By GREG MENGELT
The defending sectional champions were 5-9 heading into Wednesday night’s rivalry game at New Albany, but the Red Devils put together their best performance of the season in a 70-58 victory at the Doghouse.
“We feel like we’re starting to turn a corner now,” said Jeffersonville senior Kobe Stoudemire. “We’re playing way better than we were. Getting this win was huge because last year they beat us at home. So it felt good to get a win here.”
Jeff (6-9, 3-3 HHC) is now 83-80 all-time against the Bulldogs. The Red Devils have also won back-to-back games at New Albany for the first time in over 25 years.
“Tonight I thought we improved from last time,” Jeffersonville head coach Andrew Grantz said. “The big thing has just been communicating and trusting each other. … We still have a long way to go. We still have a lot of stuff to clean up. We still have a lot of time to make up that we’ve missed. What I’m really proud of these guys of is that all the craziness we’ve been through so far, that they’ve continued to stay committed. … Last week was the first week that we had a full week (of practice) since November and they came in every day with an attitude to improve every day and that’s all you can ask.”
The rest of the Sectional 15 field probably hoped the Red Devils would never recover from their string of bad luck. Jeff has dealt with a suspension, an illness to its head coach, multiple Covid pauses, a couple of canceled games and multiple snow days in which they aren’t allowed to even practice.
“To me, the team they brought here tonight was a top-10 team,” New Albany coach Jim Shannon said. “I don’t care what’s happened in the rear view mirror. Out of the windshield, I saw a really good team tonight.”
In the first half, Jeff showed off its defense, holding New Albany star Tucker Biven to zero field goals and limiting the Bulldogs to 22 points on 8 of 21 shooting (38.1 percent).
In the second half, Jeff’s offense took over. The Red Devils were 10 for 12 from the field, including 3 of 5 on its 3-point attempts, with no turnovers in the third quarter when they outscored New Albany 27-17 to take control of the contest.
“I was very pleased with their mindset, their attitude tonight to continue to attack,” Grantz said of his squad. “Just happy with them playing to win instead in playing not to lose.”
Stoudemire had four assists in the first 4 minutes of the third quarter. He finished the period with six points on a pair of 3-pointers and with four assists. The Jeff senior, who began high school basketball playing at New Albany, finished with 12 points, six assists and six rebounds in his final game at the Doghouse.
“I was just seeing gaps in the defense and my guys were getting open and knocking down shots,” Stoudemire explained his explosion of assists early in the second half. “It was fun.”
Jeff took an early 14-7 lead thanks to six points from senior Will Lovings-Watts in the first period. However, New Albany senior Jayden Thompson hit a 3 at the first-quarter buzzer to cut the deficit to 14-10 after 8 minutes.
Stoudemire’s first 3 gave Jeff its largest lead at 20-12 with 4:55 left before halftime.
“Kobe Stoudemire’s been stepping up,” Grantz said. “He’s been staying and getting a lot of extra shots up after practice. That paid off for him.”
Junior wing Josten Carter’s fourth dunk of the first half got New Albany within 22-20, but a 3-pointer from Jeff senior Brandon Rayzer-Moore gave Jeff a 27-20 lead at the break.
New Albany trailed 54-39 after three quarters but got back within six at 62-56 after a Biven 3-pointer with 3:22 to go. Biven was quiet in the first half, but scored 16 and nailed four 3-pointers after intermission to keep his team in the game.
A 3-point play by Rayzer-Moore, who finished with 16 points, five rebounds, three assists and two steals, took back momentum for Jeff. A Rayzer-Moore dunk with 1:45 made the lead an insurmountable 67-56.
“Really hard to extend your defense against that team,” Shannon said. “They’re really athletic, quick. The Stoudemire kid’s highly intelligent. He did a nice job tonight running the floor, getting the ball where it needed to go and defending. You just have to take your hat off to the other team. They were better than we were tonight.”
Biven was the leader for New Albany (10-9, 2-3) in points with 18 and in rebounds with seven. Carter finished with 14 points, five rebounds and two assists and Thompson had 14 points and four boards. The Bulldogs, who are 7-4 at home this season, host Bedford North Lawrence (9-9, 1-4) on Friday before a trip to Evansville to face Central (7-12) on Saturday evening.
“Our kids fought really hard,” Shannon said. “We were in there, obviously, for a half. … It’s no embarrassment to lose to that team.”
Sophomore Brenton Moore had 11 points, all in the second half, and senior Isaiah Florence went 3 for 4 and added seven points for Jeff, which goes to Evansville for a game against Reitz (9-7) on Friday.
The Red Devils have won four of their last five games. A 3-point loss at Jennings County, one of the HHC’s top teams this season, is the only defeat in that span.
“We’ve won four of our last five. It started with Columbus East and we felt like we’ve kind of gotten better every game. Even with the loss to Jennings, we still felt we played better,” Grantz said.
JEFFERSONVILLE 70, NEW ALBANY 58
Jeffersonville 14 13 27 16—70
New Albany 10 12 17 19—58
Jeffersonville (6-9, 3-3 HHC): Tre Singleton 0-0 0-0 0, Will Lovings-Watts 10-17 2-3 22, Kobe Stoudemire 4-6 0-0 12, Isaiah Florence 3-4 0-0 7, Michael Cooper 0-1 2-4 2, Brandon Rayzer-Moore 6-10 2-2 16, Brenton Moore 4-4 2-2 11. Totals 27-42 8-11 70.
New Albany (10-9, 2-3): Josten Carter 4-9 6-8 14, Jeremy Rose 0-1 2-2 2, Tucker Biven 6-13 2-2 18, Chase Loesch 1-3 1-2 3, Jayden Thompson 6-13 0-0 14, Future Brooks 3-4 0-0 7. Totals 20-43 11-14 58.
3-point field goals: Jeffersonville 8-13 (Stoudemire 4-4, Rayzer-Moore 2-3, Moore 1-1, Florence 1-2, Lovings-Watts 0-2, Cooper 0-1); New Albany 7-20 (Biven 4-11, Thompson 2-6, Brooks 1-1, Rose 0-1, Loesch 0-1).
Rebounds: Jeffersonville 20 (Lovings-Watts 6, Stoudemire 6); New Albany 24 (Biven 7).
Assists: Jeffersonville 15 (Stoudemire 6); New Albany 5 (Carter 2).
Steals: Jeffersonville 5 (Lovings-Watts 3); New Albany 4 (Rose 2).
Blocked shots: Jeffersonville 4 (Rayzer-Moore 3); New Albany 2 (Thompson, Carter).
Turnovers: Jeffersonville 6, New Albany 7.
Personal fouls: Jeffersonville 8, New Albany 11.
Fouled out: None.
Technical fouls: None.
