RANDY HISNER
WZBD.com
LOGANSPORT – For the first time in school history, Bellmont will send its girls’ basketball team to the IHSAA state finals.
The Braves completed a dominating day of basketball at the Logansport 3A semistate by following an 11-point win over Culver Academies in the morning game with a 56-41 thrashing of the #11 3A team in the state, the Connersville Spartans, in the championship game.
For the longtime Bellmont faithful—and there were more than a few in the stands—the pandemonium on the floor after the victory—the jubilant players, the swarming Bellmont students, the tearful parents—was a sweet sight.
Though it may seem like ancient history to the players, many of whom were in diapers when Andy Heim took over the reins of the program, lots of folks in Decatur remember. It was only 14 years ago that Heim’s inaugural season ended at 5-17, followed by a 5-16 season. And then, just 12 years ago, a winless season, at 0-21.
Three years later, the Grace Hunter-led Braves were 18-5, and it’s been year after year of success ever since, the team averaging 18 wins over the past nine seasons.
Patience and determination and a ton of hard work, from both players and coaches, have paid off—the Braves will play for a state championship next Saturday at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.
As always, the semistate final win rested on the two pillars of this team’s success: relentless, tenacious man-to-man defense and a multipronged offensive attack that keeps opponents guessing about which Brave to focus on. Four Braves reached double digits, led by Ashley Bleke with 16 points.
Junior point guard Kate Kitson said it best: “Yeah, I think that’s what’s special about this team. Anybody can score any given night. So it’s hard for teams to scout us because you never know who’s going to be shooting well or who’s not.”
No one illustrated that better than Kitson, who is usually content to handle point guard duties, bringing the ball up the floor, finding open teammates, and generally not looking that hard to score herself.
But on Saturday night scoring opportunities presented themselves, and she scored 10 points, including the first two points of the game on a 15-foot jumper.
The Braves never looked back. The Spartans’ Addison Jones gave her team what turned out to be their last tie of the game at 2-2 with a short jump shot, but then Ashely Bleke hit a layup on an out-of-bounds play and Kaitlyn Barton nailed a three-pointer from the right wing to vault the Braves to a 7-2 lead at the 4:50 mark.
Connersville’s strobe-light quick point guard Ahniyah Bennett went coast-to-coast for a layup to make it 7-4. The Braves responded with a 6-0 run, punctuated by Oni Krueckeberg’s three-pointer, to close the quarter with a 13-4 lead.
The Braves’ defense had forced the Spartans into seven turnovers in the period and just five field goal attempts.
“I don’t think we’ve ever played that good of a defense,” said Heim, whose team held the Spartans to 13 points below their season average of 54.
Connersville did revive its offense a bit in the second quarter, scoring 13 points to Bellmont’s 11 to close the gap to 24-17 at the half. Mary Bleke led the Braves’ offense with six points in the period, and Kitson added a short jumper and a pair of free throws.
Then came the pivotal third quarter. The teams traded baskets twice early to make it 28-21 at the 4:33 mark, but then the Braves went on a game-altering 9-0 run over the next 3:18, to go up 37-21, their biggest margin of the game so far. The Bleke twins started the rally with two free throws each. Barton hit her second three-pointer of the game, and Ashley Bleke capped the streak with a drive across the lane for a basket. The quarter ended with the Braves still up by 16 at 39-23.
Although a furiously paced final quarter saw the Spartans outscore the Braves 18-17, they never got closer than 13, and the Braves even reached a 20-point lead when back-to-back threes by Kitson and Ashley Bleke made it 50-30 with 4:54 left.
“I thought we hit a bunch of big shots,” summarized Heim. “You know, I like the confidence that Barton showed when she just rose up and took a three when it was about a nine-point game. It’s a big shot right there. I thought Kate Kitson hit a big shot. It’s like we’ve said, we’ve talked about it. We said, ‘You know, when you’re open, shoot.’ It makes me nervous sometimes, but, yeah, we did a really nice job there.”
Bellmont scorers: Ashley Bleke 16, Mary Bleke 14, Kitson 10, Barton 10, Krueckeberg 6.
Connersville scorers: Jones 12, Bennett 10, Serenity Pennington 9, Kendyl Bottomley 8.
Mary Bleke led all rebounders with eight. Bennett was tops in assists with five. Kitson had four for the Braves. Bellmont had 10 turnovers, Connersville 13.
The Braves hit 12-of-21 twos (57%), 5-of-15 threes (33%), and 17-of-23 free throws (74%). The Spartans were 17-of-28 on twos (61%), 2-of-8 on threes (25%), and 1of-1 on free throws (100%).
Bellmont is scheduled for the 6:00 P.M. championship game next week against the 27-3 and 3A top-ranked Indianapolis Roncalli Royals. Norwell will follow in the 4A championship game against 28-0 Center Grove at 8:15.
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