By Justin Sokeland
WBIW.com
JASPER – Expect some pain when you play with the big boys. And Jasper had enough of those to dish out a lot of punishment. Built like furniture movers, able to do the heavy lifting, the Wildcats tossed Bedford North Lawrence out of the way.
Compared to a Big Ten team, and Michigan State came to mind, Jasper muscled its way to a rugged victory over the Stars in the regular-season finale on Thursday night. The Stars were high on the shooting misery index, low on the muscle flexing, and outgunnned on the scoreboard as the Wildcats scratched out a 52-33 victory to celebrate their Senior Night.
Connor Foley, an Indiana baseball recruit with a 6-5 frame and an offensive lineman’s power, scored 21 points and shrugged off defenders like a pitcher shaking off a sign, hitting 10 of 12 shots from the sweet spot of the interior. BNL (11-11) had no physical answer. The Stars were like flies on a bull’s back, swatted away when annoying enough.
Maybe Purdue is a better comparison, with that gorgeous arena, with the giant J on the court that looks like a Mackey Arena replica while decked in black and gold (except for the IU fight song that echoes from the pep band). BNL was not in that league this night.
“They bullied us around, pushed us around,” BNL coach Jeff Hein said. “They were a lot bigger and stronger, they outrebounded us pretty bad. We looked like eighth-graders out there, they looked like college players.
“They take up a lot of space, they’re physical. They took a lot of stuff away. There wasn’t much room to work in there. Jasper played like a Big Ten team, the way they can occupy so much space. Foley is a man. It didn’t matter. We didn’t do a good job of defending inside and he took advantage of that. If you don’t make shots, it can get ugly in a hurry.”
And it did. BNL started 0-for-5, never led, went 0-for-8 to start the fourth quarter. Only Colten Leach’s one-man retaliation, and a Trace Rynders wing trey that bounced off rim twice before dropping, kept the Stars within 22-19 midway through the third quarter. Then Jasper countered with back-to-back 3-point plays, followed by the BNL slump to start the fourth, followed by Jasper hitting all nine of its shots during a layup drill against extended pressure in the final frame. Hence the blowout.
Leach had 14 points, all in the middle two quarters when BNL had an opportunity to keep the Wildcats within striking distance. By the time others got involved, it was too late. Colton Staggs, one of the usual BNL threats, didn’t score until ending the fourth-quarter drought.
“It’s no rocket science,” Jasper coach John Goebel said. “We took away help responsibility from his man. You just hope the other guys don’t get hot.”
No one did. BNL was a frigid 3 of 18 from distance.
“You live by the three, you die by the three. We died by it tonight,” Hein said. “We really struggled, with the exception of Leach, to get in the lane and do anything. And we didn’t make shots. We tried some stuff going inside.”
Staggs totaled 7 points. Kaedyn Bennett, making his first appearance since suffering a concussion against Jeffersonville, had 5 points.
Foley, meanwhile, was a beast down low. Posting up, and patient when he got in deep, he was unstoppable in the paint. Grant Young added 10 points for the Wildcats (18-4), who became the third opponent to hold BNL to 33 (or fewer) points this season.
“I think Bedford has overachieved,” Goebel said. “Jeff’s teams have always been tough and hard-nosed. They just had a hard time hitting the bucket. They missed a lot of shots and that played into our favor. Play again tomorrow, and they might hit those.
“We’re not a good shooting team, so we have to find other ways to manufacture wins.”
BNL will now shift focus to the postseason. The Stars will face Jeffersonville in the opening game of the Class 4A sectional at Seymour on Tuesday night.
BEDFORD NL STARS (33)
3s FGs FTs R F Pts
4 Kaedyn Bennett, f 1-6 2-7 0-0 1 4 5
34 Jett Jones, f 0-6 0-9 0-0 2 2 0
22 Colton Staggs, g 1-3 3-7 0-0 0 2 7
1 Trace Rynders, g 1-1 1-1 0-0 3 1 3
2 Colten Leach, g 0-2 7-16 0-0 3 2 14
5 Houston Corbin 0-0 0-1 0-0 1 1 0
14 Kole Bailey 0-1 1-2 0-0 0 0 2
10 Dylan Nikirk 0-0 0-0 2-2 0 0 2
12 Maddox Ray 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 1 0
20 Dylan Endris 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
3 Quincy Pickett 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Totals 3-18 14-43 2-2 13 13 33
JASPER WILDCATS (52)
3s FGs FTs R F Pts
45 Connor Foley, f 0-0 10-12 1-1 6 3 21
35 Michael Buechler, f 0-0 1-1 0-0 0 0 2
13 Jack Ahlbrand, g 0-1 2-4 0-0 5 0 4
11 Tanner Erny, g 0-1 3-6 1-2 2 1 7
23 Spencer Englert 0-0 1-2 0-0 3 1 2
55 Gus Heichelbech 0-1 2-5 0-0 6 1 4
21 Grant Young 2-4 3-6 2-3 3 1 10
25 Charlie Kabrick 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
51 Will Wallace 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 1 0
33 Corbin Engle 0-0 0-0 2-2 0 0 2
31 Andrew Noblitt 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
53 Cameron Howard 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
41 Griffin Hile 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Totals 2-6 22-36 6-7 29 8 52
Bedford NL 2 8 12 11 – 33
Jasper 8 7 15 22 – 52
Turnovers – BNL 4, Jasper 12
Field goal percentage – BNL 14-43 (.326); Jasper 22-36 (.611)
Free throw percentage – BNL 2-2 (1.000); Jasper 6-7 (.857)
