By GREG MENGELT

BOSTON — Former New Albany star Romeo Langford re-entered the Boston Celtics’ rotation Wednesday and scored 11 points in 18 minutes.

It wasn’t enough as the Celtics dropped a 111-102 decision against the Charlotte Hornets (25-20) knocked off Boston 111-102 at TD Garden.

Langford went 4 for 7 from the field, including 1 of 3 from behind the 3-point arc, and had a rebound and an assist in the loss. He led the Celtics’ bench in scoring. The Hornets’ bench outscored Boston’s 35-26.

The Celtics, who were led by Dennis Schroder’s 24 points, are now 23-23 and in ninth place in the Eastern Conference standings. Charlotte’s Terry Rozier led all players with 28 points and with 10 rebounds.

The Celtics host Portland (18-26) on Sunday at 7:30 p.m. in their next outing.

By GREG MENGELT

LEXINGTON, Ky. — Hanover couldn’t miss in the first half and ran past Transylvania (Ky.) for another Heartland Conference road victory. The win is the Panthers’ fifth straight.

Senior guard Isaac Hibbard (New Albany) and sophomore forward Matt Munoz (Indianapolis/Southport) scored 16 points apiece for the Panthers, who shot 53.3 percent from the field and made 7 of their 12 3-points attempts in the first 20 minutes, in the 74-62 victory.

Hanover, which led 40-26 at the half, is now 12-2 overall and 8-1 in the HCAC, two games ahead of second-place Anderson and Manchester.

Hibbard went 6 for 10 from the field, including 2 of 2 from deep, and also led the Panthers with seven assists. Junior forward Ty Houston (Union, Ky./Cooper) added 15 points and sophomore guard Max Greenamoyer (Zionsville/University) finished with 14 in the victory.

Former Christian Academy standout Noah Williams scored three points in 6 minutes off the Hanover bench.

For Transylvania (8-6, 3-4), senior forward Zach Larimore (La Grange, Ky./Oldham County) had 17 points and freshman forward Hunter Penn (Versailes, Ky./Woodford County) had 15 in defeat.

The Panthers go to Bluffton (5-8, 1-5) on Saturday. Tipoff is scheduled for 4 p.m. from Bluffton, Ohio.

By GREG MENGELT

LOUISVILLE — Senior guard Dylan Penn had a game-high 20 points and senior wing had his first double-double of the season as the Bellarmine Knights improved to 4-0 in the Atlantic Sun Conference with a 68-60 win over visiting North Alabama at Freedom Hall.

Betz, a former Providence standout and New Albany native, scored a season-high 14 points and grabbed 10 rebounds (one short of his season best). Betz played the entire 40 minutes and went 3 for 6 from the field and 8 of 10 at the free throw line. He also had a pair of assists.

Penn was 7 for 12 from the floor and 6 of 8 at the foul line and had two rebounds, two assists and two blocked shots for the Knights, who have won four in a row to improve to 10-8. The Knights are tied atop the Atlantic Sun standings with Jacksonville State (11-6, 4-0 A-Sun) and Liberty (13-6, 4-0).

Senior guard CJ Fleming scored 10 points and senior forward Ethan Claycomb scored nine of the Bellarmine bench. Freshman guard Daniel Ortiz scored 15 to lead the Lions, who fall to 8-10 overall and 1-4 in conference play.

The Knights will try to make it 5-0 in league play Saturday when they host Jacksonville (11-5, 3-1), which has won four of its last five games. Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. and the contest can be seen at ESPN Plus.

By GREG MENGELT

TOLEDO, Ohio — Kooper Jacobi scored five points and the Toledo Rockets won for the fourth time in five games, 83-70 over visiting Ball State at Savage Arena, to improve to 14-4 overall and 6-1 in the MAC.

Jacobi, a freshman and former Silver Creek standout, went 2 for 4, including connecting on his only 3-point attempt. He also had a rebound.

The Rockets led by just a point with 19 minutes left, but they outscored Ball State 39-20 over the next 10 minutes. Jacobi’s 3-pointer came with 11:22 remaining and put Toledo ahead 64-60.

The Rockets were again led by sophomore guard Ryan Rollins, who had a game-best 24 points to go along with 10 rebounds and seven assists. Junior forward JT Shumate finished with 16 points and junior forward Setric Millner Jr. 15 in the victory.

Freshman Payton Sparks (Winchester) paced the Cardinals with 17 points. Ball State (7-10, 2-4) has lost three straight and four of its last five.

On Friday evening, the Rockets face the only Mid-American Conference team hotter than they are. Ohio (14-2, 5-0) welcomes Toledo at 6 p.m. The Bobcats have won eight straight overall. The game can be seen on CBS Sports Network.

By GREG MENGELT

BOISE, Idaho — Former Floyd Central star Jake Heidbreder scored three points and his Air Force Falcons dropped a 62-56 decision at Boise State in a Mountain West contest Tuesday evening at ExtraMile Arena.

Air Force (8-7, 1-3 MWC) led 31-30 with 17:55 left to play. An 18-7 Bronco run was interrupted by a 3-point play by Heidbreder — the freshman’s only scoring — with 10:22 left in the contest. However, Boise State (13-4, 4-0) completed a 25-11 run to pull away for its 10th straight win.

Heidbreder finished the contest 1 for 5 and had three assists and a rebound. The Falcons were led by junior forward Nikc Jackson, who set his season-high for the second straight game. He finished with 17 points and six rebounds off the Air Force bench.

Boise State was led by Tyson Degenhart’s game-best 19 points.

Air Force hosts UNLV on Thursday in a makeup game. Tipoff is set for 9 p.m.

By GREG MENGELT

 

Josten Carter had a pair of big games to help New Albany go 2-0 last week.

Carter scored 42 points and grabbed 17 rebounds as the Bulldogs beat Southwestern 59-48 on Tuesday and Scottsburg 58-38 on Saturday.

Carter contributed 22 points, five assists, four rebounds and two steals to the win at Southwestern, then put up 20 points, 13 rebounds, three assists and two steals in the home victory over Scottsburg.

Carter and the 6-5 Bulldogs go to Silver Creek (6-7) on Friday and hosts Evansville Reitz on Saturday (6-4).

WEEK’S TOP PERFORMERS
• Casey Kaelin, Providence: Kaelin finished with 13 points, four rebounds, two assists and a steal and had several deflections and played all-around solid defense in the Pioneers’ 48-45 win over Jeffersonville.