

By Justin Sokeland
WBIW.com
TERRE HAUTE – Ignoring the blinking low-fuel light on the dash usually ends with a walk-of-shame shuffle to the gas station. Bedford North Lawrence, with no time or available exit for a pit stop, ran out of gas and energy. And it was a long journey, trudging with head down, home from Terre Haute.
Coming off a draining loss less than 24 hours earlier, while Terre Haute North was fresh and rested, the Stars hit the wall and got buried by the rubble from the crash.
The Patriots, as they should, took advantage of BNL’s predictable sluggishness to post a 54-42 victory on Saturday afternoon. Blake Hammond came off the bench to score 13 points, while Brady Klopfenstein also totaled 13, as North (15-2) celebrated its Homecoming with its sixth straight win. The king and queen went home happy.
The final margin was a bit deceiving. BNL (8-7) trailed by 23 in the fourth quarter before a late 18-2 rush to respectability. But the outcome was easily foreseeable. The Stars were running on empty after the home battle with Jeffersonville on Friday night, so requiring them to refuel for another tough opponent was a big ask.
“That’s a very fair assessment,” BNL coach Kurt Godlevske said. “We battled, but it was a little too late. The first two and a half quarters were frustrating as a coach, because you can’t squeeze blood from a turnip.”
Nor could BNL squeeze points from stone-cold shooters. Dead legs equaled missed shots. Logan Miracle was his usual self with three first-half baskets, but the rest of the Stars went 1 for 11 in that span. North ended the second quarter with an 8-0 run to a 22-11 lead. Treys by Mason Loyd and Klopfenstein ignited that separation charge.
“They made some shots,” Godlevske said. “Offensively, we were very stagnant. We couldn’t flow into our stuff, and it was a struggle.”
“It’s important when you play a team like this, when it’s possession by possession, to play with the lead,” TH North coach Todd Woelfle said. “Any time you play BNL, if you’re up by six points, it feels like 20. These games are grinders. It’s like going to the orthodontist to have a tooth pulled. It’s not fun.”
Fun? Only for the Patriots. They extended their lead to 40-19 after the third, and later blasted to a 47-24 advantage. Only then did BNL finally find its reserve tank. Dax Short slashed the lane for a layup, Jacob Ritter splashed back-to-back bombs, Miracle muscled home a rebound basket, and Patric Matson soared for a beautiful left-handed tip of a lobbed inbound pass as the Stars scrambled within single digits.

Matson’s left-handed drive through traffic got BNL within 49-42 before North, and the clock, fended off a miracle rally.
“We had a lead, and BNL sped us up,” Woelfle said. “You have to put games away when you have the lead and not get sped up.”
Hammond was a spark. He hit 5 of 5 shots. Gavin Woelfle added 10 points. “Blake is lightning in a bottle, and today it was good lightning,” Woelfle said. “He scores in bunches.”
Miracle recorded a double-double with 11 points (5 for 5 from the floor) and 10 rebounds. Matson went off in the fourth quarter to finish with 12 points, but his jumper (usually deadly) betrayed him during the first three quarters. The Stars were only 7 of 22 from the field until the fourth period.
“For three quarters, we were really good defensively, limiting their efficiency – especially from Matson, who I think is one of the best players in the state,” Woelfle said. “Our guys were locked in, and BNL was tired.”
BNL will have a short week to prepare for a trip to Floyd Central on Thursday.

BEDFORD NL STARS (42)
3s FGs FTs R F Pts
5 Dax Short, f 1-2 3-5 2-3 1 5 9
22 Isaiah Sasser, f 0-1 0-2 0-0 1 3 0
31 Logan Miracle, c 0-0 5-5 1-3 10 3 11
10 Patric Matson, g 0-8 4-15 4-4 6 2 12
3 Quincy Pickett, g 1-5 1-5 0-0 4 1 3
12 Jacob Ritter 2-3 2-3 0-0 2 1 6
24 Gibson Crane 0-0 0-0 1-4 2 2 1
4 Parker Kern 0-2 0-2 0-0 0 2 0
Totals 4-21 15-37 8-12 26 19 42
TERRE HAUTE NORTH PATRIOTS (54)
3s FGs FTs R F Pts
33 Brady Klopfenstein, f 1-5 6-14 0-0 3 2 13
32 Bryce Renn, c 0-1 1-4 3-6 5 3 5
22 Gavin Woelfle, g 0-2 3-8 4-5 1 3 10
12 Cam Fennell, g 1-3 2-6 0-1 6 2 5
2 Mason Loyd, g 1-1 1-1 0-0 0 0 3
11 Blake Hammond 1-1 5-5 2-3 4 1 13
14 Nate Millington 0-1 0-1 0-0 0 3 0
23 Tyler Renn 1-2 1-4 2-2 3 2 5
10 Trai Brown 0-0 0-0 0-0 1 0 0
Totals 5-17 19-42 11-17 24 16 54
Bedford NL 4 7 8 23 – 42
TH North 8 14 18 14 – 54
Turnovers – BNL 13, TH North 7
Technical foul – Short
Field goal percentage – BNL 15-37 (.405); THN 19-42 (.452)
Free throw percentage – BNL 8-12 (.667); THN 11-17 (.647)
