By Justin Sokeland
WBIW.com
BEDFORD – The best way to guarantee a great ending is a perfect start. Bedford North Lawrence could not do it any better.
Seeking a send-off win for the four-player senior class in their final appearance on Damon Bailey Court, the Stars exploded with a sizzling first five minutes, blasting in front and leaving a chemtrail in their wake while soaring away from Evansville North. So much for the conspiracy theory of emotions playing havoc on Senior Night. BNL should market this grand opening.
Doing a lot of damage from the 3-point line, the Stars erupted to a 14-0 getaway en route to a 60-43 victory over the Huskies on Saturday night. Noah Godlevske, one of the senior honorees, drilled seven treys for 21 points, and junior Patric Matson added 21 as BNL (13-6) celebrated the careers of Godlevske, Trace Rynders, Maddox Ray and Kline Woodward with an upper-class performance.
After the traditional pregame introduction of the seniors, BNL cut loose. Matson drilled back-to-back bombs, and Godlevske added a third from deep. After Rynders found Isaiah Sasser for a point-blank layup, the Stars went back to long distance as Godlevske swished another corner trey. The Huskies (11-10) would not recover from that five-minute headstart.
“I wish we could start every game like that,” BNL coach Kurt Godlevske said. “My dad (sitting in the stands behind the bench) was chirping ‘It’s easy when you make shots.’ Our kids were really focused.”
North finally broke through with a 3-point play from 6-10 center Kellen English and scrambled within 14-8. From that point, once BNL restored the double-digit margin, the Stars were never in jeopardy. Not even in the form of a question. Godlevske continued his barrage (he hit five of his first six from distance) as BNL surged to a 27-15 halftime lead, and he added his final two treys while shooting the Stars to a 20-point advantage in the third quarter.
“There’s no better way to go out than that,” Rynders said.
“Noah had a great week of practice,” his coach/father said. “When you have that, it gives you confidence.”
Every senior had a hand in the victory. Woodward gathered a Godlevske airball in midair and scored at the third-quarter buzzer. Rynders popped a wing trey (one of 11 BNL hit), and Ray was a defensive demon. North’s Cayden Gehlhausen was averaging 16 points per game. He could only manage one field goal.
“What can you say about the job Maddox has done all year long on the other team’s best players?” Godlevske said. “He and Trace have set the tone all year for us. Holding that team to 43 points is a big statement on how we can defend.”
Brayden Huebner paced the Huskies with 13 points. North, coming off a road win over Castle on Friday night and making the long road trip to face a rested and motivated opponent, just never recovered from the rocky start (three turnovers and two missed shots in its first five trips).
“It’s hard to recover from that,” North coach Jason Roach said. “We knew they were a good 3-point shooting team. And they shot it even better tonight, give them a lot of credit. We gave up too many good looks. They’re tough to guard and they can really stretch you out. We didn’t answer the call.“
BNL had other excellent stats, most notably the limited turnovers (7) and rebounding edge (29-21) against a much taller foe. Boxing out was a point of emphasis during practice, with consequences if unheeded. It showed. Matson led the way with 5 boards, so it was a community effort.
“We did a great job of boxing out, limiting them to one shot,” Godlevske said. “They paid for that in practice this week. It was good to see.”
BNL will learn its postseason fate on Sunday night when the IHSAA unveils the sectional pairings. The Stars still have two road games left in the regular season, and the rescheduled visit to New Albany could be set as early as Monday night (depending on the draw for the sectional). The Stars are also preparing for a visit to Jasper on Thursday.
EVANSVILLE NORTH HUSKIES (43)
3s FGs FTs R F Pts
30 Bryson Chapman, f 0-3 2-6 2-2 3 1 6
31 Cayden Gehlhausen, f 0-0 1-3 2-2 3 4 4
33 Kellen English, c 0-1 3-4 1-1 6 0 7
10 Brayden Huebner, g 3-5 4-8 2-2 1 3 13
1 Keamare Barnes, g 1-2 1-3 0-0 4 2 3
23 Ashton Smallwood 0-1 2-6 3-6 2 0 7
11 Seab Johnson 0-1 0-1 0-0 1 1 0
5 Carson Cashmer 1-1 1-1 0-0 0 0 3
52 Luke Smith 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
3 Q Pauley 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
22 Jackson Finklin 0-0 0-1 0-0 0 0 0
Totals 5-14 14-33 10-13 21 11 43
BEDFORD NL STARS (60)
3s FGs FTs R F Pts
10 Patric Matson, f 3-10 7-18 4-4 5 1 21
40 Kline Woodward, f 0-0 1-4 2-2 4 3 4
11 Noah Godlevske, g 7-13 7-16 0-0 3 1 21
1 Trace Rynders, g 1-1 1-1 1-2 3 1 4
12 Maddox Ray, g 0-0 1-3 0-0 3 4 2
22 Isaiah Sasser 0-0 2-3 0-0 4 1 4
3 Quincy Pickett 0-1 0-1 0-0 3 0 0
5 Dax Short 0-0 1-1 0-0 1 0 2
31 Logan Miracle 0-0 0-0 0-0 1 1 0
20 Jonah Bailey 0-0 1-1 0-0 0 0 2
Totals 11-25 21-48 7-8 29 12 60
Evan. North 8 7 11 17 – 43
Bedford NL 19 8 21 12 – 60
Turnovers – Evan. North 12, BNL 7
Field goal percentage – Evan. North 14-33 (.424); BNL 21-48 (.438)
Free throw percentage – Evan. North 10-13 (.769); BNL 7-8 (.778)
