By Justin Sokeland
WBIW.com
BEDFORD – Somewhere in the distance, the upset bells could be heard, ringing with eerie echoes in the night. Darkness, or at least dark thoughts, settled across BNL Fieldhouse. Could this really be happening? Was Evansville Central, the most written-off of underdogs in the state, going to stun the basketball world?
With a cast of thousands waiting, No.7 Bedford North Lawrence finally turned on the lights, turned off those blaring alarms, silenced the angst, calmed the concern and powered to a Class 4A regional championship. Those coveted nets, the prize for the victors, stayed home this time.
After falling short for the past two seasons, the Stars made it to the next level of the IHSAA state tournament series, conquering the tougher-than-expected Bears 67-48 in the one-game regional on Saturday night. Mallory Pride scored a career-high 20 points and grabbed 11 rebounds as BNL (24-3) advanced to the two-game semistate on Feb. 18. The site and parings will be announced Sunday, with the IHSAA evidently extending the drama as long as possible.
That’s what Central (15-12) did. Perhaps the only people who thought victory was possible were located in that locker room, but the Bears definitely got BNL’s attention and earned everyone’s respect. BNL, projected as a 30-point winner on the computer, didn’t lead for the first 14 minutes, didn’t even surge out to double digits for the first 21 minutes. Don’t be fooled by the final margin. The Stars got pushed.
But when push came to shove, BNL delivered the deciding blows, before it was too late. The Stars stood by a trapdoor, with Central waiting for the cue to plunge BNL into the depth of misery. That was avoided during a critical third quarter as the Stars pulled free from that deathly grasp and won the 14th regional title in program history.
This one was sweet because it was won at home, for only the second time. This one was memorable because BNL was weighed down by heavy expectations. This one was treasured because those pieces of nylon aren’t given away.
“It’s a wonderful feeling,” BNL coach Jeff Allen said, clutching that trophy like it was worth its weight in gold. “I’m just thrilled. It feels better that we’re playing next weekend. We find a way. We’ve got great seniors, a lot of experience. They’ve been in a lot of big games.“
So what happened to the blowout narrative? That vanished with Central’s fast, surprising burst to a 10-2 lead. That disappeared as the Stars launched too many missile duds from long range (1 of 14 in the first half). If not for Pride’s 16 first-half points, BNL would have been in dire jeopardy. If the first half was the game show, the answer was “defense.” The question was “What turned it around?”
“I thought Central played really well,” Allen said. “They were playing with a lot of confidence, they came out and took it to us. I wasn’t happy with our defense, but you have to credit them. They played really well. But my kids buckled down.
“It doesn’t help when you’re not making shots. That energizes your defense. Sometimes that’s going to happen. You have to win games with defense and rebounding.”
Central, with freshman center Madalynn Shirley doing damage, used that stunning start to take a 15-11 lead after the first quarter. The Bears were still growling at 22-17 when BNL finally responded as Chloe Spreen gashed the lane for a bucket, Karsyn Norman slashed to a layup, and Spreen converted a quick basket following an Emma Brown backcourt steal for a 25-22 edge. Pride’s corner bomb with 13 seconds left gave the Stars a 30-27 lead at the half.
Central’s triangle-and-two defense had worked perfectly. Spreen and Pride accounted for 10 of BNL’s 12 field goals that half.
“We had a game plan, that if some of those girls that weren’t Chloe and Karsyn didn’t hit shots, it could pay off for us,” Central coach Dave Alexander said. “It did for the first half. Then the third quarter was an onslaught of threes, and they were able to separate themselves. That was the difference.”
After missing so many 3-pointers, BNL made the most of the ones it finally made. Brown buried back-to-back jumpers from the key. Spreen dropped a 10-footer in the lane, and reserve Katie Baumgart swished another bomb for a 43-33 lead at 3:12. That was the beginning of the end. The Stars went to the fourth quarter with a 49-38 lead and scored the first 10 points of that final period.
“I know the score makes it look a little more lopsided than it was,” Alexander said. “For three quarters, we played with them.”
“That separation in that third quarter was huge,” Allen said. “It started with the defense. In the first half, I didn’t think we guarded as well as we could, or should have.”
Spreen totaled 18 points and Madisyn Bailey finished with 9. But the true hero was Pride. “She’s done that all year long, when we needed her,” Allen said.
“I was very nervous for a second,” Pride said. “We started off pretty slow. But we picked it up real fast. We got more confident in the game. I didn’t really shoot much for a second. Then I was like ‘What do I have to lose?’ I just kept going.“
Well, there was a lot to lose – a regional, a season, a career for seniors. While BNL finished a dismal 5 of 26 from deep, Pride was a fierce force in the paint. She also got the foul line (9 of 10). She deserved to be first to ascend that ladder for the net cutting.
“This means everything,” she said. “I don’t even know how to explain the feeling. It’s something I’ll never forget.”
Shirley was sensational for the Bears with 16 points and 11 rebounds. She was finally quieted when Bailey was shifted to defend her. Mya Skelton added 12 points, but Central’s demise was 17 turnovers (compared to BNL’s three).
“We knew Madalynn had to get touches,” Alexander said. “Bedford does a good job of swarming. When she did get a touch, they were all over her. And we got a little gassed as that game went on. The ball stopped moving.
“Any time you’re turning it over and giving a team like that those extra looks, it makes it that much harder. They might have been feeling a little bit of pressure at that point, but they’re a good team, they came out in the third quarter and made shots.”
BNL’s semistate fate will be revealed at 3 p.m. The four remaining teams in the field also include No.9 Center Grove, Ben Davis and Lawrence North.
Center Grove 45, Franklin 43, OT – In the Regional 7 afternoon final, the No.9 Trojans (22-4) avenged a regular-season loss and ended Franklin’s two-year run as regional champion.
Audrey Annee hit a go-ahead 3-pointer with 1:00 left, and Ella Hobson hit a free throw with 25 seconds remaining for the 45-43 difference. Franklin’s final shot from Scarlett Kimbrell was wild from the right corner, setting off the Center Grove celebration.
”We talked all week that it would come down to a few key possessions,” Center Grove coach Kevin Stuckmeyer said. “We were fortunate to make a few plays down the stretch. That was a pretty important 3-pointer, and it come down to our defense at the end. We got one big stop.”
Annee and Rachel Wirts had 11 points each for the Trojans.
Erica Buening had 16 points and Kyndell Jochim added 12 for Franklin (18-6), which won the regular-season game 38-34 at Franklin.
EVANSVILLE CENTRAL BEARS (48)
3s FGs FTs R F Pts
23 Mackenzie White, f 0-1 3-6 0-2 4 0 6
32 Madalynn Shirley, c 0-0 6-10 4-5 11 3 16
5 Delaney Steers, g 0-1 2-8 2-2 6 3 6
12 Mya Skelton, g 1-3 4-7 3-4 1 1 12
3 Avery Kelley, g 0-1 0-2 1-2 3 4 1
15 Lindsey Laine 0-0 0-0 0-0 1 1 0
11 Bryanna Dockery 1-4 1-4 2-4 1 0 5
35 Makylee Wainman 0-1 1-2 0-0 0 0 2
13 Aubrie Durham 0-0 0-0 0-0 1 0 0
1 Katera Small 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Totals 2-10 17-39 12-19 31 12 48
BEDFORD NL STARS (67)
3s FGs FTs R F Pts
2 Chloe Spreen, f 0-2 9-18 0-0 5 3 18
22 Mallory Pride, f 1-2 5-7 9-10 11 4 20
24 Madisyn Bailey, g 1-7 4-12 0-0 5 2 9
20 Emma Brown, g 2-6 2-7 1-2 2 2 7
21 Karsyn Norman, g 0-7 4-15 0-2 5 0 8
12 Tori Nikirk 0-1 0-2 0-0 1 0 0
50 Emma Crane 0-0 1-1 0-0 0 1 2
3 Katie Baumgart 1-1 1-1 0-0 0 0 3
Totals 5-26 26-63 10-14 30 12 67
Evan. Central 15 12 11 10 – 48
Bedford NL 11 19 19 18 – 67
Turnovers – Central 17; BNL 3
Field goal percentage – Central 17-39 (.436); BNL 26-63 (.413)
Free throw percentage – Central 12-19 (.632); BNL 10-14 (.714)
REGIONAL 7
CENTER GROVE 45, FRANKLIN 43
Center Grove (22-4) – Audrey Annee 11, Aubrie Booker 8, Savanna Bischoff 2, Ella Hobson 6, Lilly Bischoff 7, Rachel Wirts 11
Franklin (18-6) – Erica Buening 16, Kyndell Jochim 12, Scarlett Kimbrell 6, Emma Sappenfield 3, Brooklyn York 4, Lauren Klem 2
ALL REGIONAL TEAM
Mallory Pride, BNL
Chloe Spreen, BNL
Madalynn Shirley, Central
Mya Skelton, Central
Madisyn Bailey, BNL
