By Justin Sokeland
WBIW.com
ORLEANS – On the second official day of summer, when the Earth’s pole is still fixed at maximum tilt toward the sun, when daylight almost refuses to surrender, most sane people are seeking moments of rest and relaxation. Work on the tan, nest near a beach or swimming pool, let the world drift past.
But this is Indiana, there’s no sanity when it comes to basketball. The poles of that sphere are always a little tilted toward crazy. Only Hoosiers, given an equal choice, would rather sit in a gymnasium than just about anything else for entertainment.
Bedford North Lawrence has already been through some recent madness, with the resignation of a successful coach, with the political scrambling to hire a replacement, so what’s a few more hours on the lunatic fringe? In the true Ernie Banks mode, the Stars did indeed play two on Thursday night.
Exactly a week after Kurt Godlevske was named the coaching successor, the Stars started the chase for success. Looking to make up for lost time, when almost every high school program in the state has been taking advantage of the June scrimmage season, they made a short road trip to another town that’s equally nuts about the Hoosier pastime.
BNL played a unique doubleheader at Orleans. First game was strictly man-to-man defense, second game was zone only, and of course the twinbill was split. The Bulldogs won the opener 48-41, the Stars took the nightcap (even though it was still light out when the games ended) 67-64. More importantly, this was a public glimpse into the new style as Godlevske unveiled interesting changes for the coming winter, when the darkness takes over.
The Stars are in retool mode after losing six seniors. But if the first look is a true indication of the future, there’s promise. There are shooters galore, there will be more passing and less dribbling, there will not be much size. There’s work to do on the defensive end.
Orleans was a perfect test. Forget about school size differential, the Bulldogs will be one of Southern Indiana’s best teams next season. If there’s a program that’s diametrically opposite of BNL’s current status, it’s Orleans. The coach (Tom Bradley) has been around forever now (25 years), and he will have a veteran ballclub (four returning starters). His experienced, polished team is just about to the point of running on remote control. BNL has a lot of buffing before a shine emerges.
“We needed to play,” Godlevske said. “Just so I can learn what their strengths are, and start to make corrections, put them in places they need to be.
“Where we’ve grown the most the last few days is how we’ve defended, how we’ve rotated. The biggest thing I’m loving is their willingness to learn and grow. We’ve done a lot of that. It’s been very positive.”
In the first game, BNL had quality moments. Noah Godlevske swished three treys in the first quarter for a 12-6 lead. Orleans answered with 11 straight points, and injury was added to that insult when Logan Miracle went down with an ugly left wrist problem. He played after that, then finally left to have it checked out.
Check this out. Godlevske finished with 16 points and Patric Matson added 13 in the opener, but the guile of point guard Carter Allen, and the toughness of big man Xavier Alston powered Orleans to the finish line. Alston had 15 points, often finding holes in the BNL interior.
Both teams will likely regard “zone” as a four-letter word of reproach, but they stuck to the script in the second contest. And the Stars have multiple perimeter weapons. Godlevske, who shot 50 percent from the 3-point line last season, is one. He dropped 22 points. Matson is another, and he totaled 19. Quincy Pickett is a third, and he buried three in a row during a fourth-quarter barrage that shot the Stars in front 58-53. Godlevske’s 10th trey of the doubleheader and Matson’s layup gave the Stars a 63-56 lead, then free throws by Godlevske and Isaiah Sasser closed out the win.
“We do have a bunch of kids who can shoot the ball well,” Godlevske said. “This was huge for us. We’ve done zero zone work, first time we’ve ran it or played it. And Orleans is phenomenal. It was good for our kids.”
Be sure to check out the Bulldogs next season. In addition to Allen, a tough guard who is in constant thievery mode, they have shooters (Ian Hall had 17 points in the second game), they have an exquisite athlete in Alston.
“The best thing we do is we have no ‘I want my points,’” Bradley said. “They don’t care. They just want to win. We should be pretty good. We have a lot of experience.
“We’re trying to get to where we just play. We’ve had to rely on sets, so we’re stressing just getting the ball up and down the floor. By now, they should be able to play and go right into their offense.”
Orleans is now finished with the summer workouts, so it’s indeed vacation time. BNL still has work ahead, with two games on Saturday before the Stars attend a camp at Indiana State next week. Then the countdown toward November will truly begin.
Orleans 48, BNL 41
BNL – Noah Godlevske 16, Patric Matson 13, Logan Miracle 4, Quincy Pickett 4, Isaiah Sasser 2, Jonah Bailey 2
Orleans – Xavier Alston 15, Carter Allen 7, Rylan Crocker 11, Bryce Jones 12, Ian Hall 3
BNL 67, Orleans 64
BNL – Noah Godlevske 22, Patric Matson 19, Isaiah Sasser 7, Daxton Short 4, Quincy Pickett 11, Jonah Bailey 4
Orleans – Ian Hall 17, Xavier Alston 14, Rylan Crocker 14, Carter Allen 10, Nate Graves 4, Conner Elrod 2, Gage Dixon 3
