By Justin Sokeland
WBIW.com
BEDFORD – Victory is sure sweet, and this one was like ice cream. A couple of scoops, a little sauce for topping, and some crunchy scoring. Swirled together, Bedford North Lawerence’s triumph was an old-time treat.
Elahdy Ray was scooping and hooping during delicious moments in the fourth quarter. Caroline Sheldon supplied the sauce with the clinching bucket. Miley Sherrill and Sammie Nusbaum were the favorite flavors on offense as the Stars bounced back from their first loss with a quality win.
With a determined closing run, BNL vanquished Bloomington North 51-39 on Tuesday night. Sherrill scored a game-high 21 points and Nusbaum added 15 as the Stars (2-1) caged the Cougars for the 16th straight time in the series. On a night when missed shots were too thick to squeeze through the straw, it was defense and mistake-free ballhandling that powered BNL to a neopolitan triumph, with Jordynn Blann’s Roomba rebounding as the third color.
The biggest moments came in the fourth quarter. Nobody but Sherrill and Nusbaum had authored BNL baskets when Ray shook free for a back-cut layup off a Sherrill pass, giving the Stars a 37-33 lead with 4:32 left. Ray crashed through the lane for a soft scoop and 41-35 advantage, and Sheldon came flying in from the perimeter to follow a stumbling Ray miss for a 43-35 edge, arguably the most important possession.
“We made plays,” BNL coach Chase Spreen said. “We didn’t make shots, we made plays. Caroline Sheldon getting a huge offensive putback, Elahdy Ray had a couple of great attacks down the stretch when we needed it, Miley performing at a really high level and keeping her foot on the gas. They just found a way to get it done.”
BNL capped the 14-4 closing burst with another Ray scoop, after she beat North’s full-court press with a deep reception and found a way to work a low-level shot around a taller defender. She added two free throws, and Blann finished it off with a rebound and coast-to-coast dash for a layup. That was Blann’s 13th rebound. At 5-foot-2, she was like a robot floor vacuum, collecting everything.
“That’s incredible,” Spreen said. “She’s not performing offensively the way she wants. I know that. But that’s a great example of a kid finding a way to make a difference and make the team better. For a kid her size, 13 rebounds is unbelievable. That’s all grit and heart.”
BNL needed those attributes from Sherrill and Nusbaum, who had to do all the offensive lifting after the Cougars blasted in front early with 10 consecutive points in the first quarter. Nusbaum ignited with three bombs – the only three BNL would hit – as the Stars surged in front 22-17. But the Cougars answered that with Rilynn Williams’ 15-footer and Lulu Frank’s corner trey to a 22-22 deadlock at the half.
In the third quarter, Sherrill took command with two power drives through the defense for layups and a bucket off an inbound set. Her last attack gave the Stars a 33-29 lead, setting the stage for the fourth-quarter drama.
BNL’s win was a polar opposite of its loss. The Stars had only seven turnovers and executed with resolve during the final four minutes.
North struggled offensively in its season debut. Frank had 13 points, Audrey Burton grabbed 14 rebounds, but the Cougars hit only 16 of 52 shots.
”We did a great job of guarding, just keeping everything in front of us and contesting,” Spreen said. “All five of these kids are pursuing the basketball, and it really paid off on the defensive end, with their effort.”
Ray finished with nine points, eight during the final 4:32.
“It was the pressure, it’s harder to execute with some of that pressure,” she said. “When I saw my chance, I just took it. It shows, when we handle the ball, it really helps. We can depend on shooting the ball some games, but when we can’t, it shows we can handle the pressure and execute our stuff.“
”That’s what we expect out of Elahdy,” Spreen said. “She has a ways to go to understand what we want from her. We’re pretty hard on her on a day-to-day basis, it’s because we hold her to a really high standard. She really turned it on in the fourth quarter. It was a big difference in the game.”
BNL did not win awards for its offense, hitting only 18 of 58 shots. The Stars won by outbounding the taller Cougars (38-35) and cutting their turnovers down to a praiseworthy level. They survived with the scoring from the Sherrill-Nusbaum duo until someone else finally posted something in the scorebook.
“Those two are going to be the two all year for them,” North coach Kiley Jarrett said. “They’re great players. It can’t just be the responsibility of the people guarding them. They just made some hustle plays when it mattered, and we didn’t. In these type of ballgames, that’s what it comes down to.”
BNL will now take an extended break until clashing with Bloomington South on Nov. 17.
BLOOMINGTON NORTH COUGARS (39)
3s FGs FTs R F Pts
13 Audrey Burton, f 0-2 3-8 0-0 14 1 6
12 Ashley Stegemoller, f 0-1 0-4 0-0 7 1 0
2 C.J. Bell, g 0-3 2-6 0-0 1 3 4
3 Rilynn Williams, g 0-2 3-13 0-0 2 0 6
23 Lulu Frank, g 2-5 5-13 1-2 5 3 13
15 Jossilyn Draughn 0-0 2-4 2-2 1 4 6
32 Ava Wintrobe 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
5 Olivia Spencer 0-2 1-3 0-0 3 2 2
1 Ella Spoonmore 0-1 0-1 2-2 0 0 2
Totals 2-16 16-52 5-6 35 14 39
BEDFORD NL STARS (51)
3s FGs FTs R F Pts
23 Sammie Nusbaum, f 3-12 4-18 4-4 6 2 15
22 Miley Sherrill, f 0-1 9-18 3-4 7 1 21
21 Jordynn Blann, g 0-4 1-7 2-2 13 0 4
12 Elahdy Ray, g 0-2 3-8 3-4 1 1 9
24 Caroline Sheldon, g 0-2 1-4 0-0 5 1 2
31 Audrey Hoffman 0-0 0-2 0-0 6 0 0
Totals 3-22 18-58 12-14 38 5 51
Bl. North 10 12 7 10 – 39
Bedford NL 7 15 11 18 – 51
Turnovers – North 13, BNL 7
Field goal percentage – North 16-52 (.308); BNL 18-58 (.310)
Free throw percentage – North 5-6 (.833); BNL 12-14 (.857)
