FLOYDS KNOBS — A near capacity crowd at the New Albany-Floyd Central game Friday night was reminiscent of the heated and competitive rivalry between the two Floyd County schools of the 1970s and 1980s.

However the outcome resembled the 1990s and 2000s.

A suffocating Bulldog defense held the hosts to 34 percent shooting and forced 24 turnovers as the visitors cruised to a 75-42 win.

“I thought our guard play overall was the difference in the game. They couldn’t get in any of their sets because of the pressure we put on the because of our athleticism,” New Albany head coach Jim Shannon said. “That was the big difference in the game.”

The Bulldogs win was their sixth straight over the Highlanders and their 10th victory in 11 games since 2000.

The Highlanders (1-1, 0-1) had the early advantage at 6-4 before a Donnie Hale 3-pointer started a 16-2 Bulldogs run. Hale finished the run he started with an alley-oop dunk that forced a Floyd timeout and gave the visitors control of the game.

“We had run stoppers and we missed free throws. We were 1-of-6 in a stretch there where we could have stopped a run and just didn’t,” Floyd head coach Randy Gianfagna said of the early New Albany burst.

Bulldogs guard Chris Whitehead had two 3s in the big run as he and Hale combined for 15 of their team’s 22 first-quarter points. New Albany forced eight Highlander turnovers in the first period, forced eight more in the second frame, and led 37-15 at intermission.

“Whitehead was able to dictate everything tonight and we had 16 turnovers in the first half. We played well for about three or four minutes and then I thought Whitehead basically dominated the game,” Gianfagna said. “When you have 16 turnovers it doesn’t matter what defense you play. You just can’t half 16 turnovers in a half.”

Floyd managed just 10 field goal attempts in the first 16 minutes of play.

“I think our defense got the momentum going in our direction and getting the tempo up a little bit. When it was a slow tempo we didn’t play very well,” Shannon said. “When we got running and jumping and moving and just being quick I think it really hurt them.”

The Bulldogs pressure defense created numerous easy baskets as the visitors shot 55 percent in the first half en route to its 22-point lead at the break.

“I think we just kind of turned the pressure up a bit. The burner got hotter. Then fatigue starts to set in. You can withstand pressure the first few minutes but as the game wears on it starts to take its toll on you when you’re not as athletic as the other team. We’re just a little more athletic than they are,” Shannon said.

The Highlanders were unable to cut into the New Albany (2-1, 2-0) lead in the second half as they shot just 29 percent over the final two periods. The hosts were just 12-of-23 from the foul line while the Bulldogs connected on seven triples and shot 50 percent overall.

“I’d like to thank our crowd for coming out tonight. They were great,” Gianfagna said.

New Albany travels to Corydon Central tonight while Floyd visits Evansville Harrison.



VARSITY

New Albany 22 15 16 22—75

Floyd Central 10 5 12 15—42

New Albany (2-1, 2-0) Striegel 0, Threat 0, Toliver 6, Parish 0, Whitehead 23, Benson 4, Martin 2, Newbolt 0, Stotts 2, Rohlfing 16, Kraft 0, Hale 18, Meyer 4, McDaniel 0.

Floyd Central (1-1, 0-1) Verhoff 2, Mitchell 4, Nieoff 0, Banet 10, O’Neal 4, Allen 7, Crone 4, Peters 1, Schellenberg 0, Knight 2, Je. Thompson 7.

Three-point field goals: New Albany 7 (Rohlfing 4, Whitehead 2, Hale); Floyd Central 2 (Banet, Allen).

Rebounds: New Albany 35, Floyd Central 36.

Turnovers: New Albany 17, Floyd Central 24.

Junior Varsity: New Albany 30 (7-9-3-11) Striegal 8, Stubbins 3, Threatt 4, Edwards 1, Jones 2, Peavler 0, Parrish 3, Kraft 9, Brown 0; Floyd Central 38 (8-7-12-11) Jeffries 5, Wortham 5, Sharp 0, Bomersbach 0, Missi 2, Peters 8, Schellenberg 4, Knight 11, Jo. Thompson 3.