By Justin Sokeland
WBIW.com
BEDFORD – On a super Twosday, with the rare calendar palindrome, with twos across the board, it’s no wonder Bedford North Lawrence’s double-deuce went wild. Should have been it coming. On 2-22-22, No.22 was second to none.
With Colton Staggs playing the Patrick Swayze lead role, the Stars went a little roadhouse on Eastern Greene. They followed the three Double Deuce rules: they didn’t underestimate the opponent, they took it outside. And they were nice, welcoming back former coach Jamie Hudson with a 42-28 triumph in the home finale on Tuesday – make that Twooosday – night.
Add another number to the story – 3. Staggs stroked five treys and scored a career-high 25 points – all in the first three quarters. BNL, not known for its perimeter expertise, bombed eight total from distance against Eastern’s zone. Hudson probably went back to rewatch film to make sure that was the same BNL team out there. Hudson, who coached BNL for nine seasons, hoped to make a little trouble in his first trip back to BNL Fieldhouse. Staggs was the cooler as BNL bounced Eastern around while rumbling to a 42-18 lead after three quarters.
BNL (11-10) scored half its points in the first quarter, with Jett Jones jumpstarting the offense with a pair from long range, with Staggs splashing his first from the bonus line. The Stars closed the period with a 10-1 run as Staggs scored in transition, buried another corner trey, Kole Bailey added another deep one and Colten Leach sank a baseline jumper at the buzzer.
“Jett hit a few, got us rolling,” Staggs said. “That gave me some confidence and get me rolling. Hopefully we can all do that in the tournament.”
BNL went six minutes before scoring again, with Staggs doing all of it, hitting two threes from the wing and racing to a fast-break layup and a 29-14 advantage at the half. He added a 3-point play and his final trey as the Stars cruised to the 42-18 lead – then went embarrassingly scoreless in the final period as BNL coach Jeff Hein went deep into the bench, resting the regulars for the final road trip (at Jasper) and the looming sectional.
“I thought we played well,” said Hein, looking back at a month with 7 games in the last 14 days. “I was able to rest a lot of kids, I wanted to get them out as soon as I could. It was a good night to do that.
“They played that zone pretty soft and gave us some open looks, and Colton was able to knock some shots in. It reminded me of the way he played last summer. It’s good to see him build his confidence for the tournament.”
The Thunderbirds (6-15) suffered their third straight loss, the recent slump traced to the offensive end. Big man Bryan Rippy was what football announcer Keith Jackson would have called “a hoss.” He was rugged in the post, unstoppable when he got it in deep as he scored 13 points. But after he scored 7 quick points, his touches and threats were limited as BNL used four different defenders to surround him and hound him. His supporting cast was only 6 of 22 from the field.
“He’s a load in there,” Hein said. “But as the game went along, we did a better job of helping, not allowing them to isolate him in there.”
“We can’t score,” Hudson said. “Right now we’re struggling. I don’t know what’s happened. I don’t know if we’re exhausted (the T-Birds have now played five games in 11 days) because we’ve played so many games. It’s been crazy.
“We know everyone is going to hound Rippy, and we have to have other kids step up. That’s ours Achilles heel right now. We did a lot of standing, going east and west instead of north and south. We’ve got some young kids, but it’s time to play.”
Hudson, who coached the Stars from 2007-16, received a warm reception, including visits from several former players. “I have a lot of great memories here,” he said. “That meant a lot to me. This place will always have a special place in my heart.”
BNL will visit Jasper (17-4) on Thursday night, the final preparation for the sectional opener against Jeffersonville on March 1 at Seymour.
EASTERN GREENE THUNDERBIRDS (28)
3s FGs FTs R F Pts
220 Jack Rees, f 0-0 0-0 0-0 4 2 0
24 Korbin Ikerd, f 0-0 2-6 1-3 3 1 5
30 Bryan Rippy, c 0-0 5-10 3-4 1 1 13
14 Will Valentine, g 0-0 1-3 1-3 1 2 3
12 Jackson Brewer, g 0-2 1-5 0-0 1 1 2
4 Nate Myers 0-0 0-0 0-0 1 1 0
32 Jeff Cummings 1-5 1-7 0-0 1 0 3
42 Peyton Lewis 0-0 1-1 0-0 4 0 2
Totals 1-8 11-32 5-10 18 8 28
BEDFORD NL STARS (42)
3s FGs FTs R F Pts
20 Dylan Endris, f 0-0 0-3 0-0 3 0 0
34 Jett Jones, f 2-4 2-4 0-0 8 2 6
22 Colton Staggs, g 5-7 9-13 2-3 4 1 25
1 Trace Rynders, g 0-3 0-3 0-0 2 1 0
2 Colten Leach, g 0-0 2-6 0-0 4 3 4
5 Houston Corbin 0-0 1-1 0-0 3 4 2
14 Kole Bailey 1-3 1-4 0-0 3 1 3
10 Dylan Nikirk 0-2 0-4 0-0 1 0 0
12 Maddox Ray 0-0 1-5 0-0 2 1 2
3 Quincy Pickett 0-1 0-1 0-0 0 0 0
24 Cruz Sanchez 0-1 0-2 0-0 1 0 0
23 Memphis Louden 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Totals 8-21 16-46 2-3 34 13 42
Eastern 10 4 4 10 – 28
Bedford NL 21 8 13 0 – 42
Turnovers – Eastern 9, BNL 8
Field goal percentage – Eastern 11-32 (.344); BNL 16-46 (.348)
Free throw percentage – Eastern 5-10 (.500); BNL 2-3 (.667)
