By Justin Sokeland
WBIW.com
BEDFORD – Basketball’s theory of evolution is quite natural. With age comes improvement. Seymour is proving that fact rather emphatically. After two years of stumbling, the Owls have found their footing.
As the regular season reaches its midpoint, Seymour is pointed in the right direction, chasing its first winning season since 2007 while becoming a surprise factor in the Hoosier Hills Conference race. The Owls (7-4 overall, 3-1 in the league) are trending up as they prepare to face Bedford North Lawrence on Friday night.
Two years ago, when Kirk Manns took over the program, Seymour was an offensive eyesore. Playing an ultra-deliberate style, to mask its youth and inexperience, it averaged only 42.5 points per game. Fast forward to today, those numbers are significantly better (54.5), the reason the Owls are a threat for a conference championship. These birds of prey have claws.
“They’re a lot better offensively,” BNL coach Jeff Hein said. “You can see a big evolution in their offense over the past two years. The reason for that is they had young kids, but now they’re getting older. Every kid is back. They’re reaping the rewards from the experience, the tough times they’ve gone through. They’re playing really well.“
The names should be familiar, as Seymour’s starting lineup returned intact. The scoring leaders are senior Marcus Brooks (13 points per game) and junior Landon Fritsch (12), plus the frontline punch of junior Eli Meyer (who scored in double figures twice against BNL last season) and senior Casey Regruth. The Owls force extreme offensive efficiency because the number of possessions will be limited.
“Returning every player from a year ago has been a big plus,” Manns said. “Another year of physical and mental maturity. They know what to expect.”
BNL swept two games from the Owls last season, winning both in venerable Scott Gymnasium. Colten Leach scored 16 points as the Stars won the regular-season clash 44-36, and Leach had 15 while Jackson Miracle added 13 during a 52-38 triumph in the first round of the sectional.
Those battles highlighted Seymour’s offensive struggles. The Owls scored 9 points in the first half during the first clash, only 7 in the first half of the rematch. Meyer (25 points combined in the two games) was the only consistent Seymour scorer.
“Getting off to a good start will certainly help,” Manns said. “Coach Hein will have them prepared, he always does.”
Hein is preparing the Stars for a tough challenge. Just by score comparisons, which is not always an accurate forecaster, BNL could be in trouble. Seymour smacked Jennings County 72-53 on Dec. 18, and the Stars are coming off a dismal 73-48 loss to the Panthers last week. That’s a 44-point swing, for anyone doing the math.
”If that’s not enough to wake anybody up, I don’t know what is,” Hein said.
BNL is certainly in bounce-back mode after JC ended its four-game winning streak. The Stars suffered their worst loss since a 62-30 defeat against Bloomington South two seasons ago. How will BNL respond to the beatdown?
“We’ll find out,” Hein said. “I don’t know. I’d like to think we will respond the right way. It was not pretty, we did not play well. Everything that could go wrong, went wrong that night. I’m hoping we learn from it. That leaves a bad taste in your mouth. We could not play to our capabilities. They had their A game, and we had our C-minus game.
“We’ll have to play really well to have a chance.”
SEYMOUR at BNL
When: Friday, 7:30 p.m.
Records: Seymour 7-4 (3-1 in HHC); BNL 5-5 (1-1 in HHC)
Sagarin ratings: Seymour 78.21; BNL 74.85
Last meeting: The Stars swept two games from the Owls last season, winning the regular-season game 44-36 and the sectional clash 52-38.
Previous game story: Miracle the man for Stars
Game notes: BNL has won five straight in the series. Seymour is seeking its first winning season since 2007. The Owls have never won the Hoosier Hills Conference title.
Starting lineups
Bedford NL Stars
F – Kaedyn Bennett 6-2 Jr.
F – Jett Jones 6-0 Jr.
G – Colton Staggs 5-11 Jr.
G – Trace Rynders 5-9 So.
G – Colten Leach 6-2 Jr.
Seymour Owls
F – Eli Meyer 6-4 Jr.
F – Marcus Brooks 6-3 Sr.
F – Casey Regruth 6-3 Sr.
G – Landon Fritsch 6-3 Jr.
G – Charlie Longmeier 5-8 Jr.
