By Justin Sokeland
WBIW.com
AUSTIN – Listed on the game program as a generous 5-foot-3, senior guard Paige Burton’s defensive assignment was a 6-2 tower. The mismatch was obvious. Except it was not in the expected favor of the tallest. The tape measure doesn’t have a mark for heart.
Facing a distinct vertical challenge, Bedford North Lawrence cut Class A No.4 Trinity Lutheran down to its level with a defensive clinic. The Stars, with Burton battling for every inch in the interior, with Trinidy Bailey tracking Lutheran’s scoring leader like her own shadow, proved that size doesn’t matter as much as tenacity and execution.
Erasing two lackluster performances during pool play from the memory banks, BNL opened the bracket round of the Eagle Classic with a signature win, cruising to an impressive 47-26 victory. Jordan Blann paced the offense with 14 points as the Stars (10-4) shut down the Cougars with a Tuesday morning wake-up dose of defense.
Lutheran (9-3) managed only one basket in the opening quarter (with 54 seconds left in the period) and only one (with 40 seconds left) in the final frame. That’s close to perfection. Lutheran leader Marley Warren (averaging 19.6) was held to 3 points, and the Cougars were limited to their lowest total of the season and fewest points since posting 24 against South Ripley during the 2021-22 campaign.
“The thing that’s been constant is our defense,” BNL coach Chase Spreen said. “That’s definitely a team effort. Everyone was bought into understanding what we had to do, with the bigs (6-2 sisters Rachel and Bailey Bonde) and Warren. That’s Trinidy Bailey, she’s always done a great job. Every kid has stepped up, and today it was Paige on the defensive end. She was giving up a lot of inches on a kid we had to eliminate, and she did a really good job.”
Burton smiled and claimed it was her inner “beast” that made the difference. In reality, it was relentless work to front the post and block out once a shot was launched. The Stars won the rebounding battle 26-23 and didn’t allow an offensive rebound during the final three quarters.
“I just knew I had to work and be strong mentally,” Burton said. “We had to be strong and block out. Let the other girls go get it. Front them, work early.”
In front was where BNL played, except for one possession in the second quarter, most of the time. The Stars blasted to an 8-3 lead as Miley Sherrill scored on a back cut and popped two midrange jumpers. After the Cougars cobbled together a 6-0 mini-run, with Rachel Bonde muscling inside, BNL regained control with treys from Bailey and Blann. The Stars went to the half with a 19-14 lead when, following a surprising technical foul with 3 seconds left as the Cougars were preparing to inbound, Bailey swished a buzzer-beating jumper on the baseline.
The Stars carried that momentum forward. Blann opened the second half with two treys and a steal for a breakaway as BNL surged to a double-digit margin. Nusbuam and Bailey added treys for a 33-20 advantage.
In the fourth quarter, BNL was at its sharp best. Sherrill cashed in a fast break for a layup, Nusbaum converted a rebound basket, and Burton got loose against Lutheran’s press for two layups. Blann and Elahdy Ray finished off a 14-1 run with two more bombs.
“We talked about responding to adversity,” Spreen said. “We won’t have our best day every day. I’m proud of the kids for responding. Yesterday (games against Jasper and Lanesville) was out of character for us. They were ready and we executed on both ends.”
Sherrill totaled 11 points and Bailey added 10. BNL hit nine treys (with Blann connecting for four) after struggling from distance most of the first day.
“We knew we were better than what we played yesterday,” Blann said. “We wanted to show it, to prove it to everybody.”
Rachel Bonde had 11 points and 7 rebounds for the Cougars. The rest of the roster combined to hit only 6 of 25 shots.
“They were much more disciplined than us,” Lutheran coach Matt Trimnell said. “The things we lost at were rebounding – they had a 5-4 girl (Blann, who’s listed at 5-2) get six – they screened better than we did, played harder than we did. It’s not Xs and Os. They just played harder, by a lot.”
“This win was really, really big,” Burton said. “This prepares us for the sectional, because we’re not the tallest team.”
BNL advanced to face Springs Valley in the tournament’s fifth-place game.
TRINITY LUTHERAN COUGARS (26)
3s FGs FTs R F Pts
15 Rachel Bonde, f 0-0 4-6 3-5 7 2 11
13 Bailey Bonde, f 0-0 1-3 0-1 3 0 2
20 Marley Warren, g 1-5 1-6 0-0 3 1 3
22 Emerson Warren, g 1-6 1-7 0-0 3 0 5
3 Marissa Baker, g 0-0 0-0 0-0 1 0 0
14 DeAnna Rothert 0-1 1-3 0-0 0 0 2
21 Laynie Barnes 0-2 0-4 0-0 3 0 0
4 Zoey Dulaney 1-2 1-2 0-0 0 0 3
Totals 3-15 10-31 3-5 23 3 26
BEDFORD NL STARS (47)
3s FGs FTs R F Pts
23 Sammie Nusbuam, f 1-4 2-7 0-0 4 0 5
22 Miley Sherrill, f 1-5 5-9 0-2 4 5 11
32 Trinidy Bailey, g 2-7 4-12 0-2 7 0 10
21 Jordan Blann, g 4-9 5-10 0-0 6 0 14
11 Paige Burton, g 0-0 2-3 0-0 2 3 4
12 Elahdy Ray 1-1 1-2 0-0 1 2 3
24 Caroline Sheldon 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
31 Audrey Hoffman 0-1 0-1 0-0 0 0 0
44 Annie Watson 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
20 Bella Warren 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Totals 9-27 19-44 0-4 26 10 47
Trinity Lutheran 3 11 9 3 – 26
Bedford NL 8 11 14 14 – 47
Technical foul – M. Warren
Turnovers – Trinity Lutheran 15, BNL 6
Field goal percentage – Trinity Lutheran 10-31 (.323); BNL 19-44 (.432)
Free throw percentage – Trinity Lutheran 3-5 (.600); BNL 0-4 (.000)
