By Justin Sokeland
WBIW.com
SEYMOUR – Spirit animals are believed to guide and protect someone on their life journey. Some traditions hold them in sacred esteem. They symbolize significant traits of strength and character.
Trinidy Bailey’s must be a leopard. She was too shy to pick one for herself, but that fits. The quietest of killers, gifted with stealth and power, by the time the prey realizes the danger, it’s too late. Bailey pounced on New Albany during a sensational coming-of-age performance that powered Bedford North Lawrence to another sectional victory.
Inspired by her older sister, one of the heroes of last year’s sectional championship, Bailey stepped out of that shadow and made a name for herself, exploding for a career-high 20 points as the Stars conquered the Bulldogs 55-48 in the Sectional 15 semifinal on Friday night.
Miley Sherrill added 15 points as BNL (7-15) extended its amazing postseason streak to 40 consecutive sectional wins. Now the Stars will seek their 14th straight crown when they battle Floyd Central in the title tilt on Saturday night.
Flashback to last season. Madisyn Bailey was a superstar while spurring BNL to a three-game sweep for the title, including an upset victory over Jennings County. This younger sister shot down New Albany (6-18). Trinidy was in attack mode, and BNL played its best extended minutes of the season during a remarkable third quarter that created a double-digit lead.
Much like the regular-season clash, when BNL had an out-of-body shooting experience to bury New Albany in a 17-2 hole, the Stars caught the Bulldogs off guard. BNL hit its first four shots of the second half, scored its most points in a quarter since a November win over Mitchell. The Bulldogs must think it’s personal.
Bailey was the catalyst. She scored 7 first-half points as the Stars struggled to a 19-16 advantage. Then came the third quarter, which was sheer perfection. Bailey knifed the lane for a layup, Sherrill stroked a wing trey, Tori Nikirk turned a steal into a breakaway, and Bailey popped a 10-footer in the lane. Four possessions, four buckets, and a star-struck victim.
“We knew we had to come out better than we did in the first half,” Bailey said. “I had faith the whole time.”
BNL closed that frame with more brilliance. Nikirk slashed for a basket, Elise Williams scored from the lane off a Nikirk pass, and Sherrill barely beat the buzzer with a bomb from in front of her bench. Sherrill opened the fourth with a layup off an inbound set as BNL roared to its biggest lead at 42-27. The Stars had only one turnover during that run.
New Albany battled back within 51-46 with a late surge as freshman Gracie Matheny hit three treys, but BNL closed it out from the free-throw line, extending the state’s longest current sectional streak while beating New Albany for the 12th straight time in the series.
“I’m proud of them,” BNL coach Greg Burton said. “Trinidy had a huge game. We knew it was there. We’ve been begging her to be aggressive and go at the rim. We’ve seen it in practice. I sent a text to our other coaches, ‘Has anyone noticed she’s becoming an animal?’ It’s exciting. That’s just a glimpse of what she can do. She’s a beast in her own right.”
“I just had a lot more confidence in myself,” Bailey said.
Nikirk added 10 points.
“Our girls play with confidence – sometimes a little too much confidence and they let it fly a little bit,” Burton said. “But I would rather have that than the other end of the spectrum.”
Matheny paced New Albany with 17 points while Claire Webster came off the bench to total 16, 14 of those coming in the second half as she became a one-person rally.
“She wanted it,” New Albany coach Shelby Gliebe said. “We wanted to know who could go score, so we gave it to her. She did a great job.”
New Albany never adjusted to Bailey’s surprising performance. She was averaging a modest 4.6 points, and shooting only 22.5 percent, during the regular season.
“She drove more than we anticipated, and we didn’t do a good job of responding, cutting her off,” Gliebe said. “We kind of said ‘Ole’ to the basket. They did go on some runs, and we didn’t respond well defensively. We had some girls come alive offensively, but if you’re trading buckets it’s not chipping away at the lead. We didn’t adjust when they started knocking them down.“
Floyd Central 63, Seymour 21 – The Highlanders , the overwhelming sectional favorite, blew out Seymour (10-13) in the second semifinal, triggering the running clock for the mercy rule in the fourth quarter.
Elise Coleman had 15 points and Brinley Clark added 12 for the Highlanders, who won their seventh straight game.
Floyd (22-4) already owns a 66-31 win over BNL during the regular season.
“Floyd is rolling,” Burton said. “It’s going to be tough. We’ll see what happens.”
Can experience and the streak make the difference? Floyd’s last sectional title came in 2010.
“It makes us want to play even harder,” Bailey said, “to keep it going for our program.”
The winner will advance to the one-game regional, against the champion from Evansville, on Feb. 15.
BEDFORD NL STARS (55)
3s FGs FTs R F Pts
22 Miley Sherrill, f 3-5 4-7 4-6 4 2 15
30 Makaya Jackson, f 0-0 0-1 2-8 2 3 2
32 Trinidy Bailey, g 0-2 7-14 6-8 7 2 20
12 Tori Nikirk, g 0-6 3-14 4-6 5 3 10
21 Jordynn Blann, g 1-3 1-3 0-0 1 1 3
23 Katie Godlevske 1-3 1-3 0-0 2 4 3
24 Elise Williams 0-0 1-1 0-0 1 0 2
Totals 5-19 17-43 16-28 26 14 55
NEW ALBANY BULLDOGS (48)
3s FGs FTs R F Pts
21 Sophia Corley, f 0-2 1-6 0-0 6 5 2
33 Emily Spainhour, f 1-4 1-5 0-0 6 2 3
32 Jaelynn Huggins, c 0-0 1-2 1-2 1 0 3
14 Rylan Bears, g 0-1 0-4 2-2 4 3 2
5 Gracie Matheny, g 5-9 6-11 0-0 4 3 17
22 Emma Kennell 0-1 0-2 1-2 4 3 1
4 Claire Webster 0-1 7-13 2-5 1 5 16
23 Shanelle Jones 0-0 0-0 4-4 0 4 4
Totals 6-16 16-43 10-15 29 25 48
Bedford NL 10 9 21 15 – 55
New Albany 8 8 11 21 – 48
Turnovers – BNL 10, New Albany 16
Field goal percentage – BNL 17-43 (.395); New Albany 16-43 (.372)
Free throw percentage – BNL 16-28 (.571); New Albany 10-15 (.667)
FLOYD CENTRAL 63, SEYMOUR 21
Floyd Central (22-4) – Elise Coleman 15, Brinley Clark 12, Ava Hausz 1, Samara Miller 9, Nora Gibson 4, Riley Roberts 2, Mia Gianfagna 3, Ava Casteel 2, Eva Casteel 7, Lakan Jerke 2, Maya Brogan 6
Seymour (10-13) – Abby Otte 2, Sophie Skidmore 6, Kenzie Gagner 6, Emilee Followell 1, Kennedy Burnette 4, Avah Kriete 2
