By Justin Sokeland
WBIW.com
BEDFORD – Call ‘em the Kings of Overtime, because Seymour has needed extra periods for some huge wins. And now, after adding another extended-time road triumph to their impressive cache, the Owls are one victory away from being crowned Kings of the Conference.
For the fifth time this season, Seymour got locked into an overtime death struggle. For the fourth time, the Owls found a way to live through it. And this one, a rugged road victory over Bedford North Lawrence, might be the most impressive. If defense wins championships, then the Owls definitely deserve their first Hoosier Hills Conference championship in program history.
Locking down BNL’s sensational shooters, the Owls flew away from BNL Fieldhouse with a tough 47-42 victory on Friday night. Jaylen Johnson scored 13 points and Bret Perry added 12 as Seymour (12-3 overall, 4-1 in the league) ended BNL’s eight-game winning streak and took a huge step toward a historic title.
The Stars (9-3, 2-1) never led, pulled even only three times, and expended a lot of energy to overcome a nightmare start and erase a double-digit deficit in the fourth quarter. But the tank ran dry in the four-minute overtime as the Owls scored seven unanswered points to finally pull away.
Since Seymour joined the HHC in 1995, it has never won the league title. Now the Owls are one win over Floyd Central from clinching at least a share of that elusive crown.
“It would be huge, for the kids in this locker room, for our program,” Seymour coach Kirk Manns said. “But that’s a Friday away (at home on Jan. 26). We’ll give them everything we’ve got, I can guarantee that.”
What Seymour gave BNL was a headache that never went away. The Stars had seven turnovers in the first 11 minutes, stumbled into an 18-5 hole, and spent the rest of the cold night fighting uphill. In battle, the high ground is always the advantage, and the Owls played that to their advantage. BNL got even in the final two minutes to force overtime, and scored on its first possession of the extra frame for a 40-40 deadlock, but Seymour never relinquished the lead.
“We didn’t want to be in that position,” BNL coach Kurt Godlevske said. “Our flat start hurt us. You have to give our kids credit for how they played in the second half. That’s what we needed in the first half, and we just didn’t have it.”
BNL had won its last eight with remarkable offensive efficiency. Seymour shut that off. The Stars were only 3 of 13 in the first half and were fortunate to be within 20-9 at the break. They found some footing the third quarter but still trailed 33-23 when Perry popped a 15-footer to open the fourth.
The comeback was a toughness test, because double-digit leads seem double with Seymour’s patient style. BNL worked its way back by forcing five turnovers in the fourth quarter, by getting buckets from Patric Matson (a 15-footer), Maddox Ray (a three-play play on a baseline inbound), Noah Godlevske (a six-footer on the baseline) and Matson (following a Ray steal) that got BNL within 34-32.
Johnson temporarily silenced the building storm with a drive to a layup, but Matson posted up for a bucket, and Godlevske dropped a high-lofted 15-footer for a 36–36 tie with 1:48 left. Johnson answered with another power blast through the lane for a layup with 45 seconds left, but Matson countered with another post basket. Seymour waited the last 30 seconds for a final shot but couldn’t come up with anything substantial.
In the overtime, Michael Brooks got his shot blocked, but he snared that rebound and found Perry for a point-blank score. BNL worked Logan Miracle loose for the response basket, but then Seymour took over. Brady Harpe crashed the baseline for a 6-footer, and Johnson powered through the paint for a 44-40 lead. Now BNL was out of answers as Matson missed twice, while free throws from Johnson and Brooks sealed Seymour’s second straight road win in the series.
“There were two plays that really set the tone in the overtime,” Manns said. “One was Brady Harpe going over the scorer’s table, trying to get a loose ball – a big energy play. And Jaylen Johnson getting on the floor for another loose ball. Those energy plays gave up momentum, we were able to get a couple of easy baskets. And we were able to get some stops.
“We kind of got stagnant. We expend a lot of energy on the defensive end, and sometimes that catches up and fatigue sets in. We finally caught enough of a second wind.”
Seymour’s defense was superb. Matson scored 16 points for the Stars but needed 20 shots to get there. Godlevske, who was averaging 16.5 points, was limited to six and didn’t hit a 3–pointer. BNL was only 4 of 17 from distance and was awarded only three free throws.
“They can shoot the ball so well,” Manns said. “We’ve done a good job of being able to guard shooters, push them out and make it tough. The screens were tough to get through. You have to stay connected, stay focused. It’s more of a mental grind as much as a physical grind. You lose them, it’s in the bucket.
“I was a little surprised that we were able to make them uncomfortable in that first half. And I thought we left some points out there. I knew we would need those as we got down the stretch.”
Quincy Pickett added 10 points for BNL, which had only one turnover after the early scuffling. But that slow start allowed Seymour to dictate tone and tempo.
“You just can’t play in the 40s with them,” Godlevske said. “That’s not to our advantage.
“You don’t ever want to be on this side of it, but sometimes it’s a good thing, Hopefully it allows us to grow. Winning can be difficult to see where your weaknesses are, where your growth areas are. Those types of starts can’t happen again.”
BNL will look to rebound on Saturday night when it hosts Edgewood.
SEYMOUR OWLS (47)
3s FGs FTs R F Pts
23 Jaylen Johnson, f 0-0 3-6 7-10 8 2 13
5 Michael Brooks, f 0-0 1-3 3-4 5 0 5
3 Bret Perry, g 2-4 5-7 0-0 1 4 12
1 Brady Harpe, g 2-6 3-8 0-0 2 2 8
4 Parker Thompson, g 1-1 2-3 1-1 2 2 6
15 Ethan Silcox 1-2 1-2 0-0 1 0 3
24 Evan Unterscher 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 1 0
Totals 6-13 15-29 11-16 20 11 47
BEDFORD NL STARS (42)
3s FGs FTs R F Pts
10 Patric Matson, f 2-9 7-20 0-0 4 1 16
31 Logan Miracle, f 0-0 2-2 1-2 2 2 5
11 Noah Godlevske, g 0-5 3-9 0-0 2 1 6
1 Trace Rynders, g 0-1 0-1 0-0 1 3 0
12 Maddox Ray, g 0-0 1-2 1-1 5 2 3
22 Isaiah Sasser 0-0 1-1 0-0 2 4 2
3 Quincy Pickett 2-2 4-6 0-0 2 1 10
40 Kline Woodward 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
5 Dax Short 0-0 0-1 0-0 0 0 0
Totals 4-17 18-41 2-3 18 15 42
Seymour 10 10 11 7 9 – 47
Bedford NL 5 4 14 15 4 – 42
Turnovers – Seymour 12, BNL 8
Field goal percentage – Seymour 15-29 (.517); BNL 18-41 (.439)
Free throw percentage – Seymour 11-16 (.688); BNL 2-3 (.667)
