By Justin Sokeland
WBIW.com
EVANSVILLE – Like a pan straight from the oven, an overheating radiator, lava from a volcano, fire from a dragon, Bedford North Lawrence was hot, hot, hot! Burning out of control, a three-alarm blaze, a sensational shooting clinic that destroyed everything in its path.
And the kid with the flaming hands was junior guard Noah Godlevske. Either the 3-point arc will be renamed the Godlevske Line, or he’s going to have to start paying rent for all the time he spends camped in the corners, waiting to strike. And wow, did he torch Evansville Memorial on Saturday afternoon.
Raining threes like a medieval catapult launching those burning projectiles at sieged fortresses, Godlevske buried eight bonus bombs as the Stars shot down the reeling Tigers 79-60. Colten Leach added 24 points as BNL (12-5 with eight wins in the last nine games) scored the most points during a road victory since a 79-point explosion at Mitchell during the 2007-08 campaign.
The Stars, with Godlevske doing the bulk of the damage, drilled 13 treys overall, but the quantity doesn’t tell the story of the quality. BNL was a blistering 13 of 18 from long range, shot 67 percent overall, and made Memorial’s late pregame decision to play a zone defense backfire in spectacular fashion.
“Tell you what, we shot it well today,” BNL coach Jeff Hein said, taking the lead for the understatement of the season. “The thing I’m most proud of, of the 29 field goals, we had 24 assists. We shared the ball, we played together as a team. We moved the ball and found the open guy at the right time. It’s hard to beat somebody when they’re making 13 of 18 3-pointers.”
Most of those assists went to Godlevske, the corner assassin. He made three of his first four during a first-quarter blitz, and never cooled off. He made his final four of the second half, finishing just short of Alan Bush’s single-game school record of 10. Maybe next time. Although if anyone was watching, and coaches will soon scan the Hudl film, BNL might not see a zone again for a long time.
“I was basically playing h-o-r-s-e,” said Godlevske, who was already hitting 46 percent from deep before this electric performance. “I have to give all the credit to my teammates, they found me in the corner every time.
“It just felt really good. It was like they were all going in.”
Godlevske’s early barrage got BNL a quick 21-13 lead. Leach popped a lane 12-footer, Godlevske swished another trey, stepped inside the line for short jumper, then added two free throws for a 32-17 advantage midway through the second quarter. Kole Bailey bounced outside for yet another three, and Colton Staggs made four free throws for a 41-25 lead at halftime.
The Tigers (10-7) went to a 1-2-2 extended trap in the second half, creeping within 12. But once the Stars figured that out, they found Godlevske for two more from distance, Leach for two buckets in the paint, and the margin exploded to 21 in a hurry. Leach capped the blowout with 12 fourth-quarter points.
“Give Bedford credit,” Memorial coach Heath Howington said. “They stepped up and hit some shots. They beat us from the perimeter. They found the open guy and hit a bunch of shots.
“Big-time players making plays, stepping up and hitting shots. For some reason ours didn’t drop, and theirs did. They’re a tough team to turn over, a tough team to speed up.”
Leach added 6 rebounds and 6 assists to his offensive production, and he was 12 of 18 from the floor. BNL could shoot wide-open in practice and probably not make as many as it did (29 of 42 overall) while beating Memorial for the fifth straight time in the series.
“That happens, it’s basketball,” Hein said. “Sometimes it goes in, sometimes it doesn’t go in. It went in for us today, and it makes you look a lot better.”
Luke Lawrence paced the Tigers (who have now lost four in a row, suffering their first home setback of the year) with 14 points and Tucker Tornatta added 13 plus 9 boards. Memorial was only the third team to post 60 on BNL this season. But that didn’t matter when Godlevske was erupting for a career high. Not that he knew, or cared.
“All I care about is the win,” Godlesvke said. “That’s a really good win against a good team.”
BNL will return to action on Tuesday, hosting Class A No.4 Loogootee.
BEDFORD NL STARS (79)
3s FGs FTs R F Pts
4 Kaedyn Bennett, f 2-3 2-3 0-0 0 3 6
2 Colten Leach, f 0-0 12-18 0-0 6 3 24
22 Colton Staggs, g 0-0 1-3 6-7 1 5 8
1 Trace Rynders, g 1-2 1-2 0-1 5 2 3
11 Noah Godlevske, g 8-11 9-12 2-2 1 0 28
14 Kole Bailey 1-1 3-4 0-0 1 1 7
34 Jett Jones 0-0 0-0 0-0 1 2 0
10 Patric Matson 1-1 1-1 0-0 0 0 3
5 Houston Corbin 0-0 0-0 0-0 1 0 0
31 Logan Miracle 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
12 Maddox Ray 0-0 0-0 0-0 1 0 0
15 Kline Woodward 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 1 0
Totals 13-18 29-43 8-10 18 17 79
EVANSVILLE MEMORIAL TIGERS (60)
3s FGs FTs R F Pts
11 Leo Collins, f 1-3 2-5 0-0 1 4 5
35 Tucker Tornatta, c 1-2 4-7 4-4 9 4 13
5 Luke Ellspermann, g 0-4 4-11 0-2 2 3 8
23 Luke Lawrence, g 2-9 4-11 4-5 0 3 14
4 Caleb Ellspermann, g 0-1 0-3 1-2 1 0 1
3 Blake Anderson 2-3 4-8 0-0 5 2 10
13 Spencer DeVault 1-1 2-3 0-0 6 1 5
1 Dylen Kendrick 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
2 Asher Evans 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
10 Brady Kandul 0-0 0-0 1-2 0 0 1
21 Simon Schulz 1-1 1-1 0-0 0 0 3
22 Connor Harding 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
20 Carson Anslinger 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Totals 8-24 21-49 10-15 27 17 60
Bedford NL 21 20 15 23 – 79
Memorial 13 12 12 23 – 60
Turnovers – BNL 8, Memorial 16
Field goal percentage – BNL 29-43 (.674); Memorial 21-49 (.429)
Free throw percentage – BNL 8-10 (.800); Memorial 10-15 (.667)
