Bedford North Lawrence hosts Center Grove in girls basketball summer show

BEDFORD — Bedford North Lawrence girls basketball coach Jeff Allen could be excused if he had one eye elsewhere Thursday evening when his Lady Stars hosted Center Grove in the final summer game of 2022 for both teams.

Allen's oldest son, Jared, was about to get married Friday night, so the coach could've been a bit distracted, but the head man remained focused on the task at hand, and his eyes saw some beautiful sights to behold.

The first one came on the very shot of the game when senior Emma Brown, who missed all last season because of knee injury, drained a 3-pointer. The Lady Stars went on to add a heaping helping of more good moments during a 60-42 triumph over the Trojans.

Effort excites coach Allen

Junior swingman Chloe Spreen pumped in 24 points while swishing a trio of 3-pointers, senior guard Karsyn Norman added 11 points, nine in the second half, and junior guard Madisyn Bailey also scored 11 while burying three 3-pointers. Senior forward Mallory Pride was a beast on the boards with at least double digits in rebounds.

"This was a much better effort and we played a lot harder than we did in our last game against Castle," said Allen, whose team went 5-0 in summer games. "We still got beat to a couple of loose balls, and we got lost defensively a couple of times, but overall it was a very good effort at both ends of the floor.

"Kevin's (Stuckmeyer, CG's head coach) teams always play extremely hard and they're tough on defense. That's why we like to play teams like this, because it makes us better. So if you can score 60 points against that team you have to feel pretty good about how your offense is going to be this winter.

"The effort and enthusiasm was so much better than Castle, so it was a really nice way to end the summer. Now I can feel good and relax for my son's wedding. It's going to be a big day."

Stuckmeyer suffered his only loss of the summer despite 11 points from Audrey Annee and 10 by Allie Wiseman.

"I know BNL has very high goals for next season, but we have high goals, too, and I guess this will give us a good idea of the difference between talking about big goals and really wanting them," Stuckmeyer said. "Are they more athletic than us? I don't know. Are they more physical? I'm not sure.

"I know they play great defense, they shoot the ball extremely well, and they're really good. But that's why we want to play them now, so we can hopefully learn some things to take into next season.

"We've beaten some good teams this summer, Zionsville, Evansville North, Carmel, but BNL took it to us. I thought we were pretty good defensively, but they just scored 60 points on us in a summer game. Our goal is 45 or less in a regular season game."

BNL sharpshooters on display

Brown got the Lady Stars off to a great start with her triple, and with the Center Grove defense focused on Norman and Spreen, Bailey was open and drained all three of her 3-point tries to guide the hostesses to an 18-11 lead after a quarter.

The Lady Stars sank nine 3-pointers as a team. Allen is keenly award that it's the kind of shooting the team will need in November and beyond.

"We certainly tell Karsyn and Chloe to try and score the ball if it's there, but we all know they're going to draw a ton of defensive attention," Allen said. "I think we have more shooters now, so if either of those two draw two or three defenders they know they can go to other kids who can put the ball in the basket.

"And we're going to see people zone us quite a bit at least for awhile. But if those kids continue to shoot like this it's going to make it difficult for teams to double up on Chloe and Karsyn, or try to zone us."

Center Grove proves scrappy

Brown drained her second trey early in the second stanza, but Annee got going for the Trojans with a pair of long 3-pointers, while Wiseman scored off a loose ball that got it down to 22-18.

The Lady Stars turned to a trapping press that wreaked some havoc on the Trojans, and Spreen responded with seven points, including a picturesque triple just in front of the buzzer, to push it back to 31-22 at halftime.

BNL pulled away with a 10-4 burst at the outset of the second half, sparked by Norman's great dish to Pride for a layup, followed by a 3-pointer and explosive blast to the basket of her own. Spreen added six points as the Lady Stars stretched it to 45-30 going to the fourth period. The Trojans would've been in bigger trouble if not for eight points from Wiseman.

Norman hit back-to-back jumpers to squelch an 8-2 counter by Center Grove, and Spreen added seven points in the fourth quarter as the Lady Stars pulled away for an impressive 18-point win.

"This is a good group of girls, really good kids, and I've really enjoyed the chemistry and effort they've put in," Allen said. "So it's been a good summer, and now we'll let them get a break, though some of them will keep playing with their travel teams a bit longer.

"I know I'm going to take a break, and then we'll get back together a little later and starting getting ready for the season."

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

This article originally appeared on The Times-Mail: Bedford NL, Center Grove make final summer run in girls hoops Thursday