By GREG MENGELT

BOSTON — Romeo Langford went scoreless in 25 minutes off the Boston bench and the Celtics couldn’t hold off visiting Philadelphia in a 108-103 loss Monday evening at TD Garden.

Langford, a former New Albany and Indiana University star, went 0 for 3 from the field and 0 for 2 from behind the 3-point arc. He did have a rebound and a blocked shot in the loss.

Joel Embiid had 41 points and Seth Curry finished with 26 — on just 14 field goal attempts — to help the 76ers improve to 16-15. The Celtics are now 15-16. Danny Green’s 3-pointer with 1:43 gave Philly a 99-98 lead. It was a lead the Sixers never relinquished. Boston turned the ball over on its next possession and Embiid scored 7 points in the final minute to seal the victory.

Jaylen Brown had a team-best 30 points for the Celtics, who had 18 turnovers and made just 7 of their 27 3-point attempts (25.9 percent) as they lost for the sixth time in their last eight games.

The Celtics outscored Philadelphia 46-22 in the paint, 10-9 in fast break points, 13-5 in second-chance points and 18-1 off the bench.

Langford and the Celtics host Cleveland (19-12) on Wednesday. That game can be seen locally on Bally Sports Ohio.

By GREG MENGELT

KALAMAZOO, Mich. — Hanover scored the first five points, jumped out to a 23-point halftime lead and eased its way to an 85-59 win to Kalamazoo and a 7-1 start to the season.

Four Panthers scored in double figures, eight scored at least five points and 12 different Hanover players reached the scoring column in the win. The Panthers made 33 of their 66 field goal attempts and 16 of their 36 3-pointers (44.4 percent) in the win. The out-rebounded the Hornets 41-32 and had just five turnovers.

Junior forward Ty Houston (Union, Ky./Cooper) and sophomore guard Max Greenamoyer (Zionsville/University) led the Hanover attack with 14 points apiece. Sophomore forward Max Munoz (Indianapolis/Southport) had 13 points and former New Albany star Isaac Hibbard had a double-double of 10 points and 11 rebounds. Hibbard, a senior, also had 6 assists in the victory.

Former Christian Academy standout Noah Williams had 6 points, 3 rebounds and an assists for Hanover.

Forty of Kalamazoo’s 59 points came from its bench. Freshman guard Nicholas Olmedo had 16 points and sophomore guard Gabriel Sharp had 10 off the Hornet bench. Kalamzoo is now 3-7 and has lost four straight.

Hanover stays on the road for an afternoon game at Olivet. The comets are 2-4 and have lost three in a row. The game is scheduled to tip at 3 p.m. from Olivet, Mich.

By GREG MENGELT

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. — Former New Albany star Josh Jefferson knocked down five 3-pointers to help Middle Tennessee defeat Coastal Carolina 84-80 at the Murphy Center on Sunday afternoon.

Jefferson, who helped New Albany win the 2016 state championship, was 6 for 10 from the field and 5 for 9 from behind the 3-point arc. The senior had 4 rebounds and 2 assists for the Blue Raiders, who improve to 9-3 on the season with the win.

“It was probably the most complete win we had all season,” Middle Tennessee head coach Nick McDevitt said. “It took everybody’s best effort. Any time you play a Cliff Ellis coached team, you’re going to face a team that’s tough. They’re physical around the basket, they’re one of the best teams in the country at offensive rebounds. They’re going to throw the book at you defensively, they switch up defenses a lot, try to trip you up, get your mind working fast and slow your feet down. I thought our guys did a nice job of playing physical and being alert mentally to what they were throwing at us.”

Middle Tennessee trailed early, but Jefferson’s first 3 pulled the Raiders to within 11-9 with 14:23 to go in the first half. Less than a minute later, Jefferson nailed another long ball to put his team ahead 13-12.

At the 11:35 mark, Jefferson made it 3 for 3 from deep and put the Raiders ahead 18-16. Middle Tennessee trailed 37-35 at the half, but Jefferson’s fourth 3-pointer gave the Raiders a 51-49 edge.

With 8:03 to go, Jefferson’s fifth 3-pointer put Middle Tennessee on top 64-59. The Chanticleers (7-4) got within 65-63 with 4:51 left, but back-to-back baskets by freshman guard Teafale Lenard and sophomore guard Camryn Weston pushed the lead to 70-63 with 4:04 remaining. Coastal Carolina’s Rudi Williams hit a 3-pointer with 2 seconds left, but two free throws by Middle Tennessee senior guard Donovan Sims sealed the victory.

“We all want the best for each other, everybody in the program from the coaches to the players,” Jefferson said. “So we’re playing our hearts out for each other, making the right decisions, and so far so good.”

Four Raiders scored in double figures. Freshman guard Justin Bufford had 12 points, Sims added 11 and sophomore guard Eli Lawrence had 10 for Middle Tennessee, which hit 12 3-pointers.

“I like everything that I’ve seen from our team so far,” McDevitt said. “We’ve shown the ability to win our home games, win neutral site games, now we’ve got to continue sneaking more wins on the road. I like the fact that we’re 6-0 at the Murphy Center. You have to do that to be towards the top of the conference. You have to win all your home games and you have find a way to sneak some out on the road.”

Williams, a senior guard, had a game-high 26 points for the Chanticleers, who entered the contest with a 3-game winning streak and had scored over 100 points in back-to-back games.

The Raiders, who have won six of their last eight games, go to Chattanooga on Wednesday night. Jefferson and the Blue Raiders can be seen battling the 9-3 Mocs at 7 p.m. on ESPN.

By GREG MENGELT

JONESBORO, Ark. — Host Arkansas State led essentially from start to finish Sunday in a 68-46 victory over Jake Heidbreder and the Air Force Falcons at First National Bank Arena.

After winning seven games in a row, Air Force (7-3) has now lost back-to-back games for the first time this season.

Heidbreder, a freshman and former Floyd Central star, finished with 5 points on 2 of 6 shooting. He had 6 rebounds and 3 assists in the loss. No Falcon scored more than 8 points and they shot just 32.1 percent from the field (18 of 56) and made just 6 of their 21 3-point attempts (28.6 percent).

Junior guard Camden Vander Zwaag came off the bench to lead Air Force with 8 points.

Freshman forward Norchad Omier had a game-high 22 points for the Red Wolves, who have won five of their last six games. The only loss came against No. 25 Texas Tech, 75-62 on Dec. 14.

Heidbreder and the Falcons go to Stephenville, Texas, to face Tarlton (4-8) on Tuesday. That game is schedule to tip at 8 p.m. and can be seen on ESPN Plus.

By GREG MENGELT

Jeffersonville came into the season with expectations of competing for sectional and regional titles and perhaps beyond.

So obviously a 1-3 start isn’t what the Red Devils had in mind. A 24-point loss to Walnut Hills (Ohio), a rare loss at Seymour and a rare home loss to Silver Creek could have a team in panic mode.

Andrew Grantz said Sunday evening that isn’t the case with his team.

Honestly, the Devils have been without its best player all season (senior Will Lovings-Watts could be back this week), they’ve been without their senior point guard (Kobe Stoudemire suffered an ankle injury against Seymour on Dec. 10 and his status for this week is unknown) and they’ve been without their head coach for more than a week (Grantz is expected to return to the Jeff sideline Monday after an illness kept him out last week), so it’s completely impossible to tell what the 2021-22 Red Devils really have.

“We’re not going to get caught up in our record,” Grantz said, noting the absences. “Any team in the state or country, or any team in college or the NBA, if it’s missing its best player, its head coach and its starting point guard, they’d be going through the same thing we are. The good thing is everyone is going to be back soon.”

With the loss to Seymour, competing for a Hoosier Hills Conference is likely out, but until we see what Jeff has when it has a complete unit, all the other goals for the season are still in front of the Devils.

“In the long run, I think this can be good for us,” Grantz said. “It’s given our younger guys an opportunity to really get some valuable minutes. I think that should pay off down the stretch. A lot of this has been out of our control. We’ve been talking about staying positive and using this as an opportunity to learn and grow. We’re not that far off from being 3-1 with those pieces missing. Those two players are huge pieces.”

Jeff will likely be shorthanded for at least part of this week’s MAC’s Childcare Christmas Classic at Louisville Western and Pleasure Ridge Park. The Devils will play the first two games at Western on Monday and Tuesday evenings with the final round Wednesday at PRP.

Jeff opens with Jeffersontown (Ky.) in Monday’s Hoosier Hills Hoops Game of the Night. The fact that J-Town is the opponent was news to Grantz until a couple of days ago. He had been given a bracket with DeSales as Monday’s opponent and the tournament host failed to inform him of the change until a couple days before the tournament is set to begin.

“I’ve spent the whole week scouting DeSales. Now I’m scrambling to find J-Town film,” Grantz said.

J-Town is 5-1 early in the season and already has an overtime win over Floyd Central, which appears to be Southern Indiana’s best team early in the season.

The Chargers have also beaten Fairdale, PRP and Trinity and are led by senior Will Vasser and sophomore Drae Vasser, who combine to average 28 points per game.

“I do know they’re going to be very aggressive and pressure full court and get in transition and get to the rim and get offensive rebounds,” Grantz said. “They’re going to try to do everything they can on the offensive end to put you on your heels. They’re going to try to jump on us early with pressure.”

Jeff will play either Western (7-1) or Manual (7-0) in Tuesday’s second round. The Red Devils will pay at 6 p.m. if they lose Monday or 7:30 if they win.

Grantz says he’ll try to attend Monday’s game but will likely take a back seat to his assistant coaches. Grantz says he returned to practice Saturday and was fatigued from his non-infectious health issue. Blake Snodgrass will continue to act as head coach.

“I’m going to go, but I’m going to act more like an assistant coach,” Grantz said. “The assistant coaches have been doing a fantastic job, but (the players) still miss that continuity of having the entire group together that’s been together for a year and a half now.”

MAC’s CHILDCARE CHRISTMAS CLASSIC
FIRST ROUND
Monday, Dec. 20
At Louisville Western
Game 1 — Jeffersonville (1-3) vs. Jeffersontown (Ky.), 6 p.m.
Game 2 — Louisville Western (7-1) vs. DuPont Manual (7-0), 7:30 p.m.
At Pleasure Ridge Park
Game 3 — St. Xavier (Ky.) (4-2) vs. Louisville Southern (4-1), 6 p.m.
Game 4 — Pleasure Ridge Park (5-1) vs. Louisville Waggener (3-3), 7:30 p.m.
SECOND ROUND
Tuesday, Dec. 21
At Louisville Western
Game 5 — Game 1 loser vs. Game 2 loser, 6 p.m.
Game 6 — Game 1 winner vs. Game 2 winner, 7:30 p.m.
At Pleasure Ridge Park
Game 7 — Game 3 loser vs. Game 4 loser, 6 p.m.
Game 8 — Game 3 winner vs. Game 4 loser, 7:30 p.m.
FINAL ROUND
Wednesday, Dec. 22
At Pleasure Ridge Park
7th place game — Game 5 loser vs. Game 7 loser, 3 p.m.
5th place game — Game 5 winner vs. Game 7 winner, 4:30 p.m.
Consolation game — Game 6 loser vs. Game 8 loser, 6 p.m.
Championship game — Game 6 winner vs. Game 8 winner, 7:30 p.m.

TODAY’S GAMES
MONDAY
GAME OF THE NIGHT
JEFFERSONVILLE (1-3) VS. JEFFERSONTOWN (KY.) (5-1)
• Time: 6 p.m.
• Event: MAC’s Childcare Holiday Classic, first round.
• Location: Louisville Western H.S. (2501 Rockford Lane, Louisville)
• Coaches:
Jeffersonville — Andrew Grantz (16-10 in second season at Jeff, 104-52 in seventh season overall)
Jeffersontown — Damien Anderson (Coaching record unavailable)
• Most recent game:
Jeffersonville — Lost to Silver Creek 72-59 (Dec. 17)
Jeffersontown — Defeated Christian Education Consortium 85-45 (Dec. 16)
• Last 20 years: First meeting.
• News & notes: Jeff will face either DuPont Manual (7-0) or the host Warriors (6-1) in Tuesday’s second round. If the Devils win Monday, they’ll play at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday. If they lose Monday, they’ll play at 6 p.m. Tuesday. The final round is Wednesday at Pleasure Ridge Park. Jeff will play at 3, 4:30, 6 or 7:30 p.m. Wednesday against either St. Xavier (4-2), Louisville Southern (4-1), Louisville Waggener (3-3) or the host Panthers (5-1). … The Red Devils were without head coach Andrew Grantz and star Will Lovings-Watts for Friday’s loss against Silver Creek. Grantz was out with a non-COVID illness and Lovings-Watts reportedly for breaking team rules. Both are expected to return soon. Lovings-Watts possibly as soon as Tuesday. … Not only was Jeff without Grantz and Lovings-Watts on Friday, senior guard Kobe Stoudemire was out with an ankle injury. … The Red Devils’ 1-3 mark is their worst through four games since 2014-15 when they went 8-14 under Matt Pait. … The Devils were outscored 24-14 in the fourth quarter by Silver Creek. … The Chargers are led in scoring by senior Will Vasser’s 14.2 points per game and sophomore Drae Vasser’s 13.8 per game. Senior guard Terrall Cleaves puts up 11.8 a night.
• Outlook: It’s been a struggle so far for the Red Devils and J-Town is pretty darn good.
• Greg’s pick: Jeffersontown 79, Jeffersonville 71.

By GREG MENGELT

Floyd Central and North Harrison were two of the 41 Indiana high school basketball teams to garner votes in the Indiana Basketball Coaches Association single-class poll, which was released Sunday.

No local team is in the top 20.

Floyd Central (5-1) had a big weekend with wins over rival Providence, 55-43 on Friday, and over Bloomington South, which was ranked No. 13 in last week’s poll, 47-40 on Saturday.

North Harrison (4-1) suffered its first loss, 63-62 in two overtimes at Brownstown Central on Friday. Brownstown (6-0) received votes after the big Mid-Southern Conference victory.

Zionsville (7-0) remains at No. 1 and received all 20 first-place votes. Defending 4A champion Carmel (6-2) moved up two spots to No. 2 after beating No. 16 North Central (5-2) 45-41 on Friday and New Albany (2-4) 36-24 on Saturday. Fishers (6-1), Valparaiso (7-0), Lawrence North (5-1), Homestead (6-2), Cathedral (5-2), Brebeuf (5-1), Westfield (3-2) and Chesterton (5-0) are the remainder of the top 10.

Regionally, only Bloomington North (5-1) at No. 11 and Linton-Stockton (7-0) at No. 15 made the top 20. Bloomington South dropped out of the top 20 but received votes after taking a 47-40 loss at Floyd Central on Saturday. Evansville Reitz (5-0), North Daviess (8-0) and South Spencer (6-0) also received votes.

INDIANA BASKETBALL COACHES POLL
Rank, School (1st place votes) Record
1. Zionsville (20) 7-0, 2. Carmel 6-2, 3. Fishers 6-1, 4. Valparaiso 7-0, 5. Lawrence North 5-1, 6. Homestead 6-2, 7. Cathedral 5-2, 8. Brebeuf 5-1, 9. Westfield 3-2, 10. Chesterton 5-0, 11. Bloomington North 5-1, 12. Indianapolis Tech 5-2, 13t. Ben Davis 5-2, 13t. Mishawaka Marian 7-1, 15. Linton-Stockton 7-0, 16. North Central 5-2, 17. Penn 7-0, 18. Connersville 7-0, 19. Central Noble 6-0, 20. Leo 6-1.
Others receiving votes: Anderson 4-1, Bloomfield 6-0, Bloomington South 4-3, Brownsburg 5-3, Brownstown Central 6-0, Crispus Attucks 4-5, Crown Point 6-1, Evansville Reitz 5-0, Floyd Central 5-1, Fort Wayne Blackhawk 5-0, Fort Wayne Snider 2-1, Glenn 7-0, Lafayette Jefferson 7-1, Lawrence Central 3-3, Mt. Vernon (Fortville) 4-1, North Daviess 8-0, North Harrison 4-1, NorthWood 7-0, Pike 4-1, South Spencer 6-0, Terre Haute North 6-0.

NOTE: Records as of Sunday.