BV beats IVC, Princeton drops two at Bloomington: BCR roundup for Monday, Jan. 15, 2024

The Bureau Valley Storm defeated IVC 64-56 in a MLK matinee on Monday at the Storm Cellar that was postponed from Saturday.

The Grey Ghosts led 17-11 at the end of the first quarter and 31-28 at the half. Bryce Helms helped turned the tide for BV by hitting four 3-pointers in the third quarter to send the Storm to a 49-45 lead at quarter’s end.

Corban Chhim (23 points) led a balanced Storm attack of four players in double figures, including Landon Hulsing (13), Helms (12) and Logan Philhower (11). The Storm hit eight 3-pointers in the game.

Tigers drop two: Princeton dropped two games in Monday’s MLK Jr. Showcase at Bloomington Central Catholic, falling to Aurora Christian 70-69 and Rockford Lutheran 73-67.

In the opener, the Tigers had two shots at the end for the win, but came up short. Noah LaPorte led the Tigers with 22 points, Tyson Phillips had 12, Korte Lawson and Landon Koning had eight each and Daniel Sousa added seven.

“I thought we looked like a team that only practiced once in a week and came out defensively the first half and not give our best effort. The second half we played extremely well,” PHS coach Jason Smith said. “We had two good looks in the last four seconds and couldn’t make a two-footer. That’s how the cookie crumbles sometimes.”

The Tigers led by 11 (44-33) at the half against Lutheran, but couldn’t hang on in the second half. LaPorte again led the Tigers with 27 points with Koning adding 14 and Lawson 10.

“The second game was one of our best halves of the season. We were up by 11 and made too many turnovers and before you know it they cut it down to 4,” Smith said. “We really got tired and when you get tired and fatigued you don’t do some fundamental things and it comes back to bite you.

“Overall, we played some really good competition and played well for four quarters in two games. We need to string those quarters together.”

The Tigers played without juniors Jordan Reinhardt (injury) and Liam Swearingen (ill) and Smith said they got good play from seniors Evan Driscoll, who drew his first starts, and Sean Maynard, Koning and Landon Roark off the bench.