Bedford North Lawrence survives freeze-out in New Albany

NEW ALBANY — It should've been a tell-tale sign when New Albany head girls basketball coach Shelby Gliebe stood for the National Anthem, cupped her hands to her face and began blowing on her fingers to get them warm.

Somebody turned down the thermostat in the New Albany gymnasium Saturday, and thus begged this question: Which bite is worse, frost or bulldog?

Bedford North Lawrence weathered a bit of both as the Class 4A 4th-ranked Lady Stars fended off the threats to post a 58-45 Hoosier Hills Conference victory despite shooting 19 for 49 (39 percent) from the field against New Albany's 3-2 zone.

"I'm glad I wore a jacket today," said a smiling Jeff Allen, BNL's head coach. "It was cold in here. And I thought New Albany really played well. I tell the girls all the time that we are going to get the best shot from these HHC teams, especially on the road.

"They aren't all going to be easy, and sometimes you have to rise up and meet the challenge and just get through it. Our girls did a nice job of that today."

BNL Pride shows up on boards

The Bulldogs, now mired in a five-game losing streak, proved very early that they had come to play and were determined to snap their skid. They played a hot hand in senior guard Malea Roland, who hit two treys in the first quarter and seven overall, and New Albany slapped the Lady Stars on the glass with 12 first-quarter rebounds, including five at the offensive end, to claim a 15-13 lead at the initial stop.

The battering on the boards did not abide with BNL, which needed to show some pride. Who better than junior forward Mallory Pride, who eagerly accepted the mission to fight back on the glass. She grabbed three caroms (two offensive) in the second stanza and five (three that earned second chances) in the third before finishing with 12 rebounds.

"For me, personally, rebounding is better than points," Pride said. "Growing up I was always one of the taller girls on our teams and maybe not quite as much now, but I still feel like rebounding is really important for me because we aren't very big overall.

"I knew that I hadn't been rebounding like I should early, so I tried to work harder to get to the glass. New Albany came out playing hard and we had to pick it up. It was definitely talked about."

Big swing to end first half

Hustle by Pride and her cohorts finally got the legs loose enough to retaliate after an amazing shooting barrage by Roland. Her fifth 3-pointer of the half handed New Albany a 24-19 lead with 5:06 showing, and that's when the Lady Stars made their decisive stand.

Junior guard Karsyn Norman, who enjoyed a terrific all-around game with 18 points, four rebounds, six steals, four assists and a blocked shot, nailed back-to-back treys off assists from Pride. It launched a 14-0 run to end the half as senior Carlee Kern also drained two 3-pointers as BNL seized a 33-24 halftime lead.

"There were a couple of things that disappointed me about our defense, and one was I felt like they were able to squeeze through some gaps and get to the rim, which should not happen," Allen said. "And the other thing was we gave up too many offensive rebounds because we didn't block out well.

"We were turning and just running to the basket instead of getting a body on somebody and blocking them out. We adjusted and did a better job of it as the game went on. This is one of those where it really took everybody. Carlee hit a couple of big threes, Mal made some plays and got on the boards, and Karsyn made a bunch of plays.

"New Albany did not look like the team we watched on film. They played a great game, Roland shot it incredibly well, and when they do that they're pretty good."

Defense delivers in third period

Coming off a 7-for-13 second stanza, BNL's offense fell cold again, but the defense smothered the Bulldogs and limited them to five points in the third quarter. Pride and Kern came through with treys as the Lady Stars stretched the lead to 44-29 going to the fourth quarter.

Pride, who also had nine points, two assists and two blocked shots, had a chance to post her first career double-double when she scored on an offensive rebound and drew Roland's third foul. But the free throw caromed off, and she also shanked a wide-open layup early in the fourth, which afforded her a moment of levity.

"That would've been nice," she said of the potential double-double. "Carlee and I made great eye contact and she got it to me for a wide-open layup, and I shot it completely over the basket. I think I was expecting a foul and it didn't come and I just blew it.

"But it's okay. I'll take the rebounds and the win."

Spreen shuts door in fourth

BNL sophomore standout Chloe Spreen had been held in check through three quarters with four points, but she arrived at a critical juncture. While the Lady Stars perhaps rushed a couple of shots, the Bulldogs came back out firing as Roland drained two more treys and Taylor Treat added another to cut BNL's advantage to 44-38 with 4:23 to play.

New Albany shifted to straight up man-to-man and Spreen calmly worked it to swish back-to-back 10-foot jumpers in the lane to stretch it back to double digits. She wound up with 10 points in the quarter.

Spreen then hit six free throws down the stretch to keep the Bulldogs at bay.

Roland went 7 for 11 from the arc and scored 26 points for the Bulldogs (4-6).

Spreen back Norman's huge game with 14 points, eight rebounds and three assists, and Kern added 11 points for BNL, which rallied for a 34-30 advantage on the boards and only turned it over six times.

The Lady Stars (8-1 overall, 3-0 in the HHC) travel to Seymour Thursday.

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

BEDFORD NL 58, NEW ALBANY 45

Bedford North Lawrence (58)

Kern f 4-7 0-0 11, Pride f 3-7 1-3 9, Spreen g 4-12 6-7 14, Norman 7-18 0-0 18, Bailey g 1-4 2-2 5, Turner 0-1 1-2 1. Totals 19-49 10-14 58.

New Albany (45)

Howard f 1-5 2-2 4, Crowdus f 2-6 0-0 4, Walker f 0-1 0-0 0, Roland g 8-19 3-4 26, Treat g 4-15 2-4 11, Corley 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 15-46 7-11 45.

Bedford NL (8-1) 13 | 20 | 5 | 16 — 58

New Albany (4-6) 15 | 9 | 5 | 16 — 45

3-point goals: Bedford NL 10-25 (Bloomington South 5-14 (Kern 3-4, Pride 2-3, Norman 4-12, Bailey 1-4, Spreen 0-2); New Albany 8-19 (Roland 7-11, Treat 1-7). Rebounds: Bedford NL 34 (Pride 12, Spreen 8), New Albany 30 (Howard 9, Crowdus 9). Team fouls: Bedford NL 11, New Albany 11; Bedford NL 12. Turnovers: Bedford NL 6; New Albany 13. JV: No JV game (COVID precaution).

This article originally appeared on The Times-Mail: Bedford North Lawrence girls face conference duel at New Albany