By Justin Sokeland
WBIW.com
EVANSVILLE – After missing two games with an illness, struggling to get back to normal form, Mallory Pride is back at full speed. So is Bedford North Lawrence, which ran away to another running-clock victory. Best way to get back in shape is, after all, running. Pride did a lot of that.
Converting the business end of fast breaks, collecting rebounds like a vacuum cleaner swooping up dog hair on the rug, Pride posted a strong double-double and the No.4 Stars raced to another mercy-rule win on Saturday. With balanced scoring, BNL displayed all its potential firepower.
The Stars, have mercy, rolled to their ninth quick-finish victory of the season while blasting past Evansville Mater Dei 69-35. Karsyn Norman totaled 20 points as all five starters hit double digits, and Pride snapped up a career-high 14 boards for BNL (12-1), which exploded during a 29-point second quarter and triggered the running clock midway through the third.
The middle quarters were an exercise in fantastic ball movement. BNL shredded Mater Dei’s zone with five treys during the second-quarter blitz, and Pride scored four straight times in transition to get the clock in fast-forward gear with 3:45 left in the third. That didn’t take long.
“We shared the ball really well,” BNL coach Jeff Allen said. “They’re a fun group to watch when they do that, and they do it really well. When you have five kids that are pretty skilled, it makes it difficult to guard.
“We got out and run. They made really good decisions. That makes a coach happy.”
BNL’s lead was 16-7 when the blowout clouds gathered. Norman ripped a trey from the key, Emma Brown worked inside for two layups, Norman swished two more from deep, and Brown capped the blast with two more bombs for a 45-19 lead at intermission.
Then came Pride, in full-speed mode. She was motorized while sprinting to the basket during fast breaks, and her teammates took turns finding her. Brown, Norman and Chloe Spreen all recorded assists during the 11-2 run that started the running clock.
“My team works really hard on defense to get those stops,” Pride said. “If my girl is not involved, I get it and go.”
Pride’s motor has not been at red-line power for most of the year. She started the season dragging with an illness, missed two games (Gibson Southern and New Albany) and came back slowly. Not anymore. She had 10 points and 14 rebounds, and the latter number might be the more important. This vertically-challenged team needs those more than anything.
“I’m back to where I should be,” Pride said. “I felt like I missed out on a lot. I watched the games on (live stream) and it made me really sad, seeing my team without me.”
Her 14 boards included seven off the offensive glass.
“I just went for it,” Pride said. “I feel like it’s our energy. I just have to get out and do it. It’s my role.”
“She did a really good job against a superior-sized girl,” Allen said. “It’s nice to have her back and rebounding. She just has a knack for the ball. Some kids do. She knows where it’s coming off.”
Norman finished with four treys to get to 20. Brown had her 10 points in the second quarter, Spreen finished with 17 points, and Madisyn Bailey added 10. The Stars were guilty of only five turnovers.
Kate Wenger paced the Wildcats (5-6) with 14 points and 8 boards. Chelsea Turner added 10 points.
BNL will now shift to more equal competition. The next four games will test character, starting with Lake Central and defending state champion Noblesville next week in the Pete Pritchett Classic.
“I like the way we’re playing, with a lot of confidence,” Allen said. “We feel good about ourselves again. Now we have four quality opponents (including the Hall of Fame games in New Castle after Christmas) coming up. The kids are ready. And we need that to grow as a team, we need to be pushed.”
BEDFORD NL STARS (69)
3s FGs FTs R F Pts
2 Chloe Spreen, f 1-5 8-16 0-0 6 1 17
22 Mallory Pride, f 0-1 5-10 0-0 14 2 10
24 Madisyn Bailey, g 0-4 4-10 2-4 5 1 10
20 Emma Brown, g 2-5 4-7 0-0 2 3 10
21 Karsyn Norman, g 4-9 8-20 0-0 3 2 20
3 Katie Baumgart 0-0 1-2 0-1 0 2 2
50 Emma Crane 0-0 0-1 0-0 1 0 0
32 Trinidy Bailey 0-1 0-1 0-0 1 0 0
23 Katie Godlevske 0-0 0-1 0-0 0 1 0
11 Haleigh Canada 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Totals 7-24 30-67 2-6 35 12 69
EVANSVILLE MATER DEI WILDCATS (35)
3s FGs FTs R F Pts
35 Kate Wenger, f 1-2 4-9 5-6 8 0 14
23 Brylee Delano, f 1-2 1-2 0-0 3 1 3
21 Chelsea Turner, g 0-0 5-9 0-0 5 3 10
13 Molly Schmitt, g 0-1 1-4 1-4 2 1 4
5 Kylie Frye, g 0-0 1-4 0-3 0 2 2
12 Kayla Gerth 0-1 0-1 0-0 1 0 0
15 Alissa Baumann 0-1 1-3 0-0 1 1 2
1 Addison Boots 0-0 0-0 0-0 3 1 0
34 Brooke Herdes 0-0 0-0 0-0 2 0 0
4 Katelyn Devers 0-0 0-0 0-0 2 0 0
3 Macy Lankford 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Totals 3-8 13-32 6-13 28 9 35
Bedford NL 16 29 16 8 – 69
Mater Dei 7 12 7 9 – 35
Turnovers – BNL 5, Mater Dei 18
Field goal percentage – BNL 30-67 (.448); Mater Dei 13-32 (.406)
Free throw percentage – BNL 2-6 (.333); Mater Dei 6-13 (.462)
