By Justin Sokeland
WBIW.com
AUSTIN – Lanesville took the holiday giving season a little too far.
Bedford North Lawrence, once it got shaken from the doldrums with some Bob Knight bench therapy, glady accepted the gifts. While the packages looked like they were wrapped by the hurried husband who was tangled in tape and torn wrapping, the present was just what the thankful Stars needed.
Forcing the Eagles into multiple mistakes that created uncontested baskets, the Stars awoke for a 52-28 win over Lanesville in the second round of pool play during the Eagle Classic on Monday afternoon. Lanesville was guilty of 34 turnovers, an unrecoverable number.
While BNL (9-4) was not exactly sharp, with its own fumbles and long-range misfires allowing Lanesville to hang within 25-24 midway through the third quarter, the Stars grounded the Eagles with constant traps and harassment. BNL ended with a 14-0 run to put a bow on the prize, even if the beauty of the final score was misleading. Messy was still adequate.
“The good thing is, when we had to turn it on, we turned it on and separated in the fourth quarter,” BNL coach Chase Spreen said. “The intensity, the urgency on the defensive end has to be there from the start. They took their foot off the gas, but when they knew they had to, they did.”
The gas failed to reach the engine during the early stages. BNL didn’t record a basket in the first five minutes against Lanesville’s 1-3-1 zone, and Spreen emptied his available bench to send a message. Lanesville burrowed to 17-11 advantage midway through the second period before the Stars countered with 10 straight points. Sammie Nusbaum worked free for a layup off Elahdy Ray’s dish, Caroline Sheldon scored from close range, and Miley Sherrill capped the burst with two layups.
BNL started the second half with another cold spell, and Lanesville (6-8) scrambled within one point on Libby Saier’s layup.
“There were stretches where we looked like a quality team,” Lanesville coach Jamie Kolkmeier said. “But we turned the ball over too much.”
That was proven during the final stages. Nusbaum opened the fourth quarter with back-to-back layups off turnovers, Trinidy Bailey turned a steal into a breakaway, and Ray ended a brutal BNL shooting slump (1 for 30 from the trey line from the first quarter of the opening game to this point in the second) with a corner bomb. Lanesville had 22 turnovers in the second half, most setting up the BNL runout.
“We can’t beat good teams right now because we give them the ball too much,” Kolkmeier said. “We get a little mentally tired, one turnover turns into four. We weren’t aggressive enough. We didn’t match their intensity and gave them the ball too many times without getting a shot.”
Nusbuam, Sherrill and Bailey all had 12 points for BNL. The Stars still haven’t found their shooting shoes for this event, going 2 of 15 from distance. That’s 6 for 36 in eight quarters, so blame it on the dimly lit second gymnasium in use for the event.
“We’re not making shots right now,” Spreen said. “That’s part of the game. You have to figure things out. They’re battling, playing hard, we just have to figure out ways to score. The disappointing part was our approach. We talk about, in games like that, being ready to go. We can’t afford to take days off.”
Saier had 14 points for the Eagles.
BNL, which finished second in its pool, will now meet Class A No.4 Trinity Lutheran (9-2) in the consolation round of the 12-team tournament. The Cougars fell to Jeffersonville 56-46 in the first round, then conquered Paoli 53-41 in their second game.
“They have a really good guard (junior Marley Warren), they have some matchup problems (with a pair of 6-2 towers) inside,” Spreen said. “We have to make sure we’re engaged and rebound.”
Action in the third round will begin at 10:30 a.m. on Tuesday. BNL’s final opponent will be determined from early results on Tuesday.
BEDFORD NL STARS (52)
3s FGs FTs R F Pts
23 Sammie Nusbaum, f 0-3 5-8 2-2 2 0 12
22 Miley Sherrill, f 0-3 4-12 4-4 4 2 12
32 Trinidy Bailey, g 0-2 3-8 6-9 6 2 12
21 Jordan Blann, g 0-3 0-3 1-2 2 1 1
11 Paige Burton, g 0-0 0-2 1-2 5 0 1
12 Elahdy Ray 1-1 1-2 0-0 0 1 3
24 Caroline Sheldon 0-1 2-3 2-2 2 0 6
20 Bella Warren 1-2 2-3 0-0 0 1 5
31 Audrey Hoffman 0-0 0-1 0-0 0 0 0
44 Annie Watson 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Totals 2-15 17-43 16-22 23 6 52
LANESVILLE EAGLES (28)
3s FGs FTs R F Pts
13 A.J. James, f 0-0 1-3 0-0 2 3 2
11 Alli Campbell, f 0-0 1-2 0-0 1 0 2
12 Libby Saier, g 1-2 6-11 1-2 5 3 14
21 Ava Simler, g 0-3 0-4 0-0 3 1 0
24 Madelyn Magner, g 0-3 1-6 0-0 5 3 2
15 Mallory Kelton 0-1 1-4 4-6 3 2 6
1 Alayna Romeo 0-2 0-4 0-0 5 4 0
20 Maya Magner 0-0 1-1 0-0 0 1 2
3 Kaylee Augenstein 0-0 0-1 0-0 0 0 0
10 Riley Menges 0-0 0-0 0-0 1 0 0
22 Elizabeth Paisley 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Totals 1-11 11-36 5-8 29 17 28
Bedford NL 5 16 10 21 – 52
Lanesville 10 8 6 4 – 28
Turnovers – BNL 22, Lanesville 34
Field goal percentage – BNL 17-43 (.395); Lanesville 11-36 (.306)
Free throw percentage – BNL 16-22 (.727); Lanesville 5-8 (.625)
