By Justin Sokeland
WBIW.com
MONTGOMERY – Bedford North Lawrence’s favorite color has to be blue.
For the second time in three years, the Stars claimed the coveted blue ribbons, winning the IHSAA regional at Country Oaks. Sammie Nusbaum added to her own personal collection, earning medalist honors as BNL advanced to the state championship for the fourth consecutive year.
BNL claimed the top spot in the 15-team field with a solid team score of 332, clipping Castle (337) for the title. Barr-Reeve (345) claimed the final team qualifying ticket for the state finals at Prairie View.
Just one week ago, while winning the sectional crown on their home course, the Stars were a joyless team, a little disgusted and a lot dissatisfied with their performance, which did not measure up to their standards. They smiled for the cameras but burned inside. That translated into motivation for their regional round at Country Oaks. This time, the smiles were genuine and earned.
“My goodness, I don’t have the words for it,” BNL coach Carly Stigall said. “I’m so proud of these kids. They fought for every shot, they played their hearts out. We knew it would be a battle, and they never once gave up on themselves. They played the best I’ve ever seen them play.”
Nusbaum was the spark. As an ultimate competitor, she had tears in her eyes following her sectional round. This time the tears were of vindication and triumph. She fired a two-over 74 while becoming the first BNL player since Kennedy Holtsclaw in 2014 to win the top individual prize.
“Golf is a hard mental sport, and shooting 86 on your own course in the sectional does not put confidence in yourself,” she said. “So coming out to win is something incredible.”
She did it the hard way. She carded only one birdie (with a fist pump to celebrate on the 17th green), but she was a par machine with 14 of them on her scorecard on the hardscrabble, bone-dry layout. Hard ground means bad bounces, extra stress and headaches. She battled through all of it.
“I don’t normally make a lot of pars,” Nusbaum said. “But that kept me in there.”
“That kid, I’ve never coached a team without her,” Stigall said. “She is, without a doubt, one of the players I’m so thankful to coach. She really does let the rounds roll off her back, puts them behind her, learns from her mistakes. If she’s not satisfied, she’s going to work until she gets it. Unbelievable player.”
BNL’s Kinleigh Root fired a 79 while earning a rare feat as the lone senior on the roster. She’s now four-for-four in state finals appearance. “I think it’s pretty cool,” she said. And she’s right. The other Stars were solid in support. Kadynn Canada posted an 88, Emma Voris bounced back from first-hole disaster (three straight tee shots out of bounds) to total 91 while capping the team score, and first-year player Bella Warren added a 97.
“One word describes it – fight,” Stigall said. “Every single one of those kids fought for every shot. They were not satisfied until that ball was in the hole. They did a really great job mentally.”
BNL won its third regional title in program history (1985, 2023) and will make its 12th state finals trip. This time, the Stars didn’t break the trophy. That was a casualty during the last celebration and photo shoot with the hardware.
“It’s so amazing to win with this team,” Nusbaum said. “No one expected us to do anything. For us to come out, and still win, is so mind blowing. We showed them what we can do.”
“It’s crazy,” Root said. “We didn’t go into this thinking we had the best chance to win. But you can’t put doubt on yourself. We just fought as hard as we could. I had a lot of fun, probably the favorite round I’ve ever played.”
The top three individuals who were not members of qualifying teams also advanced to the state finals, a list that included Evansville Christian freshman Kate Edwards (75), Evansville Memorial’s Abby Shires (77) and Washington’s Grace Hickey (77). Deeya Patel paced Castle with a 75.
BNL will compete in the state finals at Prairie View on Oct. 3-4.
”I didn’t doubt it,” Stigall said. “I knew the horses we had. This team faced a lot of changes and adversity this year, but these kids trusted the process and got the job done.”
