By Justin Sokeland
WBIW.com
BEDFORD – The long arms of the law cuffed Bedford North Lawrence.
Length and defensive longitude are the measure of Terre Haute North’s success. The streaking Patriots proved, once again, that defense is a constant while offense can be variable. With wingspans that didn’t allow the Stars to take flight, North shut down another potent attack and continued its impressive rampage.
North’s first commandment must be “Thou shalt not score.” The Patriots shackled the Stars 54-39 on Saturday night, stretching their winning streak to 11 straight with a defensive clinic. During this remarkable run, North has allowed fewer than 50 points 10 consecutive times. BNL would have needed another quarter to get there.
With size at every position, with length to challenge or alter shots, North (14-3) can make life miserable. The Patriots might not have the “wow” factor on one end – although hitting 19 of 26 shots during the final three quarters should qualify – but they made quite a statement with this victory. BNL (10-5) has made its mark by hitting the mark most of the time, shooting over 50 percent for the season. That strength became a weakness.
“Our defensive effort was good tonight, against a really good team, an excellent three-point shooting team,” North coach Todd Woelfle said. “We didn’t give them clean looks, or very many, because they can get going in a hurry. I’m very proud of the defense, I think we won it on that end of the floor.”
BNL started solidly, scoring 8 consecutive points to take an early lead. Logan Miracle scored in the lane off a rebound, Noah Godlevske swished a trey, and Patric Matson got loose on a reverse layup. But when North opened the second quarter by hitting five straight shots, bursting to a 17-10 lead, the Stars never caught up. Didn’t have the energy, couldn’t summon the spark.
“We got the looks we wanted,” BNL coach Kurt Godlevske said. “It just looked like that, from the game last night (at Jeffersonville), we didn’t have our legs. A lot of shots came up short. But their length definitely bothered us. Length was a factor, you can’t teach that.”
BNL had one brief response as Trace Rynders turned a steal into a layup and Matson converted a layup in transition. That got the Stars within 17-14. But over the final minutes of the second quarter, and the first portion of the third, North went on a 12-2 run, and there was no sense that BNL could, or would, battle back. Whatever press or trap BNL tried, the Patriots solved. Whatever shots BNL took, most were off target.
The Stars were 15 of 47 overall, including 6 of 22 from long range. They only got to the foul line four times. There was no turning back or coming back.
“They guarded our actions really well,” Godlevske said. “They’re a very polished team.”
North’s own offense is a bit of a mystery, in terms of who’s the best option or listed first on the scouting report. Kavish Reddy had 10 points, hitting all of his shots in the second half. Jack Halls, a 6-7 senior, came off the bench for 12, including a thunderous dunk on a pass from 6-9 starter Bryce Renn. Whatever it takes to get to 50.
“We have different guys on different nights,” Woelfle said. “I don’t know what an opposing coach would say on the scouting report, because sometimes we don’t know who’s going to step up.”
Matson paced BNL with 17 points, while Godlevske added 11 but made only 3 of 15 shots.
“With our size and length, it just alters shots a little bit,” Woelfle said. “Whether it’s around the rim or on the perimeter, high school kids aren’t used to that. I’m liking the fact we have some big guys, and they’re pretty mobile where they can guard on the perimeter.
“They run a lot of good stuff. We had to be locked in for 32 minutes in order to win here.”
For the second time this season, BNL has dropped back-to-back games.
“You can’t go through a season without having games that make you better and prepare you for the sectional,” Godlevske said. “These are the games we need. The last time we went through this, we got better and rattled off those eight straight wins.”
BNL will return to action on Thursday, hosting Floyd Central.
TERRE HAUTE NORTH PATRIOTS (54)
3s FGs FTs R F Pts
30 Kavish Reddy, f 2-2 4-4 0-0 3 2 10
2 Braden Walters, f 0-0 3-6 0-0 6 1 6
32 Bryce Renn, c 0-1 2-7 4-4 1 2 8
20 Kam Baker, g 0-1 0-1 2-2 4 1 2
12 Cam Fennell, g 3-4 3-4 0-1 0 1 9
11 Jack Halls 0-0 5-6 2-2 2 0 12
22 Gavin Woelfle 1-2 3-5 0-0 2 1 7
Totals 6-10 20-32 8-8 20 8 54
BEDFORD NL STARS (39)
3s FGs FTs R F Pts
10 Patric Matson, f 3-6 7-15 0-0 2 1 17
31 Logan Miracle, f 0-0 1-3 1-2 4 1 3
11 Noah Godlevske, g 3-10 3-15 2-2 2 0 11
1 Trace Rynders, g 0-1 2-4 0-0 2 2 4
12 Maddox Ray, g 0-0 0-1 0-0 0 4 0
22 Isaiah Sasser 0-0 0-2 0-0 3 2 0
3 Quincy Pickett 0-4 2-6 0-0 4 1 4
40 Kline Woodward 0-1 0-1 0-0 0 3 0
5 Dax Short 0-0 0-0 0-0 1 0 0
20 Jonah Bailey 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Totals 6-22 15-47 3-4 21 14 39
TH North 5 16 15 18 – 54
Bedford NL 8 6 11 14 – 39
Turnovers – TH North 11, BNL 8
Field goal percentage – TH North 20-32 (.625); BNL 15-47 (.319)
Free throw percentage – TH North 8-8 (1.000); BNL 3-4 (.750)
