By Justin Sokeland
WBIW.com
BEDFORD – Upon this battle depended the Hoosier Hills Conference championship. Upon it depended Bedford North Lawrence’s way of life, the long continuity of its expected institutions and the basketball empire. The whole fury and might of the enemy was turned upon them. Winston Churchill would have appreciated this victory. It was their finest hour.
In the face of extreme adversity, with their leading scorer wearing a boot on her right foot rather than a sneaker, with one of Southern Indiana’s premier power forwards unleashing her force, the Stars rose to the occasion. Karsyn Norman answered the call to greatness. It was her finest quarter.
With leading scorer Chloe Spreen nursing a sprained ankle, Norman braced herself to her duties and propelled No.7 BNL to a 52-39 triumph over Jennings County on Tuesday night on BNL Fieldhouse, securing BNL’s spot atop the league hierarchy. Norman had 23 points, and BNL’s bench came through with huge minutes during a second-quarter surge, as the Stars (15-3) conquered the Panthers for the 24th straight time in the series.
If Jennings (10-4) was going to end that streak and damage BNL’s league title run, this should have been the time. Spreen’s absence left a 20-point void, and the Panthers blasted to an early advantage. Then BNL’s bench offered some toil and sweat to steady frayed nerves. Then Norman exploded for 15 third-quarter points to prove why she’s a future Indiana All-Star.
To paraphrase Churchill, BNL fought on the boards, fought on the defensive end, fought through offensive angst, fought past the worry of a missing star. The Stars never surrendered, when defeat looked like it might be inevitable.
“I can’t put it into words, how proud I am,” BNL coach Jeff Allen said. “Missing an important cog in the machine, we got down early. We just had to figure it out, keep working. And they did. As they kept figuring it out, they kept playing harder. Just extremely proud of how they responded. That’s the thing you hope as a coach, you hope kids respond when you have a player go down.”
Oh, they were down. Jennings rushed in front 10-2, and BNL looked a little lost. The Panthers took a 13-8 advantage after their exquisite first quarter. That was the cue for BNL’s bench to deliver. Katie Baumgart converted a layup off a Madisyn Bailey pass, Emma Crane scored off a Norman dish, Tori Nikirk converted a steal into a breakaway, and Trinidy Bailey (the emergency starter for the hobbled Spreen) swished a corner trey for a 20-16 halftime lead.
“I’ve got good kids,” Allen said. “You have to be happy for them. They sit around and watch the starters log a lot of minutes. They understand that, but they’re still players. They want to be out there. When there’s a chance for them to contribute in an important situation like this, and they have success, you have to be thrilled for them. We don’t get that win without them.”
That was Norman’s cue. Take over, girl. Allen pulled her aside at halftime. She was 1-for-6 at that juncture, struggling. Allen needs to record his speech. It was his Churchill moment.
“Sometimes you don’t how good you are,” he told his senior point guard. “You’re such a good teammate and share the ball. I need you to be that good right now. You’re good enough to take it to them. Show me that this half. And she did.”
The next eight minutes were a “wow” Norman highlight reel. Drive the paint, score in transition, swish a bomb, turn a steal into points, pop a 15-footer. From all angles, she was a unstoppable as BNL rumbled to a double-digit lead.
“That gave me such a confidence boost,” Norman said. “I haven’t had a lot of confidence in myself lately. That got me going.”
Jennings couldn’t counter. The Panthers missed too many shots, blanked too many free throws (nine misfires at the line), couldn’t turn BNL over (only 3 miscues), couldn’t contain Norman in her conquest.
“It looked like they challenged Karsyn in the second half, put your team on your back, and that’s what’s she did,” JC coach Kristi Sigler said. “We let her get into the paint. Our help defense was not there. We didn’t shoot the ball well, we had breakdowns defensively.“
In addition to Norman and the bench heroes, BNL got important contributions from Madisyn Bailey (10 points and the bulk of the defensive work on Woodard), from Mallory Pride (11 rebounds), from Crane (6 points).
“Madisyn did a great job, and we knew that would be a big assignment,” Norman said. “Everyone did good on the help side, everybody stepped it up. We were down 20 points a game, we had to pick it up, and we all did.
“That’s a huge sigh of relief right there. This is a tough game, it would be tough even if we had (Chloe), so I’m really glad we pulled through.”
Woodard finished with 12 points (roughly half her 22.5 average) and 14 rebounds. She was able to get others involved at first, when BNL brought double-body pressure in the paint, but she was limited to two field goals during the first three quarters.
“It was a group effort,” Allen said. “She’s a wonderful player, the best post-forward in Southern Indiana. We had a great team effort and just made it difficult for her.”
“What our other players have to realize,” Sigler said, “when they’re doubling, other people can’t stand and watch.”
BNL, 4-0 in the HHC and chasing its first league title in three years, now owns a key win over a potential sectional threat. The Stars still have two more league challengers (Columbus East and Floyd Central) remaining.
“That’s pretty impressive when you’re missing your leading scorer,” Allen said of the win. “I have good kids, it makes my job easy. That’s a big win, now we have a chance to capitalize on it. We have to make sure we’re ready.”
The Stars will host Castle on Saturday afternoon.
JENNINGS COUNTY PANTHERS (39)
3s FGs FTs R F Pts
00 Juliann Woodard, f 1-1 4-11 3-8 14 4 12
22 Megan Vogel, f 0-1 4-5 0-0 6 0 8
2 Avynn Belding, f 1-1 2-2 1-3 3 1 6
31 Mollie Ernstes, g 2-7 2-9 0-0 1 2 6
5 Madelyn McIntosh, g 0-3 2-8 2-3 1 2 6
33 Manto Vadell 0-0 0-0 0-0 2 0 0
25 Alexis Carson 0-1 0-1 0-0 1 1 0
3 Abrey Belding 0-1 0-1 1-2 0 2 1
Totals 4-15 14-37 7-16 30 12 39
BEDFORD NL STARS (52)
3s FGs FTs R F Pts
32 Trinidy Bailey, g 1-2 1-2 0-0 0 1 3
22 Mallory Pride, f 0-0 2-5 2-3 11 4 6
24 Madisyn Bailey, g 0-2 4-10 2-3 5 4 10
20 Emma Brown, g 0-3 0-4 0-0 1 3 0
21 Karsyn Norman, g 1-7 10-21 2-4 3 1 23
3 Katie Baumgart 0-0 1-1 0-0 3 0 2
12 Tori Nikirk 0-0 1-2 0-0 0 0 2
50 Emma Crane 0-0 2-3 2-2 3 0 6
23 Katie Godlevske 0-0 0-0 0-0 1 1 0
Totals 2-14 21-48 8-12 27 14 52
Jennings Co. 13 3 13 10 – 39
Bedford NL 8 12 20 12 – 52
Turnovers – JC 15, BNL 3
Field goal percentage – JC 14-37 (.378); BNL 21-48 (.438)
Free throw percentage – JC 7-16 (.438); BNL 8-12 (.667)
