bnlathletics.com

BEDFORD

For a half, everything worked perfectly.

However, the game is settled after four quarters.

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After matching Class 4A No. 7 Bedford North Lawrence for 16 minutes, Seymour cracked and crumbled after intermission as the Stars pulled away to a 54-33 victory Thursday night.

That final is deceiving and does the Owls (5-5, 1-2 in the Hoosier Hills Conference) a great disservice and snapshot injustice.

On first glance, that’s a runaway. That’s not true.

With BNL struggling — save for Miss Basketball candidate Jorie Allen, who did all of the heavy lifting — to make shots, Seymour lumbered to a 24-24 deadlock at the half.

Then the walls came tumbling down.

The Owls scored only nine second-half points, hitting only 2-of-19 shots, and didn’t make a field goal in the final period.

The Stars figured it out. Allen, destined for Indiana University, scored 20 points and grabbed 12 rebounds.

She had 16 in the first half to keep the Stars even.

Her teammates, a woeful 3-for-21 in the first half, finally contributed as BNL (9-1, 4-0 in the league) muscled its way to safety.

“I thought Jason’s kids played a phenomenal first half,” BNL coach Jeff Allen said. “I got to tell you, they played well. They put a really good first half of basketball together. You have to give them credit.”

Turnovers kept Seymour from owning the lead. BNL’s defense kept the Owls from taking flight in the final two quarters.

“We didn’t control tempo,” Seymour coach Jason Longmeier said. “We didn’t compete on the boards. When you have only one turnover (in the third) and lose a quarter by that many (13), that tells you that you’re taking a lot of bad shots.”

BNL did solve its lack of marksmanship. Chloe McKnight had 10 points and a career-high 10 rebounds, and Madison Webb added nine points.

Makenna Fee paced Seymour with 12 points, while Grace Meyer totaled 10.