By Justin Sokeland
WBIW.com
BLOOMINGTON – As an inexperienced team that’s just learning to walk, Bedford North Lawrence’s wasn’t ready to run. Certainly not at the speed of Bloomington North.
Preferring a conservative pace, the Stars got caught in the hot backwash of North’s jets. Once the Cougars took off, they would not be caught as BNL got left behind in the season opener.
Two high-velocity bursts, with the offensive afterburners at full throttle, powered North to a 71-50 triumph on Tuesday night. BNL was an easy target in the Cross-hairs as North junior standout J.R. Cross scored a game-high 23 points, spoiling the debut of Jackson Ryan as BNL’s newest head coach.
North, seeking vengeance for BNL’s recent wins in the series, ended the first quarter with a 10-0 run and started the second half with an 11-0 eruption. Guess what? Those two lapses, which totaled eight minutes, equaled the margin of victory.
”Our margin for error is very slim,” Ryan said. “We knew, if this was on the 50s or 60s, it would be tough for us to win. We needed to make it a halfcourt game. When it got away from us, it was not. They did a great job of speeding us up. This had to be a possession-by-possession game for us to compete. Those spurts, we can’t have those.”
The first created the initial separation. Tied at 13-13, the Stars went silent for the final three minutes of the opening period, and North never allowed the difference to settle back into single digits after that. The Cougars maintained that momentum en route to a 42-26 lead at the half.
Then came the fatal blow. Cross swished a trey, Levi Lindeman worked loose for a layup, and Nate Walker turned a steal into a breakaway as North raced to a 53-26 advantage. BNL did not score until Parker Kern’s free throws with 3:00 left, didn’t record a basket in the second half until Easton Moore’s rebound with 1:18 left in the frame.
Kern finished with 17 points, Moore came off the bench for 12, and Dax Short added 10 (all in the first half).
“We made them work to take the ball off the bounce,” North coach Jason Speer said. “We were getting clean defensive rebounds. We were able to control the glass on some of their misses, then start the transition game.”
North owned a 32-23 edge on the glass, which included 13 second-chance boards.
“That’s what got them going,” Ryan said. “When you give a great player like Cross a wide open catch-and-shoot off a rebound, he’s going to make you pay. Then in the second half, offensively it was uncharacteristic of what we’re trying to do. We have to settle down and get great shots.“
Lindeman finished with 18 points and Tevin Bridgwaters totaled 10 for North.
“We moved the ball well, to get the ball to our scorers,” Speer said. “That’s always a good thing. For the first game of the season, that was pretty good. You never know what you will be able to do in the first game.
“We need to play inspired. You would think that’s a given. But it is something we talk about a lot. Can we have pure joy, lead the league in high-fives? That’s the type of basketball we’re looking for this season.”
BNL will return to action on Saturday, hosting Brownsburg in the home opener. The start time has been moved to 10:30 a.m. (for junior varsity) because of Brownsburg’s part in the Class 6A state football championship on Saturday night.
BEDFORD NL STARS (50)
3s FGs FTs R F Pts
40 Ben Conner, f 0-0 3-5 0-0 5 4 6
24 Gibson Crane, f 0-0 0-0 1-2 2 3 1
5 Dax Short, g 2-3 4-11 0-0 2 5 10
1 Parker Kern, g 1-2 5-10 6-8 2 1 17
11 Jace Nicholson, g 1-4 1-6 1-2 1 1 4
12 Dayson Kirby 0-2 0-4 0-0 4 1 0
2 Driven Axsom 0-0 0-0 0-0 2 5 0
10 Easton Moore 2-4 5-8 0-0 2 0 12
20 Jack Parsons 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Totals 6-15 18-44 8-12 23 20 50
BLOOMINGTON NORTH COUGARS (71)
3s FGs FTs R F Pts
15 Levi Lindeman, f 3-5 6-8 3-4 3 3 18
43 Tevin Bridgwaters, f 0-0 4-6 2-4 3 3 10
0 J.R. Cross, g 4-6 7-15 5-8 3 4 23
2 Nate Walker, g 0-2 4-10 0-1 6 4 8
32 Rex Speer, g 0-0 0-2 0-0 4 0 0
24 John Bargen 0-0 0-1 0-0 3 0 0
3 Alex Miller 1-4 2-5 0-0 2 1 5
11 KaMareon Washington 0-0 0-1 0-0 2 1 0
4 Tal Shoulberg 1-3 3-5 0-0 0 0 7
10 RaShon English 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Totals 9-20 26-53 10-18 32 16 71
Bedford NL 13 13 8 16 – 50
Bl. North 23 19 15 14 – 71
Turnovers – BNL 13, North 8
Field goal percentage – BNL 18-44 (.409); North 26-53 (.491)
Free throw percentage – BNL 8-12 (.667); North 10-18 (.556)
