By Justin Sokeland
WBIW.com
BROWNSBURG – Bedford North Lawrence, returning to a recent house of horrors, picked a poor time to suffer through an energy shortage. No gas, no power, no speed. No success in the nightcap game of the Sneakers for Santa Shootout.
With their offense reduced to a standstill, like those old gas lines when fuel was scarce, the Stars suffered their first loss – for the third straight season – at Brownsburg. This time there was no last-second drama. No.6 Zionsville dissected and disrupted the No.2 Stars for a thorough, dominating triumph.
Laila Hull, a definite Miss Basketball candidate, scored 25 points and grabbed 12 rebounds, powering the Eagles (8-0) to a 56-41 victory over BNL in the final contest of a six-game showcase. Zionsville ended a three-game losing streak to BNL, showing exactly how to take apart BNL’s offense and shut off the pump.
While Lull was a force, it was Zionsville’s smothering defense that did the most damage. The Stars, one of the state leaders at 68 points per game, had their fuel lines cut. The Eagles refused to turn the ball over, refused to allow BNL leader Karsyn Norman any clean looks, just refused to fold. BNL blinked, and the picture never got any clearer.
“We didn’t make shots,” BNL coach Jeff Allen said. “We have to make shots to beat a team of that caliber. Some of that was us. We looked timid for some reason, both offensively and defensively. I don’t know why.”
BNL didn’t start that way, scorching to a 10-2 lead in less than four minutes. But from that point, no combustion. Not even a battery for reserve power. Zionsville regrouped for a 27-23 halftime lead, then didn’t allow a field goal until Madisyn Bailey’s long trey just before the third-quarter buzzer. The Stars trailed by 8 at that point, got down by double digits, and had no spark for a comeback.
“For whatever reason, we didn’t play with the same energy level we have been playing,” Allen said. “But they’re kids. Sometimes that happens. They didn’t bring the urgency we’ve played with this year. We weren’t aggressive enough, and I don’t know what we were waiting for.”
The wait was interminable, it seemed. BNL converted only 14 of 46 shots. Chloe Spreen, who spent some of Thanksgiving in the hospital with the flu and was just thankful to be active, scored 20 points. But BNL’s backcourt was a tepid 4-of-24 from the floor.
“Our defense was really solid,” Zionsville coach Andy Maguire said. “Our kids really stepped up. It was a great team win. This group has confidence in each other, and they stayed composed. They believe in each other, and it’s fun to watch.“
The key moments came late in the third quarter. Hull went to the bench with four fouls at the 3:10 mark, and the Eagles actually flew a little higher in her absence, extending to a 35-27 lead in that span.
“Those minutes were huge,” Maguire said. “We finished out that quarter really well.”
Hull, destined for North Carolina, had plenty of help. Mallory Heerdt, the choice for BNL to leave open, totaled 15 points, and Emma Haan added 8. Maguire pointed to Haan’s defensive work on Norman (held below double digits for the first time in 16 games) as a key. Zionsville also hammered out a whopping 40-24 rebounding edge. That was the ultimate in worst-case scenarios for the Stars.
“You kind of expect that from Hull and don’t talk it up,” Maguire said. “She’s really special. The way she’s playing, she definitely deserves to be a candidate for Miss Basketball.
“We knew we had that size advantage. It’s not always easy to take advantage of it. Mallory was our outlet, because they were helping off her. She was just patient in there.”
Mallory Pride added 8 points for BNL (6-1).
“We didn’t play well again up here,” Allen said. “That’s how you learn. We needed to be tested.”
BNL will return to action on Friday, facing Gibson Southern at Evansville North.
In the other showcase games, North Central (2-5) cracked Crispus Attucks (5-4) 63-26 as Ava Couch scored 11 points; Brownsburg (3-5) bopped Crown Point (4-4) 66-47 with 6-6 sophomore center Avery Gordon scoring 27 points while Ava Ziolkowski had 19 for Crown Point; Fremd (Ill.) jolted Jennings County 78-51 as Juliann Woodard had 25 points for the Panthers; Bolinbrook (Ill.) slammed Columbus East 66-43, with Saige Stahl scoring 22 points for the Olympians; and No.1 South Bend Washington impressively passed its first real test with a 77-56 win over No.3 Noblesville.
BEDFORD NL STARS (41)
3s FGs FTs R F Pts
2 Chloe Spreen, f 3-3 7-17 3-4 2 4 20
22 Mallory Pride, f 0-1 3-6 2-4 8 4 8
24 Madisyn Bailey, g 1-4 1-6 2-4 2 2 5
20 Emma Brown, g 0-3 1-6 0-0 1 3 2
21 Karsyn Norman, g 2-6 2-12 0-0 3 4 6
32 Trinidy Bailey 0-0 0-0 0-0 1 1 0
3 Katie Baumgart 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
50 Emma Crane 0-0 0-1 0-0 0 0 0
12 Tori Nikirk 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Totals 6-17 14-46 7-12 24 18 41
ZIONSVILLE EAGLES (56)
3s FGs FTs R F Pts
42 Laila Hull, f 0-1 7-12 9-11 12 4 25
33 Mallory Heerdt, c 2-3 6-8 1-3 5 1 15
13 Emma Haan, g 2-7 3-8 0-0 3 2 8
10 Allie Caldwell, g 0-4 0-6 0-0 4 3 0
3 Faith Leedy, g 0-2 0-4 4-4 4 2 4
32 Jordyn Coleman 0-0 2-3 0-0 5 0 4
12 Caroline Sampson 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
5 Marissa Koschnick 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
50 Brooke Karesh 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Totals 4-17 19-41 14-18 40 12 56
Bedford NL 13 10 4 14 – 41
Zionsville 11 16 8 21 – 56
Turnovers- BNL 7, Zionsville 11
Field goal percentage – BNL14-46 (.304); Zionsville 19-41 (.463)
Free throw percentage – BNL 7-12 (.583); Zionsville 14-18 (.778)
