DANE FUELLING
WZBD.com
DECATUR – There has been and will be a lot of talk about expectations, pressure and all other types of emotions and factors for this year’s basketball team at Bellmont after winning last year’s 3A state title, but one thing will not change – the suffocating defense and pressure that got the Braves to Indy is still there and it won’t fade away, no matter what happens this season.
That pressure was on full display Tuesday night in the season opener when the Braves nearly worked a first-half shutout. Bellmont’s defense allowed no points for the opening 15:57 of the game and the champs were up 42-2 at halftime.
With a running clock in the second half, the home crowd got an opportunity to see the full squad, including freshman Berkley Caffee, who was impressive and finished with five points.
Much like they were last season, the Braves were as balanced in scoring as any team in the state. Ashley and Marianne Bleke, along with Oni Krueckeberg, all had twelve points, while fellow 11th grader Kaitlyn Barton had eleven points.
Seniors Kate Kitson and Lanie French had eight points each.
Bellmont forced a gaudy number of turnovers with their defensive pressure, 31 in all, and tallied 12 steals.
The Braves were so dominant on the boards that they had more offensive boards (18) than defensive (17), although the defense only allowed Concordia to take a total of 17 shots in 32 minutes of play.
Jenna Akey led the Cadets with four points.
The junior varsity team also won for the home Braves, winning 26-25.
The team will officially unveil its state championship banner during Friday night’s broadcast on WZBD ahead of the traditional game against Woodlan.
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