By Justin Sokeland
WBIW.com
BEDFORD – This first-ever battle, an instant classic, deserved a movie-script ending. And it had one. Just not for the guys in white, not for the hero who carried his team to the brink of victory. With a twist conclusion, Mooresville celebrated and took home the prize.
After absorbing the best Bedford North Lawrence can muster, including one of the sensational individual performances in the history of a program that has had many, the Pioneers scratched back from near doom in overtime to end BNL’s three-game winning streak. And they did it with their own award-winning moment.
A.J. DeFur’s rebound basket, an acrobatic follow of his own miss, for a go-ahead 3-point play powered Mooresville to a thrilling 71-70 triumph over BNL on Wednesday night. That sad final tarnished a phenomenal effort by BNL’s Colten Leach, who exploded for a career-high 41 points. Mooresville (4-4) countered the Leach Show with amazing shooting and a clutch comeback from a four-point deficit in the final 93 seconds.
Here’s the final scene of a great act. BNL (3-3) owned a 70-68 lead after a Leach free throw with 37.7 seconds left. DeFur slashed into the lane and missed from 10 feet, but he skied for the rebound, twisted in midair while getting his feet undercut, and made the most of the second chance. His free throw with 25.5 seconds remaining put Mooresville back in front.
The Stars had the last line but couldn’t close. Leach dribbled into a double-team and got the ball to Colton Staggs in the circle. Staggs rose and rifled to pass to Noah Godlevske in the left corner, but his long jumper caught the rim. Leach soared in for the rebound but was off balance as the buzzer sounded, setting off Mooresville’s raucous, joyous and earned celebration at midcourt.
It was a dramatic conclusion to a fantastic clash. The Pioneers shot the ball like it was laser guided, Leach was simply unstoppable when attacking the rim. He’s the first BNL scorer to hit 40-plus since Braxton Day netted 43 during an overtime loss to Whiteland during the 2015-16 season. And it went for naught.
“It would have been a lot better to get the win,” Leach said. “The 41 doesn’t matter if you don’t win.”
What mattered most? Mooresville’s out-of-this-world shooting. The Pioneers hit 24 of 37 shots (65 percent) and swished 10 treys. The Splash Brothers would be envious. Even with all that unquenchable firepower – Mooresville’s biggest lead was 11 and BNL trailed by 8 in the fourth quarter – the Stars came back to force the extra session and took what should have been control (up 69-65 after two Leach free throws) during that overtime.
“We thought we were in good position in overtime and just made a couple of poor decisions,” BNL coach Jeff Hein said. “It’s a learning experience. We didn’t execute at the end the way we wanted.”
BNL got to overtime with more Leach heroism. After DeFur missed a free throw with 3.7 seconds left, Leach grabbed the rebound and called timeout in midair. Although the clock read 2.7, the official reset it to 3.2, stating his whistle had malfunctioned. And the Stars needed every tick. Kaedyn Bennett rifled a pass to midcourt to Leach, who spun and attacked, roared into the paint and banked home a shot at the buzzer for a 63-63 deadlock to end regulation.
“You just have to make a play,” Leach said. “Luckily it came to me and I took it to the basket.”
In the overtime, Leach swooped inside for a left-handed bucket, dished off to Bennett for a layup and hit the two free throws with 1:33 left. Mooresville answered with a basket by reserve Brenton Williams (who didn’t get off the bench until two Mooresville defenders fouled out trying to contain Leach), plus a Williams free throw with 41.8 left. Leach was fouled and hit one, setting up the frantic finish.
“It’s one of those games when you don’t want anybody to lose,” Mooresville coach Shabaz Khaliq said. “Both teams competed at a high level, and it sucks someone had to lose that one. That’s a tough one.
“A.J. could have hung his head. But he stayed engaged. The basketball gods rewarded him with that opportunity. He was able to complete the play. I’m glad it went in for him, because he deserved that. If it didn’t he would have beaten himself up.”
Mooresville was in command most of regulation. The Pioneers went nuclear from long range, hitting five bombs during a second-quarter surge to a 32-23 lead at the half. That’s when Leach donned his uniform with the S on the chest. He scored 11 points in the third, 16 more in the fourth to power BNL back. The play was simple. Staggs set a high screen, Leach blasted to the rim. Mooresville knew it was coming. Didn’t matter.
“It was a phenomenon performance,” Khaliq said. “He was cooking us all night long. Couldn’t figure him out. I don’t know what we could have done much better. It was all to the rim. He competes. He can get his own shot. I give his teammates credit, to let him go off. If we help off, they can shoot it. They scared me.”
Leach was 14 of 24 from the field, all but one trey from the paint or closer, and by the way he totaled 11 rebounds. Mooresville tried multiple people as defensive stoppers. Khaliq was more than willing to contact college recruiters and give his recommendation.
“Why is he open like that?” Hein asked, then answered. “Because they have to guard (Trace) Rynders in the corner, they have to guard Noah, they have to defend Staggs and Bennett. It leaves him in a spot. He’s got good teammates around him. He had the hot hand tonight, we wanted the ball in his hands. They had nobody to guard him. Problem is we had nobody to guard them.”
DeFur finished with 20 points, Jaxon Nielsen added 13, while Gavin Rogers and Bradley Robinson added 11 each. The balanced Pioneers were 10 of 17 from deep, better from there than the foul line (13 of 22).
“We’re capable when we take quality shots,” Khaliq said. “We didn’t rush it. The right guys took the right shots. When our kids get their feet set, they’re good shooters. We needed it tonight. Every single one of them, obviously.”
Leach overshadowed everyone else, but BNL had other solid contributors. Staggs had 11 points, and the Stars were guilty of only four turnovers in 36 minutes. They shot 50 percent and hit 16 of 18 free throws. That’s normally good enough to win.
“Their threes counted more than our twos,” Hein said. “It’s almost like the game plan was giving us two, because they could get three on the other end. We didn’t do a good job running them off the line. For them to shoot like that, and for us to get to overtime, says a lot about us and our effort and energy. They could have felt sorry for themselves.”
BNL will have to chew on the loss for a while. The Stars will return to action on Jan. 3, visiting Martinsville.
MOORESVILLE PIONEERS (71)
3s FGs FTs R F Pts
10 A.J. DeFur, f 2-3 6-9 6-10 5 2 20
11 Wes Reeves, f 0-0 1-1 3-4 4 5 5
4 Jaxson Nielsen, f 3-6 4-8 2-2 2 5 13
0 Bradley Robinson, g 1-1 5-6 0-0 3 2 11
3 Gavin Rogers, g 2-2 4-6 1-4 4 0 11
2 Hogan Denny 2-5 3-6 0-0 3 0 8
13 Brenton Williams 0-0 1-1 1-2 1 2 3
Totals 10-17 24-37 13-22 23 16 71
BEDFORD NL STARS (70)
3s FGs FTs R F Pts
4 Kaedyn Bennett, f 1-5 2-6 2-2 1 4 7
2 Colten Leach, g 1-1 14-24 12-14 11 4 41
22 Colton Staggs, g 1-1 5-8 0-0 1 2 11
1 Trace Rynders, g 0-2 1-3 2-2 2 4 4
11 Noah Godlevske, g 1-5 2-6 0-0 1 0 5
14 Kole Bailey 0-0 1-3 0-0 2 0 2
34 Jett Jones 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Totals 4-14 25-50 16-18 20 14 70
Mooresville 10 22 15 16 8 – 71
Bedford NL 12 11 18 22 7 – 70
Turnovers – Mooresville 9, BNL 4
Field goal percentage – Mooresville 24-37 (.649); BNL 25-50 (.500)
Free throw percentage – Mooresville 13-22 (.591); BNL 16-18 (.889)
