PONTIAC — Progress in basketball can be measured in points and time.
On Thursday afternoon at the Pontiac Holiday Tournament, the Danville Vikings looked like a very complete basketball team for 8 minutes or basically one quarter of a standard 32-minute game.
It was the other 24 minutes that was a problem.
Chicago Heights Bloom Township, the second-seed in the 16-team field, outscored Danville 41-9 from the midway point of the second quarter until the end of the third quarter as the Class 4A seventh-ranked Blazing Trojans cruised to a 90-58 triumph over the Vikings.
“They showed why they are one of the top-ranked teams in the state,’’ Danville coach Durrell Robinson said. “They kept their composure. They just hit us in the mouth and we didn’t respond.’’
But, the Vikings (4-8) did show a glimpse of responding after falling behind 8-0 in the game’s first three minutes.
Danville outscored Bloom 18-8 in the final 4 minutes, 30 seconds of the first quarter to take an 18-16 lead, getting the Pontiac Holiday Tournament die-hard fans thinking about a first-round upset.
“We did a good job in that first quarter, especially when we started out so poorly,’’ Robinson said. “We fought back and took the lead. That came with defensive commitment and simplifying the game.
“It gave us a chance early on.’’
The Vikings stuck with the Blazing Trojans (7-3) for the first four minutes of the second quarter, at one point, taking a 22-19 lead. But that’s when Bloom erased any thoughts of an upset with their big run over the game’s next 12 minutes.
For Danville, the downfall started with a couple of turnovers and some missed shots around the basket.
“Turnovers usually lead to easy baskets and then we get into situations where we miss a couple of easy ones,’’ Robinson said. “They come down and score and it just shifts the momentum of the game.’’
And while the final outcome was less than desirable for Robinson, he hopes that good stretch in the first half can lead to better things in the future.
“The whole purpose of playing in the Pontiac Holiday Tournament is playing against that top-quality competition and hopefully learning a lot about your team and getting better,’’ he said. “Right now, we have to do a better job of playing for one another. We need everyone to try and be best teammate possible.
“If we do that, then we have a chance to run off a couple of wins.’’
Two bright spots for the Vikings on Thursday was the play of Demarcus Lucas and Jentezen Harris off the bench.
Lucas finished with 10 points and four rebounds, while Harris had 9 points on three made 3-pointers in the second half.
“Demarcus Lucas played active and well,’’ Robinson said. “And Jentezen Harris made some shots.
“Hopefully, that means we will have a little more quality in our depth that we can use.’’
Plainfield North 68 Danville 48
PONTIAC — Danville’s stay in the Pontiac Holiday Tournament was limited to two games as the Vikings lost to the Plainfield North Tigers in the consolation bracket.
Plainfield North (8-7) took control of the contest, outscoring Danville 40-14 in the first half.
The Vikings (4-9) outscored the Tigers 34-28 in the second half but the damage had already been done.
Junior Diddy Robinson had a team-high 19 points for Danville, while junior CL Dye had 12 and senior Devan Larkin chipped in with 10.
Senior forward Jeffrey Fleming had a game-high 26 for Plainfield North, including 16 in the first half.
Up next for the Vikings is a trip to Hammond Morton on Tuesday for the Mac Jelks Shootout. Danville is scheduled to play Cardinal Newman from Columbia, S.C. at 5 p.m. (Eastern).
Thursday’s box score Bloom Township 90, Danville 58
Danville (58) — Diddy Robinson 4-15 0-0 9, Curtis Beasley IV 0-1 0-0 0, Devan Larkin 7-8 3-4 17, CL Dye 0-6 0-0 0, Demarcus Lucas 4-8 1-4 10, Jentezen Harris 3-5 0-0 9, Jerry Reed III 3-8 0-0 8, Persiris Menifield 1-6 0-0 3, A’Jani Davis 1-4 0-0 2, Tayvion Diltz 0-2 0-0 0. Totals: 23-63 4-8 58.
Bloom (90) — Vincent Kelly 1-2 0-0 2, Elijah Lovemore 4-8 3-8 13, Amare Pryor 7-8 1-2 19, Deontate Hill 1-3 0-0 2, Payton Edwards 8-12 1-2 21, Elijah Allen 0-3 4-4 4, Darius Edwards 1-2 0-0 2, Brian Johnson 1-1 0-0 2, Jaden Clark 4-8 3-4 12, Daron Wilson 0-0 0-0 0, Santana Flowers 5-5 0-0 10, Marcus Everhart 1-1 1-2 3, Julian Smith 0-1 0-0 0. Totals: 33-54 13-22 90.
Danville 18 10 9 23 — 58
Bloom 16 29 22 23 — 90
3-pointers — Danville 8-28 (Harris 3-4, Reed 2-4, Robinson 1-8, Lucas 1-3, Menifield 1-5, Larkin 0-1, Dye 0-2, Diltz 0-1); Bloom 11-20 (Pryor 4-5, P.Edwards 4-7, Lovemore 2-3, Clark 1-2, Kelly 0-1, Hill 0-1, Smith 0-1). Rebounds — Danville 21 (Robinson 6, Larkin 4, Lucas 4, Menifield 2, Davis 2, Harris 1, Reed 1, Diltz 1); Bloom 39 (Clark 7, Flowers 6, Everhart 6, P.Edwards 5, Allen 4, Smith 4, Kelly 2, Lovemore 2, Wilson 2, Hill 1). Assists — Danville 10 (Larkin 5, Robinson 2, Lucas 1, Reed 1, Davis 1); Bloom 17 (P.Edwards 4, Clark 4, Lovemore 3, Kelly 2, Hill 2, Pryor 1, Everhart 1). Turnovers — Danville 12, Bloom 16. Steals — Danville 5 (Robinson 2, Larkin 2, Harris 1); Bloom 6 (Lovemore 2, Clark 2, Kelly 1, Johnson 1). Total fouls — Danville 15, Bloom 8. Fouled out — none.
Records — Danville 4-8 overall, Bloom Township 7-3 overall.
Friday’s box score Plainfield North 68, Danville 48
Danville (48) — Diddy Robinson 7 3-5 19, Curtis Beasley IV 0 0-0 0, Devan Larkin 4 2-2 10, CL Dye 4 3-4 12, Demarcus Lucas 1 1-1 3, Jentezen Harris 0 0-0 0, Jerry Reed III 2 0-0 4, Persiris Menifield 0 0-0 0, A’Jani Davis 0 0-0 0, Tayvion Diltz 0 0-0 0. Totals: 18 9-12 48.
Plainfield North (68) — Eric Schable 0 0-0 0, Joshua Holmes 1 0-0 2, Joseph Charbonneau 1 0-0 2, Lukas Alvarez 4 0-0 10, Nathan Rudland 0 0-0 0, Maki Armstrong 2 0-0 4, Donald Williams 1 0-0 3, Tyler Lamb 2 0-0 5, Evan Czernik 3 0-0 7, Pierre Pointer 1 4-4 6, Jeffrey Fleming 10 4-4 26, Quintin Wiencek 1 0-0 3. Totals: 26 8-8 68.
Danville 5 9 15 19 — 48
Plainfield North 12 28 17 11 — 68
3-pointers — Danville 3 (Robinson 2, Dye 1). Plainfield North 8 (Alvarez 2, Fleming 2, Williams 1, Lamb 1, Czernik 1, Wiencek 1). Total fouls — Danville 10, Plainfield North 10. Fouled out — none.
Records — Danville 4-9 overall, Plainfield North 8-7 overall.