By Justin Sokeland
WBIW.com
BEDFORD – Stranger things have happened, but not often. Perhaps supernatural forces were at work. There was no mystery why Bedford North Lawrence, ranked No.2 in Indiana, won its season opener. The horror, from Mooresville’s point of view, was how.
The Stars played defense from another dimension, forcing turnovers at a scary rate, allowing only one basket during a devastating third quarter and blowing out to a record-setting triumph in the 2022-23 season opener at BNL Fieldhouse.
Chloe Spreen scored 21 points as BNL mashed Mooresvillle 67-34 on Friday night, the biggest margin of victory over the Pioneers in the last 20-plus years and the largest opening win since a 76-32 destruction of Mitchell eight years ago. Karsyn Norman added 17 points for BNL, which took the first step on what could be a fantastic voyage.
The investigation into Mooresville’s demise won’t take long. Turnovers, the single word on the autopsy. The Pioneers were guilty of 26 miscues, which erased a solid start and fueled BNL’s confidence for the runaway victory. Pressure was constant. The Stars clogged the passing lanes like a hairy drain, contested dribblers at every turn and harassed Mooresville’s newly-constructed backcourt into multiple mistakes.
“I think our speed and experience wore them down,” BNL coach Jeff Allen said. “That has to be our trademark. If you’re putting pressure on perimeter people, it’s hard for them to throw it in to the bigs. Since that’s a weakness (BNL’s lack of size) for us, that has to be a strength for us on the perimeter. They’re worried about taking care of the basketball instead of picking us apart inside.”
Mooresville, a defending regional champion, has the size with two 6-footers in the paint. BNL cut them down to size. The Pioneers got off to a quick start while hitting its first four shots, but the Stars countered with Norman’s trey and Mallory Pride’s 3-point play en route to an early 14-10 advantage. Mooresville’s turnover total hit 17 in the first half as BNL blasted out to a 34-22 lead.
Last year, BNL owned a 14-point lead over the Pioneers and wasted most of it. That wasn’t happening again. Spreen splashed two 3-pointers, Norman added another, reserve Emma Crane scored in the post and Pride broke free for a layup as BNL scored the first 13 points of the second half before Mooresville’s Kalyn Bunch ended the miserable drought with a trey with only 25 seconds left in the third quarter.
“We probably woke them up, and they started playing harder on the defensive end,” Mooresville veteran coach Mark Hurt said. “We had a hard time handling that. We weren’t making good decisions and gave them more opportunities than they should have had.
“Our kids got lost out there. Our guard play has to be better, but our big kids turned it over too much, too. We’re a work in progress.”
Bunch finished with 12 points and 8 rebounds while Ava Shafer totaled 11 points for the Pioneers.
Spreen and Norman, future Indiana All-Stars, were the expected stars. Spreen added 8 boards and Norman handed out five assists – including three highlight passes for easy buckets. Every quality teams needs additional firepower, and BNL got it from Pride (14 points) and a bench that totaled 13 points and didn’t allow the level of play to falter.
“Any of those kid are capable, every night,” Allen said. “That makes the starting five dangerous. And we had great play from the kids off the bench. The effort was outstanding, especially on the boards (Mooresville finished with a 27-25 edge after BNL didn’t grab a rebound in the first quarter). We really competed where they had an advantage. The chemistry was really good. Chloe and Karsyn were drawing a crowd when they tried to penetrate. You have to find your teammate at that point.
“It’s an outstanding win over a really good program. That doesn’t come so easy. We’ve had some wars with that team. I’m happy to come away with a win like that.”
“That’s the bar,” Hurt said. “We have to get back in the gym, improve our ballhandling and passing. I don’t care who you’re playing, you can’t turn it over.”
The Stars will return to action on Tuesday, hosting Bloomington North.
MOORESVILLE PIONEERS (34)
3s FGs FTs R F Pts
32 Ava Shafer, f 2-5 3-13 3-4 2 0 11
33 Rachel Harshman, f 0-0 4-7 1-2 7 1 9
45 Kalyn Bunch, c 2-6 5-10 0-2 8 0 12
11 Emma McGinley, g 0-0 0-0 0-0 1 4 0
10 Sydney Hardy, g 0-1 0-3 0-0 2 5 0
20 Kaitlyn Strietelmeier 0-1 0-1 1-2 1 4 1
3 Addi VanWanzelle 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
44 Randee Garringer 0-0 0-0 1-2 0 0 1
22 Lyla Jacobs 0-0 0-1 0-0 0 0 0
Totals 4-14 12-35 6-12 27 15 34
BEDFORD NL STARS (67)
3s FGs FTs R F Pts
2 Chloe Spreen, f 2-4 5-10 9-12 8 3 21
22 Mallory Pride, f 0-2 6-10 2-3 2 2 14
24 Madisyn Bailey, g 0-2 1-4 0-0 5 0 2
20 Emma Brown, g 0-2 0-3 0-0 1 3 0
21 Karsyn Norman, g 3-7 5-12 4-4 2 4 17
40 Bella Jackson 0-0 1-2 0-0 1 1 2
3 Katie Baumgart 0-0 2-2 0-0 3 0 4
12 Tori Nikirk 0-0 1-1 0-0 1 0 2
50 Emma Crane 0-0 1-2 0-0 0 1 2
32 Trinidy Bailey 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
44 Ellie Tillett 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 1 0
23 Katie Godlevske 1-1 1-1 0-0 0 0 3
11 Haleigh Canada 0-0 0-0 0-0 1 0 0
Totals 6-18 23-47 15-19 25 15 67
Mooresville 10 12 3 9 – 34
Bedford NL 14 20 13 20 – 67
Turnovers – Mooresville 26, BNL 13
Field goal percentage – Mooresville 12-35 (.343); BNL 23-47 (.489)
Free throw percentage – Mooresville 6-12 (.500); BNL 15-19 (.789)
