BLOOMINGTON — For fans of Indiana University basketball, Saturday night brought plenty of reason for holiday cheer.

But for fans of the Jeffersonville boys’ basketball team, it capped what turned out to be a Scrooge of a weekend.

The Red Devils took their first loss of the season on Friday night at Silver Creek, then got a firsthand look at Hoosier-signee Jordan Hulls and the rest of his Bloomington South teammates in a 73-54 loss to the Panthers.

Hulls had plenty of chances to show off the skills that attracted IU coach Tom Crean and Class 4A No. 1 Bloomington South showed why it is Indiana’s top-ranked team. The Panthers ended the first quarter on a 22-5 run — erasing Jeff’s only lead of the night at 4-3 — and never looked back.

“South is a talented team, but they didn’t beat us with talent – they beat us with toughness,” said Jeff coach Tim LaGrange. “You don’t have to have any talent to play tough.”

The Panthers attacked the glass and got to the majority of loose balls, all while Hulls spent the first quarter dazzling with his passing, taking advantage of six Red Devil turnovers in the first four minutes by hitting open teammates upcourt. He had three assists in the first eight minutes, including a pass to a wide-open Erik Fromm, who threw down a dunk for an 11-4 South lead.

A jump shot by Evan Maschmeyer briefly halted the Panther run and trimmed Jeff’s deficit to 14-7, but South closed the period with a 3 from Hulls and back-to-back three-point plays for a 25-9 advantage.

Maschmeyer had seven points in the second period, including a 3 just before the halftime buzzer, but the rest of the Devils simply could not keep up.

South got two 3s from Spencer Turner and four quick points from reserve Rickey Washington to pull ahead 40-14, and led 42-20 at the half.

Still, Jeff managed to turn over one of its biggest problems from Friday night’s loss — lackadaisical play. The Red Devils managed to win the final quarter on a lift from junior-varsity forward V.J. Billups, who scored six points in the final eight minutes.

“I thought we played a lot harder tonight,” LaGrange said. “If we had played last night (against Silver Creek) like we played tonight, I think we would have been more pleased with our results.”

Maschmeyer scored 13 points to lead the Red Devils. Junior Kegan Clark added 12 points and seven rebounds and Drake Coleman finished with eight.

Turner had 15 points and hit four 3s on the night to lead the Panthers. Hulls was seldom flashy, but ended up with 14 points, eight rebounds and seven assists, including a step-back 3 from well behind the arc.

While it may have seemed like a lost weekend for Jeff, LaGrange pointed out that these sort of weekends in December can often ensure there is no repeat in February.

“We said that every team will face adversity, and it’s a long season,” LaGrange said. “There is not one goal that we set for ourselves that we can’t accomplish. There’s a lot to look forward to, and a lot of things we have to work on.”



JEFFERSONVILLE 9 11 15 19—54

BLOOM. SOUTH 25 17 19 12—73

Jeffersonville – Baker 2, Maschmeyer 13, Coleman 8, Clark 12, Fisher 2, Ewing 5, Catlett 1, Poole 3, Williams 2, Billups 6.

Bloomington South – Fromm 6, Hulls 14, Davis 12, Turner 15, Cooper 3, Washington 6, Mulinix 6, Etnier 4, Blackwell 3, French 0, Peck 4.

Three-point field goals – Jeffersonville 2 (Maschmeyer, Poole ); Bloomington South 7 (Turner 4, Hulls 2, Mulinix).

Rebounds – Jeffersonville 27 (Clark 8); Bloomington South 31 (Hulls 8).

Turnovers – Jeffersonville 19, Bloomington South 12.