By GREG MENGELT

Jeff (1-1) opened its season Friday with a 61-47 come-from-behind victory over Evansville North before dropping a 74-50 decision against Cincinnati Walnut Hills (2-1) at the BodyArmor Showcase at Charlestown on Saturday evening.

Floyd Central (2-0) and Silver Creek (2-1) received votes in the poll. After opening the season with a win at Meade County (Ky.), the Highlanders remained unbeaten with a 64-60 overtime win over Evansville Harrison on Saturday at the University of Southern Indiana. The defending Class 3A champion Dragons took their first loss of the season, 52-35 at Columbus North on Friday.

Zionsville (4-0), which beat both No. 6 Westfield (2-1) and New Albany (2-2) in overtime this weekend, is the new No. 1. Previous No. 1 Cathedral (3-1) dropped to No. 2 after a 60-53 defeat at the hands of Brush (Ohio).

Zionsville got 15 of the 20 first-place votes. Cathedral got the other five. The rest of the top 10 is, in order, Lawrence North (3-0), Homestead (3-1), Tech (3-0), Westfield, Fishers (4-0), Carmel (2-2), Brebeuf (2-1) and Bloomington North (2-0). Bloomington South (3-0) is No. 11.

INDIANA BASKETBALL COACHES POLL
Rank, School (1st place votes) Record

1. Zionsville (15) 4-0, 2. Cathedral (5) 3-1, 3. Lawrence North 3-0, 4. Homestead 3-1, 5. Indianapolis Tech 3-0, 6. Westfield 2-1, 7. Fishers 4-0, 8. Carmel 2-2, 9. Brebeuf 2-1, 10. Bloomington North 2-0, 11. Bloomington South 3-0, 12. Mishawaka Marian 3-0, 13. Valparaiso 3-0, 14. North Central 2-1, 15. Jeffersonville 1-1, 16. Ben Davis 2-2, 17. Warren Central 1-2, 18. Linton-Stockton 4-0, 19. Crispus Attucks 2-2, 20. Leo 4-0.

Others receiving votes: Anderson 3-0, Barr-Reeve 3-1, Beech Grove 3-0, Central Noble 3-0, Chesterton 2-0, Connersville 4-0, Evansville Reitz 1-0, Floyd Central 2-0, Fort Wayne Blackhawk 2-0, Fort Wayne Snider 1-0, Franklin Central 2-1, Gary 21st Century 3-0, Greensburg 2-0, Northwood 3-0, Penn 3-0, Pike 1-1, Silver Creek 2-1.

NOTE: Records as of Sunday.

By GREG MENGELT

Silver Creek continues to climb in the Indiana Basketball Coaches Association poll, which was released Sunday.

After an impressive weekend, the Dragons (9-0) jumped from 12th to No. 9 in the latest single-class poll. On Friday, Silver Creek went to Bowling Green, Kentucky, for a 53-49 win over the fifth-ranked Purples then drove to Evansville to beat North 46-39 at the University of Southern Indiana.

Three Hoosier Hills Conference teams made the poll. Bedford North Lawrence (8-1) dropped from fourth to fifth after a 1-point loss to Fremd (Ill.). Columbus East (8-1) moved up to No. 11, while Jennings County (7-2) received votes.

Salem (5-2) fell out of the poll for the first time despite winning 55-39 at Paoli in its only game last week.

Crown Point (9-1) remains in the top spot with Noblesville (9-0), South Bend Washington (10-1), Franklin (10-0) and BNL rounding out the top 5.

INDIANA BASKETBALL COACHES POLL
Rank, School (1st place votes) Record

1. Crown Point 9-1 (11), 2. Noblesville 9-0 (8), 3. South Bend Washington (1) 10-1, 4. Franklin 10-0, 5. Bedford North Lawrence 8-1, 6. Homestead 6-1, 7. Fishers 8-1, 8. North Central 7-3, 9. Silver Creek 9-0, 10. Zionsville 7-2, 11t. Lake Central 8-1, 11t. Columbus East 8-1, 13. Mishawaka Marian 7-2, 14. Penn 7-3, 15. Westfield 7-2, 16. East Central 5-1, 17t. Benton Central 8-0, 17t. Carmel 5-3, 19. Valparaiso 8-0, 20. Columbia City 9-0.

Others receiving votes: East Chicago Central 3-4, Fairfield 9-0, Fort Wayne Northrop 4-1, Fort Wayne Snider 5-2, Garrett 7-1, Hamilton Southeastern 5-4, Jac-Cen-Del 8-0, Jennings County 7-2, Lowell 8-1, Mishawaka 3-3, Northridge 6-2, Norwell 8-1, South Central (Union Mills) 8-0, Triton Central 7-1, Vincennes Rivet 6-0, Waldron 8-0, Washington 7-1, Winchester 7-0.

NOTE: Records as of Sunday.

By GREG MENGELT

LOUISVILLE — Twelve different Bellarmine players scored as the Knights improved to 3-6 on the season with a 92-43 victory over Division III Defiance (Ohio) on Sunday at Freedom Hall.

Five Knights were in double figures, including former Providence star Juston Betz, who went 5 for 5 from the field and grabbed 8 rebounds in the victory. Senior guard Dylan Penn (Evansville) finished with 15 points, 7 assists, 5 rebounds and 2 steals. Freshman forward Curt Hopf (Montgomery) contributed 14 and senior guard CJ Fleming (Cincinnati) and junior forward Sam DeVault (Evansville) scored 11 apiece.

Junior guard Avonte Jones scored 7 points to lead the Yellow Jackets (3-4).

Bellarmine, which has won three of its last four games after an 0-5 start, led 40-27 at halftime. The Knights host Asbury (Ky.) on Thursday evening at Freedom Hall. The 4-6 after Saturday’s 78-71 win over Boyce (Ky.).

By GREG MENGELT

ST. LOUIS — Former New Albany star Sean East scored a game-high 28 points and Floyd Central grad Cobie Barnes scored 10 as John A. Logan defeated Moberly 76-72 on Sunday at St. Louis Community College.

East, who helped lead New Albany to the 2016 state championship, was 12 for 14 from the free throw line as the fifth-ranked Volunteers improved to 10-1 on the season.

Cam Alford had 12 points for Logan, which led 39-35 at the half. Jimmy Bell had 16 points and 17 rebounds to lead Moberly (7-5).

The Volunteers face Olney Central (6-2) on Wednesday at 7 p.m.

By GREG MENGELT

Like in Friday’s season opener, the Red Devils fell behind early against Cincinnati powerhouse Walnut Hills (2-1). This time, however, they weren’t unable to mount a comeback like in Friday’s 61-47 victory over Evansville North.

Instead, 6-foot-8 junior Tyler McKinley and the Eagles were too much for Jeff in a 74-50 blowout at the BodyArmor Showcase at the Charlestown Sports Arena.

In Friday’s win, Jeff had just 16 points at halftime. In Saturday’s loss, the Devils scored just 9 points in the first 16 minutes.

“I knew it was going to be a challenge coming in,” Jeff coach Andrew Grantz said. “(Walnut Hills is) a very, very good team. …

The 11th-ranked Red Devils were without star and Drake recruit Will Lovings-Watts for the second straight game. Following the game, Grantz simply said “no comment” when asked about Lovings-Watt’s situation, including how long he would be out.

All Grantz said about the situation was, “Not having Will hurts a lot.”

Jeffersonville trailed 23-8 after one quarter and 29-9 at the break. Jeff’s lone second-quarter point came on a free throw from freshman Tre Singleton.

“When you look at our team — and this is what we’re trying to get across to our guys — besides Brandon (Rayzer-Moore) and Kobe (Stoudemire), we have a group that didn’t play much last year. Last night was their first varsity game and tonight was their second varsity game, going up against a really, really good Walnut Hills team. … We’ve got to have a growth mindset early, especially being a little shorthanded, but these experiences for these guys early I still think will help us get to where we need to be at the end of the year. … These guys need to go through the fire a little bit.”

The Eagles outscored the Red Devils 24-18 in the third quarter for an insurmountable 53-28 advantage, but Jeff showed some fight in the fourth quarter, led by freshmen Singleton, PJ Douglas, Shawn Boyd, Michael Cooper and Ray Laird.

Laird, Singleton, Boyd and Douglas combined for 17 points in the second half. Douglas finished with 8 points and Singleton had 6 for Jeff, which scored almost half of its points in the fourth quarter (23 of 50).

“The freshmen stepped up,” Grantz said. “I thought PJ Douglas was fantastic as far as getting the ball in the areas we needed to get the ball to. The other freshmen, too, they’ve stepped up. I’ve been impressed with them. ”Their big thing is just the consistency of that every day. That comes with maturity. And then also being able to carry that over to play at the high school varsity level vs. middle school level. That’s a big jump. I know they’re ready for it. Just looking for consistency.”

Grantz said playing time is there for the taking for his talented freshman crew.

“My philosophy is if those guys show up every single day and they’re doing what I’m asking them to do, there’s always minutes (available),” Grantz said of his freshman class. “I’m not a coach who predetermines lineups. … I don’t give playing time. Players take playing time. There’s opportunities for No. 1 through No. 30 in our program.”

Jeff took an early 3-2 lead on a 3-point play by senior Rayzer-Moore. Rayzer Moore, who scored 33 points to lead Friday’s comeback win, scored the Devils’ first 6 points, but Walnut Hill closed the quarter on a 21-5 run.

Jeff was even more out of sorts offensively in the second quarter. The Devils didn’t make a basket and missed open shots and layups throughout the period.

McKinley, who sat out more than 7 minutes in the second quarter in foul trouble, returned in the third to score 8 more points. The junior star, who’s being recruited by the likes of Cincinnati, Kansas State and South Carolina, finished with a game-high 20. Senior Owen Murray went 4 for 4 from behind the 3-point line in the third period for 12 of his 15 points.

Senior Kobe Stoudmire and Rayzer-Moore scored 10 points apiece to lead Jeff.

The Red Devils look to get back on track Friday when they go to the famed Lloyd E. Scott Gymnasium — the site of the 4A sectional and regional — to take on 3-1 Seymour. The Owls already have road wins at Columbus North and Franklin. Their only loss came in double overtime against country-rival Brownstown Central.

It’s Jeff’s Hoosier Hills Conference opener.

“Our big thing is we try to take everything one at a time,” Grantz said.

By GREG MENGELT

EAST LANSING, Mich. — Michigan State jumped out to an early lead and handed Kooper Jacobi and the Toledo Rockets an 81-68 defeat Saturday at the Breslin Center in East Lansing.

Jacobi, a freshman and former Silver Creek star, scored 3 points in 13 minutes off the Toledo (6-2) bench. He was 1 for 4 from the floor and also had two rebounds and a steal.

Jacobi’s points came on a 3-point play early in the contest and gave Toledo an early 9-7 lead. The 22nd-ranked Spartans (7-2) outscored the Rockets 36-13 the rest of the first half for a 43-23 halftime edge.

Toledo got as close as 9 points — at 64-55 — after a jumper by junior forward Setric Milliner Jr. with 6:19 left. Sophomore guard Ryan Rolllins led the Rockets with 21 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals and a blocked shot. Milliner added 17 points and 6 boards.

Michigan State had five players in double figures, led by freshman guard Max Christie’s 14 points. The Spartans held Toledo to 4 of 24 (16.7 percent) from outside the 3-point arc.

Toledo’s next 10 games can be seen either at ESPN Plus or ESPN3. That stretch starts with a 7 p.m. tipoff Tuesday at home against Bradley. The Braves are 4-5 and are currently riding a 3-game winning streak. They beat SIU Edwardsville 80-55 on Saturday.

Jacobi and the Rockets can be seen taking on Bradley on ESPN Plus.