By Justin Sokeland
WBIW.com
MARTINSVILLE – The final dress rehearsal for the main event went perfectly.
No glitches, no problems, no issues. Shots fell, the defense was sound, the scoring balanced. Bedford North Lawrence declared itself tournament ready with a blowout victory that was sensational in all phases. Hey, the Stars even got off to a quick start, which could be a warning for the sectional opponents ahead.
The fourth-ranked Stars capped the regular season with a 66-33 road triumph over Martinsville on Thursday night. Chloe Spreen scored 22 points, Madisyn Bailey totaled a career-high 16, and Karsyn Norman added 15 points plus a career-high 9 rebounds, perhaps making a statement to be anointed the best point guard in the state. That’s an opinion shared by many.
Here’s the fact: BNL (20-2) is hell-bent, if this performance is indicative of the future, for the sectional title it has already won 10 consecutive times. Martinsville (7-14) will concur that point.
The Stars made their point by scoring points, ripping apart Martinsville’s zone for 19 in the first quarter. Ball movement was superb, openings were exploited. After recent early struggles, that was a point of emphasis. So was shooting efficiency, and BNL sizzled by hitting over 50 percent from the floor for only the second time this season.
“I hope,” BNL coach Jeff Allen said with a smile, “we saved some of that for next week.”
Spreen was lethal in the second half, scoring 16. Norman was the catalyst in the first, getting all her points during the first two quarters before shifting to distribution mode. Bailey was smooth and consistent, for the second straight game. Everyone fed off Norman’s energy and spark.
“One of the referees said, ‘You know, I’ve refereed all over the state, and I’ve had a lot of guys tell me they have the best point guard in the state,’” Allen said, relaying a conversation with an official that didn’t center around a questionable call. “He said ‘I’ve seen two that I thought were. I saw the one tonight that is.’
“If she’s not a Junior Al-Star, I don’t know what I’m doing.”
BNL knew what it was doing. Everything was done with the Class 4A sectional in mind, starting with the rematch clash with Jeffersonville on Tuesday. From that perspective, the Stars were sharp, and the quick offense was key. Nobody can question BNL’s starting intensity and effort, nor fault its preparation. So what made the difference?
“It’s a mindset,” Norman said. “Sometimes we take hard shots, and we can get better ones. When they don’t fall, it goes to a rough start. We started off strong. That’s been our weakness. We started off good and just kept it going.”
“The difference is decision making and shot selection,” Allen said. “It was better. That’s what we have to have to get a better offensive start. So we made a step in the right direction. I’m happy about that. We played pretty well. We’re getting ready to start the tournament, so it’s a good time.
“My kids are team players. We make that extra pass, we shoot the ball a lot better. We had people see the ball go in the basket. We got a lot of good work in. It was a good night for us.“
BNL blasted to a 40-17 lead at the half and triggered the running clock (with a 35-point lead) with 4:40 left on Bailey’s 10-footer in transition. Spreen made 6 of her last 8 shots, Norman and Bailey dropped three treys each.
“It was definitely important, to get our confidence going,” Spreen said. “We’ve gotten off to slow starts lately, so we wanted a head start on the first quarter, just to get us going.”
Kearsten Willen had 13 points (11 in the first half) for the Artesians, who were guilty of 21 turnovers.
BNL will start its sectional defense against the Red Devils in the second game on Tuesday. Seymour and New Albany will square off in the opener.
BEDFORD NL STARS (66)
3s FGs FTs R F Pts
2 Chloe Spreen, f 0-5 9-17 4-4 2 2 22
24 Carlee Kern, f 0-1 2-3 0-0 2 2 4
22 Mallory Pride, f 0-0 1-2 0-0 2 2 2
32 Madisyn Bailey, g 3-8 6-11 1-1 4 0 16
21 Karsyn Norman, g 3-7 6-11 0-0 9 1 15
31 Ella Turner 0-0 1-3 1-2 3 1 3
50 Emma Crane 0-0 2-2 0-0 1 1 4
23 Hadley Teague 0-1 0-1 0-0 2 0 0
44 Bella Jackson 0-0 0-1 0-0 1 0 0
3 Katie Baumgart 0-0 0-1 0-0 1 0 0
Totals 6-22 27-52 6-7 30 9 66
MARTINSVILLE ARTESIANS (33)
3s FGs FTs R F Pts
5 Ryan Owens, f 1-2 2-4 0-0 0 0 5
14 MacKenzie Martin, f 0-0 0-0 1-2 6 2 1
30 Haley Polston, c 0-1 1-2 0-0 2 3 2
23 Delaney Wolfe, g 0-3 2-11 3-6 4 0 7
20 Kearsten Willen, g 3-15 5-18 0-0 3 0 13
3 Holly Galyan 0-0 1-3 0-0 2 1 2
15 Paycee Lewis 0-0 0-0 0-0 1 0 0
22 Jade Meade 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
2 Emma Potter 1-1 1-1 0-0 0 1 3
Totals 5-21 12-38 4-8 22 7 33
Bedford NL 19 21 13 13 – 66
Martinsville 8 9 6 10 – 33
Turnovers – BNL 9, Martinsville 21
Field goal percentage – BNL 27-52 (.519); Martinsville 12-38 (.315)
Free throw percentage – BNL 6-7 (.857); Martinsville 4-8 (.500)
