By Justin Sokeland
WBIW.com
BEDFORD – On Election Night, with no political agenda, a predicted wave indeed crashed. Wiped out the opposition. A tsunami of turnovers, a riptide of treys, a mandate victory for No.2 Bedford North Lawrence. This poll just might be accurate.
Bloomington North got swept away in the storm surge. Red wave, blue wave? Left or right? Leave the labels to the pundits. There was no argument about BNL’s agenda. The Stars were the machines during a blowout victory on Tuesday night.
With stunning defensive ferocity, with an explosive shooting display from long range, BNL crushed the Cougars 72-38. Chloe Spreen scored 24 points and Karsyn Norman added 18, keeping their preseason promise of All-Star excellence, and the Stars (2-0) raced away to a mercy-rule triumph. North (1-1) had more turnovers than shot attempts, and that’s never going to win anything.
If BNL maintains this type of performance, it will earn a few votes for No.1. Impressed by defense? The Stars forced 30 turnovers. Swayed by swag? BNL drilled six 3-pointers during a 26-point eruption in the second quarter. Campaigning on execution? The Stars were guilty of only six miscues. Except for the overall shooting percentage, they were flawless.
The polls had not yet closed, with North lingering at 11-8 late in the first quarter, when BNL slammed the door. Spreen dove the lane for a 3-point play and Norman finished the period with a 15-footer in transition. Then the bombing started. Norman on a step-back, swish. Norman again from the key, splash. Spreen rising from the deep wing, boom. Tori Nikirk from the far corner, bang. Finally, Norman and Spreen on back-to-back bombs. When the barrage ended, the Stars were in command at 42-17, and the water was rising rapidly as North floundered against the tide.
North was guilty of 13 first-quarter turnovers and never really stopped that leakage. When BNL caught fire, the Cougars couldn’t douse it.
“If we continued to do what we were doing, from a pressure standpoint, we’d eventually make them,” BNL coach Jeff Allen said. “It’s a lot easier game when they do go in.”
The second half was the inevitable whirlpool toward the running clock. BNL’s lead hit 30 midway through the third (51-21 on a Mallory Pride lane drive), then the necessary 35-point margin to trigger the running clock in the fourth (Katie Baumgart’s free throw for a 68-33 lead with 4:20 remaining).
Spreen was splendid, converting 9 of 14 shots (including 3 of 5 from deep). Her shot is so fluid, her range now so effortless.
“I’ve definitely worked on it,” Spreen said. “The more I worked on it, the more I could get it off quicker. It comes naturally now. It makes it a lot easier, knowing I can make shots. It helps out my game a lot.“
Norman had four treys en route to her 18-point night, and she added a team-high 6 boards (matched by Madisyn Bailey). Pride and Emma Brown totaled 9 points each. All that firepower, and only six turnovers? That’s almost unfair.
“Chloe and Karsyn are both so capable from deep,” Allen said. “They have deep range, and that makes them tough to guard because they can attack on the dribble. Our execution continues to get better. We’ve been taking care of the basketball and making good decisions. That’s a big part. Be disciplined, offensively and defensively. If we can do that, with the speed we have and the talent we have, it makes us really hard to guard.”
BNL’s blazing speed contributed greatly to the North miscues. Almost every time a dribbler turned, the defender beat them to the next spot. Nearly every pass was contested. Just about every screen was a switch into double-team trouble, with a trap followed by a pressured pass.
”They do a good job of rotating, helping each other,” Allen said. “They’re so quick and they have active hands. We have to continue to do that.”
Kenli Sullivan paced North with 11 points. BNL has now won 12 straight in the series, the last nine by an average of 43.5 points.
The Stars will visit county rival Mitchell on Saturday.
BLOOMINGTON NORTH COUGARS (38)
3s FGs FTs R F Pts
23 Mia Robbennolt, f 0-1 1-4 3-4 5 3 5
13 Kenli Sullivan, f 0-0 4-5 3-4 5 3 11
10 Mallory Barrow, g 2-4 2-7 0-0 6 1 6
21 Ava Reitmeyer, g 0-0 2-3 0-0 0 1 4
5 Avery Patterson, g 0-0 1-3 1-2 2 2 3
24 Ava Robbennolt 2-3 2-6 0-0 5 2 6
4 Jamie Lian 0-0 0-0 1-2 3 0 1
25 Libby Rice 0-0 1-1 0-1 1 0 2
Totals 4-8 13-29 8-13 29 12 38
BEDFORD NL STARS (72)
3s FGs FTs R F Pts
2 Chloe Spreen, f 3-5 9-14 3-3 4 1 24
22 Mallory Pride, f 0-0 4-8 1-2 5 3 9
24 Madisyn Bailey, g 0-3 0-4 4-4 6 0 4
20 Emma Brown, g 1-8 4-13 0-0 0 5 9
21 Karsyn Norman, g 4-8 7-15 0-0 6 1 18
40 Bella Jackson 0-0 0-1 0-0 0 0 0
3 Katie Baumgart 0-0 0-1 1-2 2 1 1
12 Tori Nikirk 1-1 1-2 0-0 1 1 3
50 Emma Crane 0-0 0-0 0-1 2 1 0
23 Katie Godlevske 0-2 0-4 0-0 0 0 0
32 Trinidy Bailey 0-1 1-3 0-0 0 2 2
44 Ellie Tillett 0-0 1-1 0-0 0 1 2
11 Haleigh Canada 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Totals 9-27 27-66 9-12 29 16 72
North 8 9 12 9 – 38
Bedford NL 16 26 15 15 – 72
Turnovers – North 30, BNL 6
Field goal percentage – North 13-29 (.448); BNL 27-66 (.409)
Free throw percentage – North 8-13 (.615); BNL 9-12 (.750)
