By GREG MENGELT
JEFFERSONVILLE — Jeffersonville’s boys’ basketball team led by as many as 17 points in the first quarter, but couldn’t hold on to its early advantage and fell for the first time this season, 83-74 to Louisville Ballard on Saturday at Johnson Arena.
Jeff jumped out to an 11-0 lead as A.J. Adams scored six points and the Bruins missed their first five shots.
After Forrise Hardin scored Ballard’s initial bucket with 4:02 left in the first period, Jeff’s V.J. Billups scored five straight points and the Red Devils led 16-2.
Eric Zoeller hit two free throws to cut Jeff’s lead to 16-4. But then Jordan Ellis scored a basket and Drake Coleman hit a 3-pointer and Jeff had its biggest lead at 21-4.
From that point, Ballard outscored the Devils 79-53, including a 51-28 run during the middle two quarters.
“I thought our practice habits caught up to us,” Jeff coach Tim LaGrange said. “The good thing about playing a good team is that they expose your weaknesses. Our weaknesses were exposed tonight and that’s a good thing. It’s never easy to take a loss like this, but it will be a good teaching lesson.”
LaGrange pointed out the Devils’ lack of toughness and their ballhandling as two of those weaknesses. He said he was disappointed that Jeff took only one charge and had “several opportunities” to take more.
He also said that missing Evan Maschmeyer — a playmaking junior guard — also hurts, especially against athletic teams like the Bruins.
“We need more ballhandlers on the floor who can make plays,” LaGrange said. “We’re too reliant on one guy for that, and Maschmeyer would be another guy who (can provide that).”
Ballard turned the ball over four times in the first two minutes. After Bruin coach Chris Renner benched his starting five while down 5-0, Ballard’s subs took better care of the ball.
When the starters returned, they had apparently learned their lesson and had just five turnovers for the rest of the contest.
The Bruins were 1-for-12 from the field in the first six minutes and 4-for-16 in the first quarter. From that point, Ballard hit 28 of its 44 field-goal attempts (64 percent). Meanwhile, Jeff had three first-quarter turnovers, then had eight in the second quarter and eight more in the second half.
“You know that’s going to happen any time you play Ballard,” LaGrange explained. “That’s how it goes when you play them.”
In the second quarter, it was Keisten Jones who did the damage with 11 points, including 10 straight during a 13-0 run that gave Ballard a brief 33-32 lead just before halftime.
In the final seconds, Dominique Catlett hit two free throws — his only two points of the game — to give the Red Devils a 34-33 halftime lead.
In the second half, Ian Chiles took over.
After scoring just three points in the first half, Chiles had 10 points in the third quarter — as the Bruins took a 59-50 lead through three quarters — and scored seven more in the fourth. He also had five second-half rebounds after none in the first half.
Tyrone Williams hit a long 2-pointer, then a 3-pointer early in the fourth period to get Jeff within 63-58. But Ballard responded with a 9-2 run, led by five Chiles’ points, to put the game away.
Coleman led the Red Devils with 25 points. He hit seven of his 11 3-point attempts. Billups had a career-high 15 points and also had six rebounds.
Kegan Clark finished with seven points, a team-high seven assists, six rebounds and a steal for Jeff, which plays back-to-back games next weekend. On Friday, the Red Devils will play at Seymour and then will host Madison next Saturday.
BALLARD 8 25 26 24—83
JEFFERSONVILLE 22 12 16 24—74
Ballard (3-0) — Zoeller 2, Means 14, D. Hardin 3, Baker 7, Chiles 20, Parker 9, F. Hardin 4, Jones 22, Holland 2.
Jeffersonville (1-1) — Adams 12, Clark 7, Coleman 25, Billups 15, Catlett 2, Jor. Ellis 2, Jon. Ellis 2, Williams 9.
3-point field goals — Ballard 9 (Chiles 4, Jones 3, Baker, Parker); Jeffersonville 10 (Coleman 7, Williams 2, Clark).
Rebounds — Ballard 24 (Chiles 5); Jeffersonville 30 (Adams 8).
Turnovers — Ballard 13, Jeffersonville 19.
JUNIOR VARSITY: Ballard 55 (11-8-16-20) — Biggers 11, Holland 13, Parrish 8, Yackey 9, Halek 2, Byrd 3, Baker 3, Dunbar 2, Sivills 4; Jeffersonville 48 (14-8-14-12) — Whaley 14, Roland 7, Kinnaird 9, Jackson 3, Gray 2, Grarner 1, Haus 12.
