By Justin Sokeland
WBIW.com
COLUMBUS – Dress rehearsals are designed to allow the most microscopic details to be scrutinized and adjusted, to perfect the final product. Bedford North Lawrence’s final preseason workout was such an exercise, a closer look against outside competition that brought things into clear focus.
With its unusually close proximity to the regular-season opener, a two-day warning that seems like only two minutes before the premiere of a new era, the annual IHSAA sanctioned scrimmage became an experiment in real time. Now with only one practice session before the debut, the Stars know exactly what works and what needs work.
Columbus North provided the insight as the Bull Dogs, with one devastating run in the third quarter, recorded a four-period “win” over BNL on Tuesday night. The final tally was a 56-49 North edge, a difference attributed to a 12-0 burst that offset BNL’s brilliance in the previous frame.
What worked? Miley Sherrill was a force with 20 points, and the Stars were superb during the second quarter, when zone defense was mandated. Given how bad BNL was last season from the 3-point line, the four treys the Stars buried during their run to an 18-5 lead in that frame was quite promising.
What needs work? BNL discovered it will have to improve its rebounding, transition defense and ball handling in order to tangle with the top-tier opponents ahead. North, coming off a 17-win campaign, was one of those. Given how BNL won only seven games last season, battling the Dogs on equal terms was definitely encouraging.
Chase Spreen, on the verge of his first opener as the new coach of BNL’s flagship program, saw the obvious shortcomings that North exposed, but also saw improvement in key areas.
”We competed,” he said. “Coming into this, the thing that’s non-negotiable for these kids is the effort we play with. We really competed. North is really good, they will win a lot of games and make some noise. That’s why we wanted to do this.
“I wanted to challenge the first group to handle that pressure on their own. It’s a scrimmage, we wanted to see how we would react when things are reeling a little bit. They did a good job of responding, staying in it and not letting it get away.”
North opened the scrimmage with a 14-11 advantage, against scripted man defense, and the Bull Dogs scored four times in transition. In the zone quarter, BNL went off as Sherrill swished two bombs and converted a layup off a Jordan Blann pass, while Sammie Nusbaum scored twice and Trinidy Bailey added another bomb.
Then came the lethal lull in the third. BNL owed a 6-4 lead when North turned turnovers into points.
”There are obvious things we need to fix, and really emphasize,” Spreen said. “Transition defense and rebounding are at the top of the list.
”I was happy with the way we executed. We shared it well, we shot it well. We just kept coming. As long we’re willing to compete, we will beat a lot of teams we play.”
Bailey totaled 11 points, with 6 in the final quarter, and Blann hit three treys for her 9 points. All five BNL starters scored, but the other noticed issue was the lack of bench points. North had more balance as Miley McClellan scored 12 points while three others had 8 each.
BNL will have little time to absorb everything it learned. The Stars will visit Sullivan for the 2025-26 opener on Thursday.
COLUMBUS NORTH 56, BNL 49
BNL – Miley Sherrill 20, Jordan Blann 9, Sammie Nusbaum 7, Paige Burton 2, Trinidy Bailey 11
Columbus North – Avery Johnson 8, Kaylie Harmon 8, Miley McClellan 12, Riley Sims 4, Sydni Schiefer 3, Ava Wilson 8, Kenna Conrad 5, Rian Strietelmeier 3, Claire Finney 2, Riley Hurt 1, Addy Wheatley 2
