By Justin Sokeland
WBIW.com
BLOOMINGTON – Revenge was served cold. Bone-chilling, brutal and unforgiving vengeance was dished out. Bedford North Lawrence, without an offensive heat source of any kind, froze to death.
After 13 consecutive losses to the state’s powerhouse program, with a senior-less roster and a promising future, Bloomington South finally turned the worm. While the Stars struggled through one of the worst shooting nights imaginable, South ended its frustrating streak and conquered a nemesis.
The Panthers, even with a freshman starter absent with an illness, shut down BNL during a 50-25 triumph on Tuesday night. Julia Lashley and Audrey Craft scored 11 points each as South (4-0) recorded a statement win. After so many years of BNL dominance, with an obvious talent advantage, it’s South’s time.
BNL (2-3) threatened the record book, in a bad way. The Stars scored their fewest points since the infamous 20-point night at Jeffersonville during the 2010-11 campaign. Those Red Devils were destined for the Class 4A state championship. Those Stars were a year away from the beginning of a great 12-year run. That’s the celebrated past. BNL is starting to realize what everyone has endured during its historic run.
“It’s a long time coming, but it’s a long time for everybody,” South coach Larry Winters said. “When you have three Indiana All-Stars out there every year, it’s going to be tough to beat you. And they don’t have three All-Stars right now.
“It’s not really a payback situation. It’s different teams, different personnel. I don’t look at it as payback, I look at it as, every once in a while, the peaks and valleys have to come in your favor.”
BNL went through the valley of the shadow of shooting death. The Stars were a miserable 8 of 43 (18.6 percent) from the floor. That kind of percentage won’t work against any opponent, especially one with South’s length and experience.
The Stars missed their first 10 shots as South broke to a 10-1 lead, and managed only three baskets in the first half. Despite that, BNL was still within striking range, down 18-11 at intermission. But after South exploded for 22 points in the third quarter, BNL was done.
“We didn’t execute well, I didn’t coach a very good basketball game,” BNL coach Greg Burton said. “It trickled down to the players. It’s frustrating. We didn’t do what we set out to do, and South is good. It just snowballed on us.
“It was a close game (at halftime), but we were getting outplayed. They hadn’t hit their stride yet, as much as that pains me to say. Their shots started going in, and we continued to play the way we did in the first half. It was bad all the way around.”
South’s stride came in transition. The Panthers hit 10 of 12 shots during their breakaway period, with Alaina Maki and Craft doing the most damage. Maki finished with 9 points.
“For them to be in this game, it had to be an ugly game,” Winters said. “They wanted to slow it down, push and shove to keep you from getting anything. But if we get a rebound, beat them down the floor and see a few shots go in, they would be done.
“Our defense was solid. But the big difference is I’ve been playing with freshmen and sophomores. They’ve grown up, they’re juniors. It’s the same personnel, but it’s another year of varsity basketball. They’ve been beaten up as freshmen and sophomores, now they think it’s their turn.”
BNL has expected everyone’s best shot, perhaps seeking payback for all the success the Stars have enjoyed at everyone’s expense. That worst-case scenario played out perfectly in South’s favor. Miley Sherrill had 9 points for BNL, which also got pounded 35-21 on the glass. The Stars didn’t break the 20-point mark until the 3:50 mark of the fourth quarter.
“That was a good wake-up call for us,” Burton said. “We’ve been harping on what we do in practice might work against lesser teams, but not against somebody like this. It showed. Not that I ever want to lose, but we needed it a little bit.
“Right now it’s the attention to detail, that maybe we got away with in the past. You can’t get by on talent alone. Execution is a big piece. As a whole, we have to be better. I have to get better, the girls have to get better. And we will. We just have to do it together.”
BNL will have a long time to chew on this one. The Stars will be idle until Dec. 2, when they visit Class 2A No.3 North Knox.
BEDFORD NL STARS (25)
3s FGs FTs R F Pts
22 Miley Sherrill, f 2-5 3-10 1-2 2 5 9
32 Trinidy Bailey, f 0-3 0-6 1-2 2 0 1
12 Tori Nikirk, g 0-2 0-6 1-2 2 1 1
23 Katie Godlevske, g 1-6 2-9 0-0 3 1 5
20 Paige Burton, g 0-1 0-2 0-0 0 2 0
30 Makaya Jackson 0-0 1-3 2-2 3 1 4
21 Jordynn Blann 1-2 1-4 0-0 0 1 3
11 Trinity Schmeichel 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
44 Sammie Nusbaum 0-0 0-1 0-0 1 0 0
50 Harryson Hayes 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
40 Bella Warren 0-0 1-1 0-0 1 0 2
24 Elise Williams 0-1 0-1 0-0 1 0 0
31 Adalynn Bailey 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 1 0
Totals 4-20 8-43 5-8 21 12 25
BLOOMINGTON SOUTH PANTHERS (50)
3s FGs FTs R F Pts
34 Rebekah Arnold, f 0-0 0-1 0-0 4 2 0
32 Julia Lashley, f 1-3 5-9 0-0 6 1 11
12 Alaina Maki, g 0-5 4-9 1-2 1 2 9
23 Audrey Craft, g 1-2 4-6 2-2 5 2 11
10 Annika Smith, g 0-1 2-5 0-0 7 0 4
22 Violet Hall 0-1 2-6 2-2 1 2 6
24 Cecilia Rojas-Cepero 0-0 2-3 2-4 5 2 6
1 Addy Prall 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
5 Avery Schwartzman 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
15 Quinnly Fife 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
20 Addy Suhr 1-1 1-1 0-0 0 0 3
25 Lydia Arnold 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Totals 3-13 20-40 7-10 35 12 50
Bedford NL 4 7 7 7 – 25
Bl. South 10 8 22 10 – 50
Turnovers – BNL 13, South 13
Field goal percentage – BNL 8-43 (.186); South 20-40 (.500)
Free throw percentage – BNL 5-8 (.625); South 7-10 (.700)
