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January 7, 2012

BOYS' BASKETBALL: New Albany trounces Reitz, 57-40

Edwards, Schmidt lead way for Bulldogs

By JON REITER sports@newsandtribune.com

NEW ALBANY —  

One night after falling to archrival Jeffersonville at The Doghouse, the New Albany boys’ basketball team faced another challenge from the visiting Evansville Reitz Panthers at home on Saturday. 

The Bulldogs responded by notching an impressive 57-40 win over a solid Reitz (5-5) ballclub. 

“I thought they came out tonight and played with a pretty good sense of urgency,” said New Albany (5-5) coach Jim Shannon of his club. “They weren’t pouting about losing a close game last night — I thought they played with enough emotion to carry them through, and I thought we played a pretty good ballgame.”

Senior guard A.J. Schmidt and junior forward Anthony Edwards provided the spark early for the Bulldogs, who led 26-19 at halftime. 

Schmidt scored 12 of his 17 points before intermission, and Edwards was a human vacuum cleaner beneath the basket, grabbing nine of his 12 rebounds. 

Edwards did have difficulty finishing around the basket, however, and only converted 2-of-8 shots in the first half, some of which came on offensive rebounds and putbacks. 

But the 6-4 junior was solid in the second half, making 7-of-9 attempts and finishing the contest with 19 points and 12 boards. He also added three steals, one of which resulted in a resounding one-handed breakaway dunk that gave the Bulldogs their first double-digit lead of the night, 34-23 with four minutes remaining in the third quarter. 

“I think early we weren’t going into him as much, and we started getting him the ball in the second half,” Shannon said. “He’s a kid who is going to get more confidence as he gets more touches.” 

Schmidt’s 17 points came on 7-of-15 shooting from the field, and the 6-0 guard also finished as New Albany’s second-leading rebounder with six boards. 

The Panthers, playing in a typically tough Evansville region, were kind of an unknown to New Albany coming into last night’s game, and off the emotion of Friday night, that made preparing for the matchup somewhat difficult. 

But Shannon was pleased with the result. Reitz had no one score in double figures and were led by Cameron Liley’s nine points. New Albany’s defense also forced 18 turnovers from the Panthers and the Bulldogs outrebounded them 34-22. 

“I was very pleased with the way we bounced back after last night, and all things considered thought we played a pretty good ballgame,” he said. 

 

EV. REITZ          8 11   7 14—40 

NEW ALBANY 8 18 13 18—57

Evansville Reitz (5-5) — Levels 6, Schuetz 8, Sanford 3, Schapker 6, Malone 3, Summers 5, Liley 9. 

New Albany (5-5) — B. Schmidt 0, Edwards 19, A. Schmidt 17, Parrish 2, McBirth 6, Arnold 3, Peavler 2, King 8. 

Turnovers — Reitz 18, New Albany 10. 

3-point field goals — Reitz 4 (Sanford, Liley 3). New Albany 4 (A. Schmidt, Arnold, McBirth 2). 

Rebounds — Reitz 23 (Levels 7), New Albany 34 (Edwards 12).   

Free throws — Reitz 4-7, New Albany 5-12. 

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