By Justin Sokeland
WBIW.com
BEDFORD – Basketballs, full of air, weigh only a few ounces. It’s all the heavy air surrounding the historic Bedford North Lawrence program that adds mass and pressure. Hard to inhale oxygen in the stratosphere.
Now the wait is over, and the Stars can catch their collective breath. If the proverbial monkey was on their backs, especially on new head coach Greg Burton, that hefty primate was yanked off as BNL broke through for its first victory.
With impressive scoring balance, with a loud, strong double-double by a quiet senior off the bench, BNL conquered Bloomington North 57-42 on Tuesday night in BNL Fieldhouse. Tori Nikirk paced the Stars with 14 points, but it was the production of Makaya Jackson in her reserve role that sparked the much-needed win.
BNL (1-1) never trailed, but it was still stuck in its offensive malaise when Jackson scored three times to send waves of relaxation and relief through the roster. Her boost sent the Stars to a double-digit lead midway through the second quarter, and a pointed halftime discussion about decisions and execution must have made an impression. BNL blasted to a 13-point lead in the third and was never threatened after that.
Burton, the 12th coach in BNL’s five-decade history, posted his first win, taking the inevitable in stride. “It beats losing, doesn’t it,” he said with a smile.
After scuffling through the first 6-plus minutes, with only two breakaway layups off steals to show for the offensive work, Jackson took charge. She scored from close range, stumbled to a last-second layup to close the first quarter, then converted an offensive rebound to start the next period. Trinidy Bailey’s corner trey powered the Stars to a 19-9 lead.
The Cougars (1-2) closed to 21-16 at the half, which led to the locker room preaching. The Stars arrived late to the court but responded with back-to-back layups by Paige Burton, consecutive layups by NIkirk, and Bailey’s baseline drive to a 3-point play for a 35-22 advantage.
“At halftime, we had a little discussion, decision making as a whole was poor,” Burton said. “Our effort level was good at times, but it was in all the wrong places. It got better.”
BNL capped off the win with some actual shooting prowess in the fourth quarter. Nikirk drilled two treys, including a banked bomb from the wing, as the Stars converted 7 of 10 from the floor. That was a welcome improvement from the first six quarters of the year.
In addition to the Nikirk total, BNL got double-digit games from Miley Sherrill (10) and Burton (10), plus the 10-point, 10-board, career-best night from Jackson. Bailey added 10 boards as the short Stars won that stat by a 35-27 count.
“We weren’t getting rebounds,” Jackson said. “I just tried to get the ball so we could get the possession to last longer. We wanted to win, because it’s the new coach, and we really needed this win to boost our morale.”
“Unbelievable,” Burton said of the Jackson effort. “We see it every day in practice, she’s just wearing people out. She goes after every rebound. She doesn’t bat an eye when we tell her to do something. She’s always in the right place, she just does her job. I love everything about her.”
North was short-handed with injuries suffered by starting forward Ashley Stegemoller (concussion protocol) and freshman reserve Lulu Frank. Freshman guard Kate Lehr carried the load with 23 points and 10 rebounds.
“They were more fresh than we were,” North coach Kiley Jarrett said. “I believe, with a full roster, it may be a different game.”
BNL’s balance was a significant development. It was a first step toward establishing a team identity.
“We got something from everybody,” Burton said. “We’re going to need that. They felt like they should have gotten the Mooresville game, and it slipped away. So getting this one, we can take a deep breath.”
“It will still take a little bit of time,” Jackson said. “People are figuring out what they can do best for the team, filling their roles. But I think we’re pretty close.”
The Stars, who conquered North for the 14th straight time in the series, will host Scottsburg on Friday to end their season-starting three-game homestand.
BLOOMINGTON NORTH COUGARS (42)
3s FGs FTs R F Pts
13 Audrey Burton, f 1-6 1-9 1-4 4 1 4
24 Ava Robbennolt, g 0-8 1-9 3-6 5 3 5
3 Rilynn Williams, g 1-4 2-9 0-0 3 3 5
21 Kate Lehr, g 4-7 9-14 1-1 10 4 23
22 Ellie Livingston, g 0-0 2-3 1-4 3 1 5
2 C.J. Bell 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Totals 6-25 15-44 6-15 27 12 42
BEDFORD NL STARS (57)
3s FGs FTs R F Pts
22 Miley Sherrill, f 1-4 4-10 1-2 2 3 10
32 Trinidy Bailey, f 1-3 2-7 2-3 10 2 7
12 Tori Nikirk, g 2-4 6-14 0-0 4 3 14
23 Katie Godlevske, g 0-2 0-5 0-0 2 3 0
20 Paige Burton, g 0-2 5-8 0-0 1 1 10
30 Makaya Jackson 0-0 4-5 2-2 10 4 10
21 Jordynn Blann 0-2 1-5 2-2 2 2 4
11 Trinity Schmeichel 0-0 1-1 0-2 2 0 2
Totals 4-17 23-56 7-11 35 18 57
North 5 11 11 15 – 42
Bedford NL 10 11 18 18 – 57
Turnovers – North 18, BNL 13
Field goal percentage – North 15-44 (.341); BNL 23-56 (.411)
Free throw percentage – North 6-15 (.400); BNL 7-11 (.636)
