Turner and Davis drill North, Bower tough off the bench

By Rex Kirts

During the pre-game warmups, Spencer Turner drained shot after shot. His game face was steely.
"He had been tellling me he was ready to go," Dee Davis said. "He puts in a lot of work."
In South's last game, its only loss of the season to Center Grove, Turner hit 2 of 13 on 3-point shots. Friday night against North he hit all seven 3s, a couple of them from "way downtown."
Turner scored a career high 29 points and Davis matched his career high of 29. Their combined total of 58 outscored North as South won the Conference Indiana matchup, 86-55, before a packed South gym. Three-fourths of the crowd were Panther fans. Some fans were turned away at the gate and missed seeing South win for the 10th straight time in the city series.
While South's shooting show was spectacular, the Panthers got some production from several players.
Davis, hitting 9 of 14 shots and 4 of 6 on 3s, had eight assists in addition to his points. Desmond Marks didn't see the ball much because of the shooting domination by Turner and Davis, but he had nine rebounds as South dominated the boards, 38-22, Joey Forney had eight points and six rebounds. Michael Bower's defensive play off the bench was tremendous, and he chipped in seven points.
AS DOMINATE as the final score was, it took a rally from a 17-17 tie at the end of the first quarter to get to the 31-piont victory.
"North-South jitters," Davis said of the first quarter play. "We had a tough time containing Damon Brown, then we started playing defense and picked up the tempo."
When the Panthers started to take control, they shot out into dominance qujickly.
They outscored North by 15 points in the second quarter for a 42-27 halftime lead. Turner went crazy on 3-pointers and was part of a four-point play. Fouled while Forney made a basket, Turner added two free throws for a 36-24 lead in the second quarter.
Turner went one better in the third quarter, converting a five-point play. He was fouled while making a 3-pointer. He missed the free throw but followed it for a rebound basket and 47-29 lead.
Going 2 for 13 on 3s and 3 of 14 overall last week didn't please Turner.
"I WAS A LITTLE UPSET from the last game," he said. "I was in the gym four or five hours a day this week (shooting). Hard work does pay off." His overall shooting was 10 of 11.
Asked what South did to break away after the first quarter, Turner said, "We got really hot and made a huge run. We worked the ball around well and got wide open shots."
"Spencer has spent a lot more time in the gym the last week," Holmes said.
Another thing the Panthers did well was hold the ball for the last shot at the end of the first three quaarters and hit all three times. Davis got a 3 to end the first and third quarters and Bower a steal and layup to end the half.
"We just started working together," Bower said of the pullaway, "and finding the open man who was hot.
"Every year against North it seems Spencer gets deeper and deeper on his 3s. I was rebounding for him during pre-game - I knew it was going to be a good night."
Marks said the Panthers had to come back after the doujble overtime loss to Center Grove. "We wanted to show everybody we could come back strong."
COACH J.R. HOLMES felt the key part of the game was the second quarter when the Panthers extended the lead from nine to 15 points with Davis, Turner and Marks on the bench because of foul trouble.
"We went on a key run and that kept them (North) from feeling they could get back in the game," Holmes said. "Damon Brown went out, and we pressured them and went up 15."
Holmes liked what was happening in the third quarter, too
"The kids found each other," Holmes said. "They were calling plays for each other to get the ball to the guys who were hot." The Panthers shot 54 per cent on all shots and 55 on 3s while North hit 35 and 33.
Bower can create a lot of havoc with his defense, which he did against North.
"HE PLAYS HARD," Holmes said. "When he was denying Damon the basketball that hurt North's effectiveness on offense."
A point of emphasis coming in was to limit North's offensive rebounds, and that succeeded because it had only four.
"North likes to put their heads down and drive, and we didn't want to send everybody to help and let them get offensive rebounds," Holmes said.
Holmes felt the pace of the game was in South's favor, and he liked the emotion in the gym and the big crowd.
The primary goal, he said, was to get a conference win at home. The Panthers are 10-1 overall and 3-0 in the league, tied with Franklin Central and Pike for the conference lead.
South's next game is Tuesday at home against Columbus East. East is coached by former Panther Brent Chitty.
South has won 40 straight home games and 27 straight in Conference Indiana.