Raining Reed: Gavin Reed's hot shooting helps Bloomington North hold off Martinsville

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — One three? Solid. Three threes? A great night. Six threes? Well, that's just spectacular, and spectacular is exactly what Bloomington North senior Gavin Reed was Friday night against Martinsville.

The senior was relentless from behind the arc, splashing home three triples in the first half and following it up with an additional three in the third quarter, helping the Cougars to nine of their first 11 points of the final half.

Reed's play resulted in a scorching hot 24-point performance, a team high, leading Bloomington North past Martinsville in a 71-60 win.

"We certainly needed that performance from him," Cougars' head coach Jason Speer said. "He's an excellent shooter and knocked them down when we certainly needed them."

Key Plays

For pure style points, the most impressive play was the one that ended the first quarter. Bloomington North senior JQ Roberts swatted a layup attempt by Martinsville's Brody Staggs, then proceeded to toss it down the floor to Dawan Daniels, who beat the buzzer with a 3-pointer.

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However, the most important was in the fourth as Martinsville, crawling its way back into the game, brought the score within nine points with 3:40 to go. That is, until an unlikely source, senior Grant Wellman, knocked down a triple to put the Cougars ahead by 12, 60-48.

The make sparked North to the finish line, despite continued efforts to tie things by the Artesians, who managed to get within seven with 1:19 to play. But it was too little, too late. Martinsville was forced to foul in an effort to save time, and the Cougars knocked down the majority of their free throws to stay ahead.

By the numbers

All things considered; it was a spirited performance by Martinsville Grady Gardner. The freshman continues to impress and has only gotten better as the seasons went along. Against one of the state’s top teams in Bloomington North, Gardner cashed in a team-high of 16 points, including four threes, plus a handful of steals.

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"He's been coachable, he's really worked on the defensive end and as a freshman, that's hard to do, the game's very fast," Martinsville coach Kip Staggs said. "I've been very impressed by how he has been staying in rhythm with the game. He's just gotten better and better. We've seen a steady growth with him."

While Reed's performance was dazzling, teammate Dawan Daniels also had quite an impact. The senior scored 13 in the first half, proving important in the Cougars' early efforts. He followed it up with six in the second half for 19 points in total.

Martinsville's Caleb Cheatham came alive in the second half, scoring 10 for a total of 12, as did Skyler Pruett, who had nine in the final two quarters for an 11-point night. Brody Staggs had eight points before having his activity reduced due to foul trouble.

What it means

If there's one thing Martinsville is searching for, outside of its next win, it's a consistent four quarters of basketball. Tonight, they were close to achieving that, but a turnover laden opening four minutes put the Artesians at an early deficit that it tried to crawl out of for the entirety of the game.

Then there was the foul trouble. Three players made early exits, including one of the most important in Staggs. The Cougars had 36 total foul attempts, which, in time, add up. Despite it all, Martinsville still nearly matched North's second half point total, 37, with 35 points.

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"The difference of the game tonight was the first four minutes," Staggs said. "We turned it over the first two possessions and set the tone early. But I'm proud of our guys and the way we fought and got back in it. We're getting closer. We played probably 28 minutes tonight. The problem is you gotta play 32."

To North's credit, they had an answer to every burst of Martinsville's. Whether it was converting free throws or making a timely bucket, they kept the foot on the gas, continuously squashing any comeback hopes.

"Martinsville is a very tough, well coached sectional opponent and a very experience team," Speer said. "We had to take care of the ball and make our free throws. I think we made 16 of our 20 free throws there at the end. So that certainly helped us to seal it at the end there."

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With starter Bril Kante out of the lineup for the foreseeable future, seeing players like Reed and Daniels step up is a promising sign for Speer.

"We certainly miss Brill, but we know he'll be back," Speer said. "He's a part of it every step of the way. Call it inspiration, but we'll try to do everything we can to get as many wins as we can for him."

Looking ahead

Martinsville will take on Perry Meridian at home Friday, Jan. 20, followed by a home date with Bloomington South on Jan. 21. Bloomington North squares off against Evansville North Saturday, in Evansville, followed by an away matchup with conference rival Terre Haute South Saturday, Jan. 21.

Contact reporter Devin Voss at dvoss@gannett.com or follow him on Twitter at @DevinVoss23.

This article originally appeared on The Reporter Times: Gavin Reed's hot shooting helps Bloomington North hold off Martinsville