By Justin Sokeland
WBIW.com
BROWNSBURG – The film doesn’t lie. Ball don’t lie. Karsyn Norman, annoyed by what she considered a recent shooting slump, clicked on a video – probably titled “Norman’s Greatest Hits” – and watched clips of her jumpers raining destruction. If those highlights fix what ails a shooter, she should market it.
Norman’s deadly perimeter stroke was picture perfect, and Bedford North Lawrence ended a recent frustrating losing skid in what had become a house of horrors. The Stars also cut down the biggest obstacle they’ve ever faced. Even the highest mountain can be conquered.
With Norman in All-Star mode, with a swarming defense that attacked towering Brownsburg center Avery Gordon from every possible angle, No.4 BNL ended a three-game losing streak in that gymnasium with an impressive 59-43 road victory on Saturday night. Norman scored 23 points as the Stars (10-1) finally went home from that long trip with a quality win rather than a snarling loss.
Norman swished five treys, Chloe Spreen totaled 14 points, and Emma Brown added 9. BNL took control with a devastating 18-2 burst midway through the third quarter, and the defensive tenacity was back at maximum force.
“We started off kind of slow, and I thought ‘Boy, here we go again,’” BNL coach Jeff Allen said. “But we started getting after it.”
BNL was struggling with Gordon, a 6-foot-6 power in the post, as Brownsburg battled within 29-25 at the 5:46 mark of the third quarter. From that point, ignited by a Norman bomb and three BNL baskets following steals, the Stars left a smoke trail. The Bulldogs (5-6) could only cough on the exhaust.
When the fumes dispersed, following consecutive steals for layups by Norman and Spreen, following 3-pointers by Madisyn Bailey and Brown, BNL had a 20-point lead in four minutes.
“We didn’t take care of the basketball,” Brownsburg coach Debbie Smiley said. “We weren’t running offense. They kind of stepped up their game, and we didn’t handle it well. They outplayed us. Played a little harder and a lot smarter.“
Brownsburg dominated the early moments, and Gordon was the problem. She had three point-blank baskets, and five first-quarter rebounds, as the Bulldogs broke in front by 5. In fact, Brownsburg had six offensive rebounds in that span, and the Stars missed eight straight shots – saved only by two Norman bombs.
Momentum shifted on Emma Crane’s lane basket off a Brown pass, and seconds later Gordon was whistled for her third foul. That triggered the first BNL run of nine straight points, with Spreen spinning through the lane (that wasn’t clogged by Gordon’s massive presence) for a bucket and Norman swishing another trey. That propelled BNL to a 23-13 lead, and the half ended with BNL on top 25-19.
Gordon started the second half with two buckets, and BNL needed another blast. The defense provided that, forcing seven turnovers over the next four minutes to fuel the key breakaway.
“The transition baskets really helped, and Karsyn shot it well from the perimeter,” Allen said. “I kept telling the kids we had to keep pushing the pace. We did a good job of that.”
Norman was hot, hitting 9 of 12 shots overall. She pointed to her video session as the reason. A little more arch on the shot, a lot more net rather than rim.
“I haven’t been shooting the way I wanted, so I went back and watched film of myself hitting some shots,” she said. “I hit that first one. That felt good.”
Gordon was unstoppable when she got the ball down low. She’s been well schooled to never bring the ball down to the opponent’s level, and the smaller Stars were helpless when she got it. The key was limiting her touches. She had 20 points and finished with 9 boards.
“I told one of the officials I didn’t think we could guard her any better,” Allen said. “We had multiple people that were responsible for helping. all those kids did a great job. She’s a handful.”
“That was our assignment,” Norman said. “We’re small and she’s big. Our help-side was pretty good. She scored a lot of points, but she’s four feet taller than us.”
BNL’s offensive efficiency was also impressive – only three turnovers. The Stars got important contributions like the Crane basket, like the Brown bomb, like Mallory Pride’s interior work in Gordon’s shadow. That helped offset Brownsburg’s 34-21 domination on the boards.
“We have other pieces,” Allen said. “It’s more than the Karsyn and Chloe show. It’s nice to see those kids show up. Especially in game where I really wanted a different outcome. I was tired of losing here. So I’m pretty happy.”
“We were trying to force it into Avery a little too much,” Smiley said. “They were sending two and three people. They started figuring out our zone. They hit some timely threes and got the momentum. Their press bothered us. Their transition game really hurt us.”
And Norman? Smiley just had too smile. “We knew she would save it for us,” she said.
BNL will return to action on Thursday at Silver Creek.
BEDFORD NL STARS (59)
3s FGs FTs R F Pts
2 Chloe Spreen, f 0-2 5-17 4-5 3 3 14
22 Mallory Pride, f 0-1 2-8 2-4 6 1 6
24 Madisyn Bailey, g 1-4 2-7 0-3 4 1 5
20 Emma Brown, g 1-2 1-3 6-6 1 1 9
21 Karsyn Norman, g 5-7 9-12 0-0 2 3 23
3 Katie Baumgart 0-0 0-0 0-0 2 0 0
50 Emma Crane 0-0 1-1 0-0 0 1 2
Totals 7-15 20-48 12-18 21 10 59
BROWNSBURG BULLDOGS (43)
3s FGs FTs R F Pts
3 Paige Kirtz, f 0-0 1-3 0-0 3 2 2
55 Avery Gordon, c 0-0 9-13 2-4 9 2 20
5 Emma Hendricks, g 0-1 0-5 0-0 5 1 0
10 Kailyn Terrell, g 0-0 3-6 0-0 3 2 6
12 Megan Eaker, g 1-4 1-4 0-0 1 4 3
22 Morgan Montgomery 0-0 3-6 3-4 4 1 9
4 Claire Miller 1-1 1-2 0-0 3 1 3
30 Kenzie Touloukian 0-0 0-0 0-0 1 1 0
11 Macy Twoney 0-0 0-1 0-0 0 0 0
20 Cece Bradley 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Totals 2-6 18-40 5-8 34 14 43
Bedford NL 10 15 23 11 – 59
Brownsburg 11 8 12 12 – 43
Turnovers – BNL 3, Brownsburg 18
Field goal percentage – BNL 20-48 (.417); Brownsburg 18-40 (.450)
Free throw percentage – BNL 12-18 (.667); Brownsburg 5-8 (.625)
