By Justin Sokeland
WBIW.com
SEYMOUR – The second verse was the same as the first. This one hurt the most.
Just six days after stunning Bedford North Lawrence with a tardy comeback in the regular-season clash, New Albany did it again. Down and desperate, the Bulldogs hit the repeat button, erasing a stressful deficit with a devastating turnaround that ended BNL’s valiant performance and postseason in heartbreaking fashion.
Trailing by nine early in the fourth quarter, the Bulldogs escaped from their muzzles, chewing up BNL with a destructive burst. New Albany exploded for 30 fourth-quarter points while conquering the Stars 63-61 in the opening round of the Class 4A sectional on Tuesday night. With a brutal 18-0 run during a five-minute span, New Albany (16-7) earned its ticket to a semifinal rematch with Jennings County. BNL (13-9) was so close to a revenge victory, but couldn’t finish. He who hesitates is lost.
Down 47-38 with 6:17 left, New Albany applied maximum pressure, and the Stars backed off. Just like the first encounter, when the Bulldogs battled back from six points back in the final two minutes, turnovers were critical. Just like the last time, New Albany clutched momentum at the perfect time and carried it to the finish line. Deja vu, all over again.
“It’s almost eerie how similar that game was,” New Albany coach Jason Jones said, shaking his head in a little disbelief after surviving to advance. “We dig ourselves a hole. From the jump, until we took over, they were in control of the game.
“Our pressure flipped it again. Why we wait until we’re in dire straights to do that, I don’t know. Credit to our guys, they made the plays when they had to make them.”
After BNL’s Patric Matson made two free throws for the nine-point margin (which seems to be BNL’s postseason jinx the last two years), New Albany came storming back. Rylan Schrink and Chris Lampkins converted free throws, and reserve Braden Brewer – who saved the Bulldogs from a blowout with his third-quarter heroics – buried a trey. Lampkins powered through the lane for a bucket and 47-47 deadlock with 2:45 left.
After a turnover, Lampkins gave the Bulldogs their first lead since the end of the first quarter with a post-up bucket, and Jordan Treat turned a steal into a breakaway. Following BNL’s fifth turnover of the fourth quarter, Treat made one free throw, then Lampkins rebounded the second miss and drew another foul. He made both at the line, and Schrink capped the burst with a rebound and coast-to-coast romp for a 56-47 lead. Matson finally ended the blast with a deep three at 1:02, but the damage was irreversible. New Albany made seven free throws in the final minute to keep BNL from a miracle rally.
New Albany forced BNL out of sync when it made the move. The Stars got tentative, and paid the price.
“We weren’t looking to stall, we weren’t looking to be conservative,” BNL coach Kurt Godlevske said. “But that pressure and that trapping spaced us out and stopped us from the attacking mode. It made us really hesitant. It caught up with us.”
BNL dominated the middle quarters. While New Albany was targeting Matson (understandably after he torched the Bulldogs for a career-high 39 points in the first meeting) and Noah Godlevske with a triangle-and-two defense, others stepped up. Dax Short drilled a trey, Quincy Pickett stroked three in the first half. Once New Albany shifted back to man defense, Matson broke free for a 12-footer in the lane and a spinning baseline fade as BNL rumbled to a 24-17 halftime lead.
That advantage expanded to 12 when the Stars started the third quarter with Logan Miracle’s post bucket, Trace Rynders’ three-point play, and another Miracle shot in the lane for a 31-19 lead. At that point, New Albany had missed 13 straight bombs from the perimeter, its high-powered offense was in shambles.
Brewer saved the Dogs. He ended the slump with a trey, then hit two more. BNL responded with more Pickett precision. He got free for a layup when Godlevske drew a double-team trap, he buried his fourth trey, then started the fourth quarter by rebounding his own miss for a short-range basket. Isaiah Sasser’s layup off a sizzling Rynders pass gave BNL its last double-digit lead at 45-35.
“They had some kids that made plays, that don’t normally make plays,” Godlevske said. “But if you’re going to win in this type of environment, in this type of situation, you have to have some unusual things happen. For three quarters, we made the unusual happen.
“Quincy was terrific in doing what he does best, gave us a real lift and helped us build that lead.”
Pickett finished with a career-high 16 points, and Matson totaled 16. Rynders finished with 9. New Albany’s focused work against Godlevske on the perimeter paid off as BNL’s senior guard was limited to three free throws.
Schrink paced New Albany with 17 points, Lampkins totaled 15, Treat added 14, and Brewer had 12 (all on second-half treys). After all the misfires from deep, the Bulldogs hit six in the second half. They were also 16 of 21 at the line in the final frame.
“I wasn’t worried about missed shots,” Jones said. “I was worried about the effort, the body language, things you can control. Sometimes the ball goes in, sometimes it doesn’t. We told them to keep shooting. Just keep doing what we do. They didn’t lose faith or start pouting, pointing fingers. They made the plays.
“Then Brewer caught fire, that got us going. It’s easy to have energy and juice when the ball’s going in the basket. That was big.”
BNL suffered its third straight one-and-done postseason and is still seeking to end its title drought, which stretches back to 2001.
“We outplayed them for three quarters,” Godlevske said after consoling his team in a tearful locker room. “Losing in one quarter is a hard pill to swallow.”
Jeffersonville 45, Seymour 27 – In the first game, the Red Devils (16-7) avenged a regular-season loss in the rematch of Hoosier Hills Conference co-champions. Tre Singleton, who missed the first game (a 40-39 Seymour win on Dec. 8), paced Jeffersonville with 19 points.
Jeffersonville bolted to an early 13-4 lead and kept the Owls at arm’s length for a 24-16 edge at the half, then exploded with a 10-0 run to a 34-16 advantage midway through the third quarter.
Jaylan Johnson led the Owls (18-5) with 11 points as Seymour’s bid for a first sectional title since 1992 ended in the first round. Michael Cooper totaled 14 for the Devils. Jeffersonville will face Floyd Central (9-13) in the first semifinal on Friday night.
BEDFORD NL STARS (61)
3s FGs FTs R F Pts
10 Patric Matson, f 2-5 4-10 6-7 3 1 16
31 Logan Miracle, f 0-0 4-6 0-2 3 5 8
11 Noah Godlevske, g 0-4 0-6 3-3 3 3 3
1 Trace Rynders, g 1-3 2-5 4-5 4 1 9
12 Maddox Ray, g 0-0 0-1 0-0 1 1 0
22 Isaiah Sasser 0-0 1-3 2-2 4 5 4
3 Quincy Pickett 4-5 6-8 0-0 3 0 16
40 Kline Woodward 0-0 0-0 0-0 1 0 0
5 Dax Short 1-2 2-3 0-0 1 3 5
Totals 8-20 19-42 15-19 26 19 61
NEW ALBANY BULLDOGS (63)
3s FGs FTs R F Pts
22 Chris Lampkins, f 0-1 5-7 5-7 7 1 15
13 Rylan Schrink, f 0-5 4-11 9-10 5 2 17
25 Ben Seigel, f 0-2 0-3 0-0 1 2 0
3 Jordan Treat, g 2-4 4-7 4-6 3 2 14
4 Tre’von Redd, g 0-1 0-4 0-0 1 1 0
2 T.J. Washington 0-2 0-2 2-2 2 3 2
5 James Knox 0-1 0-2 0-0 0 2 0
15 Braden Brewer 4-8 4-8 0-0 3 2 12
23 Braxton Mayfield 1-2 1-2 0-0 2 1 3
Totals 7-25 18-46 20-25 26 16 63
Bedford NL 8 16 17 20 – 61
New Albany 9 8 16 30 – 63
Turnovers – BNL 10, New Albany 6
Field goal percentage – BNL 19-42 (.452); New Albany 18-46 (.391)
Free throw percentage – BNL 15-19 (.789); New Albany 20-25 (.800)
JEFFERSONVILLE 45, SEYMOUR 27
Jeffersonville (16-7) – Tre Singleton 19, Jeremy Rose 4, Gilly Polk 2, Michael Cooper 14, Elijah Cheeks 2, P.J. Douglas 6
Seymour (18-5) – Brady Harpe 5, Michael Brooks 4, Parker Thompson 2, Ethan Silcox 5, Jaylan Johnson 11
