By Justin Sokeland
WBIW.com
BEDFORD – When rockets blast off into the stratosphere and beyond, delivering cargo or explorers into orbit, the escape from gravity requires multiple stages. Each section is disconnected from the next by firing boosters, creating separation as the craft thunders into space.
Bedford North Lawrence followed that exact flight plan to victory on Wednesday night during the series renewal with Bloomfield. An impressive launch, ignition of stages to carry the Stars toward the stars, even a bumpy re-entry for the descent to the final splashdown. Bloomfield had enough gravitational pull to keep BNL close, but the mission was completed.
Three main-engine burns powered the Stars to a 56-53 triumph over the plucky Cardinals. Patric Matson scored 18 points and Logan Miracle added 14 as BNL (3-1) withstood the g-force from Bloomfield star Blake Neill for its first win over the Greene County neighbor since the annual expeditions were scrubbed 15 years ago.
Lift off was spectacular as BNL, in NASA mode, exploded in front while hitting its first four shots. Then came the “Houston, we have a problem” moment as Bloomfield surged in front and threatened to hit the abort button. The Stars triggered more thrust with key bursts in the second and fourth quarters to pull away.
“We had some nice runs where we got consecutive stops, good execution baskets,” BNL coach Kurt Godlevske said. “But we knew it would not be easy. They challenged us.”
The challenge was keeping Neill grounded. Neill was a rocket man, burning up his fuse alone with a 30-point performance. That kid is only a junior and on his way to breaking the school scoring record, and it’s going to be a long, long time before BNL sees another scorer of his caliber.
Three stages were key for the Stars. First, the launch. Miracle muscled in a 4-footer, then Dax Short, Isaiah Sasser and Quincy Pickett all drilled treys for an 11-3 start. Second, the recovery from Bloomfield’s best run. Matson swooped in for a layup off a steal, Parker Kern grabbed a long rebound and went all the way for a 3-point play, and Miracle powered inside for another and-one finish. Matson added free throws as BNL roared with a 12-0 run to a 26-17 lead.
Third, the trip to the moon. BNL started the fourth quarter with Matson’s layup off an inbound set and a pretty fadeaway on the baseline, Miracle crashed inside for a rebound basket, Matson posted on the baseline for another bucket, and Pickett capped a transition break with a corner bomb for a 48-34 lead with four minutes left. It was lonely out in that space.
“We made some nice, smart basketball plays and got some easy looks,” Godlevske said. “Once we saw it go in, it snowballed from there.”
Bloomfield, like the Apollo missions, caused about a three-minute blackout on the landing, getting within one possession in the closing seconds. Short, Miracle and Jacob Ritter all hit free throws to avert disaster.
Matson had 14 points in the second half. Miracle hit double figures for the second time this season, showing an aggressiveness that was noticed and appreciated.
“He was aggressive,” Godlevske said. “He has to grow into being that type of consistent player. When he’s aggressive, when he can do some good things, it will open things up for us.”
“I’m trying to be,” Miracle said. “It’s mostly my teammates that are helping me get to the basket. They get me the ball. It’s a mindset. My teammates have a lot of faith in me.“
Neill was sensational in the second half, hitting four shots (of Bloomfield’s five) in the third quarter, then totaling 11 points in the fourth while powering the Bloomfield comeback. The Cardinals, ranked No.16 in Class A, fell to 3-1.
“Neill is special,” Godlevske said. “He’s the best shooter, by far, that we’ve seen so far. He can make difficult shots, and he’s strong enough to protect the ball to get his shots off.
“When we gots stops, we didn’t let Neill get good looks, forced some of the other guys to shoot the ball – which we should have been doing all night.”
“We were trying not to let him get an open shot,” Miracle added. “We couldn’t let him shoot, we had to respect him.”
Short added 8 points, and Miracle totaled 7 boards, for BNL. The only glitch was 10 missed free throws (18 of 28, with half the attempts in the fourth quarter as Bloomfield went to scramble mode after falling down by 14).
BNL will visit Columbus East for the Hoosier Hills Conference opener on Friday night.
BLOOMFIELD CARDINALS (53)
3s FGs FTs R F Pts
30 Owen Medina, f 0-0 1-3 0-0 8 2 2
3 Blake Neill, f 5-15 10-21 5-6 6 1 30
10 Tyler Patterson, g 0-1 4-5 0-0 1 3 8
41 Hunter Abner, g 0-1 0-1 0-0 1 4 0
5 Lance Workman, g 0-4 2-8 0-0 2 5 4
23 Ashton Pace 3-4 3-5 0-0 2 5 9
22 Jaden Ingram 0-0 0-0 0-0 2 3 0
Totals 8-25 20-42 5-6 23 23 53
BEDFORD NL STARS (56)
3s FGs FTs R F Pts
5 Dax Short, f 1-2 1-4 5-8 5 3 8
22 Isaiah Sasser, f 1-2 2-4 1-2 2 4 6
31 Logan Miracle, c 0-0 4-8 6-7 7 0 14
10 Patric Matson, g 2-4 6-12 4-6 4 4 18
3 Quincy Pickett, g 2-7 2-7 0-0 2 2 6
12 Jacob Ritter 0-1 0-1 1-2 0 0 1
24 Gibson Crane 0-0 0-0 0-0 1 0 0
4 Parker Kern 0-0 1-2 1-1 1 0 3
23 Tyler Stigall 0-0 0-0 0-2 0 0 0
Totals 6-16 16-38 18-28 23 13 56
Bloomfield 13 7 12 21 – 53
Bedford NL 14 12 11 19 – 56
Turnovers – Bloomfield 15, BNL 9
Field goal percentage – Bloomfield 20-42 (.476); BNL 16-38 (.421)
Free throw percentage – Bloomfield 5-6 (.833); BNL 18-28 (.643)
