By Justin Sokeland
WBIW.com
BEDFORD – Favor finally smiled on Bedford North Lawrence.
The Stars will start the defense of their Class 4A sectional title in the semifinal found of Sectional 15 at Seymour after drawing a first-round bye in the five-team tournament. BNL (6-14) will meet New Albany (6-16) in the first semifinal on Feb. 7.
Floyd Central, 18-4 and the overwhelming sectional favorite, will open the first stage of the state tournament series against rival Jeffersonville (10-10) on Feb. 4. That winner will face Seymour (8-12) in the second semifinal. The championship is set for Feb. 8.
For the Stars, who have gone the long route for 13 straight years, the draw worked out in a best-case scenario. BNL already owns a regular-season win over the Bulldogs, posting an impressive 57-29 victory on Dec. 7 at BNL Fieldhouse. The Stars, who own the longest active streak in the state with 13 straight sectional titles, will look to add to their 39-game postseason winning streak.
“We still have to handle our business,” BNL coach Greg Burton said. “We have our work cut out for us. But it aligned pretty well for us.
“We’ve been trying to build toward this all season. We’ve had some ups and downs, but I feel like we are getting better and improving. Hopefully we’re playing our best basketball by the time the tournament starts. We have to take it one game at a time.”
BNL blazed its way to that first win over New Albany, hitting its first five 3-pointers and racing to a 17-2 lead. Miley Sherrill scored 17 points as the Stars recorded their 11th straight win in the series.
“We caught fire early,” Burton said. “We got a lead and didn’t let go of it. We can’t rely on that to happen again, we’re not in our home gym, so we have to get easy baskets and play good defense.”
This sectional shrunk to five teams after Silver Creek shifted back to 3A after a two-year residence because of the success-factor rule, and Jennings County dropped to 3A this season.
Floyd Central earned the favorite status while going 4-0 against the other Hoosier Hills Conference opponents that comprise this sectional. The Highlanders, who last won a sectional title in 2010, won those four by an average of 23.3 points.
