By Andy Amey
TERRE HAUTE — If there was a high school basketball upset in the first round of the ninth annual Pizza Hut Wabash Valley Classic on Friday at Terre Haute South, it may have come in the fifth game.
No, the host Braves’ 69-31 victory over winless South Vermillion wasn’t all that unexpected. But the fact that South set any kind of positive record concerning outside shooting was certainly something that no one was counting on at intermission, at which point the Braves were 3 for 21 from 3-point range and leading only 29-18.
But John Michael Jarvis of South hit seven second-half 3-pointers, giving him nine for the game — wiping out the record of eight set in 2002 by Logan Whitman of Northview and tied the following season by Laren Russell of South Vermillion — plus a game-high 34 points as the Braves pulled away rapidly.
There was a correlation involved, coach Mike Saylor of South said afterward.
“John Michael Jarvis is our primary shooting target, and we weren’t doing that in the first half,” Saylor pointed out. “We went back to him in the second half, and you see what happened.”
Although South’s four-guard lineup is picking up a reputation for its long-range bombing, the Braves’ first three baskets on Friday were actually dunks — two by Jarvis, including a backwards two-hand jam on a lob from Jake Odum just 10 seconds into the game.
The Braves, in fact, did not approach their game against a winless foe with any kind of laid-back attitude. South hit the Wildcats with a shock-and-awe defensive blitz from the opening tip, forcing eight first-quarter turnovers and keeping the South Vermillion offense from running with any kind of precision.
“Everything was clicking at first,” Saylor agreed after the game.
But while the Wildcats made some early mistakes, they never lost their determination. And once the Braves stopped dunking, they may have become overly unselfish — one player in particular, Saylor felt.
“[Jarvis] was driving me nuts, passing up shots,” Saylor said after the game.
“I wasn’t really hitting,” explained Jarvis, who was 2 for 7 from long range in the first half, “so I thought some of my other teammates would start hitting.”
South Vermillion gamely pulled within 13-9 when Logan Laswell stole the ball and made a layup to start the second quarter, and the Wildcats were still within 24-16 late in the half.
But Jarvis was 7 for 11 from 3-point range in the second half. And after South Vermillion put scores by Cody Mumaw and Kevin McMasters back-to-back early in the third quarter to pull within 36-22, the Braves went on a 17-2 run that took the heart out of the Wildcats.
“They’re a good team,” coach Rodney Idlewine of South Vermillion said of the Braves afterward. “We missed some opportunities to keep it closer [in the first half, including 2-for-7 free throw shooting], but [the Braves] missed some shots too.
“But in the second half we came out and didn’t have anything, and that’s been our Achilles heel right now,” the coach continued. “When you’re not playing well, that’s what happens.”
Jarvis’s 34 points were complemented by Odum, with 12 points and 12 assists, and Ian McIntyre, with 12 points and a team-high eight rebounds. McIntyre and Anthony McGill had five steals each, while Jarvis also blocked four shots.
Patrick Harpenau was South Vermillion’s high scorer with eight points, while Mumaw and Laswell had seven each. Andy Walsh had team-high totals of seven rebounds and four assists.
“It’s a great feeling,” Jarvis said when asked about setting his record, “but most of my appreciation goes to my teammates, for their passing and screening.”
“We consider that a team record,” Saylor agreed. “For him to get all those 3-pointers, we had to have screeners willing to sacrifice themselves and passers willing to give up the ball.”
Both Saylor and Jarvis hope for better things from the Braves today against West Vigo.
“I think we’ve got a long way to go in terms on concentration and effort,” the coach said.
“We came out hard today but then kind of slowed down,” added Jarvis. “We need to stay strong the whole game.”
South Vermillion 31
Player fg 3pt ft r s pf tp
Mumaw 3-6 0-1 1-2 1 0 1 7
Harpenau 4-9 0-0 0-1 4 2 2 8
Walsh 1-5 0-1 1-4 7 1 0 3
Reyher 0-4 0-2 0-2 0 1 0 0
Laswell 3-8 1-4 0-0 1 1 1 7
Hastings 0-0 0-0 0-0 4 0 0 0
Craigmyle 2-3 0-0 0-1 5 0 0 4
McMasters 1-1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 2
Kempf 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0
Haltom 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0
Scott 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0
Caylor 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0
Totals 14-37 1-8 2-10 *31 5 4 31
Terre Haute South 69
Player fg 3pt ft r s pf tp
Austin 1-3 0-0 0-0 4 1 2 2
Odum 6-9 0-2 0-0 4 4 1 12
Jarvis 12-21 9-18 1-2 6 3 0 34
McGill 1-6 0-4 0-0 0 5 2 2
McIntyre 5-12 1-8 1-2 8 5 1 12
Rose 0-2 0-0 0-0 3 0 1 0
Housley 1-2 0-0 0-0 1 0 1 2
Worrell 1-3 0-2 0-0 3 2 0 2
Tanoos 0-2 0-2 0-2 5 0 0 0
Smith 0-2 0-2 0-0 1 0 1 0
Young 1-1 1-1 0-0 1 0 1 3
Buske 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 1 0
Totals 28-63 11-39 2-6 *38 20 11 69
South Vermillion 7 11 9 4 — 31
Terre Haute South 13 16 24 16 — 69
FG Pct. — SV .378, THS .444. 3-pt FG Pct. — SV .125, THS .282. FT Pct. — SV .200, THS .333. (*) Includes team rebounds — SV 9, THS 2. Turnovers — SV 26, THS 8. Assists — SV 9 (Walsh 4), THS 21 (Odum 12). Blocks — SV 0, THS 9 (Jarvis 4). Technical foul — Austin (hanging on rim).
Next — South Vermillio (0-5) plays Bloomfield at 4 p.m. today. South (7-0) plays West Vigo at 7.
