RANDY HISNER
WZBD.com
(Photos by Tara Riehm & Grace Scheumann)
DECATUR – It wasn’t supposed to be this easy.
The 3A fifth-ranked Bellmont Braves rolled over a highly regarded 20-5 East Noble squad, nearly doubling them up with a 63-32 shellacking to claim a regional title for the first time since 1993.
Though it’s true that Bellmont had pinned a 22-point loss on East Noble in early December, the Knights had been playing exceptionally well of late, winning 12 of their last 13, climbing to the #7 spot in the latest MaxPreps 3A rankings, and breezing through their sectional with a 20-plus average win margin.
No matter. Bellmont’s relentless defensive pressure and uncannily accurate shooting on their home floor enabled the Braves to dominate throughout the game.
Eleven points from the Bleke twins—Ashley with six, Mary with five—helped the Braves jump out to a big first-quarter lead.
Fellow sophomore Oni Krueckeberg, who led the Braves with 16 points, got things started with a long jumper just inside the arc at the top of the key at the 6:54 mark. Back-to-back put backs by Ashley Bleke put the Braves up 6-0 before East Noble’s Averi Amstutz finally put the Knights on the board with a spinning layup with 3:38 to go.
The Braves immediately forced the Knights into the third of their six turnovers in the quarter, and Mary Bleke zipped a pass inside to Ashley for an across-the-lane layup. Shaye Ritchie hit a short jumper for the Knights to make it 8-4, but Mary Bleke converted a conventional three-point play, followed by a short baseline jumper, to stretch the lead to 13-4. With 36 seconds left, backup center Hadley Caffee hit a post up move and got fouled. When she made the free throw, it was 16-4, and the Knights were back on their heels.
East Noble regrouped a bit to win the second quarter, 17-14, closing the gap to nine. It could have been even closer. With the score 27-19 and a bit over a minute left, the Knights appeared to be holding the ball for the last shot.
But instead of waiting till the last few seconds, the Knights ran a set play earlier than expected, freeing Ritchie for a layup and a 27-21 score with 15 seconds left—enough time for the Braves to hustle down the floor and find sharpshooter Lanie French open on the left wing for an open look in three-point territory with two seconds left. “They come down and they shoot it at 15,” said Heim, “and I’m like, okay, good play. And we rushed it down and nobody panicked and everybody sort of looked composed. Laney let one fire. I thought even her misses looked good, so I thought, of course that’s gonna go in.”
It did, and the Braves held a 30-21 lead at the half. More important than the score was the emotional impact of the shot. It was the pin that popped the balloon of the Knights’ only serious comeback attempt.
The third quarter confirmed that the air for the Knights was all gone as the Braves overwhelmed them, 21-5, to put the game out of reach at 51-26. Krueckeberg was the big gun for the Braves in the period, scoring eight points on a short jumper, a put back, and a three-pointer from the right wing with 10 seconds left. Ashley and Mary Bleke backed up Krueckeberg with five and four points, respectively. Kaitlyn Barton added a three ball from the right wing, and Kate Kitson sank a long jumper from the top of the key.
The Braves made nine of 13 field goal attempts in the decisive quarter while the Knights hit only one of six, though they did convert three of four free throws.
The fourth quarter was a formality, the Braves emerging with a 12-6 advantage and Heim clearing the bench with 1:45 left.
The Braves were favored, just as they were in the sectional, but Heim was on edge anyway. “This last couple weeks, I’ve been sort of walking around, not taking breaths a whole lot,” he admitted. “I got here at 9:00 this morning, just because I didn’t know what to do with myself and the nervous energy. I knew this was going to be like this, just from talking with people and ticket sales and just, you know, the excitement around Decatur to begin with. And we talked about it’s okay to be nervous. It’s fine. It’s understandable. We should be nervous, but to just handle it with something that you’re telling yourself. ‘I’ve been here before.’ ‘Follow through on my shot.’ You know, something easy to click you out, and holy cow, I’ve never seen us shoot the ball as confidently as everybody that went and shot it. We went up just about every time, and I’m like, ‘That’s gonna go in.’”
Heim was right more often than not. His Braves made 16-of-29 twos (55%), 7-of-16 threes (44%), and 10-of-12 free throws (83%). The Knights made 9-of-26 twos (35%), 2-of-6 threes (33%), and 8-of-11 free throws (73%).
Krueckeberg, who scored her 16 points on just seven field goal attempts, credited her teammates and the Braves’ pregame routine. “We got in here early,” she said. “We were putting up lots of shots, making sure we feel comfortable and confident.”
She also had confidence in her team’s plan for what she knew was a tough opponent. “I knew they were going to come at us hard,” she said, “but we’ve been practicing and preparing all week for that.”
The Knights had 14 turnovers, the Braves 10.
Bellmont Scorers: Krueckeberg 16, Ashley Bleke 14, Mary Bleke 14, Barton 6, Kitson 5, French 3, Caffee 3, Katelyn Borne 2.
East Noble Scorers: Amstutz 13, Ritchie 6, Addison Demming 6, Kate David 4, Rian David 3.
The Braves are now 22-3 and will advance to the North Semistate with Fairfield, Culver Academy, and Connersville at a location to be determined later. The IHSAA will conduct a live pairings show Sunday at 2:00 P.M. on IHSAAtv.org.
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