By Justin Sokeland
WBIW.com
BEDFORD – Bedford North Lawrence drew a coveted bye into one of the semifinals for the Class 4A Sectional 15 at Seymour.
The Stars (8-11) will await the winner of the opening game between No.7 Jeffersonville (16-5) and Scottsburg (6-13). In the bottom half of the bracket, Seymour (14-6) will battle Floyd Central (4-16) in the first round on March 4. That victor will face No.10 New Albany (16-3) in the second semifinal on March 7.
The championship is set for March 8.
Jeffersonville, the defending sectional champion, did not face Scottsburg during the regular season. The Warriors, who won the Class 3A state championship last year, were bumped into Sectional 15 for the first time because of the “success factor” rule. BNL and Scottsburg were scheduled to play at BNL, but that game was postponed because of weather conditions and will not be rescheduled.
If the Stars, who are chasing their first sectional title since 2001, meet the favored Red Devils in the semifinal, it will be a rematch of a competitive clash at BNL on Jan. 31. Jeffersonville recorded a 48-39 win on its way to the Hoosier Hills Conference title.
“You have to play the better teams in a tournament format at some point and time,” BNL coach Kurt Godlevske said after the IHSAA announced the pairings on Sunday night. “I thought we were very competitive in that game at home. To play them in the sectional on six days of preparation, I’ll take it.”
Jeffersonville’s Tre Singleton, who’s destined for Northwestern, led the Devils to the win over BNL with 13 points while Michael Cooper (on his way to Wright State) added 12. Patric Matson had 14 points for the Stars.
“We didn’t let some of our struggles offensively take away from our effort defensively that night,” Godlevske said. “We did a fantastic job of limiting them to one shot per possession. Turnovers hurt us, but we had really good shot selection and gave ourselves opportunity to stay in the game.”
The Red Devils, the solid favorite according to the Sagarin computer ratings, will take precautions to avoid the trap of overlooking an opponent.
“You have to put blinders on,” Jeff coach Sherron Wilkerson said. “Take each step as if it’s your last. We have to make sure we dot all of our ‘i’s and cross all of our ‘t’s. Leave nothing untouched. When you’re searching for the pot of gold, you leave no stone unturned.”
Seymour, which has won 12 of its last 13 games, already owns a 44-28 win over the Highlanders on Jan. 31 at Floyd. New Albany won its last sectional in 2018, while the Owls will be gunning for their first crown since 1992.
The sectional winner will advance to the one-game regional against the sectional champion from Evansville.
.png)
