Lean Spreen cuts loose, ready for Mitchell duel

BEDFORD — Bedford North Lawrence sophomore Chloe Spreen has always had that sheen, and she has come into the 2021-22 season lean, perhaps to offset the weight of all the double- and triple-teaming she'll likely encounter on the court.

But the guard with the splendiferous skill set got to cut loose Tuesday night at Bloomington North and she responded with a career-high 22 points as the Lady Stars warmed up for Saturday night's Lawrence County clash — and first home game — against Mitchell with a 66-28 annihilation of North.

Spreen stretches her legs

Last season BNL had perimeter snipers Chloe McKnight and Irye Gomez occupying wing spots, and the Lady Stars needed post help. So the ultra-athletic Spreen sacrificed and moved to the interior, which is a little like asking Walter Payton to play right guard.

Spreen grew up as, and built her blue-star reputation as, a perimeter player, but she still responded last year by leading the Lady Stars in scoring at 14.8 ppg and rebounding at 5.5 as a freshman. Yet, she longed for opportunities to lengthen her game away from the paint, and we got a glimpse Tuesday night.

Head coach Jeff Allen extended her out to the wings, and Spreen got to stretch her legs within the offense and at the point of a zone press in the second half. It produced 22 points, 4 assists, 3 steals and a large sigh of satisfied relief from Spreen.

"It was nice," Spreen conceded. "It was different from the first game (a 47-44 victory at Mooresville, which is a notch or two above North at this point) for sure and I was definitely happy to get out on the floor a little more and be able to try to create some things for me or my teammates."

A meeting of the minds

"We had a talk with Jeff and Chase (Spreen, a BNL varsity assistant, and Chloe's cousin) and I just sitting down to discuss maybe getting me out a little more in those positions where I can try to use my quickness," Spreen said. "It was good, went well. I think this year I'll be outside more where I've pretty much always played, but if I get a smaller guard on me I'll still try to move low and post her up. I'll still get it some inside, but also more on the perimeter."

Spreen got to handle it, and blasted for a blow-by layup on the first BNL offensive set. She still drew multiple defenders when she tried to drive, but she was able to use spin moves and head fakes to get short jump shots. Spreen then feasted at the top of the press as she picked off passes and finished with elegant, impressive moves against contact.

Sharing is caring on offense

Just as impressive, perhaps more impressive from a staff standpoint, was the scoring balance that evolved. In addition to Spreen's 22, junior Karsyn Norman added 17 and Madisyn Bailey contributed 9. But Mallory Pride and Ella Turner added 6 apiece, Carlee Kern contributed 4 and Emma Crane had 2. That's 18 points from the role players after they produced just 4 at Mooresville.

The Lady Stars also dealt 14 assists — paced by 6 from Norman and 3 apiece by Spreen and Bailey — in a true testament of teamwork that will be beneficial to all.

"Coach talked to us all about sharing the ball better than we did at Mooresville," Spreen noted. "I think we all took that in and really tried to share it better tonight. We have girls who can get it in the basket, and it was great to see a lot of people scoring.

"It will help me and Karsyn to have that kind of balance, so we have to keep sharing it like this and getting people involved."

Scintillating stretch of play

Games at Mooresville are always a struggle because Mark Hurt's Pioneers play tough man-to-man defense, but the Lady Stars got back to some scintillating stretches at North where defense turned into offense, and extra passes produced easy points. Over a span of roughly 13 minutes from midway through the second period to the end of the third, BNL outscored the Cougars, 36-10, to seize complete command.

"That was fun," Spreen admitted. "We got some pressure on them and got rolling like we can there for awhile. It's a different team after losing three key players like we did, but the coaching staff believes in us and we feel like we can compete with anybody when we're prepared and we play together."

Bracing for the Bluejackets

BNL will welcome Mitchell into BNL Fieldhouse Saturday, and there are few better ways to hold a home opener than by having your county rival pay a visit. The Lady Stars have lost just once to the Bluejackets in school history, but it's still Mitchell, and this year it's a veteran bunch that was ranked No.20 in the Class 2A preseason poll.

The Bluejackets fell to Class A No.2 Lanesville, 49-42, in their season opener, but it was a tough battle on the road. Mitchell trailed just 15-12 after a quarter, 28-22 at halftime, and 36-31 heading into the fourth period.

"I haven't studied much film on them yet because we were preparing for the North game, but I hope we can replicate a lot of this performance Saturday night," said coach Allen. "They played Lanesville pretty tough on the road and they have an experienced team.

"Plus, it's the Mitchell rivalry and the home opener for our kids, so we expect a nice crowd and a lot of energy in there. We'll get back to practice and start preparing for the Bluejackets."

Mitchell will not come over to monkey around. They have a 6-2 senior center in Maddie Robertson, three returning starting guards in Taylor Duncan, Jordyn Sarver and Lilly Zeeks, and powerful junior forwards in Brooklyn Peterson and Mylea Slone.

Robertson led the Bluejackets at Lanesville with 13 points, while Duncan had 11, Slone 8, Sarver 6 and Peterson 4. Duncan and Slone each drilled two 3-pointers.

Spreen probably summarized it best.

"I think we're prepared to play anybody, but it's still going to be a big rivalry game," she said. "Mitchell doesn't like us and we don't like Mitchell, and that's just how it is. And it's our first home, so I think it's going to be an exciting atmosphere."

Junior varsity action is slated for 6 p.m. at BNL Fieldhouse.

Contact Times-Mail Sports Writer Jeff Bartlett at jeffb@tmnews.com, or on Twitter @jeffbtmnews.

This article originally appeared on The Times-Mail: Spreen cleans up at North, set for IHSAA home opener against Mitchell