BY GREG MENGELT
Greg.Mengelt@newsandtribune.com
SEYMOUR — New Albany and Jeffersonville will meet in the Class 4A Sectional 15 championship game for the fifth straight season.
The two teams have combined for 25 straight wins. Jeffersonville won its 11th straight, 68-47 over Bedford North Lawrence, while the Bulldogs won their 14th in a row, 66-63 over Floyd Central.
“We expect a battle,” said Jeff senior Kegan Clark.
“I expect a barnburner,” New Albany coach Jim Shannon concurred. “I think the two best teams are in the sectional championship.”
New Albany beat Jeffersonville, 53-50, in the regular season to beat out the Devils for the Hoosier Hills Conference crown. The Bulldogs also have beaten Jeff in the past three sectional title contests.
“I expect it to be a classic Jeffersonville-New Albany ballgame,” Red Devil head coach Tim LaGrange said. “I don’t put too much stock in what happened earlier this year or over the past 50 years. This will be its own game.”
Both teams had to come from behind to tally victories in Friday’s semifinals. The Red Devils were down 6-0 before blowing out Bedford. On the other hand, New Albany trailed the entire first half and needed eight points in the final nine seconds to stave off Floyd Central’s upset bid.
“We have a second chance. Now, we have to take advantage of it,” New Albany senior Tate Rohlfing said.
NEW ALBANY-FLOYD CENTRAL
Floyd Central led 63-58 with 1:35 to play before New Albany finished the contest on a 12-0 run.
After Donnie Hale hit 1-of-2 free throws and Floyd’s Patrick Knight missed a pair, Hale hit a 3-pointer to cut the Highlanders’ lead to 63-62.
Shannon said his coaching had nothing to do with Hale’s 3. In fact, he said, Hale and Whitehead set up Hale’s only 3-pointer of the night through eye contact and body language.
“He and Chris did it on their own,” Shannon said of the night’s biggest shot. “I saw Donnie and Chris communicating. It was a good call. Chris set the screen and Donnie hit it.”
After both teams called a timeout, the Bulldogs’ Brad Benson made the defensive play of the night when he poked the ball out of Andrew Mitchell’s hands. Seconds later, Whitehead gave the Bulldogs a 64-63 lead — their second lead of the night — on a fast-break layup with 41.6 seconds to play.
The night’s most controversial call came on the following possession. The Highlanders’ Brandon Codey lost control of the basketball. Benson dove for the loose ball and undercut Codey. The ball deflected off of Codey — no foul was called — and the ball was rewarded to the Bulldogs with 9.8 seconds remaining.
Adam Stotts was fouled on the inbound play, but missed both free throws. However, Hale was there for an offensive rebound. He hit both ends at the foul line, giving the Bulldogs a 66-63 advantage.
Cody Banet’s potential-game-tying 25-foot shot at the buzzer bounced off of the rim and New Albany improved to 19-2.
“We played our guts out,” Floyd Central coach Randy Gianfagna said.
Shannon agreed.
“(Gianfagna) did a great job. His team was ready to play,” Shannon admitted. “It was the great escape. Our kids made the plays in the end. They may have outplayed us. But in the end, our kids stepped up and made plays. We survived a big scare and we were a little lucky.”
Whitehead led New Albany with a career-high 32 points, including 19 in the first half. He also had five assists and five steals. Hale had a bit of an off night, but he still managed to finish with 15 points and 10 rebounds. New Albany’s Jordy Martin scored 10 points, including a pair of 3s.
“Your go-to guys are your go-to guys,” Shannon explained.
The Highlanders, who season came to an end with a 15-8 mark, were led by Codey’s 15 points. Mitchell and teammate Conner Schellenberg chipped in with 13 points apiece and Banet added 11. Schellenberg led the Highlanders with seven boards.
Mitchell, Codey and Banet are all seniors and played their final games for Floyd. Jeffrey Thompson, Floyd’s fourth senior, finished with six points.
JEFFERSONVILLE-BEDFORD
Jeffersonville erased the early 6-0 deficit in a hurry and dominated the rest of the first half.
Alex Pritchett, who scored 29 points in Bedford’s regular-season overtime loss to the Red Devils, tallied the game’s first six points. Jeffersonville countered with a 13-8 run and trailed just 14-13 after the first quarter.
“You’re not going to play a perfect game every game,” LaGrange said of the 6-0 hole. “What I was really pleased with was when I called timeout, there was no panic in (the players’) eyes.”
“We weren’t worried about it,” Clark confirmed. “We knew what we had to do. We just got off to a slow start.”
After Pritchett made his first three shots, he went 2-for-16 the rest of the way and finished with just 11 points.
“That was a big key to the game,” LaGrange said.
The Red Devils took over in the second quarter, scoring the first seven points and outscoring the Stars 25-8 in the period. Jeff made 8-of-13 shots, made all seven of its free throws and outrebounded Bedford 9-2 in the quarter for an insurmountable 38-22 halftime edge.
In the second half, Jeff kept the Stars (10-11) at bay by hitting 13-of-18 free throws. The Devils made 10-of-11 in the first half.
“The funny thing is, Drake Coleman is a 90 percent free-throw shooter and he didn’t shoot any,” LaGrange said. “We’ve put a tremendous amount of work into free throw shooting the last month. I’d like to think it’s paid off.”
“(Free throws) were a big deal,” Clark added. “We won by 20 and free throws did it.”
Clark led the Devils with 19 points and seven rebounds, while A.J. Adams added 11 points and nine rebounds. Junior Evan Maschmeyer had another solid game with 13 points and three steals.
The Red Devils got another solid outing from their bench, as Jordan Ellis had nine points, five rebounds, three steals and a pair of assists. Tyrone Williams added eight points off of the Jeff bench.
“Our bench has been playing well,” LaGrange said. “It seems like it’s a different guy every night off of the bench, and tonight was Jordan’s night.”
CLASS 4A SEYMOUR SECTIONAL
SEMIFINALS
JEFFERSONVILLE 13 25 13 17—68
BEDFORD NL 14 8 17 8—47
Jeffersonville (18-4) — Adams 11, Clark 19, Coleman 6, Billups 2, Jor. Ellis 9, Williams 8, Maschmeyer 13.
Bedford North Lawrence (10-11) — Newport 6, Roberts 2, Deckard 4, Knight 9, L. Bailey 2, Pritchett 11, N. Bailey 10, George 3.
3-point field goals — Jeffersonville 3 (Clark, Williams, Maschmeyer); Bedford North Lawrence 4 (Knight 2, Newport, N. Bailey).
Rebounds — Jeffersonville 34 (Adams 9); Bedford North Lawrence 24 (Pritchett 7).
Turnovers — Jeffersonville 16, Bedford North Lawrence 18.
FLOYD CENTRAL 17 16 14 16—63
NEW ALBANY 15 15 16 20—66
Floyd Central (15-8) — Mitchell 13, Banet 11, Codey 15, O’Neal 4, Crone 1, Schellenberg 13, Thompson 6.
New Albany (19-2) — Toliver 2, Whitehead 32, Benson 2, Martin 10, Stotts 3, Rohlfing 2, Hale 15.
3-point field goals — Floyd Central 4 (Schellenberg 2, Codey, Banet); New Albany 5 (Martin 2, Whitehead, Hale, Stotts).
Rebounds — Floyd Central 32 (Schellenberg 7); New Albany 20 (Hale 10).
Turnovers — Floyd Central 13, New Albany 10.
