By Justin Sokeland
WBIW.com
BEDFORD – Miss Basketball candidates are held to higher standards. And should be. That prestigious title, awarded to the best in this hoops-crazed state, is revered, it symbolizes excellence. Chloe Spreen showed why she’s being mentioned on the very short list of possible winners.
After a non-impact first quarter, Spreen erupted, going supernova when her team needed the energy boost. Blast off. It’s hard to be impressed all over again after 101 career games, that’s just how good Bedford North Lawrence’s superstar was during a rocket ride to a Saturday afternoon shootout win over Floyd Central.
Spreen scored 34 points, just one shy of her career high, and the No.11 Stars needed them all during a 60-54 conquest of the pesky Highlanders. Miley Sherrill added 11 points as BNL (16-4) completed Hoosier Hills Conference play with a 5-1 record, now hoping for a huge upset when league leader Jennings County plays its league finale next week.
What made this Spreen explosion so magnificent? She didn’t score in the first quarter, missing four jumpers. But then the inner beast was awakened, and she took over during a 19-point second frame that powered BNL in front by double digits. Floyd (12-8, 2-4) could not recover from that fireball’s damage, although the Highlanders forced the Stars to answer multiple challenges.
Each time, the response was Spreen.
BNL trailed 13-10 at the first stop, and Spreen didn’t get her first basket until converting a layup off a Madisyn Bailey press steal. That lit the fuse. Bang, she buried a trey. Boom, she pulled up for a 12-footer in the paint. Crack, another bomb. She finished the flash fire with another drive through traffic and a layup off an inbound set as the Stars scored 26 points in that period and roared to a 36-25 halftime lead.
“I think I let the game come to me,” Spreen said. “In the beginning, I knew there would be hard pressure, but I just let it come to me, let my shots fall, didn’t force much.”
When the Highlanders surged within 39-33 in the third, it was Spreen with a baseline fade, with a deep corner bomb, with another layup off an inbound set. When Floyd scratched back to 51-47 midway through the fourth, it was Spreen with a sensational behind-the-back move in the paint for a 3-point play, with a back-cut layup via a Bailey pass. Finally, when the Highlanders still insisted and cut the deficit to 57-54, it was two Tori Nikirk free throws with 36 seconds left that pushed BNL to safety.
That’s why this Spreen spectacular was among her best performances. Her 35 against Bloomington South last season was during a blowout, her 34 against Mitchell this year was another runaway. This was an Alabama recruit and All-State lock carrying her team to a tough win, refusing to lose.
“She’s special,” BNL coach Jeff Allen said. “She plays really hard – all the time. It’s amazing to me how her motor never stops. It baffles me that’s she can still play at that level. Chloe is a handful when she can get an angle on you and get to the basket. It’s tough to guard her.“
After missing those first four, she was 12 of 20, including three 3-pointers. Floyd ran most of its stable of 6-foot defenders at her. It didn’t matter once she got the taste of success, the vision of the ball dropping through the net.
”She’s just good,” Floyd coach Randy Gianfagna said. “Our goal was to win each quarter. The problem was the second was a big one for them.”
BNL had other contributors. Bailey had three buckets in the first quarter to keep BNL from listing too badly, finishing with 10 points. Sherrill had nine of her points in the first half. That trio combined for all but one of the BNL baskets.
Floyd’s other issue was 18 turnovers, including eight in the second quarter when the train temporarily derailed.
“We just have to clean that up,” Gianfagna said. “When they turned us over, they got transition buckets out of it.”
Spreen the Splendid glossed over some BNL problems. The Highlanders torched the defense, hitting 22 of 36 shots. Brinley Clark scored 17 points and Samara Miller added 16. Floyd also owned a 25-18 rebounding edge.
“I lost track of time, and I looked up, it was a four-point difference,” Spreen said. “It was close. We knew it would be hard for us.”
“Floyd shot the ball well,” Allen said. “We didn’t go a great job guarding, we gave up straight-line drives and offensive rebounds, and we can’t do that. But we could have been on the other side of that. We struggled to contain them and keep them from scoring. We felt like we needed to attack them on the dribble. They attacked us back, and we didn’t guard it very well either.“
BNL has now given up 54-plus in three of the last four games. It’s the first time this year the Stars have won when allowing that many.
“I was happy with the kids for hanging in there and making plays when they needed,” Allen said. “Haleigh (Canada) did a great job coming off the bench defensively, and she hasn’t been in that situation very often. Conference games are tough. They just are. I’m happy with the win. It wasn’t pretty all the time, but conference games usually aren’t.”
BNL will return to action on Thursday, making trip across the Ohio River to battle Louisville power Sacred Heart.
FLOYD CENTRAL HIGHLANDERS (54)
3s FGs FTs R F Pts
15 Brinley Clark, f 1-2 8-11 0-2 3 2 17
12 Elise Coleman, f 0-2 3-10 0-0 2 0 6
34 Nora Gibson, c 0-1 1-2 0-1 4 4 3
22 Ashton Timberlake, g 0-0 2-3 4-5 3 2 8
21 Samara Miller, g 4-5 6-8 0-0 4 5 16
33 Megan Czarnecki 0-0 2-2 0-1 2 2 4
5 Mia Gianfagna 0-0 0-0 0-0 2 1 0
35 Eva Casteel 0-0 0-0 0-0 1 0 0
Totals 5-10 22-36 5-9 25 16 54
BEDFORD NL STARS (60)
3s FGs FTs R F Pts
2 Chloe Spreen, f 3-7 12-20 7-10 6 2 34
22 Miley Sherrill, f 1-2 3-5 4-6 1 3 11
24 Madisyn Bailey, g 0-0 5-9 0-0 5 0 10
32 Trinidy Bailey, g 1-1 1-2 0-0 2 1 3
12 Tori Nikirk, g 0-2 0-4 2-2 0 4 2
20 Bella Jackson 0-0 0-1 0-0 1 0 0
23 Katie Godlevske 0-5 0-5 0-0 0 2 0
11 Haleigh Canada 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Totals 5-17 21-42 13-17 18 12 60
Floyd Central 13 12 16 13 – 54
Bedford NL 10 26 11 13 – 60
Turnovers – Floyd Central 18, BNL 6
Field goal percentage – Floyd Central 22-36 (.611); BNL 21-42 (.500)
Free throw percentage – Floyd Central 5-9 (.556); BNL 13-17 (.765)
