By Justin Sokeland
WBIW.com
BEDFORD – Driven Axsom and Dayson Kirby have made the most of a rare second chance. They had decided to focus on football early in their high school careers. Basketball was a past love they had jilted. But, like the former relationship that ends without closure, they didn’t delete the contact from their lives. And then that number pops up again.
Basketball called. They answered. After years away from the game, they came back, joining their multi-sport teammates for a final fling. Now Bedford North Lawrence’s five seniors will enjoy their reward for devotion and dedication when they are honored during the annual Senior Night festivities.
Axsom and Kirby will join basketball lifers Ben Conner, Dax Short and Gibson Crane for the home farewell when the Stars host Evansville North on Saturday night. They’ve already been there, done this during the football campaign, so the emotional baggage during that midcourt walk with family won’t be quite as heavy.
BNL’s graduating class is the poster group for playing multiple sports. In this day of singular focus on one endeavor, these Stars chose to sacrifice additional time, sweat and energy for friends and community. They will have no regrets, even though success this winter has not matched the glory from the gridiron.
“It’s still been really fun, getting to play with my friends for one last year,” Crane said. “It’s been a good experience.”
They accepted a difficult challenge. BNL lost the bulk of its foundation from last season when graduation claimed over 70 percent of its production, when former head coach Kurt Godlevske departed. After Jackson Ryan was hired as the new coach late in the spring, Axsom and Kirby saw an opportunity.
Axsom had not played since his freshman season, Kirby since his sophomore year. That’s a lot of basketball to miss. Playing in the church league was not the same. But one almost dared the other to play again, “so I guess we’re doing it.” Kirby said with a laugh. They were welcomed.
“For BNL athletics to be successful, we need guys to play at least two sports, across the board,” Ryan said. “Both of them, we had no idea what to expect. Driven has been, leaps and bounds, more than what we thought. With his intensity and leadership, there’s nobody more vocal, nobody that’s a better teammate than Driven.”
“I figured one last year couldn’t hurt,” Axsom said. “It’s been good so far. I had lot to catch up. I was playing church league with my dad, but that’s nothing to compare to varsity basketball. Everybody here pushed me to do that.”
“It’s been a lot of fun, not playing organized basketball for about a year,” Kirby said. “Getting used to the speed of the game took a lot, but it’s been fun to play with the guys and make a lot of new friendships.”
The common denominator for the five is that uniform, a willingness to represent.
”I wanted to play at BNL for a really long time,” said Conner, a second generation Star. “I watched BNL growing up, I always wanted to be a varsity basketball player. It means a lot to play and be a senior, be a leader. It’s been a lot of work.”
Each has a unique role. Short is the scoring leader with the most experience. Crane, on his way to play college football, is the muscle inside. Just look at him, that’s obvious. Axsom, the teammate everyone loves and the opponent they all snarl about because of his boundless defensive energy, has claimed a starting role, while Conner and Kirby (also destined for college football) have been reserves off the bench. All took on a leadership assignment.
”We have a good group of guys,” Short said. “We want the best out of our teammates, we push each other every day to be better.”
The Stars are 6-12 heading into a double weekend. The victories have been hard earned, some of the losses forgettable. But not the camaraderie.
“It would have been easy to pack it in,” Ryan said. “To their credit, they’ve continued to work and be coachable. They’re a fun group to be around. We would love to win some more games for them, with them. But we appreciate them.”
“It means everything,” Axsom said. “It doesn’t seem that long ago I was in middle school, and now we graduate in less than three months. It’s kind of crazy.”
EVANSVILLE NORTH at BNL
When: Saturday, 7:30 p.m.
Records: Evansville North 15-4 (at Castle on Friday); BNL 6-12 (at New Albany on Friday)
Sagarin ratings: Evansville North 83.23; BNL 62.70
Series: BNL leads 10-4
Last meeting: Last year at North, the Huskies prevailed 57-53. Bryson Chapman had 26 points (with 5 treys) for North, while Patric Matson tallied 31 points for the Stars.
Previous game story: Textbook final minute for North
Game notes: Evansville North has locked in its first winning season since 2021-22.
Starting lineups
Bedford NL Stars
F – Gibson Crane 6-3 Sr.
F – Ben Conner 6-3 Sr.
G – Dax Short 6-1 Sr.
G – Dayson Kirby 6-0 Sr.
G – Driven Axsom 5-8 Sr.
Evansville North Huskies
F – Bryson Chapman 6-6 Sr.
F – Tyler Musich 6-4 Sr.
G – Sena Gore 6-4 Sr.
G – Greg Pieterek 5-11 Jr.
G – Seab Johnson 5-11 Sr.
