By Justin Sokeland
WBIW.com
SELLERSBURG – Guarding Chloe Spreen with multiple defenders in the halfcourt is difficult enough. Giving her a head start to the basket is a little unfair. Actually a lot unfair. In the open court, at full speed, Bedford North Lawrence’s deluxe junior is unstoppable.
Taking advantage of Silver Creek’s devastating turnovers, Spreen sprinted to eight fast-break baskets, and the Dragons could not keep up or catch up as the fourth-ranked Stars raced to a runaway victory on Thursday night.
Spreen scored 29 points while propelling BNL to an electric 67-29 triumph. Mallory Pride added a season-high 15 points as the Stars (11-1) cruised to another mercy-rule win and conquered the young Dragons (4-6) for the fourth straight time. The previous three were on equal footing, as Silver Creek was destined for deep state tournament runs in Class 3A. This one was not.
This was BNL at its wicked best, forcing turnovers at a dizzy pace and converting the mistakes into rapid-fire points. Often it was Spreen in transition, cashing in steals, and most came during the middle quarters, when BNL exploded. The launch left Silver Creek gaping high in the sky for the rocket that left them grounded.
“Against their pressure, we knew we would turn it over,” Silver Creek coach Scott Schoen said, after learning his team had 27 total. “And they had everything to do with that. They can put so much pressure on you, and push up on the other spots. They’re quick and athletic. There’s a reason they’re one of the top teams in the state.”
Spreen is a big part of that reason. She took off like Flash, scoring twice off steals to start the second quarter and signaling the coming storm. From that smoke came fire, as Pride scored (off a sensational touch pass from Karsyn Norman) from inside and popped a trey from outside. Madisyn Bailey cut to a layup off an Emma Brown pass, Spreen and Norman bolted to layups off steals, and Spreen capped the blitz with a runout bucket following a Norman theft for a 38-15 lead at the half.
“We pressured really well,” BNL coach Jeff Allen said. “We really worked together, rotated really well, got some steals. Any time we can do that, it energizes our offense.”
The second half was more of the same: Brown’s layup off a Bailey slip pass, Pride’s runout to a 3-point play, back-to-back Spreen steals for more offense. Another Pride hoop-and-harm triggered the mercy rule at 62-26 early in the fourth quarter.
“We talk all the time about poise and pace,” Schoen said. “They sped us up. We stepped up in class. There were some good moments, some not-so-good moments.”
BNL had most of the highlights. Spreen hit 11 of 16 shots, Bailey finished with a double-double of 11 points and 11 boards.
“We felt they would try to double certain kids, we had to make an emphasis of sharing with our teammate,” Allen said. “Madisyn just works hard. She’s not that tall, she just works hard and has a knack for the basketball. She continues to amaze me. Those kids are capable, when we get out and run, they will get their opportunities.”
BNL’s only glitch was 3-of-17 shooting from deep. The layup drills made up for that.
Brooklyn Renn paced Silver Creek, with its youth exposed and exploited, with 10 points and 8 boards.
The Stars will return to action on Saturday at Evansville Mater Dei.
BEDFORD NL STARS (67)
3s FGs FTs R F Pts
2 Chloe Spreen, f 1-4 11-16 6-6 9 2 29
22 Mallory Pride, f 1-1 6-9 2-4 3 2 15
24 Madisyn Bailey, g 1-2 4-7 2-5 11 0 11
20 Emma Brown, g 0-3 2-7 0-0 2 1 4
21 Karsyn Norman, g 0-4 4-11 0-0 4 2 8
3 Katie Baumgart 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 1 0
50 Emma Crane 0-0 0-0 0-0 2 0 0
23 Katie Godlevske 0-2 0-2 0-0 1 2 0
44 Ellie Tillett 0-0 0-0 0-0 3 0 0
40 Bella Jackson 0-1 0-1 0-0 1 0 0
32 Trinidy Bailey 0-0 0-2 0-0 0 0 0
12 Tori Nikirk 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
11 Haleigh Canada 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Totals 3-17 27-55 10-15 36 10 67
SILVER CREEK DRAGONS (29)
3s FGs FTs R F Pts
5 Hallie Foley, g 0-0 1-2 0-0 0 1 2
23 Lydia Wright, g 1-5 2-9 3-3 0 0 8
14 Brooklyn Renn, c 0-0 3-6 4-5 8 2 10
13 Kiara Grant, g 0-1 0-2 0-0 1 1 0
25 Olivia Johnston, g 0-0 1-2 0-0 5 3 2
1 Emma Schoen 0-4 1-10 0-0 2 1 2
11 Katy Rooney 1-2 2-4 0-0 0 1 5
15 Hannah Senn 0-1 0-1 0-0 2 0 0
22 Ellie Falkenstein 0-0 0-0 0-0 1 2 0
31 Joslyn Chesser 0-1 0-1 0-0 1 0 0
Totals 2-14 10-37 7-8 21 11 29
Bedford NL 17 21 19 10 – 67
Silver Creek 9 6 11 3 – 29
Turnovers – BNL 12, Silver Creek 27
Field goal percentage – BNL 27-55 (.491); Silver Creek 10-37 (.270)
Free throw percentage – BNL 10-15 (.667); SIlver Creek 7-8 (.875)
