By Justin Sokeland
WBIW.com
SCOTTSBURG – The second verse was much like the first. One scoring slump was the difference when Columbus North and Bedford North Lawrence battled during the preseason scrimmage. Ditto during the regular-season rematch.
After a wide-awake start, the Stars slipped into a brief, turnover-induced offensive coma. By the time they were revived, the damage had been done.
The Bull Dogs took advantage of BNL’s series of unfortunate events, and the story was written in indelible ink. Faster than anyone could say Jiminy Cricket, or even Lemony Snicket, North had control and refused to relinquish it while conquering the Stars 50-42 in the opening round of Donna Cheatham Classic at Scottsburg on Friday afternoon.
Kaylie Harmon scored 18 points as North (12-1) advanced to the semifinal round of the eight-team tournament. BNL (4-8 with three straight losses) dropped into the consolation bracket to meet Batesville (9-5) on Saturday morning.
BNL had superb moments, in fact played even with, or a tick above, the impressive Bull Dogs. But the Stars sagged during the latter stages of the second quarter, as North went on a 14-3 run while BNL committed seven turnovers and misfired multiple times. Unfortunately, that’s the same old story, some old song and dance.
“That stretch hurt,” BNL coach Greg Burton said. “We just have to execute better. I know I keep saying that, but that’s what it was.”
BNL’s opening surge was exquisite. Trinidy Bailey and Tori Nikirk got loose for short-range baskets, Jordynn Blann swished a trey, and Bailey knifed through traffic for a 12-9 lead. Makaya Jackson, a force inside, gathered a rebound for a bucket and 14-13 lead after the first quarter, and Nikirk started the second period with a bomb from the key.
Then BNL got stuck in the dead zone, and Harmon was the catalyst for the North run. She dropped a 16-footer, turned a backcourt steal into a layup, and scored off a baseline inbound set. Katie Godlevske temporarily halted the burst with a wing trey, but the Bull Dogs closed with Avery Johnson’s corner trey and Kenna Conrad’s 3-point play as North blasted to a 30-20 halftime lead.
“We were able to pressure a little bit better,” said North coach Brett White, who switched to a halfcourt trapping defense with the desired results. “We were able to turn them over, and it got us going a little bit. Just playing with confidence is a big thing for us right now.”
The difference this time was BNL’s response to the problems and deficit. The Stars battled back within 45-39 midway through the fourth quarter, but Harmon made six free throws to keep BNL at arm’s length.
“Columbus North is good, they know what they’re doing,” Burton said. “But I really like how we responded after that stretch. I loved our fight. We didn’t let it affect us like it did the last couple of games, where it hurt us mentally. We did a good job of staying positive, that was good to see.“
In addition to Harmon’s offense, Johnson scored 11 points and Paige Terry came off the bench to grab 8 rebounds for the Bull Dogs.
“I just wish we could have extended it out a little better in the second half,” White said. “We were sloppy with the basketball (18 turnovers), but we were able to make free throws down the stretch. We lean on Kaylie a lot. She stabilizes things, and we feel pretty good when the ball is in her hands.
“They’re a very physical team. They sped us up a little in the halfcourt, they had a lot of fight in them.”
BNL had no double-digits scorer, but had contributions from Miley Sherrill (9 points), Jackson (8), Nikirk (8) and Blann (8).
“We were balanced,” Burton said. “We were aggressive, trying to get to the rim and get some free throws.”
BNL finished with 16 turnovers (only five in the second half) and converted 14 of 44 shots.
“We knew what to do, but we became robots where we got glued to a spot,” Burton said of the turnover leakage in the first half. “We’re too deliberate and too slow as far as what we want to do. We did a better job in the second half.”
BNL will now face Batesville. The Bulldogs dropped a 62-46 decision to Scottsburg (4-9) in the first game. Ellie Richardson totaled 24 points and Lola Fouts added 22 (with six treys) for the Warriorettes.
Madelyn Haskamp came off the bench to score 13 points for Batesville, while Sophie Gesell had 11 points and Marlee Obermeyer added 10. The Bulldogs have five players at 5-10 on the roster, giving them a considerable size advantage against the Stars.
“It works both ways,” Burton said. “They do have size, and they’re good at using it. But I like our team and they have to guard us, too. If we play the way we’re capable, trying to get after them, we’ll see where it falls.”
In the other first-round games, Eastern Pekin (8-4) stopped Seymour 52-44. Addison Smith had 19 points for the Musketeers, while Sophie Skidmore had 15 points for the Owls (2-11). Franklin Central knocked off Class A No.2 Borden 48-35. Ashlee Baker had 12 points for the Flashes (10-6), while Riley Rarick and Ava Wheeler had 8 points each for the Braves (11-3).
BNL will face Batesville at 11 a.m. That winner will return to battle the Seymour-Borden winner in the fifth-place game at 6 p.m., while the loser will face the Seymour-Borden loser in the seventh-place game at 4:15.
In the first semifinal, Columbus North (13-1) ripped to a 24-4 lead and blasted Scottsburg (4-10) by a 73-51 count. Harmon had 20 points for the Bull Dogs, while Richardson exploded for 30 for the Warriorettes. In the second semifinal, Franklin Central (11-6) smashed Eastern (8-5) 70-22 with a mercy-rule finish.
BEDFORD NL STARS (42)
3s FGs FTs R F Pts
22 Miley Sherrill, f 1-4 3-11 2-2 4 3 9
30 Makaya Jackson, f 0-0 2-2 4-6 5 2 8
32 Trinidy Bailey, g 0-2 2-9 2-4 7 2 6
12 Tori Nikirk, g 1-5 3-9 1-2 3 3 8
21 Jordynn Blann, g 2-3 3-6 0-0 2 4 8
23 Katie Godlevske 1-4 1-7 0-0 1 4 3
20 Paige Burton 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
24 Elise Williams 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 2 0
Totals 5-18 14-44 9-14 27 20 42
COLUMBUS NORTH BULL DOGS (50)
3s FGs FTs R F Pts
2 Kenna Conrad, f 0-1 1-3 3-5 5 2 5
24 Avery Johnson, f 1-6 3-9 4-4 5 1 11
20 Kaylie Harmon, g 0-0 6-8 6-6 2 0 18
4 Hadassah Hurt, g 1-3 2-4 1-2 1 3 6
25 Sydney Johnson, g 0-0 2-5 0-0 1 1 4
3 Ava Wilson 1-4 1-6 2-4 2 3 5
21 Paige Terry 0-0 0-0 1-2 8 1 1
11 Audrey Nordman 0-0 0-0 0-0 1 0 0
Totals 3-14 15-35 17-23 29 10 50
Bedford NL 14 6 7 15 – 42
Col. North 13 17 8 12 – 50
Turnovers – BNL 16, Col. North 18
Field goal percentage – BNL 14-44 (.318); Col. North 15-35 (.429)
Free throw percentage – BNL 9-14 (.643); Col. North 17-23 (.739)
