SEYMOUR — Borden and Jeffersonville will both have to travel about an hour to get to Saturday’s Seymour Semi-State.

Combined, however, they plan to make Lloyd E. Scott Gymnasium a homecourt advantage for Clark County.

Jeffersonville is encouraging its fans to come early for Borden’s 4 p.m. game against University. Borden is asking its fans to stick around for the Jeff-Cathedral contest at 6 p.m.

The plan is for both to wear white t-shirts and represent one large Clark County cheer block.

“We look forward to a big turnout for Clark County. We want to use Seymour as our home court,” Jeff coach Chad Gilbert said. “We look forward to the Jeff and Borden fans coming together and to supporting [Borden]. We hope can both advance and make the trip up to Indianapolis together next weekend.

“It’s great to be there with any Clark County school,” Nash said. “I think Clark County is going to show up. I hope our Borden fans stay for the 4A game and cheer [Jeff] on, win or lose. We’re going to be there cheering on the Red Devils. We’re planning on taking two teams from Clark County to Bankers Life [Fieldhouse for the state championship].”

Borden’s fan took over more than half of the arena at Saturday’s Loogootee Regional and the result was two one-point victories.

The crowd may have been just enough of an advantage to give the Braves an edge in their second “They’re going to be wild like they were last Saturday,” Borden junior Garrett Vick said. “There are going to be a lot of people there, especially if Jeff’s fans are there combined with our cheer block.”

Five years ago, Borden’s fans combined with New Albany’s at Southport to make one large cheering section.

Borden senior Billy Kirchgessner was there to watch his cousins — Chris Beam and Lee Kirchgessner — and is looking forward to a similar crowd situation on Saturday.

“It was a great atmosphere to watch a game at Southport,” Kirchgessner recalled. “Borden always travels well, and I know Jeff will, too.”

Borden and New Albany both lost in the 2008 semi-state. How will they fare in 2003?

Here are the picks:



SEYMOUR SEMI-STATE

SATURDAY

CLASS A

Borden (22-3) vs. University (15-11)

• Time: 4 p.m.

• Radio: WQKC-1450 AM, WNDA-1570 AM

• TV: WNDA-TV Channel 9

• Rankings: Borden — Class A No. 10 AP; University — not ranked.

• Computer-based Sagarin Ratings: Borden — No. 152 overall (Class A No. 12); University — No. 219 overall (Class A No. 28).

• Series all-time: No meetings.

• Analysis: I’ve been hearing that University is better than its record. The Trailblazers entered the tourney 10-11 and won a regional championship, but they have to be. However, there’s also no way they’re as good as Barr-Reeve. Probably not Orleans or Lanesville, either. The Braves win this one going away.

• Greg’s Pick: Borden 61, University 47.



CLASS 4A

Jeffersonville (24-3) vs. Cathedral (24-5)

• Time: 6 p.m.

• Radio: WQKC-1450 AM, WNDA-1570 AM

• TV: WNDA-TV Channel 9

• Rankings: Jeff — Class 4A No. 13 AP; IBCA No. 11; Cathedral — Class 4A No. 7 AP; IBCA No. 13.

• Computer-based Sagarin Ratings: Jeffersonville — No. 7 overall (Class 4A No. 7); Cathedral — No. 2 overall (No. 2 in Class 4A). Cathedral favored by 8.8 points, according to Sagarin.

• Series all-time: Jeffersonville 5-1 (last meeting was 1938).

• Analysis: The Red Devils have won 11 straight and the closest game is 11 points — against No. 3 Evansville Harrison. And that was without Keenan Wiliams. My point: Cathedral is really, really talented, but the Red Devils are, too. Jalen Coleman is a special talent, but so is Darryl Baker. The Irish have great balance. So does Jeff. It will be close, but I believe this semi-state is the Red Devils’ to lose.

• Greg’s Pick: Jeffersonville 82, Cathedral 80.



PLAYER OF THE WEEK

Jalen McCoy, Borden

McCoy scored 17 points in each of the Braves’ regional victories, including four straight 3-pointers in the 43-42 come-from-behind victory over Barr-Reeve in the Loogootee Regional championship game. The senior also got the Braves off to a good start with eight points in the opening quarter of Borden’s 52-51 semifinal victory over Orleans.



Regional stars

• Darryl Baker, Jeffersonville: 40 points, 20 rebounds combined in wins over Harrison and Franklin Central.

• Keenan Williams, Jeffersonville: 24 points on 8-of-9 shooting in Saturday’s 85-69 championship victory over Franklin Central.

• Billy Kirchgessner, Borden: 13 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 steals in the semifinal win over Orleans.

• Drew Ellis, Jeffersonville: 29 points on 7 of 10 shooting in the Red Devils’ 73-61 semifinal win over Harrison.

• Andrew Jones, Clarksville: 29 points, including 9 of 14 from behind the 3-point line, in Clarksville’s 65-62 Southridge Regional semifinal loss to Linton-Stockton.