By Justin Sokeland
WBIW.com
BEDFORD – These public intrasquad workouts, in the “old” days, used to be known as “soap and towel” scrimmages. Because admission was a towel or bar of soap, the valuable collection to be used by team members for personal hygiene. For some reason, postgame showers have gone the way of CD players. That makes long rides home a symphony for the nose.
Now the requested donations are bottled water or hydration drinks. Bedford North Lawrence should put those to good use, if the Stars play with the level of effort new head coach Jackson Ryan will demand. Play hard, sweat a lot, or don’t expect to play.
BNL displayed a brief glimpse of the season ahead during Monday night’s live session. The projected varsity Stars played one quarter against the junior varsity, then divided up along equal talent lines for a final quarter of competition.
As expected, the varsity posted a 14-6 edge in the first frame. In the final period, the Red unit prevailed 15-10.
What was learned during this short preview? Hard to pinpoint, because most of the probable varsity is still making the transition from football. There’s a lot of rough edges to smooth out, and it’s only been seven days since the start of official workouts for the upcoming campaign. There’s no secrets, because everyone knows the plays and the tendencies of those attempting to score. Synchronized, fluid execution is difficult.
”It was competitive, that’s what I liked the most,” Ryan said. “Moving the basketball will be a major key for us in general. The things we’ve harped on the most are playing hard and playing together. We played hard, at least a step in the right direction. Playing together, when we got tired and stagnant, that did not happen.”
In the opening quarter, Dax Short (one of the few returning with varsity experience from last season) stroked a wing trey and stepped through traffic for a bucket. Easton Moore, splitting time between the teams, scored 8 total points.
The second quarter was a better indication of strengths and weaknesses. Ben Conner muscled his way inside for two baskets, Jace Nicholson drove for two buckets to pace the Red. Short and Dayson Kirby (with a banked 3-pointer) had 3 points each for the Gray.
Most of the action smelled of football hangover. Missed shots in the paint, fortunate bounces, defensive tenacity. Most of that can be cleaned up with a figurative bar of soap to scrub off the gridiron residue.
“These kids have had some success because of the season they had, they’re competitors and gamers,” Ryan said. “They will rise to the occasion. It’s just learning and executing that’s the next step. We’ve completely changed everything we did over the summer. So it’s technically only Day Seven of the new stuff. I had no idea how we would come out. All that considered, I was pleased, it was a step in the right direction.”
BNL’s next step will be the IHSAA sanctioned scrimmage. Normally, there’s a gap between the two workouts, allowing for adjustments and more practice time. Not so this year. BNL will journey to Austin to complete its scrimmages on Tuesday night.
”We get to do it against somebody else, somebody that doesn’t know what’s going on with us,” Ryan said. “Austin will throw things at us we haven’t seen before, so how will we react?”
BNL will open the regular season at Bloomington North on Nov. 25.
Varsity 14, Junior Varsity 6
Varsity – Ben Conner 2, Dax Short 5, Gibson Crane 2, Easton Moore 5
JV – Easton Moore 3, Rowan Miller 3
RED 15, GRAY 10
Red – Ben Conner 4, Jace Nicholson 4, Driven Axsom 3, Nate Hildum 2, Gibson Crane 2
Gray – Garrett Chaillaux 2, Dayson Kirby 3, Dax Short 3, Parker Kern 2
