Bedford North Lawrence boys basketball has county clash with Mitchell
MITCHELL — There never has been any difficulty getting the Lawrence County boys basketball rivalry revved up and rolling, not even with major dominance by Bedford North Lawrence since the northern county high schools consolidated back in 1974.
It was the same atmosphere Tuesday night when the teams met in a game that was rescheduled from Jan. 14 when the Bluejackets were dealing with some COVID-19 issues. The fans still came out in droves. The parking lot was packed like a tent sale, and the bleachers were nearly full inside The Hive.
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Turns out this one was going to have an extra turbo boost. The Bluejackets were about to get sprayed with Jett fuel.
Junior forward Jett Jones soaked Mitchell with a career-high 14 points while grabbing four rebounds, snaring three steals, dishing two assists and blocking a shot to lead a 65-31 victory for the Stars, their 36th in a row in the series.
Mitchell head coach Jackson Ryan rightfully had his defense focusing hard on BNL stars Colten Leach and Colton Staggs. The Bluejackets did a decent job there as Leach, coming off a career-high 31 points at Brownstown, had 12 (along with 12 rebounds), and Staggs was limited to nine.
But Jones and his other buddies foiled the strategy, and Jones even had a little fuel for the fire afterward as he embraced the rivalry.
"People were saying that this was Mitchell's year (to beat BNL)," he said. "It wasn't. It won't ever be while I'm here."
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Jones has one more season to make that confident statement stand up, but he certainly keyed this one.
"Jett always plays well even if he isn't scoring," said BNL head coach Jeff Hein. "He passes the ball well, he's a smart player who gets himself in great defensive position, and he passes and handles it well.
"So it was nice to see him get involved in the scoring offensively. They were trying to take Leach and Staggs away, but that's why you have five players out there. Jett stepped up and hit shots."
Ryan rolled the dice with the strategy that gave his team the best opportunity, but BNL's role players turned it to snake-eyes.
"You have to give up something, and you're going to key on Leach and Staggs because they're great players," Ryan said. "It seems like it's always the fourth or fifth guy who is getting us."
BNL bolts to big lead
The Stars weren't necessarily sharp at the offensive end in the first quarter, committing three turnovers against the scrappy Bluejackets, but they did not let up on defense. BNL forced Mitchell into misses on its first five field goal attempts, while Jones put his stamp all over a 10-0 takeoff.
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He had two steals, two rebounds, two free throws and an assist, while Trace Rynders drilled a 3-pointer and Houston Corbin, getting his first varsity start in place of injured Kaedyn Bennett, converted a three-point play during the opening spree.
The Bluejackets finally got on the board at the 2:29 mark on a driving layup by senior forward Connor Fields, who had four points and five rebounds in the quarter, but the Stars led, 14-6 at the first stop.
"These slow starts are really frustrating for us," Ryan said. "We went the whole first quarter without scoring against Perry Central, and almost did it again tonight. We have to find some kind of answer for that, whether it's going to a different defense to try to create more opportunities, or do some different things offensively to try to get a spark going early."
Jett takes off in BNL's big second
Mitchell got a bit of a spark in the second stanza as Mundy drew Corbin's third foul and sank two free throws, and Fields scored off another stout drive to cut it to 17-10.
Jones countered with a 3-pointer off a nice find by Kole Bailey, who then added two free throws, and Leach scored to push it back to 24-10. The Bluejackets battled right back as senior Andrew Shepherd hit a sweet floater, and followed with a trifecta to get it back under double digits.
"I thought we finally adjusted and did a better job of attacking and got into their bench because of fouls," Ryan said. "But they're just so scrappy and solid fundamentally, so we couldn't get enough stops."
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Once again, the Bluejackets could not keep up with Jones.
On two consecutive trips, with the defense shading toward other scoring sources, Rynders penetrated and kicked to Jones wide open at 15 feet along the baseline. He buried both jumpers, and when he stepped out and swished a triple with 53 seconds to go BNL led, 31-15, at halftime.
Jones was 4 for 4 with 12 points in the opening half.
"I actually shot the ball for once," he said. "I had a pretty good warmup, and then when the first couple go down it's usually a pretty good sign. Obviously, they were trying to stop Leach and Staggs, and they left me open. This time I took them and they went in."
Hein said it was part of the plan.
"We had seen on film where we thought Jett might have some opportunities at the short corner," he said. "He got himself into position, his teammates did a great job finding him, and he knocked them down.
"Rynders had a really good game, too. He made some great passes. He can do a lot more than just shoot the ball. And Bailey gave us a big game, too. It's a team game and we got to play a lot of people and got good contributions from a lot of kids.
"It was a really good defensive effort, holding them to 31. That's a heckuva lot better than 70."
Mitchell's misfires continue in 2nd half
The Bluejackets shot a mere 5 for 21 in the opening half, but it got worse in the second. The Stars limited them to 4 for 18 over the final 16 minutes and the lead steadily snowballed. Rynders and Bailey rifled in 3-pointers and senior Dylan Endris converted a three-point play as it swelled to 47-25 despite seven points from Mitchell senior Nick Mundy in the third.
The Stars got some feel-good stuff in the fourth as Endris added three points and seven rebounds, while youngsters Maddox Ray, Memphis Louden and Cruz Sanchez scored in an 18-6 run.
Mundy finished with 11 points, while Fields had 7 points and 13 rebounds for Mitchell (6-12), which travels to Edgewood Friday night.
Bailey scored eight points, Rynders had six points and five assists, and Endris added six points and 7 boards for BNL (9-9), which travels to New Albany Friday night.
Contact Times-Mail Sports Writer Jeff Bartlett at jeffb@tmnews.com, or on Twitter @jeffbtmnews.
BEDFORD NL 65, MITCHELL 31
Bedford North Lawrence (65)
Corbin f 1-2 1-1 3, Jones f 5-8 2-2 14, Leach g 5-8 2-5 12, Rynders g2-6 0-0 6, Staggs g 3-9 3-4 9, Nikirk 0-0 2-2 2, Bailey 2-5 2-2 8, Pickett 0-4 0-0 0, Ray 0-0 1-2 1, Endris 1-2 4-5 6, Louden 1-1 0-0 2, Sanchez 1-1 0-2 2. Totals 21-46 17-25 65.
Mitchell (31)
Mundy f 3-8 5-7 11, K. England f 0-2 0-0 0, Fields f 2-9 3-4 7, Shepherd g 3-11 0-0 7, R. England g 0-4 0-0 0, Slaten 1-4 0-0 2, Tolliver 0-0 1-2 1, Gaines 0-1 2-2 2, Craig 0-0 0-0 0, Martin 0-0 0-0 0, Shoults 0-0 1-2 1. Totals 9-39 12-17 31.
Bedford NL (9-9) 14 | 17 | 16 | 18 — 65
Mitchell (6-12) 6 | 9 | 10 | 6 — 31
3-point goals: Bedford NL 6-16 (Jones 2-4, Bailey 2-3, Rynders 2-6, Staggs 0-1, Pickett 0-2); Mitchell 1-14 (Shepherd 1-3, Mundy 0-1, K. England 0-2, R. England 0-2, Fields 0-3, Slaten 0-2, Gaines 0-11. Rebounds: Bedford NL 36 (Leach 12, Endris 7), Mitchell 28 (Fields 13). Turnovers: Bedford NL 6, Mitchell 15. Total fouls: Bedford NL 17, Mitchell 19.
This article originally appeared on The Times-Mail: Bedford North Lawrence boys basketball has county clash with Mitchell
