Center Grove’s Ella Hobson sets up the offense during the first quarter of Friday’s sectional semifinal against Bloomington North.
Sam Findley | For the Daily Journal
BLOOMINGTON
It wasn’t always smooth sailing for Center Grove on Friday night.
But thanks in part to a stellar performance by junior Aubrie Booker, the Trojans held off Bloomington North, 42-30, in semifinal action at the Class 4A Bloomington South Sectional.
Booker came through time and time again for Center Grove (20-4). Whenever the Trojans’ offense hit a snag, she’d find a shot from seemingly nothing. When a teammate misfired, she grabbed the rebound and secured a second chance. She finished with 13 points and seven rebounds, with four of those on the offensive glass. Booker also played lockdown defense at the top of the key.
She was the only player that Bloomington North (17-7) didn’t have an answer for.
“She had a great second half for us,” Center Grove head coach Kevin Stuckmeyer said of Booker. “I thought early in the third quarter, she really settled us down with her composed finishes around the rim. I thought she did a tremendous job defensively of guarding (Bloomington North’s Mia Robbenolt) one on one and really making her earn it. And her offensive rebounds late that got us extra possessions when the game was in the balance were huge.”
The Trojans, as a whole, won this game on defense. They forced 17 turnovers from the Cougars, while holding them to 12 for 27 shooting.
Junior Audrey Annee added 10 points, and sophomore Lilly Bischoff scored nine points. The latter went 3 for 4 at the foul line in the fourth quarter as Center Grove put the game away.
The Trojans led 7-4 at the end of the first quarter. Both teams got off to slow starts, as the game remained scoreless until Booker hit a layup nearly three minutes in. The Cougars’ slump went even longer — in the game’s first 5:30, they recorded just one shot attempt with six turnovers. But they clawed back after a timeout.
And that run continued into the second quarter. North went on a 7-2 run to tie the game early in the period, and the teams went back and forth from there. The Cougars briefly held an 18-16 lead before the Trojans snatched it back on a 3-pointer and took that 19-18 advantage to halftime.
Stuckmeyer thought the Trojans would be fine if they came out in the third quarter at a more controlled tempo.
“At halftime, I thought we were in a good spot. You don’t expect anything different in a sectional type game against a really good team with players that can really score,” Stuckmeyer said. “They got a little hot in that second quarter, and we were playing a little fast. If we could settle in that third quarter, not play quite as fast, and just settle in defensively, (we’d be okay).”
Center Grove stretched its lead to nine points in the third quarter with an 8-0 run over the first five minutes. North committed seven turnovers in the period, but the Cougars prevented the game from getting away and entered the fourth quarter down 30-23.
North had to start fouling with more than two minutes left in the game, and Center Grove got out to a double-digit lead late at the free-throw line.
The Trojans will face Mooresville (19-6) in tonight’s championship game.
Stuckmeyer said they’ve already started thinking about the Pioneers a little. He told his team Friday that this was just another step in the journey.
“I thought they answered the bell in a game that we expected would be a grind, that would be just getting a team’s best shot that’s a really good team, and they answered the bell,” Stuckmeyer said. “Now they’ve got to do it one more time.”
