By Justin Sokeland
WBIW.com
BEDFORD – What a party! Terre Haute North celebrated Homecoming, plus the head coach’s birthday. Everyone was invited except the obligatory clown with balloons for entertainment. And here comes Bedford North Lawrence, crashing the festivities and blowing out the candles.
Popped those balloons, the Stars did. Popped the Patriots with an overtime road triumph that was all guts as their energy tanks hit empty, with two starters on the bench during the extra period. Escaped when a last-second shot – from point-blank range – rolled off.
And celebrated a new member of the program’s elite 1K Club.
Colten Leach scored 22 points, becoming the 10th player in school history to score 1,000 career points, and Colton Staggs made four clutch free throws in the final 31 seconds of overtime as red-hot BNL cooled off the Patriots 48-46 on Saturday night. BNL (10-5) has now won six of its last seven games, none more impressive than this one for the adversity and the social circumstances in hostile territory.
BNL played so brilliantly for the first 20 minutes, roaring to a 12-point lead, then held on breathlessly with fingernails and prayer as North (12-6) battled back during a frantic fourth quarter. Leach and Kaedyn Bennett both fouled out, yet the Stars still found a way.
“That was a tough one,” BNL coach Jeff Hein said. “I didn’t know how much gas we’d have left in our tank after last night (a home win over Jeffersonville). These kids found a way, under tough conditions. Over here, a loud gym, dealing with a lot of adversity. We were able to do it.”
The Stars got in front – boy, they’re great frontrunners – with a quick 9-0 blast via treys from Bennett and Leach. They raced to halftime with a 27-19 lead as Leach smoothly scored twice in the lane, and they bolted to a 32-20 advantage on a Leach drive and Noah Godlevske’s corner bomb midway through the third quarter.
North didn’t fold. The Patriots found a go-to guy who was ready and willing to spark the comeback. Lavish Reddy, with a lanky quickness advantage, got behind the defense for a reverse layup that made it 34-28 going to the fourth. As BNL settled back in a zone (gasp!) to protect those in four trouble, Reddy scored twice more on the baseline, and Alex Ross ripped a corner jumper for a 40-39 North lead with 1:35 left in regulation.
That set the stage for some tense moments. Leach crashed through the lane for a 3-point play (with the free throw getting him to the magic number) at 1:13. North’s Jaden Wayt made two free throws with 55 seconds left, and BNL held for the final shot, which was a contested Leach trey that was harmless.
Then in the overtime, near disaster. After two Leach free throws at 3:05, he fouled out on a questionable offensive foul as he muscled to the rim with 2:30 left. Reddy retaliated with two free throws at 2:16. After an exchange of turnovers, Staggs drew a foul near midcourt and buried a pair at the line for a 46-44 lead with 31.6 left.
Reddy exploded to the rim once again for a bucket with 20 seconds remaining. Staggs attacked, and he was fouled at 5.1. For the second time, the senior guard was perfect at line. North called timeout and set up a length-of-the-floor finish, and Reddy broke loose for a great look, at top speed, from the paint. But it missed, and Kole Bailey grabbed that rebound to set off a deserved BNL celebration at midcourt.
Wow.
Almost lost in the drama was the Leach certification as a 1K member. That list includes the who’s who of BNL greats. Damon Bailey (3,134, the state record), Brayton Bailey (1,579 and a Leach teammate three years ago), Kent Moutardier (1,469), Alan Bush (1,333), Braxton Day (1,233), Scott Turner (1,229), Joey Ray (1,112), Blaze Byrer (1,098) and Larry Ikerd (1,084).
Leach was humbled, but really didn’t care for that notoriety. The game was won. All that mattered.
“Yeah, scoring 1,000 career points is cool,” Leach said. “But I’d rather win a sectional championship than score a thousand. That’s an individual goal. I want to be able, with a group, to celebrate when we’re older – ‘Hey, we won a sectional championship.’ Not ‘Hey, I scored a thousand points.’
“It’s pretty cool. I would have never thought, my freshman year, I would hit a thousand points. I was pass first, let Brayton go score. So it feels good. I would have been really mad if we didn’t win. I’m glad we got it done in overtime without me. It was more nervous being on the bench than being on the court.”
And those other names? What about joining that list? “I mean, Damon of course, the best Indiana high school basketball player ever,” Leach said. “It’s cool being up there with him.”
“It’s a great accomplishment,” Hein said. “I heard it from the best (Damon) last night. Leach should be put in there as one of the best players to ever put on a BNL uniform. With the circumstances he’s gone through, with the injuries (two knee surgeries, then a bad ankle during this preseason), to get over that mark is a great honor. He’s well deserved of that.
“But he’s more worried about winning games than the points he scores. That’s the type of kid he is. That’s why we’ve gone on the run we’re on. He’s a leader and a team-first guy.”
Back to the game. Trace Rynders had 9 points, all from distance. Staggs finished with 8. The Stars had only 6 turnovers. Leach added a game-high 7 rebounds.
“We’re playing really well,” Hein said. “I’m proud of the effort they gave again tonight.”
North coach Todd Woelfle, the birthday boy, was as glum as BNL was giddy. He mentioned the missed opportunity to capitalize on BNL’s foul problems, he shook his head at the fact North had an entire week to prepare for BNL’s arrival, he pointed to North’s 13 turnovers. That’s not an exorbitant amount, but in a low-possession game, that was critical.
“We just had several mental errors,” Woelfle said. “When you play a team like BNL, when it’s a possession by possession game and a grinder, they will make you pay. And they did. You can’t do that against a good team.
“The more disciplined team won. BNL spread us out and you don’t want to play from behind against them. We just didn’t play smart enough in order to win.”
Reddy finished with 12 points and Isaac Ross added 10 for North, which has now lost two straight after winning 12 of 13. BNL didn’t shoot a free throw until the Leach 3-point play, then made six in the overtime.
“Leach is a really good player,” Woelfle said. “He makes them go. But they had two guys foul out, and Staggs was the only guy on the floor who really wanted to handle the ball. But it didn’t work out that way. It’s an extremely disappointing loss.”
BNL will be back in action on Thursday, visiting league rival Floyd Central.
BEDFORD NL STARS (48)
3s FGs FTs R F Pts
4 Kaedyn Bennett, f 2-2 2-2 0-0 1 5 6
2 Colten Leach, f 1-2 9-16 3-3 7 5 22
22 Colton Staggs, g 0-0 2-6 4-5 1 3 8
1 Trace Rynders, g 3-6 3-7 0-0 1 3 9
11 Noah Godlevske, g 1-6 1-7 0-0 0 1 3
14 Kole Bailey 0-0 0-0 0-0 1 2 0
34 Jett Jones 0-0 0-0 0-0 1 1 0
Totals 7-16 17-45 7-8 14 14 20 48
TERRE HAUTE NORTH PATRIOTS (46)
3s FGs FTs R F Pts
40 Ethan Scott, f 0-1 3-6 0-1 1 4 6
11 Jack Halls, f 0-0 0-1 0-0 2 1 0
10 Chris Owens, g 0-1 1-3 2-2 5 4 4
23 Alex Ross, g 2-3 2-3 0-0 4 1 6
20 Kam Baker, g 0-0 0-0 0-0 1 2 0
33 Jaden Wayt 0-0 2-4 1-3 4 4 5
14 Bryson Carpenter 0-0 0-1 0-0 3 0 0
32 Isaac Ross 1-3 3-5 3-3 0 0 10
30 Kavish Reddy 0-1 4-6 4-6 1 1 12
12 Jayden Moore 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
44 Sam Glotzbach 0-0 1-1 1-2 1 0 3
Totals 3-9 16-30 11-17 22 17 46
Bedford NL 14 13 7 8 6 – 48
TH North 6 13 9 14 4 – 46
Turnovers – BNL 6, TH North 13
Field goal percentage – BNL 17-45 (.378); TH North 16-30 (.533)
Free throw percentage – BNL 7-8 (.875); TH North 11-17 (.647)
