By MATT CRESS
SEYMOUR — Even after 146 games, New Albany and Jeffersonville keep finding new ways to add to the lore of one of the state’s greatest basketball rivalries.
The two schools, just miles apart by apart by geography but worlds apart when it comes to Indiana’s favorite game, once again showed how magical it can be when they get together.
And an amazing individual performance, an unlikely comeback and high drama throughout were just part of the equation. The other part, of course, was a sectional title.
A raucous crowd at nearly-full Scott Gymnasium witnessed the Class 4A No. 2 Bulldogs win the championship of the Class 4A Seymour Sectional on Saturday night in the most satisfying way — with a 64-46 victory over the Red Devils. The win capped off New Albany’s recent dominance of the rivalry, as it won its sixth straight meeting and took a 74-72 lead in the overall series, at least as far as the Bulldogs know. Jeff’s records — going back to a disputed outcome from more than 70 years ago — now reflect the series as tied at 73.
New Albany (23-0) will move on to next weekend’s Seymour Regional, where it will play in another dream matchup against No. 1 and fellow undefeated Bloomington South in the morning semifinal.
Though New Albany never trailed and seemed in control from the start, the Red Devils never backed down, even when Bulldog senior TeNale Roland showed little reverence for the history of the series and tried to end things early.
Roland exploded over the first eight minutes. He scored the game’s first seven points, then followed with a tough bank shot in the lane and another 3 that made it 16-4. Roland finished with 14 points in the opening frame, a total it would take Jeff more than 10 minutes to eclipse.
“The rim looked really big, like the ocean,” said Roland, who was a freshman the last time Jeff beat New Albany — a double overtime victory also in the Seymour Sectional finals. “This was our big rival and we knew we had to come out playing hard.”
A 3 by Tate Rohlfing pushed New Albany’s lead to 18, at 26-8, in the first minute of the second quarter, but by then the seeds had already been sown for Jeff to rally, as the Devils discovered how to shut down Roland and Bulldog center Donnie Hale — keep them off the court.
Both Hale and Roland had been whistled for their second fouls in the final minute of the first quarter and it took little time for each of them to pick up a third. New Albany was forced to play the final 5:04 of the first half without their top offensive threats.
“I thought we were in pretty good shape at the half,” said New Albany coach Jim Shannon. “We thought the game was still in our hands. When you play the second quarter without two of your best players, people are going to make a run at you.”
The Red Devils (18-5) crawled back slowly at first and still trailed by 15 after a Kegan Clark free throw with 3:16 left before intermission. But the comeback picked up steam in the final 2:20, when a three-point play by reserve Tevin Ewing and back-to-back 3s by Edward Wright-Baker and Drake Coleman shocked the Jeff crowd back to life and made it 31-25 heading into intermission.
“I thought it was a gutsy effort for us to stay in the game,” said Jeff coach Tim LaGrange, whose team fell to the Bulldogs in last year’s sectional final as well. “I thought it was miraculous that we got to within six at halftime and I think it took a lot out of us to get there.”
A basket by A.J. Adams, who took it right at the 6-foot-7 Hale, got Jeff as close as it would get, making it 31-27 with 7:15 left in the third quarter. That seemed to be the trigger, as New Albany responded by outscoring its rival 15-7 over the rest of the period, and an acrobatic driving layup by Roland restored New Albany’s double-digit cushion.
The lead stayed at 10 for much of the final quarter, but Jeff missed several chances — particularly when Hale finally fouled out with more than five minutes remaining — to make its move. Though New Albany went just 16-of-26 from the foul line for the night, the Bulldogs hit enough free throws to finally put things away and Brett Martin’s huge dunk with 1:12 to go put the exclamation point on one of New Albany’s most dominant periods in the series with its natural rival.
Roland finished with a game-high 20 points to lead New Albany, while Hale and Martin — held to a combined 12 points in Friday’s semifinal win over Jennings County — added 12 and 11 points, respectively.
Adams and Wright-Baker each scored 12 points for Jeff. It was a fitting final sendoff for Wright-Baker and fellow seniors Sean Fisher and Tevin Ewing, who helped lead the program back to success after it had struggled the past two seasons in the transition between Jimmy Just and LaGrange, who will have a long list of talented returnees next season led by Adams, Clark, Coleman and Evan Maschmeyer.
“I’m just thankful to have had three kids who are such good people,” LaGrange said. “They have been coachable, humble and that makes it all enjoyable.
“I’m proud of the way our kids played throughout the year. I think we got better and better as the year went on. We just came up short tonight.”
Jeff, which may or may not have fallen behind in the overall series, still leads the postseason series with New Albany 29-27.
It’s doubtful, however, that the Bulldogs are concerned about such things with nationally-ranked Bloomington South waiting in the wings — just as it has been in the minds of fans all season long..
“I think people felt all year long that if things worked out like they were supposed to on paper that it would come down to No. 1 and No. 2, both undefeated,” Shannon said. “That’s what everybody anticipated would happen, although believe me the coaches were never counting on it.
“It’s going to an absolute dandy. We’ll start preparing tomorrow.”
CLASS 4A SEYMOUR SECTIONAL
Final
JEFFERSONVILLE 8 17 9 12—46
NEW ALBANY 23 8 15 18—64
Jeffersonville (18-5) — Coleman 5, Adams 12, Clark 6, Maschmeyer 5, Wright-Baker 12, Fisher 2, Ewing 4, Catlett 0.
New Albany (23-0) — Whitehead 9, Hale 12, J. Martin 7, B. Martin 11, Roland 20, Rohlfing 3, Winburn 0, Benson 2.
Three-point field goals — Jeffersonville 3 (Wright-Baker 2, Coleman); New Albany 4 (Roland 2, Rohlfing, J. Martin).
Rebounds — Jeffersonville 41 (Clark 9); New Albany 30 (Hale 7).
Turnovers — Jeffersonville 15, New Albany 9.
