By KEVIN HARRIS
SEYMOUR — For the third consecutive year, Floyd Central fought tooth-and-nail with Jeffersonville to the bitter end in the Class 4A Seymour Sectional.
But for the third straight time, the Highlanders could not knock off their Southern Indiana rivals.
After Floyd took a one-point lead early in the fourth quarter, the Red Devils proceeded to outscore the Highlanders 20-11 the rest of the way to win Tuesday’s first-round game of the Seymour Sectional, 68-60. Jeff (17-4) will face Bedford North Lawrence in Friday’s first semifinal at 6 p.m.
In the past two sectionals, the Red Devils edged the Highlanders in overtime each year. Last year’s matchup happened in the first round, and they met two seasons ago in the semifinal.
Even though this year’s matchup did not go to an extra session, Floyd gave Jeff fits once again.
“Floyd Central kids played extremely hard,” Red Devil head coach Tim LaGrange said. “I think their staff and their school have to be very pleased with how hard they play. On the other side for the most part, we didn’t match that intensity and that hunger. But to our credit, we made enough plays to get over the hump.”
Jeff put the Highlanders in a hole at halftime. The Red Devils shot 15-of-27 in the opening half to take a 37-24 intermission advantage.
But Floyd (10-11) refused to go away. The Highlanders outscored Jeff 23-11 in the third quarter to cut their deficit to 48-47.
The biggest play of the stanza happened in its final seconds. Floyd junior Cody Banet tipped in his own 3-point miss to make the score 48-45 with 2.2 seconds left.
Almost simultaneously, Jeff’s Edward Wright-Baker was whistled for his fourth personal foul underneath the basket. Senior Buddy McAfee converted both free throws to pull the Highlanders within one point.
“I was really happy with our third quarter,” said Floyd head coach Randy Gianfagna, whose team made only one turnover in the third. “We only gave them 11 points in that third quarter. We told them 37 was way too many at the half. (We thought) if we kept it in 50s and 60s that we’d have a chance.”
The Highlanders kept the momentum in the first minute of the fourth. Senior Ryan Adam drew the fifth foul on Jeff center A.J. Adams and made both free throws to give Floyd a 49-48 advantage.
But after that, it was all Red Devils.
Kegan Clark’s putback bucket and Wright-Baker’s three-point play gave Jeff a 53-49 lead. After Banet made 1-of-2 foul shots, Jeff produced a 12-5 spurt to go up 65-55. Most of the points came out of the Red Devils’ four-corner offense, which was used to milk the clock and help produce some easy layups.
Despite the win, LaGrange thought Jeff did not play with the focus that is needed to succeed in the postseason.
“We made some mistakes from the tip and throughout the game that showed us that we just weren’t mentally into the game,” LaGrange said. “I didn’t think we were ever mentally into the game to start with.”
Sophomore guard Drake Coleman paced the Red Devils with 19 points, and Wright-Baker chipped in 13. Jeff senior forward Tevin Ewing filled in nicely for the foul-plagued Adams in the paint, scoring 11 points off the bench.
McAfee scored a game-high 22 points, tallying 12 in the third. He also grabbed six rebounds.
“He loves playing Jeff,” Gianfagna said. “If he played Jeff every night, he might average 20 (points) and 10 (rebounds). We’re going to miss him next year.”
Adam scored 17 points and Banet added 12. Adam and McAfee are the only two seniors on Floyd’s roster.
JEFFERSONVILLE 20 17 11 20—68
FLOYD CENTRAL 12 12 23 13—60
Jeff (17-4) — Coleman 19, Wright-Baker 13, Ewing 11, Clark 8, Maschmeyer 7, Fisher 6, Adams 4, Catlett 0.
Floyd (10-11) — McAfee 22, Adam 17, Banet 12, Thompson 8, Crone 1, Allen 0, Codey 0, Niehoff 0, Veroff 0.
Three-point field goals — Jeff 3 (Coleman 3); Floyd 3 (Adam 3).
Rebounds — Jeff 33 (Adams 6); Floyd 24 (McAfee, Thompson 6).
Turnovers — Jeff 15, Floyd 12.
