RANDY HISNER
WZBD.com
KENDALLVILLE – A 16-0 Bellmont run in less than three minutes in the second quarter left little doubt about who would win a key NE8 girls’ basketball matchup Friday at Kendallville between the Braves and the East Noble Knights.
The Braves, who maintained a double-digit lead the rest of the way in a 59-37 victory, took exactly 2:44 to go from a 4-4 tie to a commanding 20-4 lead.
Ashley Bleke started the rally at the 5:40 mark with a drive on the left side. Mary Bleke followed with a pair of free throws, and after a defensive stop Lanie French swished a three from the left wing. French then stole the ball and got fouled on a fast break. Her two free throws made it 13-4. A putback by Mary Bleke, a three from Kaitlyn Barton, and two free throws from Ashley Bleke with 2:56 left completed the flurry.
The Knights (8-2, 1-1 in the NE8) never fully recovered, though they did pull within 10 with 4:40 to go in the second quarter at 23-13. That’s when the Bellmont long-range shooting dashed any hopes harbored by East Noble fans. Kate Kitson started the barrage with a three from the left corner, and French left the Knights reeling when she made three straight three-pointers in just 1:17. The last one put the Braves up 37-17 with 1:49 to go on their way to a 37-19 halftime lead.
“She just caught some fire right there, and really just buried them,” Bellmont coach Andy Heim said of French’s shooting heroics. “She’s a great shooter. We’ve got a lot of great shooters, but she’s probably the best pure shooter from the three-point line. She got open looks, which hurt them, obviously.” French made five of her seven three-point attempts for the game.
In the third quarter, the Braves (10-1, 2-0), sparked by Mary Bleke’s six points and Oni Krueckeberg’s five, outscored the Knights, 12-8, to extend the lead to 49-27. A 10-10 tie in the final frame kept the 22-point margin.
“I was worried about this game because they’re just so much like us,” Heim said. “They’re long, they’re athletic, they can shoot.”
They also have an excellent ballhandler in junior point guard (and leading scorer) Averi Amstutz, but the Braves’ high-pressure, full-court man-to-man defense stymied both Amstutz and her teammates in that fateful first quarter.
“It frustrated her and gave us a little bit of momentum, I think, and we just started hitting some shots,” Heim noted.
French shared scoring honors with Mary Bleke with 17 points. Ashley Bleke had 12, Krueckeberg five, Barton four, Kitson three, and Maya Schlemmer one.
Amstutz led East Noble with 10. Junior forward Elli Will added eight.
The Braves were 10-of-27 (37%) on twos, a torrid 8-of-11 (73%) on threes, and 15-of-24 (63%) on free throws. The Knights hit 13-of-24 (54%) twos, 0-of-9 threes, and 11-of-16 (69%) free throws. The Braves had 12 turnovers, the Knights 15.
East Noble won the JV game, 48-20. The Knights’ Brooklyn Arnold led all scorers with 16 points. Katelyn Borne led the Braves with five.
Bellmont will host Carroll next Tuesday.
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