Floyd Central Shuts Down Bloomington South, Advances to 4A Semistate

Floyd Central used a second-half surge and staunch ball pressure to beat Bloomington South 48-35 in the IHSAA Class 4A regional at Bedford North Lawrence on Saturday, Feb. 14, earning a ticket to the semistate and handing the Panthers a postseason exit. The Highlanders improved to 23-3 while Bloomington South fell to 19-6.

Coleman led Floyd Central with 17 points on 7-of-15 shooting and added a pair of three-pointers. Clark scored 13 points, was 3-of-7 from the floor and made all six of his free throws while hauling in a team-high 10 rebounds. Roberts contributed 8 points on 3-of-11 shooting, E. Casteel chipped in 6 points, and Floyd Central finished 17-of-45 from the field with 9-of-17 at the free-throw line and a 5-of-14 mark from three.

Bloomington South was paced by Hall and DeVries with 7 points apiece; Schwartzman had 6, Lashley 6 and Fife 5. South shot 10-of-35 overall and made 11-of-13 free throws. Lashley grabbed a team-high 6 rebounds for the Panthers, who also went 4-of-18 from long range in the game and 1-of-13 from three over the final three quarters.

The game featured a tight first half in which South overcame a flurry of miscues and turned a halftime deficit into a 17-16 lead. South committed 13 turnovers before the break but still led at intermission. The Panthers opened the third quarter with a 22-19 advantage, only to see Floyd Central strangle possessions and answer with a decisive run. A sequence described as a seven-point possession by the Highlanders, combined with Violet Hall’s mounting foul trouble, flipped momentum and produced a 31-22 Floyd Central lead.

Turnovers proved decisive; Bloomington South finished with 25 turnovers while Floyd Central committed 16. Hall was assessed a technical and ultimately fouled out, further hampering the Panthers’ ability to respond in the second half. Bloomington South coach Larry Winters summed up the season’s end bluntly: "It was just a bad situation that was made worse by the way we had to finish the year, kind of limping to the finish line," Winters said. "We started getting frustrated because we couldn't get foul calls. And we allowed our frustration to dictate our next play and our next play and our next play." He added, "We got sick at the wrong time."

Bloomington South’s late-season injuries, illnesses and shorthanded roster contributed to the outcome despite the Panthers repeating as sectional champions for the first time since 1982-83. Floyd Central advances to the 4A semistate; an opponent and date for that round were not listed in postgame materials.