By Justin Sokeland
WBIW.com
BEDFORD – The explosion was building, a dam about to collapse and release a wave of destruction. When Bedford North Lawrence finally cut loose, New Albany was the victim that got swept away.
After epic struggles from the 3-point line during the first six games, the Stars erupted with fury and devastation. Remember the classic Michael Keaton line in the first Batman flick? “You wanna get nuts? Let’s get nuts!” BNL went a little crazy.
Taking out pent-up frustrations on New Albany, which had no clue of the danger, BNL buried its first five treys during a remarkable opening quarter, and that offensive firestorm powered the Stars to a 57-29 victory over the unsuspecting Bulldogs during the Hoosier Hills Conference opener on Saturday afternoon.
Miley Sherrill scored 17 points as BNL (3-4) ended a two-game skid and conquered New Albany (1-8 with eight consecutive losses) for the 11th straight time in the series.
How about that start? Everyone got involved. Tori Nikirk, swish from the right wing. Jordynn Blann, bomb from the other side. Sherrill? Sure. Trinidy Bailey, why not? BNL rolled Yahtzee, erupting to a 17-2 lead. New Albany had to note BNL’s perimeter problems (23 of 117, a chilling 19 percent in the first six games) in the scouting report, so the Bulldogs were quite stunned by the pinpoint bombing. The Stars were not.
“We see it in practice all the time, so I know it’s there,” BNL coach Greg Burton said. “We’ve been waiting for it to come in a game. It was absolutely great to see that start.”
In the previous six first quarters, BNL was 5 of 33 from distance. Cold starts seem to set a tone. Seeing the first two go in triggered the onslaught.
“I mean, it felt like it was forever,” Sherrill said. “As soon as we hit our first two, I was like ‘Keep it coming.’ That was neat to see them go in. We just kept motivating each other. We know we can hit them when we focus. So seeing them go in was special.”
Even with the sizzling start, BNL still had a game to complete. And it did so in style. Sherrill canned a 12-footer on the baseline and Bailey turned a steal into a 3-point play as the Stars smoked to a 26-6 advantage early in the second quarter, then blasted away with an 11-0 run to close the third with a 47-22 lead.
Sherrill and Katie Godlevske stroked treys as BNL kept the run going in the fourth, powering to a 55-22 lead, getting within one basket of triggering the running clock for the mercy rule.
“Shots weren’t going to go in like that the entire game,” Burton said. “We had to make sure we were still playing basketball, still playing the right way.
“We were playing loose, playing free. That was huge. You can’t let makes and misses affect how you play, but that’s still natural. When the ball goes in, you have that adrenaline rush. That’s just part of the game.”
Bailey totaled 9 points, Makaya Jackson added 8 (while hitting all of her shots) and Nikirk finished with 7.
Rylan Byars had 11 points for New Albany, which was plagued by 24 turnovers.
The Stars will continue their three-game dive into the league when they visit Jeffersonville on Tuesday.
NEW ALBANY BULLDOGS (29)
3s FGs FTs R F Pts
21 Sophia Corley, f 0-0 1-1 1-2 8 2 3
33 Emily Spainhour, f 0-0 0-1 2-2 4 3 2
23 Shanelle Jones, g 0-1 0-4 0-0 3 2 0
4 Claire Webster, g 0-0 2-8 0-0 2 2 4
14 Rylan Byars, g 1-4 5-11 0-0 1 1 11
20 Myles Brown 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
10 Bailey Belden 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
22 Emma Kennell 1-1 1-2 0-0 1 4 3
3 Tori Bailey 0-0 2-2 0-0 0 2 4
32 Jaelynn Huggins 0-0 1-2 0-0 3 2 2
Totals 2-6 12-31 3-4 23 18 29
BEDFORD NL STARS (57)
3s FGs FTs R F Pts
22 Miley Sherrill, f 2-4 6-13 3-3 4 2 17
30 Makaya Jackson, f 0-0 4-4 0-0 3 0 8
32 Trinidy Bailey, g 2-2 3-6 1-1 1 0 9
12 Tori Nikirk, g 1-4 3-8 0-0 3 3 7
21 Jordynn Blann, g 1-2 1-2 0-0 1 0 3
20 Paige Burton 0-0 0-1 1-4 2 0 1
23 Katie Godlevske 1-4 1-5 0-0 1 2 3
11 Trinity Schmeichel 0-0 1-1 0-2 2 0 2
24 Elise Williams 0-0 1-3 3-4 1 0 5
50 Harryson Hayes 0-0 0-4 0-0 3 0 0
40 Adalynn Bailey 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 1 0
44 Sammie Nusbaum 0-0 0-1 0-0 1 0 0
31 Carsyn Amburgey 0-0 1-2 0-0 2 0 2
Totals 7-16 21-50 8-14 26 8 57
New Albany 6 12 4 7 – 29
Bedford NL 19 11 17 10 – 57
Turnovers – New Albany 24, BNL 14
Field goal percentage – New Albany 12-31 (.387); BNL 21-50 (.420)
Free throw percentage – New Albany 3-4 (.750); BNL 8-14 (.571)
