By Justin Sokeland
WBIW.com
BEDFORD – According to American sage Benjamin Franklin, three people can keep a secret, if two are dead. True secrecy is rare. So the information about to be revealed is known by few. This news is like the redacted parts of a government report, not for everyone’s eyes.
Evansville North is good, the best-kept secret in Indiana basketball. Not a single voter in the state polls realizes this. How does a 17-4 team fly so far under the radar? The Huskies need to hire a publicist or public relations firm, get the word out, appoint a Master of Whispers. Let it be known right now, North is going places in the postseason, and somebody will be unhappy to find the Huskies in their path.
Bedford North Lawrence found out the hard way. After celebrating the careers of five seniors, the Stars discovered just how potent North can be, as the Huskies growled to a 74-42 victory on Saturday night. Greg Pieterek scored 19 points as North cruised to a mercy-rule triumph that was dominant in all phases.
Surprising? Not really. North’s four setbacks are the reason for the cloak of state anonymity. The Huskies got flogged by No.1 Fishers, got smacked by New Albany and lost twice to city rival Bosse. None of those are bad losses. Overlook them at your own peril.
BNL (6-14) could not slow down the assault. On one end, the Stars had to work like ditch diggers to score. On the other, the Huskies dug out too many easy baskets. They shot it well (21 of 37 during the first three periods) and committed only 7 turnovers. That wins a lot of games.
“We were really clicking,” North coach Jason Roach said. “When we play with a toughness and shoot it like that, we’ll be tough to beat. Hopefully we’re clicking at the right time. We’re playing with a toughness up and down the lineup, we’re sharing the basketball.”
North never trailed. Bryson Chapman got the Huskies started with three baseline drives for buckets in the first quarter. They followed with a 10-2 burst that gave North a 24-11 lead, and Chapman’s late trey powered the Huskies to a 39-20 advantage at the half.
In the second half, North closed the third with a 10-0 run to a 58-28 gap, and the running clock was triggered late in the final frame.
Easy, much too easy.
“That’s the most disappointing thing tonight, easy baskets,” BNL coach Jackson Ryan said. “I thnk a sense of pride, at times, was lacking. When you’re trying to send your seniors out the right way, that’s disappointing. Don’t take anything away from them, they’re very good offensively. They have so many guys to make you pay.”
Pieterek was one of them, converting 6 of 8 shots. Chapman was another, finishing with 17 points. Carson Cashmer came off the bench to stroke three treys.
“Pieterek is a spark plug,” Roach said. “He makes a lot of things happen. I really liked our defense. The game plan was to play the bigs one-on-one. We liked our chances there. And I liked our physicality. Bedford is going to be a physical team, scrappy and get after it. We were ready for it and matched their intensity. Our toughness was very good.”
BNL was paced by Jace Nicholson with 12 points (4 for 4 from deep) while Ben Conner recorded his second straight double-digit night with 10 points. Conner was one of the five honorees, along with Gibson Crane (7 points in the first quarter), Dax Short (6 points), Dayson Kirby and Driven Axsom.
The Stars will close the regular season with two road games, starting at Brownstown on Monday. There’s no time to adjust.
”It always feels like it’s one step forward, two steps back,” Ryan said. “With what we have left, we have to come together.”
BNL will also learn its postseason fate when the IHSAA announces the sectional pairings on Sunday.
EVANSVILLE NORTH HUSKIES (74)
3s FGs FTs R F Pts
30 Bryson Chapman, f 1-5 7-14 2-2 3 1 17
31 Tyler Musich, f 0-0 0-2 0-0 1 1 0
1 Sena Gore, g 1-1 2-3 0-0 2 1 5
10 Greg Pieterek, g 2-2 6-8 5-7 3 2 19
11 Seab Johnson, g 2-3 2-3 0-0 1 2 6
5 Gavin Vignolo 1-3 2-4 0-0 1 0 5
0 Lance Smith 0-0 2-2 1-2 1 0 5
23 Carson Cashmer 3-5 3-5 0-0 0 0 9
3 Q Pauley 0-2 0-3 0-0 1 2 0
34 Jacoby Cooper 1-2 1-2 0-0 2 0 3
22 Ayan Patel 0-1 0-1 0-0 0 0 0
33 Jackson Scott 1-2 1-2 0-0 0 1 3
40 Markell Cayce 0-0 0-1 2-2 4 0 2
Totals 12-26 26-51 10-13 25 10 74
BEDFORD NL STARS (42)
3s FGs FTs R F Pts
24 Gibson Crane, f 0-0 3-5 1-2 6 3 7
40 Ben Conner, f 0-0 5-10 0-1 3 2 10
5 Dax Short, g 0-3 2-10 2-2 2 2 6
12 Dayson Kirby, g 0-1 0-1 0-0 2 0 0
2 Driven Axsom, g 0-1 0-1 0-0 1 2 0
10 Easton Moore 1-1 2-3 0-0 2 2 5
1 Parker Kern 0-1 0-4 2-2 4 1 2
11 Jace Nicholson 4-4 4-4 0-0 0 0 12
23 Jett Alvey 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
20 Jack Parsons 0-0 0-1 0-0 1 1 0
Totals 5-11 16-39 5-7 22 13 42
Evan. North 17 22 19 16 – 74
Bedford NL 9 11 8 14 – 42
Turnovers – Ev. North 7, BNL 19
Field goal percentage – Ev. North 26-51 (.510); BNL 16-39 (.410)
Free throw percentage – Ev. North 10-13 (.769); BNL 5-7 (.714)
