BNL still king of the county hill as Stars extend series streak with 64-52 win over Mitchell

BNL’s Patric Matson soars past Mitchell’s Nate Robertson at the rim. Matson scored 31 points as the Stars conquered Mitchell 64-52 on Friday night, extending their series winning streak to 39 straight.

By Justin Sokeland

WBIW.com

BEDFORD – Texans are credited for the cliche “Ain’t no hill for a climber.” It means no challenge is too great for those willing to tackle it. Don’t forget, everything is bigger in Texas. The hill in front of Mitchell’s program, from the viewpoint of the county series with its northern neighbor, is taller than anything in the Lone Star state.

There’s 38 years of history in the way. For this edition, there was an 18-point deficit in the first half. The Bluejackets climbed, got close enough to the peak to see over the crest, then tumbled back to the valley. Bedford North Lawrence is still king of the hill.

The Stars continued their series mastery, blasting out to a big lead before settling for a 64-52 win over the feisty Bluejackets on Friday night. Patric Matson scored 31 points, powering BNL (6-4) to its third straight win this season, its 39th straight over the Bluejackets. One of these days, the streak will inevitably end, once Mitchell figures out how to scale the mountain.

BNL dominated early, crashing to a 16-3 advantage in the first quarter and extending that margin to 18 later in the first half. Mitchell (8-5) battled back, even whacked away at the deficit to scramble within single digits. But the mountain won again.

“We couldn’t get over the hill,” Mitchell coach Clint Roesler said after his first taste of the rivalry. “The entire second half, we got to the peak of the hill but couldn’t get over the top of it.

“This group of guys cared about this game, they care about their season more than anyone I’ve ever coached. They really wanted this win, it’s a special game for everybody in this community. It stinks that we didn’t quite get there.”

BNL had too much firepower when threatened. Either Matson could shake free and bury a jumper, or Logan Miracle would crash inside for a bucket while totaling 16 points. The Stars, in a rush to race away and celebrate a burial, got sloppy in the second half. Austin Mosier kept Mitchell close with 26 points and Gavin Robinson added 15, but when BNL looked like low-hanging fruit to be plucked, the Bluejackets missed their chance with their own flurry of mistakes.

Kurt Godlevske, who admittedly winces more as this game approaches, was not pleased with the wasting of style points. He was certainly glad to escape it, because nobody wants to be on the BNL side of the hill when the Jackets finally race down the other side.

“It’s my least favorite game to coach,” Godlevske said. “I’m always happy when it’s over. It’s a no-win situation, there’s a lot of opportunity for bad things to happen. We handled the pressure, we just got caught up in the situation of a rivalry game and played more like them instead of more like us. It showed. But we won.“

Mitchell’s Austin Mosier finds a gap to attack. Mosier finished with 26 points.

BNL’s victory can be traced directly to its fast start. Miracle scored three times from the paint, then Matson stroked two treys while Mitchell made only one bucket during the 16-3 opening. The Stars came back with a 10-2 run in the second as Matson dropped a baseline fade-away, Quincy Pickett popped a soft floater in the lane, and Matson scored twice in transition for a 32-14 advantage. The Stars were poised for a rout.

But that never transpired. Trailing 34-19 at the half, Mitchell came back with Robinson’s layup, Aiden Pridemore’s hustle to grab an offensive rebound and pop a 3-pointer, and two Mosier free throws that cut the lead to 36-26. From that point, BNL could not pull away, but Mitchell had 9 turnovers in the third to stop its own charge.

“We were careless with the basketball,” Roesler said. “The officials even commented we could be right there if we took care of the ball a little better. I’m like ‘Yeah, I just said that in the huddle.’ But I’m proud of our effort. This was a hostile environment, a fun rivalry.”

BNL had only one miscue in the first quarter, then got swept away in the minutiae of the rivalry. Erratic and frenetic, the Stars finished with 16 turnovers. The magic of the opening could not be duplicated.

“We defended much better in the first quarter than we did the last three, and played offensively better in the first quarter than we did the rest of the game,” Godlevske said. “We made some rushed decisions.”

BNL’s Logan Miracle skies over the defense for a close-range shot. Miracle totaled 16 points.

Matson continued his scoring surge. He’s averaged 28.3 points over the last four games. His coach held him to an even higher standard.

“I don’t know if you can ever say this, but it was a ‘bad’ 31,” Godlevske said. “I don’t know if that’s allowed to be said. But he could have played much better.” And that speaks to how scary good the senior can be, how high his ceiling is.

Mosier (four treys and 8 of 8 at the line) kept the Jackets within striking range, and Robinson added 11 rebounds to his point total. Mosier had the only two baskets of the first quarter.

“Austin is a special talent,” Roesler said. “He was ready to play this game. He’s an absolute basketball junkie, he spends a lot of time in the gym, and it shows. That’s what happens when you put in the extra work.

“We got a lot of pretty good looks to start the game. Credit their defense for putting a lot of pressure on our shots. We just couldn’t get anything to fall, and that dug us a hole.”

BNL will return to Hoosier Hills Conference action on Saturday night, hosting Jennings County. Mitchell will look to end its two-game skid when it welcomes South Central on Thursday.

BNL’s Isaiah Sasser drives to the basket against Mitchell’s Gavin Robinson.
BNL’s Dax Short fends off a defender while driving the baseline. Short totaled 5 points.

MITCHELL BLUEJACKETS (52)

3s FGs FTs R F Pts

12 Carl Chennault, f 0-2 0-3 0-0 2 1 0

40 Nate Robertson, f 0-0 0-1 0-0 1 1 0

2 Austin Mosier, g 4-11 7-18 8-8 5 3 26

22 Gavin Robinson, g 1-6 4-12 6-8 11 3 15

1 Aiden Pridemore, g 1-2 1-4 0-0 6 3 3

3 Tate Woods 1-6 3-9 1-2 2 2 8

4 Malakai Goodman 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0

Totals 7-27 15-47 15-18 30 13 52

BEDFORD NL STARS (64)

3s FGs FTs R F Pts

5 Dax Short, f 1-6 2-10 0-0 4 1 5

22 Isaiah Sasser, f 0-0 1-3 1-1 5 2 3

31 Logan Miracle, c 0-0 7-12 2-2 8 4 16

10 Patric Matson, g 3-6 12-22 4-4 7 0 31

3 Quincy Pickett, g 0-2 2-5 0-0 5 3 4

12 Jacob Ritter 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 4 0

24 Gibson Crane 0-0 1-1 0-2 2 1 2

4 Parker Kern 0-0 0-0 0-0 1 2 0

23 Tyler Stigall 0-0 0-0 0-0 1 1 0

44 Ben Conner 0-0 0-0 3-4 1 1 3

11 Colton Taylor 0-0 0-0 0-0 1 0 0

1 Jerett Gilbert 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0

15 Jaden Gilbert 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0

Totals 4-14 25-55 10-11 35 19 64

Mitchell 6 13 13 20 – 52

Bedford NL 16 18 10 20 – 64

Turnovers – Mitchell 19, BNL 16

Field goal percentage – Mitchell 15-47 (.319); BNL 25-55 (.455)

Free throw percentage – Mitchell 15-18 (.833); BNL 10-11 (.909)

Mitchell’s Austin Mosier and BNL’s Isaiah Sasser hit the deck while battling for a loose ball.
BNL’s Patric Matson protects the ball from a defender. Matson hit 12 of 22 shots and grabbed 7 boards.