4A No. 3 Southport beats No. 1 Evansville Reitz

Joey Brunk grew up hearing stories from his father of showdown games at Southport Fieldhouse in front of sellout crowds.

"I wanted something like that," Brunk said.

On Saturday afternoon, Brunk got it. The historic fieldhouse, the site of so many big games since 1958, was the beautiful backdrop in one of the most anticipated regular season high school basketball games in recent memory.

When it was over, Class 4A third-ranked Southport could celebrate an 88-80 win over No. 1 and previously-unbeaten Evansville Reitz. But with the finality of the sectional tournament at hand this week, Saturday afternoon felt more like a celebration of two wonderful high school basketball teams and the state's passion for the game.

"Unbelievable," Southport coach Kyle Simpson said of the atmosphere. "People can say what they want but I think Hoosier Hysteria is still alive and well."

A big reason for the allure of Saturday's game was the curiosity factor. Reitz came in averaging a state-leading 94.1 points a game and carried with it a 23-0 record. No team had come within 14 points of Reitz, which had scored 105 points or more in four its last six games.

The question: How would the Panthers' pressing, uptempo style work against a strong, physical and athletic Southport team that had played a much tougher overall schedule?

"That's why I think playing this game was good," Reitz coach Michael Adams said. "It was good for Indiana high school basketball."

After it was postponed last Saturday due to snow, Reitz didn't have to reschedule. The Panthers played Friday night and have a sectional game on Tuesday against Evansville North. But Adams said the players, after so many blowout wins, wanted a shot at the Cardinals.

"I got all of this rhetoric about why we'd want to play," Adams said. "These kids wanted to do this."

It lived up to the hype.

Southport (22-2) trailed 35-32 at halftime, but fed the 6-10 Brunk repeatedly in the third quarter. Brunk responded with 14 points in the third as Southport built a six-point lead.

"I told our guys we have to be patient," Simpson said. "Joey stepped up and hit some shots. He got more assertive and got physical."

It was far from over. Southport rode Malik Bennett in the fourth quarter as the senior guard scored 19 of his game-high 30 points in the quarter. The Cardinals were seemingly in control, up 77-68. But sophomore Paul Scruggs – one of Southport's primary ballhandlers and offensive weapons – fouled out on a charge call with 2:55 left.

With Scruggs out of the game, Southport struggled with the Reitz press. The Panthers reeled off a 7-0 run in a blink, pulling to 77-75 on a layup by junior Dru Smith with 1:44 left. After an Eli Walton dunk, Reitz leading scorer Jaelan Sanford made his only field goal to answer.

Reitz then took its first lead since early in the third quarter when Smith, following a steal, made a free throw and followed a free throw miss with a putback. All of a sudden, Reitz led 80-79 with 1:12 to play.

"We finally made that run," Adams said.

It didn't hold. Bennett was fouled and made two free throws with 1:02 left to make it 81-80 Southport. Reitz missed a 3 and Bennett made one of two free throws with 41.9 seconds left. Walton forced a turnover and Bennett made two more free throws with 33.9 seconds remaining.

Southport was officially in the clear when Brunk knocked down two free throws with 12.4 seconds left to make it 86-80.

Brunk, playing in front of Indiana coach Tom Crean, finished with 24 points and 15 rebounds. Scruggs, who also has an offer from Indiana, added 17 points, eight rebounds and five assists.

Southport shot 60 percent from the field (33-for-55) and outrebounded the smaller Panthers by 17. Reitz was 10-for-24 from the 3-point line.

"Some of the things we normally do, we just didn't do today," Adams said. "(Southport) had a lot to do with that, but we just didn't make plays we normally make. It was frustrating not to shoot it well from the free-throw line (12-for-21) and obviously Jaelan was in a funk. We just couldn't get it going. Too many mental mistakes. But we'll learn from it and now it's time to start that second season."

Southport will play Friday in Sectional 11 at Perry Meridian, likely against a Ben Davis team it defeated by three points early in the season. A potential matchup with Pike, which handed Southport one of its two losses, could await in the sectional championship.

There are bigger goals out there for Southport, which hasn't won a sectional since 2000. Simpson acknowledged as much after the game, brushing any proclamations about what Saturday's win means in the grand scheme moving into next week.

But Simpson, who grew up in Milan and coached under J.R. Holmes at Bloomington South, could appreciate Saturday's environment and the quality of the game on the court.

"I was a part of some special teams and I wanted our guys to have a moment where it's, 'We're here and we're going to be here for a while,'" Simpson said. "I'm glad our guys responded. It was great game. Tip your hat off to Reitz."

Call Star reporter Kyle Neddenriep at (317) 444-6649. Follow him on Twitter: @KyleNeddenriep.