By Justin Sokeland
WBIW.com
BEDFORD – Bedford North Lawrence’s first round of the Hoosier Hills Conference tournament matched the weather pattern: hot one moment, cool the next.
After racing to first-set leads on three courts, causing some atmospheric turbulence, the Stars got caught in Floyd Central’s cold front, as the Highlanders stormed back to take those contested sets en route to a 5-0 victory on Monday.
Somebody from Floyd heard the warning sirens. On those same three courts that had red signals on the radar, the Highlanders dropped only three games total during the second sets while advancing to the semifinal round.
”The scores don’t really show it, but we had them on the ropes in the first set,” BNL coach Ian Dillman said. “It’s just that they had a stronger mental game than us and inched their way back in. It was obvious, after losing those first sets, that it set us back mentally.”
Late service breaks in those first sets turned the momentum. At No.2 singles, Ethan Noble shook off Aden Ralston 7-5, 6-2, while Sergio Periago conquered Levi Thompson 7-5, 6-1 at No.3.
That trend also played out at No.1 doubles. Hudson Smith and Kelton Granholm fought off Jackson Corey and Asher Thompson 6-4, 6-0.
“We still fought out there, but they just took the match and ran with it after a few games,” Dillman said. “The close matches kept going by back and forth. We played great, really we did. It just came down to who was mentally tougher and wanted it more in the moment. I saw we struggled a lot with our mental game in the first set on a few courts.”
At No.1 singles, Blake Schuler-Scanlon rolled past Laedon Jones 6-1, 6-0, while Gage Christmas and Joel Irwin topped Trey Kiser and Traeden Robinson 6-0, 6-3 at No.2 doubles.
BNL fell to 6-8 with three straight setbacks.
“It’s been a long season with a lot of ups and downs,” Dillman said. “My guys fought hard against a solid Floyd team. Looking at our head-to-heads in the past, this was our closest match in years with Floyd. I couldn’t have asked for a better match from my team.”
The Stars will visit Jennings County for the consolation round on Thursday, then return home for the league tournament finale on Friday. Floyd Central advanced to face Seymour in the semifinal.
Hoosier Hills Conference
First round
Floyd Central 5, BNL 0
Singles
1 Blake Schuler-Scanlon d. Laedon Jones 6-1, 6-0
2 Ethan Noble d. Aden Ralston 7-5, 6-2
3 Sergio Periago d. Levi Thompson 7-5, 6-1
Doubles
1 Hudson Smith and Kelton Granholm d. Jackson Corey and Asher Thompson 6-4, 6-0
2 Gage Christmas and Joel Irwin d. Trey Kiser and Traeden Robinson 6-0, 6-3
