regulation. But Cooper Horn’s runner was blocked out of bounds by the Cougars’ JaQualon Roberts with 1.5 seconds left, and after a lob to Horn on the in-bounds pass, his shot bounced off the rim, and the game remained tied at 44-44.
Bloomington North scored the first five points of the first overtime and led 49-44 with 20 seconds remaining. After a pair of free throws by Horn, they forced a 5-second call, and Rhett Harmon banked in a 3-pointer from 25 feet with 15 seconds left for force a second OT.
After the Cougars scored first in the second overtime, Columbus North’s Carson Dibble scored from inside to tie it. But Bloomington North scored eight in a row to pull away.
“A couple shots rolled off,” Ferguson said. “Some missed free throws just killed us down the stretch. But we kept fighting.”
The Bull Dogs went 13 for 21 from the free-throw line, while the Cougars were 25 for 31.
“It’s disappointing because we’ve been such a good free-throw shooting team this year,” Ferguson said. “It’s the best free-throw shooting team I’ve had. Just to go 13 of 21, you can play a great basketball game and lose if you don’t make your free throws, and you can play a poor game and win it sometimes, too, and we just didn’t get it done in that area tonight.”
Horn, who came back after spraining an ankle in the fourth quarter, led Columbus North with 14 points and seven rebounds.
“He tried to battle through it, but just didn’t have that normal lift and elevation he would have,” Ferguson said. “I know he would love to have that baseline out-of-bounds play back we ran at the end of regulation because I really thought that ball was going in.”
Sam King, who battled foul trouble most of the night, added 13 points for the Bull Dogs before fouling out with 42 seconds left in the first overtime. But the bench picked up the slack when he was out.
“We got some great bench play,” Ferguson said. “Obviously Rhett Harmon getting that huge 3 to put it in double overtime. Tyler Blythe, Damon Edwards just gave us everything they had off the bench. I couldn’t be prouder of my guys. I love their resiliency.”
