Bedford North Lawrence girls basketball enjoys fun frolic over Floyd Central

BEDFORD — Coming off a frenetic night of futility in a loss to Columbus East Tuesday night, the Class 4A second-ranked Bedford North Lawrence girls got back to the fun side of basketball with a 62-28 frolic over Floyd Central Saturday night at BNL Fieldhouse.

The Lady Stars spotted the Highlanders a 4-0 lead then proceeded to turn it into a dominant performance with a 42-13 run over the remainder of the first half. BNL shot 33 percent against the Olympians (including a 2 for 17 third period), but upped it to 42 percent during the first half against Floyd, including 8 of 16 in the opening period.

"We talked a lot about how it's winding down with only four games left and the sectional draw coming up in a week, so let's go out and enjoy the moment," said BNL head coach Jeff Allen. "We said, 'Let's not put too much pressure on ourselves and enjoy this thing while we can,' and I thought the girls did a nice job of that tonight.

"I thought they had a lot of fun out there and that was great to see. Of course, I was happy that we made some shots, and I think the girls needed to see that, too. It was a good win over a conference opponent, and we did what we needed to do to have a chance to win conference if East slips up against Jennings County."

BNL finds range in first period

The Lady Stars, perhaps cutting loose the last of the carryover from Columbus East, turned it over twice at the outset and Keegan Kaiser and Samara Miller turned them into easy baskets.

BNL turned it around with fullcourt pressure that harassed the Highlanders into five first-period turnovers, while the offense found the mark from long range. Madisyn Bailey buried a trifecta, and Karsyn Norman came on to splash three more and score 11 as the Lady Stars surged to a 21-10 lead after eight minutes.

"I was proud of the girls because we've talked about improving our starts, but if it doesn't go well just keep playing and working hard and don't panic, and good things will happen," Allen said. "We got down 4-0, but nobody pushed the panic button, and we made some shots. It was really nice to put up 21 points in the first quarter."

Twice as nice in second stanza

If 21 was nice in the opening period, BNL doubled its pleasure in the second quarter by adding 21 more. This time it was Chloe Spreen's turn to get cooking as the sophomore guard ignored a lot of contact and erupted for 11 points, including two treys as BNL foiled Floyd's half-court zone defense.

Kaiser collected two more baskets for the Highlanders, but Spreen scored 10 points and Emma Crane tacked on a pair of free throws during a 13-5 burst that shoved the margin to 34-15 with 2:12 left in the half. BNL closed it out in style when Norman was intentionally fouled at :04.4 and sank both free throws. The Lady Stars got the ball back on the infraction, and Spreen bolted down the baseline for a layup just ahead of the buzzer to make it 42-17.

"I thought our energy was really good all night," Allen said. "Our press was tough, we shared the ball well and took good shots, and we really rebounded well (claiming a 36-20 advantage). We just had great intensity, but we also had a lot of fun in a really good effort."

Cruise control in second half

The Lady Stars had some strong moments in the second half, though unable to maintain the high level of marksmanship. The defense never faltered, however, as the Highlanders shot just 4 for 19, including 1 for 8 in the fourth period, over the final 16 minutes.

Kaiser wound up with 13 points, but was the only player in double figures for Floyd Central (6-11) which is now 1-4 in the HHC.

Spreen finished with a bright double-double of 18 points and 14 rebounds, while Norman had 17 points, Bailey added eight points and eight rebounds, Pride finished with 9 points, and Kern added six points, five assists and three steals.

BNL (17-2, 5-1) has a week away from competition before hosting Jasper in a Saturday afternoon game. The JV game starts at noon.

"We've had a pretty intense stretch of games here, so we're going to give them Monday off from practice, and then we'll get back in Tuesday and start working on this stretch run," Allen said. "They've earned a little break. There's a lot to be proud of going 17-2 against the schedule we've faced."

Contact Times-Mail Sports Writer Jeff Bartlett at jeffb@tmnews.com, or on Twitter @jeffbtmnews.

BEDFORD NORTH LAWRENCE 62, FLOYD CENTRAL 28

Floyd Central (28)

Celichowski c 0-3 1-2 1, Gibson f 1-5 0-0 2, Brown g 3-6 0-0 6, Kaiser g 5-11 3-4 13, Miller g 2-7 0-0 4, Gaines 0-1 0-0 0, Hamelman 0-1 0-0 0, Kochert 0-1 0-0 0, Fonda 0-0 2-2 2, Hausz 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 11-35 6-8 28.

Bedford North Lawrence (62)

Kern f 2-4 2-4 6, Pride f 3-7 3-4 9, Spreen g 6-17 4-6 18, Norman g 6-14 2-2 17, Bailey g 3-5 0-0 8, Turner 1-4 0-0 2, Crane 0-1 2-2 2, Teague 0-3 0-0 0, Jackson 0-0, 0-0 0, Baumgart 0-0 0-0 0, Nikirk 0-1, 0-0 0. Totals 21-56 13-18 62.

Floyd Central (6-11) 10 | 7 | 7 | 4 — 28

Bedford NL (17-2) 21 | 21 | 13 | 7 — 62

3-point goals: Floyd Central 0-13 (Miller 0-4, Kaiser 0-3, Brown 0-3, Gibson 0-1, Gaines 0-1, Kochert 0-1), Bedford NL 7-23 (Norman 3-9, Spreen 2-6, Bailey 2-3, Kern 0-1, Turner 0-1, Teague 0-3). Rebounds: Floyd Central 20 (Celichowski 5), Bedford NL 36 (Spreen 14, Bailey 8). Turnovers: Floyd Central 15, Bedford NL 10. Total fouls: Floyd Central 14, Bedford NL 6.

This article originally appeared on The Times-Mail: Bedford North Lawrence girls overwhelm Floyd Central in girls basketball