By Rex Kirts
There's a reason why J.R. Holmes has won more than 600 games in his career, and it showed Saturday afternoon against LaPorte LaLumiere.
He can coach.
He works awful hard. He prepares his teams well, and they work well together and play hard and smart.
And it helps to have players like Dee Davis, Spencer Turner, Joey Forney, Desmond Marks and Ben Stowell (the all-senior starting lineup), with junior Michael Bower coming off the bench. None have ever lost a varsity game at home.
They ate up basketball factory LaLumiere's tall bunch, 56-48, before a nearly full house that included lots of IU people interested in seeing recruit Hanner Perea.
The Hoosier group didn't see much to be encouraged about because the 6-4 Forney defended the 6-9 Perea out of the gym, holding the Colombian junior to four points.
MARKS WAS ON the other big man, 7-0 junior Obij Aget, and held him to four points.
Junior guard Bobo Drummond came in highly touted, but he didn't accomplish much against the combined defensive effort of Stowell and Davis, hitting just 2 of 11 shots.
South, said LaLumiere coach Alan Huss, was better prepared and better coached and out-toughed his team. South was the more physical team and hustled more, getting most of the loose balls, and committed few turnovers.
LaLumiere, which is not an IHSAA member and recruits players internationally, had won 15 in a row and South came into the game wore out from two weeks of illness and a hard game at Perry Meridian Friday night. The Panthers were totally gassed in the fourth quarter and made some turnovers but hung on.
They actually dominated the game much more than the score indicates. They didn't shoot well (.396), however, so a ton of missed layups kept the margin from being about 20 points.
LaLumiere didn't shoot well, either (.422). Nor was LaLumiere interested in playing a whole lot of defense. In fact, LaLumiere didn't even look too interested in playing the game.
South's defense might have had something to do with LaLumiere's flatness offensively. And the penetrating of the dynamic Davis certainly had something to do with LaLumiere not being effective defensively.
DAVIS, WHOSE outside shooting was off, charged into the long arms of the 7-0 Aget and 6-9 Perea and shot layup after layup to score 16 points. Turner had 18, including several free throws down the stretch.
And look at this remarkable stat: rebounds, South 31-27.
Marks had eight rebounds, Forney and Davis six, Turner five, Stowell four and Bower two. Bower didn't play a lot but made a couple of big plays, including a steal and keeping a ball alive that resulted in a layup for Turner.
A key for the Panthers (19-2) coming in was keeping LaLumiere away from the offensive boards. And they succeeded in limiting the tall visitors to just four offensive rebounds.
"I had fun," Marks said. "I've played them in AAU, so nothing was different.
"I knew I had to keep the 7-footer and Hanner off the boards and keep them from dunking. They got only one dunk, and that came on a fast break."
Forney worked on Perea pretty good.
"I just did the same thing as I did against Hollowell," Forney said. "I got under him and tried to make him uncomfortable."
FORNEY LIMITED Jeremy Hollowell of Lawrence Central to five points and Perea to four. Those are two major college recruits, three and five inches taller than Forney, who got a total of nine points against him. That's a life-long memory.
"I thought our defense was great all night long," Holmes said, speaking not just of Forney but the whole team.
Forney, and the other Panthers, were mystified that LaLumiere didn't get the ball inside more to the big men and mystified at the Lakers' demeanor.
"I think they were kind of star-struck by Indiana basketball and our fans," he said.
In addition to his defense, Forney hit a big 3-point shot and two big free throws in the fourth quarter.
Several of the Panthers have been sick lately, including Davis. He hasn't had his legs, and his 3-point shot isn't falling.
"I'VE HAD THE FLU," Davis said. "Tonight we had a lot of adrenalin at the start."
Davis' attacking the big men off the dribble was highlight stuff, as usual. He was cradling the ball and then getting it over them. "I practice that," he said.
"I played with these guys in AAU," Davis added. "They were just being nice to me and not blocking my shot.
"I think we just came out and played hard. We had a lot of momentum going into this game, after winning the conference." The win at Perry Meridian gave South the Conference Indiana title four straight years, this year sharing it with Franklin Central, which beat Pike on Friday.
Davis, all (listed) 6-feet of him, asked, "How many rebounds did I have?" It was six, after getting 11 at Perry Meridian. That means, despite being sick, he's still hustling.
TURNER SAID the game, "was a lot of fun." It was Senior Night and the last regular season home game of his career, although South will host the sectional.
"It came fast, four years," Turner said. "I haven't lost a game here. I've been so blessed to have the coaching staff I have."
While other Panthers started slowly shooting the ball, Stowell picked up the slack with a couple of 3-balls. Another one who's been battlling the flu, he finished with seven points.
"I thought we didn't play well for a long stretch but kept fighting and hit our shots when we had to," Stowell said. "Other than 4 (No. 4, point guard Aaron Emanuel, the only Laker in double figure scoring with 14 points) they weren't attacking at all."
Holmes felt a key to holding down Perea was keeping him from getting the ball where he could drive and keeping him off the blocks. That countered all the missed Panther layups
HOLMES HAS ENJOYED bringing in, and beating, high profile teams the last three years, Detroit Country Day and Lexington Catholic before LaLumiere. Now he's hoping for the 20th win this year when the Panthers close out the regular season Thursday at Decatur Central.
"It's an opportunity for 20 wins in the regular season. That's huge," Holmes said.
