By Justin Sokeland
WBIW.com
BEDFORD – The best way to bounce back from a dysfunctional loss? Defend. Offense can fluctuate like opinions, defense should never suffer a slump. Bedford North Lawrence proved that point emphatically to salvage its second game in its holiday event.
Less than 24 hours after throwing stones at a glass house, the fourth-ranked Stars built a win from more sturdy material. Play defense, rebound, run. BNL left Lake Central, already worn down after suffering a morning loss, dragging in the rear-view mirror.
With far more energy and enthusiasm for the task, BNL drained No.7 Lake Central 54-24 in the third and final contest of the Pete Pritchett Limestone Classic on Thursday afternoon. Chloe Spreen scored 20 points as BNL (13-2) finished its pre-Christmas schedule with a needed bounce-back win. One lump of coal, and that loss to Noblesville on Wednesday was certainly that, was enough.
The Indians (8-3) were victims of scheduling circumstance and BNL’s ire. After falling to Noblesville on Thursday morning, with only 90 minutes to recover and prepare for a second high-level opponent, Lake Central was punchless. Facing the angry Stars didn’t help. And if BNL’s shooting woes from the previous day were contagious, Lake Central was infected, hitting only 10 of 47 shots. No legs, no heart, no weapons to threaten BNL. That was not Lake Central’s best, by far.
“I’m not making excuses. We have to be better,” Lake Central coach Joe Huppenthal said. “But we didn’t have any energy, emotion or enthusiasm the second game. Normally we’re pretty good defensively, and we just let them do whatever they wanted to do. And they’re good.
“It was a tough situation for our kids, to come back and play them. That’s life. Put our big-boy pants on and move on.”
The Stars took advantage of Lake Central’s misfortune. Emma Brown finished off three fast breaks with baskets, Madisyn Bailey popped two treys, Karsyn Norman swished a bomb in transition, and Spreen added another 3-pointer as BNL blasted to a 27-6 lead. The Indians couldn’t muster a response.
“It’s tough playing back to back, and you can tell they were getting tired,” BNL coach Jeff Allen said. “To get stops and get out and run, that generates offense. That’s something we’ve built what we do on.
“We were really good defensively. The kids went out and executed, really stepped it up. That bodes well for kids that will bounce back from a tough loss and play that hard.”
BNL started the second half with eight straight points, and allowed only one field goal, while roaring to a 41-15 lead. The margin hit 30 on a Spreen lob bucket (from Norman) and a beautiful Spreen baseline drive. The mercy rule was not triggered, which made BNL’s defensive work (the sixth opponent held under 30 this season) even more impressive.
Brown totaled 10 points and Norman added 9. The most notable number was BNL’s 39-24 rebounding advantage, with Mallory Pride grabbing 10 and Bailey adding 9.
“It’s a great bounce-back win against a really good team, a good way to right the ship,” Allen said.
Vanessa Wimberley paced Lake Central with 8 points. The Indians scored their fewest points since totaling only 21 during a loss to Crown Point during the 2018-19 campaign. Of course, some of that was understandable. Lake Central arrived late Wednesday night from the northwest corner of the state, then made an early-morning appearance as the Classic was adjusted to finish before the predicted winter storm arrived. The BNL storm was just as devastating.
“I wish the situation had a little more structure, but that’s Mother Nature,” Huppenthal said. “You can’t tell Mother Nature what to do. The people at Bedford did a great job of accommodating us to make this work. This was not easy.
“You have to be true to who you are, and we weren’t true to who we are today. We normally guard, and we gave them way too many baskets in transition. You’re not going to beat them if you do that.”
BNL will now prepare for two more battles in the Hall of Fame tournament in New Castle next week, facing Class 3A No.7 Mishawaka Marian in the first game on Dec. 29. East Central will battle Noblesville in the second game, with the consolation and final games set for that night.
Noblesville 54, Lake Central 32 – No.8 Noblesville won both its game in the Classic, smacking Lake Central in the first game on Thursday. Meredith Tippner had 17 points as the Millers (11-3) won their fourth straight game.
Reagan Wilson had 14 points and Kaitlyn Shoemaker added 13 for Noblesville. Ayla Krygier paced the Indians with 10 points.
LAKE CENTRAL INDIANS (24)
3s FGs FTs R F Pts
33 Aniyah Bishop, f 0-0 3-9 0-0 6 0 6
35 Ayla Krygier, f 0-1 2-4 0-0 6 0 4
2 Riley Milausnic, g 0-5 1-6 0-0 2 0 2
23 Vanessa Wimberley, g 2-4 3-9 0-2 1 1 8
4 Nadia Clayton, g 0-2 1-7 0-0 0 4 2
1 Kennedie Burks 0-4 0-7 0-0 0 0 0
40 Alexa Iwema 0-0 0-2 2-6 3 0 2
20 Bryn Leonard 0-1 0-1 0-0 1 0 0
24 Faith Harrison 0-0 0-1 0-0 1 0 0
34 Milica Lukic 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
3 Allison Huppenthal 0-1 0-1 0-0 0 0 0
10 Claudia Vasic 0-0 0-0 0-0 1 0 0
Totals 2-18 10-47 2-8 24 5 24
BEDFORD NL STARS (54)
3s FGs FTs R F Pts
2 Chloe Spreen, f 1-3 9-13 1-2 6 2 20
22 Mallory Pride, f 0-0 3-4 1-1 10 1 7
24 Madisyn Bailey, g 2-4 3-7 0-0 9 1 8
20 Emma Brown, g 0-1 4-8 2-2 6 1 10
21 Karsyn Norman, g 1-5 4-10 0-0 4 1 9
32 Trinidy Bailey 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
3 Katie Baumgart 0-0 0-0 0-0 3 0 0
12 Tori Nikirk 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
50 Emma Crane 0-0 0-1 0-0 0 0 0
23 Katie Godlevske 0-1 0-1 0-0 0 1 0
40 Bella Jackson 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
11 Haleigh Canada 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Totals 4-14 23-43 4-5 39 7 54
Lake Central 4 7 4 9 – 24
Bedford NL 14 13 14 13 – 54
Turnovers – Lake Central 7, BNL 14
Field goal percentage – Lake Central 10-47 (.213); BNL 23-43 (.535)
Free throw percentage – Lake Central 2-8 (.250); BNL 4-5 (.800)
NOBLESVILLE 54, LAKE CENTRAL 32
Noblesville (11-3) – Kaitlyn Shoemaker 13, Reagan Wilson 14, Meredith Tippner 17, Kate Rollins 4, Dani Mendez 6
Lake Central (8-2) – Riley Milausnic 9, Nadia Clayton 2, Vanessa Wimberley 3, Aniyah Bishop 6, Ayla Krygier 10, Alexa Iwema 2
Pete Pritchett All-Classic Team
Meredith Tippner, Noblesville
Reagan Wilson, Noblesville
Kaitlyn Shoemaker, Noblesville
Karsyn Norman, BNL
Mallory Pride, BNL
Chloe Spreen, BNL
Ayla Krygier, Lake Central
