By Justin Sokeland
WBIW.com
BEDFORD – Siberian Huskies are built for cold, able to thrive in freezing temperatures with their heavy-duty fur. But Evansville North’s breed was not able to withstand the frozen tundra of BNL Fieldhouse.
Bedford North Lawrence took advantage of North’s extreme shooting woes, collecting rebounds at a rapid rate while blasting to a 51-30 victory on Saturday afternoon. Sammie Nusbaum scored 20 points while Miley Sherrill posted a strong double-double, powering the red-hot Stars to their fourth straight victory.
The Huskies (7-8) flirted with reaching absolute zero, the theoretical temperature limit when atoms stop moving. They converted only three of their first 33 shots, and the Stars cleaned up most of the misses and messes with textbook rebounding fundamentals. They were like scientists on an expedition. Tag and release. Block out and go get it. They had plenty of practice.
North finished 12 of 60 (20 percent), a frostbite total that included 3 of 28 from long range.
“In the halfcourt, our emphasis was locating their perimeter shooters,” BNL coach Chase Spreen said. “We knew they liked to get a lot of perimeter shots off dribble penetration. We felt, if we could contain the dribble, we would not have to help as much. We were pushing them out, making sure they didn’t get clean looks. We were there to contest.”
While North struggled, BNL bolted. Nusbuam cashed in two quick transition baskets, Sherrill popped a key trey, and Trinidy Bailey crashed the lane for a 21-7 halftime lead. In the third quarter, the Stars pulled away as Nusbaum (who didn’t miss from inside the arc) worked free for layups, Jordan Blann added a rebound basket, and Sherrill cut back door for a hoop and 32-9 lead. North didn’t end its drought until Maddy Walters drove the baseline for a bucket with 4:04 left in the quarter.
The Stars dominated the glass, surrendering few second chances. Sherrill had 11 boards (in addition to her 16 points) while Nusbuam and Paige Burton grabbed 8 each. BNL won that stat by a 45-28 margin. The only glitch was 17 turnovers.
“We always emphasize eliminating second chances,” Spreen said. “We make sure everyone rebounds, and they’ve taken that to heart. You have to box out your man, then go get the ball.”
Many players were guilty of running to the rim, rather than boxing out, when a shot is launched. The Stars are breaking that habit.
“Coach Spreen harps on that a lot,” Sherrill said. “We have a tendency to go stare at the rim. That’s really made a difference. That’s huge. We knew there would be a lot of long rebounds, We took care of that.”
Addy Gibson had 10 points and Millie Elliott added 9 for North.
The Stars improved to 12-4 while continuing their turnaround season.
“If you had told me that, I don’t know I would have believed it,” Sherrill said. “But I knew we would bounce back.”
BNL will visit Jennings County for a huge Hoosier Hills Conference battle on Tuesday.
EVANSVILLE NORTH HUSKIES (30)
3s FGs FTs R F Pts
14 Addy Gibson, f 2-9 4-16 0-0 3 1 10
23 Kyra Patterson, f 0-1 0-3 0-0 6 1 0
11 Millie Elliott, g 1-5 4-10 0-0 3 3 9
1 Lexi Scott, g 0-5 0-8 1-2 1 1 1
3 Zhaeyana Cooper, g 0-3 1-8 2-4 5 1 4
24 Maddy Walters 0-1 2-7 0-0 2 3 4
22 Molly Kennedy 0-3 1-5 0-0 5 3 2
12 Gracie Watkins 0-1 0-2 0-0 1 0 0
Totals 3-28 12-60 3-6 28 13 30
BEDFORD NL STARS (51)
3s FGs FTs R F Pts
23 Sammie Nusbaum, f 2-6 9-13 0-0 8 2 20
22 Miley Sherrill, f 1-2 6-14 3-4 11 2 16
32 Trinidy Bailey, g 0-1 3-9 1-2 6 5 7
21 Jordan Blann, g 1-5 3-8 0-0 5 1 7
11 Paige Burton, g 0-0 0-2 1-2 8 1 1
12 Elahdy Ray 0-0 0-0 0-0 1 0 0
24 Caroline Sheldon 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
31 Audrey Hoffman 0-0 0-0 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 1 0 0
Totals 4-14 21-46 5-8 45 10 51
Evan North 3 4 13 10 – 30
Bedford NL 12 9 14 16 – 51
Turnovers – Evan. North 6, BNL 17
Field goal percentage – Evan. North 12-60 (.200); BNL 21-46 (.466)
Free throw percentage – Evan. North 3-6 (.500); BNL 5-8 (.625)
