By Justin Sokeland
WBIW.com
BEDFORD – The sum of all Bedford North Lawrence fears, quite the opposite of the Tom Clancy spy thriller with suspense on every page, played out to a quiet, easily prophetic conclusion. Before the popcorn got hot, the cold ending was obvious.
From the Brownsburg viewpoint, this Saturday matinee was a blockbuster. The Bulldogs dominated every key talking-point statistic, scripting a critical success, earning two thumbs up. The Stars will have to return to the editing room.
Brownsburg, with superior length and athleticism, blasted to an early double-digit lead and cruised past the Stars 77-52, spoiling the home opener for the Stars (0-2). The Bulldogs (1-1) posted four double-figure scorers – including two off the bench – while beating BNL for the first time in the brief series. The Stars suffered their worst debut loss in BNL Fieldhouse since Bloomington South slammed BNL by 32 during the 2019-20 campaign.
The Bulldogs ended the first quarter with a devastating 16-3 run, hitting four treys during that surge, and BNL never got back within striking range. Brownsburg would not allow a rerun response, taking advantage of huge advantages in turnovers, rebounds and transition points while pulling away to a 33-point lead (the brink of a mercy-rule smackdown).
”That’s a recipe for disaster. Credit to them,” BNL coach Jackson Ryan, who shares the name of the Clancy hero, said of Brownsburg’s edge in crucial facets.
The late stages of the opening period told the story. After BNL’s Gibson Crane muscled in a 3-point play (with BNL’s only offensive rebound until the fourth quarter) that got the Stars within 12-8, the Bulldogs went off. Kolton Catchings came off the bench to stroke two treys, while Billo Diallo and Chrishon Woodward buried bombs as Brownsburg erupted to a 28-11 lead. After the Dogs hit only four treys in the season-opening loss at North Central, they couldn’t (or didn’t, at least), miss. They converted 12 of 15 shots in the first quarter.
“Our practice offense showed up,” Brownsburg coach Steve Lynch said. “It feels better when you make shots, and we weren’t as frantic. We shot well in our first game, we just turned the ball over tremendously and didn’t rebound. We took care of that. We were better about our pace, slowed down. Our flow was a lot better.“
BNL had a few moments after that. Parker Kern’s 10-footer, Easton Moore’s hanging double-clutch baseline shot over a huge defender, Dax Short’s layup off a Crane pass, and Moore’s layup got BNL to 34-19. But the Bulldogs scored the final seven points of the half, then started the second with Woodward’s steal for a thunderous slam. The book got slammed shut.
The Stars were guilty of 11 first-half turnovers and 19 total, which fueled Brownsburg’s fast-break attack. BNL had only six rebounds through the first three quarters, and managed only 13 total. Brownsburg shot a blistering 63 percent.
“We’re long, athletic,” Lynch said. “We’re deflecting the ball a lot. We can get out in passing lanes because of our length.”
Catchings had 16 points while Chase Wilson added 14 in a reserve role. Brandon Allison totaled 12 and Brandon Day added 10 for the Bulldogs.
”We were trying to keep them out of the lane, give up some things on the perimeter, and they made us pay,” Ryan said. “It’s an afternoon game on a Saturday, and teams that want to play, want to be there, is a huge advantage. I’m not questioning that for our guys, but you could tell they had the team camaraderie, just playing together with enthusiasm. That was contagious. On our side, when things get tough, we want to point a finger or make excuses. Until we correct that, this will be the result for us.”
Short paced the Stars with 15 points while Kern totaled 13 and Jace Nicholson added 8.
”We have a lot to work on,” Ryan said. “We like to go two or three possessions with ball movement and getting good things. In order for us to win games, we have to grind out every single possession. We’re not there yet.
“Gibson was much better, much more aggressive. We have guys playing well in spurts, at different times. We have to figure out how to put those pieces together, consistently do that. Once we turn that corner, win or lose, we will be fun to watch.
”We have a long way to go. The good news is it’s November, plenty of time to fix things. It won’t get any easier. We have to figure this out and we have to do it together. We need to do it quick.”
BNL’s brutal early schedule will continue on Friday when the Stars entertain Bloomington South.
BROWNSBURG BULLDOGS (77)
3s FGs FTs R F Pts
10 Chrishon Woodward, f 1-1 4-7 0-0 2 0 9
44 Chris Brandon, c 0-0 0-1 1-2 2 1 1
5 Billo Diallo, g 2-3 2-4 0-0 3 3 6
3 Brandon Allison, g 1-1 5-7 1-2 2 2 12
4 Brandon Day, g 0-2 5-9 0-0 4 2 10
14 Kolton Catchings 3-5 6-9 1-2 3 3 16
42 Jackson Gordon 0-0 2-2 2-2 1 1 6
11 Chase Wilson 1-1 6-8 1-1 0 0 14
23 Jarron Boone 0-1 1-2 1-1 1 0 3
34 Adam Ademkinwa 0-0 0-0 0-0 2 2 0
Totals 8-14 31-49 7-10 24 14 77
BEDFORD NL STARS (52)
3s FGs FTs R F Pts
40 Ben Conner, f 0-0 0-1 0-0 0 1 0
24 Gibson Crane, f 0-0 3-4 1-1 4 4 7
5 Dax Short, g 1-3 5-10 4-4 1 0 15
1 Parker Kern, g 3-5 5-11 0-0 2 1 13
11 Jace Nicholson, g 2-3 3-4 0-0 1 0 8
12 Dayson Kirby 0-1 0-1 0-0 0 0 0
2 Driven Axsom 1-1 1-2 2-2 2 3 5
10 Easton Moore 0-0 2-3 0-0 1 1 4
23 Jett Alvey 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
20 Jack Parsons 0-0 0-0 0-0 1 0 0
22 Garrett Chaillaux 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Totals 7-11 19-35 7-7 13 11 52
Brownsburg 28 13 22 14 – 77
Bedford NL 11 8 17 16 – 52
Turnovers – Brownsburg 11, BNL 19
Field goal percentage — Brownsburg 31-49 (.633); BNL 19-35 (.543)
Free throw percentage – Brownsburg 7-10 (.700); BNL 7-7 (1.000)
