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  • New Albany senior A.J. Schmidt is fouled by Jasper's Ben Mundy on Saturday night during the second quarter inside the Doghouse. Staff photo by Kevin McGloshen

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  • New Albany junior Louis Donastorg reaches for a rebound that is grabbed by Jasper's Bun Mundy on Saturday night. Staff photo by Kevin McGloshen

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  • New Albany's A.J. Schmidt battles for the ball with Jasper's Nick Gobert during the second quarter Saturday night. Staff photo by Kevin McGloshen

    01-30 NA-J BBall3.w.jpg

  • With the game paused with 2:27 remaining on the clock in the second quarter, a New Albany fan is taken from the sidelines on a stretcher following a collision with a Jasper player. Staff photo by Kevin McGloshen

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January 29, 2012

H.S. BOYS' BASKETBALL: Bulldogs bounce back

One night after losing to Evansville North, New Albany thumps Jasper, 82-39

BY JON REITER sports@newsandtribune.com

NEW ALBANY — A night after it seemingly couldn’t do anything right in a home loss to Evansville North, the New Albany boys’ basketball squad rebounded in a big way, routing visiting Jasper 82-39 at the Doghouse on Saturday night.

“Last night, I couldn’t think of one individual who had a good game for us,” New Albany coach Jim Shannon said. “Tonight, there were so many people who contributed for us that I’d have a hard time not leaving someone out.”

The Bulldogs (9-5) were led by senior guard A.J. Schmidt, who exploded for a season-high 34 points, 24 of which came in a first half in which New Albany captured a 34-25 lead.

Schmidt missed his first three shots from the field, but then made eight of his next 10, including seven 3-point goals in the first half to notch 24 points before intermission.

“He played great,” Shannon said. “He shot the ball really well, gave us some good leadership on the court, made good decisions with the basketball and played some pretty good defense. Great effort by him.”

Following the 61-47 loss to North Friday, Shannon shook his lineup up a bit, inserting Louis Donastorg in for Anthony Edwards in the starting lineup at center and playing junior varsity call-ups Dustin Cochran and Jeff Byrne extensively throughout the second and third quarters.

Byrne nailed his first two 3-point attempts for his six points in the second quarter, and Cochran’s ballhandling and defense helped spark the Bulldog attack, Shannon said. And Edwards, who Shannon said has played passively at times throughout the year, was a beast in his 2 1/2 quarters of play, scoring 12 points and grabbing eight rebounds.

“Sometimes you just have to change things up a little bit,” Shannon said. “We didn’t start Anthony tonight, and for all intents and purposes, I thought he finally woke up. He was getting rebounds, following up missed shots — I thought he played really, really well.”

Senior standout guard Caleb Begle scored 21 points for the Wildcats (8-5). But he had little help from his teammates, none of whom scored more than five points.

As impressively as New Albany, behind Schmidt, shot the ball, its most impressive takeaway from Saturday night’s win might have been its defense.

Two free throws from Begle with 2:10 remaining in the third quarter made the score 49-34 New Albany. The Bulldog defense then held Jasper scoreless over the next eight minutes, notching 26 unanswered points in response to stymie the Wildcats.

“As good of a player as Begle is, I don’t think he was getting a lot of help,” Shannon said. “He is really a nice player. But he had to do too much and we were able to take advantage of that.”

The game was paused at the 2:19 mark of the second quarter following an incident where a Jasper player, going after a loose ball on New Albany’s side of the court, knocked an elderly fan sitting courtside out of his wheelchair onto the Doghouse floor.

There was no word on the man’s condition, although he was alert and talking to EMS workers who were attending to him at the scene.

New Albany will next hit the road to face rival Providence this coming Friday in the first of three consecutive road games for the Bulldogs.



JASPER     7 18  9  5—39

NEW ALBANY    10 24 20 28—82

Jasper (8-5) — Nixon 4, Begle 21, Sermersheim 2, Mundy 2, Messier 2, Rohleder 5, Bies 3, Giesler 0, Gobert 0. 

New Albany (9-5) — McBirth 4, A. Schmidt 34, Parrish 10, Arnold 6, Cochran 3, Byrne 6, Edwards 12, King 3, Peyton 4, B. Schmidt 0, Donastorg 0. 

3-point field goals — Jasper 3 (Begle 2, Bies); New Albany 12 (A. Schmidt 8, Cochran, Byrne 2, King).

Rebounds — Jasper 18 (Giesler 5); New Albany 24 (Edwards 7).

Turnovers — Jasper 14, New Albany 8.

Free throws — Jasper 10-10, New Albany 18-18.

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