By Justin Sokeland
WBIW.com
EVANSVILLE – According to Google, which knows everything, the Kodiak bear in the largest in the world, stretching to 10 feet tall on its hind legs. Probably wouldn’t want to encounter one in the icy wilderness of Alaska.
Bedford North Lawrence ran into the biggest Bear in the wilds of Evansville Central. Maddy Shirley, a 6-1 junior and future All-Star, had her claws out, a scary and impressive site. She’s a soft-spoken kid who doesn’t roar, but her game echoed, sending shivers down the spines of those who heard it.
Shirley was the bear in the paint, scoring 29 points and grabbing 14 rebounds, and Central needed all of it while fighting off a gallant upset bid from the Stars, whose best overall performance of the season was offset by the best Shirley had to offer.
With their star in beast mode, with a late dagger trey by reserve Sophie Jones, Central fended off BNL 49-42 on Thursday evening. The Bears, 12-3 and ranked No.6 in Class 3A, conquered BNL (4-11) for the first time since the 2016 regional, stretching their current winning streak to six straight. They didn’t escape without battle scars.
The Stars, playing with poise and purpose on the offensive end, stayed within striking range until the Jones bomb (the only trey Central hit) with 1:04 left gave the Bears a 45-39 cushion. Until that deciding shot, Shirley had 7 of Central’s 9 buckets in the second half. When in trouble, go with your best. That was Shirley.
“She makes a difference,” Central coach Dave Alexander said. “We challenged our girls to be a little bit tougher. She let them push her, and she had to be more physical.“
The Stars, with many expecting them to be the salmon in the stream for the Bears to swipe and swallow, were a different prey, much better than the team that had lost five straight by an average of 21.6 points. Katie Godlevske came off the bench to stroke two treys as BNL took an 11-8 lead at the first break, and her third from deep kept BNL in front at 14-10. That’s when Shirley first flexed her interior muscle. She converted back-to-back 3-point plays, then turned her steal into a Aubrie Durham layup for a 22-17 Central advantage. BNL answered with Miley Sherrill’s lane jumper and Trinidy Bailey’s 10-footer on the baseline that cut Central’s lead to 22-21 at the half.
“We came out a little slow, but we picked it up and started to play as a team,” Shirley said. “I just had to meet the toughness.
“Losing to the same team three years in a row would not be fun. We knew they would be good, it definitely would not be easy.”
BNL clawed within 26-24 on Jordynn Blann’s wing trey, but Central responded with its best burst, scoring eight points while the Stars went an extended period without a basket. Shirley’s fourth bucket of the third quarter gave the Bears their biggest lead at 34-26.
At this point in the past, BNL has wilted. Not this time. Bailey dropped a bomb, Blann nailed a corner trey, and Godlevske’s long jumper hit the front rim and plopped home as the Stars scrambled within 42-39. Then came the Jones surprise. She was left wide open when Avery Kelley drove the lane and spotted her open teammate.
“It’s tough,” BNL coach Greg Burton said. “I don’t know if we want to leave anyone that wide open. But we were willing to live with it. She hit a big shot.”
“That’s a girl that does a little bit of everything,” Alexander said. “She hit a massive three. She gave us a lot of energy off the bench.”
Godlevske paced BNL with 15 points, hitting all five of her shots from long range. Blann totaled 11 points,. The Stars, whose perimeter percentage has been a sore spot this season, hit 10 from distance and matched their season low in turnovers.
“I’m extremely proud of them for doing what we were asking them to do,” Burton said. “It always helps when the ball goes in, but even beyond that we were executing what we wanted to execute, playing the style we want to play. It was finally good to see.”
“I knew BNL would be tough, I don’t care what the record shows,” Alexander said. “That’s a talented team with a lot of girls who can put the ball in the bucket. Maybe they haven’t shot it well in the past, but they shot it well tonight.”
Shirley, who’s bearing down on the school’s career scoring record, hit 11 of 18 shots.
“We tried different things, different people,” Burton said. “I thought we did well on her, and she got 29. She’s tough to handle. She’s a great player.”
BNL will make another trip to Evansville on Saturday afternoon, visiting Evansville North.
BEDFORD NL STARS (41)
3s FGs FTs R F Pts
22 Miley Sherrill, f 0-1 2-7 0-0 5 3 4
30 Makaya Jackson, f 0-0 0-1 0-0 2 1 0
32 Trinidy Bailey, g1-5 2-8 0-0 4 2 5
12 Tori Nikirk, g 1-6 2-8 2-4 6 1 7
21 Jordynn Blann, g 3-8 4-11 0-0 3 2 11
23 Katie Godlevske 5-5 5-5 0-0 1 2 15
24 Elise Williams 0-0 0-1 0-0 0 0 0
Totals 10-24 15-41 2-4 25 11 42
EVANSVILLE CENTRAL BEARS (49)
3s FGs FTs R F Pts
25 Olivya Hile, f 0-2 1-3 0-0 1 0 2
32 Maddy Shirley, c 0-0 11-18 7-9 14 0 29
5 Maddie Glaser, g 0-2 0-2 0-0 0 2 0
3 Avery Kelley, g 0-0 2-3 0-0 2 3 4
12 Mya Skelton, g 0-1 2-6 1-3 3 1 5
14 Sophie Jones 1-2 3-6 0-0 1 0 7
13 Aubrie Durham 0-1 1-2 0-0 1 0 2
Totals 1-8 20-40 8-12 25 6 49
Bedford NL 11 10 7 14 – 42
Evan. Central 8 14 12 15 – 49
Turnovers – BNL 11, Central 9
Field goal percentage – BNL 15–41 (.366); Central 20-40 (.500)
Free throw percentage – BNL 2-4 (.500); Central 8-12 (.667)
