By Justin Sokeland
WBIW.com
BEDFORD – Every student, at some point in their academic career, has been caught unprepared and struggled through an early test or quiz, then spent the rest of the term or semester in recovery mode, working hard to salvage a decent grade.
Bedford North Lawrence’s early progress report (do they still issue those?) during the final preseason scrimmage would have reflected that staggering start. Van Halen once crooned “have you seen Junior’s grades?” After a kind-of-frightenin’ opening stanza, the Stars rocked the cradle.
Falling behind early, BNL aced the final three quarters against Austin during the IHSAA-sanctioned scrimmage on Thursday night. Patric Matson did most of the extra-credit work as the Stars finished with an overall 70-40 advantage. Matson scored 30 points and Dax Short added 12 during the last dress rehearsal for the 2024-25 campaign.
If the first quarter had been the only grading scale, BNL would have not made the honor roll. The Eagles, still adjusting to first-year coach Brent Jameson, shot their way to a surprising 14-8 lead and battled BNL to an 18-16 count in the opening period. From that point, the Stars were summa cum laude. For all non-Latin academics, that translates “with the highest distinction.”
“We started out in the D-plus to C-minus range,” BNL coach Kurt Godlevske said. “That was just defensively and taking care of the ball. That’s why you play these types of games, to get rid of those jitters and see the flow of the game.”
Austin drilled four treys, two by Xander Richie, en route to the six-point lead. Matson, in a preview of explosiveness to come, got loose for two buckets, then found Quincy Pickett for a corner trey. Short finished the quarter with a layup (via a Logan Miracle pass) for the 18-16 conclusion.
BNL shifted into quick-study mode after that. The Stars rushed to a 14-2 lead in the second quarter as Matson buried two bombs and turned a steal into a breakaway. Jerett Gilbert scored twice and Pickett popped another trey as BNL closed with a 23-10 edge.
In the third, BNL bolted to another fast start with the first 9 points, with Short converting a rebound basket and stroking a wing trey. Austin answered with its last impressive flurry, with Carter Hunley scoring three times to trim the BNL margin to 14-10.
In the fourth, Matson was marvelous. He went coast-to-coast with a rebound for a layup, turned a steal into a beautiful reverse, slashed the lane with a left-handed drive, and capped a Short steal with a breakaway to a slam. BNL dominated the final period 15-4.
Final grade? “That was about a B,” said Pickett, who totaled 11 points. “The first quarter wasn’t too good. But after that we picked it up. Coach Godlevske told us we had to get it together defensively. We handled that pretty well.
“Progress wise, we’re way better than last year. We know what we’re doing. We just have to handle the turnovers, handle pressure and take care of the ball.”
Matson, who was deadly from the perimeter a year ago, had four treys. His game has been beefed up by his 20-pound weight gain during the summer. He also did a lot of directing the attack.
“He made a lot of distributing passes, set his teammates up where they could be successful,” Godlevske said. “He’s a senior, and we have seniors out on the floor. They’re supposed to play like that.”
Richie paced the Eagles with 15 points while Tracen Roush added 9. Austin hit six treys in the first two quarters, none in the last two. Godlevske demanded ball pressure during the break for the junior varsity quarter, and the message was heard.
“Our defensive mindset wasn’t all there in the first half,” Matson said. “We didn’t come in prepared, we just came in to play. It showed us what we have to learn.”
The point of the scrimmage was preparing for the season opener. BNL still has some homework to complete, in terms of unforced turnovers and execution.
“We made some mistakes in transition, made some execution mistakes, that we can clean up,” Godlevske said. “I’m curious to see, on film, how we read things. Were we missing people and getting the ball where it needed to be? We need to look at that. And we have to figure out why, in our basic offense, our five men aren’t getting involved.
“Our strength is we can shoot the ball. We started making shots, and it opens up for everyone. Austin is a very hard team to play against, with that match-up zone. We handled it, as the game went on, much better, started making great decisions and finding gaps.”
BNL will begin the regular season on Tuesday, hosting Bloomington North.
BNL 70, AUSTIN 40
BNL – Patric Matson 30, Quincy Pickett 11, Dax Short 12, Isaiah Sasser 4, Gibson Crane 2, Jerett Gilbert 4, Logan Miracle 4, Jacob Ritter 3
Austin – Xander Richie 15, Kolten Mayse 4, Tracen Roush 9, Grayson Squires 2, Carter Huntley 8, Brooks Swank 2
