By MATT CRESS
SEYMOUR — It had to come down to this.
But before New Albany and Jeffersonville could renew their rivalry in the Class 4A Seymour Sectional championship game, both had to take care of pesky Hoosier Hills Conference foes on Friday night. Neither had any problem with that.
The Red Devils turned the tables on Bedford North Lawrence in the opener, taking control from the outset and never being threatened. In the end, Jeff avenged a one-point loss to the Stars on Feb. 14 with a 58-39 victory.
The Bulldogs likewise did their part to set up the marquee match of the tournament, opening the game on an 18-0 run and demolishing Jennings County 87-54. The Panthers had hung with New Albany through three quarters in the regular-season meeting before finally falling off in the final period.
Now, if Class 4A No. 2 New Albany is to claim the sectional crown, it will have to get past the team that came closer than anyone to ending its 43-game regular-season win streak. Jeff took New Albany to overtime before falling 71-68 on Jan. 9 at Johnson Arena.
The title game will tip off tonight at 7:30 p.m. The winner will advance to the Seymour Regional.
Jeff-Bedford
Red Devil coach Tim LaGrange and his team weren’t particularly pleased with the film from their sectional-opening win over Floyd Central on Tuesday night.
Kegan Clark was the most disappointed — so he did something about it.
The talented junior drove through, passed around and dunked on the Bedford defense, rolling up a game-high 14 points and opening the path for the rest of his teammates as they cruised to victory.
“Kegan played a great game,” LaGrange said. “He was really disappointed watching the tape (from Tuesday). He didn’t show much energy or much fire, so tonight he decided to come out and leave it all on the floor.”
Jeff (18-4) took charge from the opening tap, getting first-quarter 3-pointers from Drake Coleman and four points from A.J. Adams to jump out to a 20-8 advantage after eight minutes. Bedford (12-9) would never get the lead under double digits for the rest of the way.
A 3 by Stars’ leading scorer Ason Hacker cut the deficit to 27-17 around the three-minute mark of the second period, but that’s when Clark really got going. He stole the ball and raced downcourt for a one-handed dunk that began a 9-2 Jeff run to close he half.
Clark then followed the jam with a layup in transition an acrobatic move in the lane for a 33-19 Jeff lead, then passed to a wide-open Sean Fisher for a 3 that just beat the halftime buzzer and sent Jeff into the locker room ahead 36-19.
“We were ready to play tonight,” said LaGrange. “We showed a lot of energy, particularly on the defensive end. We wanted to lock them down in the half court and not give up any easy buckets.”
When a 3 from Andy Webb again pulled the Stars to within 12, Clark and senior Edward Wright-Baker again turned them back. Wright-Baker scored five straight points, Coleman scored in the lane and then Clark hit a mid-range jumper to complete another big Jeff scoring run and make it 47-30 heading into the final eight minutes.
The margin gave LaGrange a chance to bench his starters for much of the final period and give major minutes to reserves like Tevin Ewing and Dominique Catlett. While the rest may be beneficial against the Bulldogs, LaGrange is just happy to be back in the sectional title game as he was during his first season at the helm last year. Jeff and New Albany have met in the postseason each of the last four seasons, with the Bulldogs winning three.
“At this point, I don’t think we’re worried about how we win,” he said. “We’re just honored to be playing for the sectional championship.”
Coleman finished with 13 points for Jeff, while Adams had six points and pulled down 11 rebounds. Maschmeyer and Wright-Baker each added nine points.
New Albany-Jennings County
While the Bulldogs often get much of their scoring punch from their interior duo of Donnie Hale and Brett Martin, it just wasn’t necessary on Friday.
Chris Whitehead scored 22 points, TeNale Roland had 16 and all 12 Bulldogs that played found the scoring column in one of New Albany’s most complete wins of the season.
“There’s always that feat that you’re not going to be ready to play,” said New Albany coach Jim Shannon. “We prepared like we always do. We weren’t nervous at all, but I told them they’d better be nervous tomorrow.”
The Bulldogs (22-0) hit 11 3s on the night, three of them coming in the first 4:15, as New Albany ripped off the first 18 points of the game and led 25-6 after eight minutes.
Martin, who played despite suffering the flu, only played 10 minutes and Hale was hampered by foul trouble after picking up his second with two minutes left in the first period. They combined for just 12 points and 11 rebounds.
But Whitehead made sure it didn’t matter. The sophomore electrified throughout, also getting three steals, five assists and three rebounds. He delivered an acrobatic drive through the lane for a 33-17 Bulldog lead after the Panthers had crawled to within 14.
Roland followed with two 3s, one while falling out of bounds to push the margin back to 21, at 39-18, and New Albany led 41-20 at the half.
That’s as close as Jennings County (2-19) would get the rest of the way.
Roland and Whitehead combined to score nine of the first 11 points of the second half, while 3s from Whitehead and Tate Rohlfing pushed the lead to 63-28 and sent both Jennings County fans and those who stuck around from the first game heading for the exit.
The New Albany starters played sparingly the rest of the way, but that didn’t mean the offense didn’t keep coming. The Bulldogs got 3s from reserves Taylor Klein, Erik Winburn and Dylan McDaniel, while Christian Meyer pulled down five rebounds.
That means New Albany will be rested for their clash with Jeff and, if you listen to their coach, have good reason to be a little apprehensive.
“They have great athletes, quickness and guard play,” Shannon said. “It’s going to be a fabulous game.”
BEDFORD NL 8 11 11 9—39
JEFFERSONVILLE 20 16 11 11—58
Bedford North Lawrence (12-9) — Knight 6, Hacker 12, Bailey 2, Webb 7, Duncan 3, Pritchett 6, Butcher 0, Carrico 0.
Jeffersonville (18-4) — Adams 6, Coleman 13, Wright-Baker 9, Clark 14, Maschmeyer 9, Catlett 0, Fisher 5, Billups 0, Ewing 2.
Three-point field goals — Bedford North Lawrence 5 (Knight 2, Hacker, Butcher, Webb); Jeffersonville 6 (Coleman 3, Clark, Fisher, Maschmeyer).
Rebounds — Bedford North Lawrence 24 (Webb 6); Jeffersonville 30 (Adams 11).
Turnovers — Bedford North Lawrence 14, Jeffersonville 10.
JENNINGS CO. 6 14 14 20—54
NEW ALBANY 25 16 26 20—87
Jennings County (2-19) — Lawson 13, Smith 5, Webster 9, Eder 2, Barker 4, Kreutzjans 7, Amick 4, Castetter 8, Ross 2.
New Albany (22-0) — Whitehead 22, Roland 16, Hale 7, B. Martin 5, J. Martin 8, Toliver 1, Winburn 3, Klein 5, Rohlfing 9, McDaniel 5, Benson 4, Meyer 2.
Three-point field goals — Jennings County 6 (Lawson 2, Kreutzjans 2, Webster 2); New Albany 11 (Whitehead 2, Roland 2, J. Martin 2, Rohlfing 2, McDaniel, Klein, Winburn).
Rebounds — Jennings County 27 (Amick 6); New Albany 37 (Hale 6).
Turnovers — Jennings County 16, New Albany 13.
