Overcoming North Central's quickness a must

By Rex Kirts

North Central's quickness on defense concerns J.R. Holmes the most.
Well, its offensive firepower isn'tbad, either. So is the way it attacks the offensive boards.
And . . . in other words, NC has a lot of weapons to throw at South in Saturday's semistate.
But, as Holmes said, "We're not bad."
South (24-2), the team with the best winning percentage in the state the last 16 years, is in the semistaste for the fourth time in the last six years. North Central (22-2) is the defending state champ. On paper, it's another good Hoosier Hysteria matchup.
Two years ago South beat Franklin Central in the semistate on the way to a 26-0 state championship. Three years ago South lost to North Central and the dynamic Eric Gordon, who scored 21 points in the first quarter to lead the Indy school to victory.
WHEN THE TEAMS clash at 3:30 p.m. at Southport High School, North Central will again feature outstanding perimeter players. Prior to Gordon last year, guard Jason Gardner helped beat a great South team in overtime in 1999. This year, NC is led by guards D'Vauntes Smith-Rivera and Ronnie Johnson.
Smith-Rivera scored 37 points in the regional championship game. In the first game of the regional against Pike, he didn't play, but Johnson took over and keyed the win with 25 points, 21 in the sescond half. Smith-Rivera didn't play because he threw a punch in the sectional, and the IHSAA suspended him for a game.
"North Central is unbelievably athletic," Holmes said. "They put so much pressure on you."
To stay competitive, Holmes said, his club will have to rebound defensively, stop the fast break and beat the pressure.
North Central has been beaten by Pike and Lawrence North. Pike hit the basket very well, and LN's 7-foot center dominated inside.
South can hit the basket, too. In the regional it shot 52 and 53 per cent in wins over New Albany and Castle. The Panthers rebounded well, but NC's Panthers are better on the boards than New Albany and Castle.
"We'll have to shoot the ball really well," Holmes said. "Joey (Forney) and Desmond (Marks) will have to get some baskets inside.
"WE'VE GOT TO BEAT their run-and-jump (defense). Spencer (Turner) can't get too frustrated."
North Central has done a good job defensively on taking away the best offensive players of the opposition. Holmes expects NC to be all over Turner and try to deny his outside shots.
"They're the best defensive team we've seen," Holmes added. "Their quickness concerns me. Transition defense is important, and defensive rebounding."
South, of course, hasn't gotten to 24-2 without weapons of its own. It starts five seniors, two of whom, Dee Davis and Spencer Turner, started on the state championship team in 2009. Davis was MVP in the title game win over Fort Wayne Snider.
Davis is a concern for any defense. He's an outstanding penetrator and hits the 3-point shot at 42 per cent. His averages are 21.6 points and 5.6 assists.
Turner is a long-ball theat averaging 16.1.
DAVIS AND TURNER get solid help from Forney (9.7), Ben Stowell (8.5) and Marks (7.8). Forney and Marks dominated the boards in the regional, and Forney was very effective defensively against Castle's big man, holding him to 14 points under his average.
South's bench also played an important role in the regional. Juniors Trae Washington and Michael Bower and senior Alex Forney contributed key minutes.
The winner advances to the state finals at Conseco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis next Saturday. It will play the winner of the Munster-Kokomo semistate for the championship.
PANTHER NOTES: Forney has had an impressive defensive season. He held three college Division I players, Jeremy Hollowell of Lawrence North, Hanner Perea of LaPorte LaLumiere and Alex Stutz of Castle, to 5, 4 and 8 points . . . South's crowd at the regional ins Seymour was twice Castle's at night. As of Friday just before noon South had sold about 940 tickets to the semistate, and that's with many students away for spring break.