By Justin Sokeland
WBIW.com
SEYMOUR – Every step Bedford North Lawrence attempted to take, every move that was made, Jeffersonville was watching. Waiting, daring, defending with stone-cold fierceness.
BNL ran, tried to run so far away, couldn’t get away. The pressure was constant. Every time the Stars turned, a Devil was in their face, up close and personal. It became more than they could bear. There would be no daisy of an upset, only burnt, torched petals from the fires of a defending champion.
Forcing turnovers into points, turning BNL’s offense into a standstill exercise in frustration, the No.7 Red Devils smoked BNL 68-38 in the first Class 4A Sectional 15 semifinal at Seymour on Friday night. Jeffersonville (19-5) advanced to face arch rival New Albany in the finale everyone expected when the draw was revealed.
With Michael Cooper, one of three high-level recruits destined for the next level, scoring 23 points, the Devils disposed of the Stars (9-13) with defensive intensity that gets overlooked. But that was the focal point during the second-quarter run that exposed BNL’s weakness and propelled Jeffersonville to a runaway triumph.
After BNL’s Patric Matson gave the Stars momentum with an electric midcourt bomb to beat the first-quarter buzzer, Jeffersonville unceremoniously yanked it away with a devastating 16-3 blast to a 31-14 lead. The Stars, guilty of eight turnovers during the Devilish barrage, had neither the firepower nor the answers to fight back.
“They did a good job of pushing us out, for us to be able to even enter anything,” BNL coach Kurt Godlevske said. “They’re just tremendously talented. For us to hang in this game, we had to do something special. They made sure it got away from us. It was tough with their physical presence.“
For a brief time frame, BNL stayed close, much like it did for a much longer duration during the regular-season clash at BNL that ended with a 48-39 Jeff win. Matson’s late heave was one of three treys BNL hit while battling to a 15-11 deficit. Then came the avalanche, triggered by Jeff’s relentless defense.
“A lot of teams try to prepare for our offense, but we harp on being a defensive team,” said Cooper, on his way to Wright State. “We shut them down. Our defense was key.”
BNL could not argue that. Elijah Cheeks scored in transition, Cooper turned a steal into a breakaway, Shawn Boyd converted an offensive rebound, and Tre Singleton added a trey, plus a layup, to cap the burst.
So much for the generated charge from the buzzer bomb. All it did was anger the Devils.
“I was absolutely livid,” Jeffersonville coach Sherron Wilkerson said. “But it speaks to our maturity, being able to respond when you get punched.
“We guarded pretty well. That set the tone for the game. They shoot it really well, so we wanted to make them penetrate.“
BNL had nowhere to go. In addition to the BNL turnovers that fueled the Jeff surge, the Devils had 10 assists on 14 first-half baskets, and only two turnovers.
The second half was more Jeff flexing. The Devils opened the third quarter with an 11-3 run. P.J. Douglas, another of the triumvirate, sparked that with three buckets, and Cooper continued his assault in the fourth as the margin kept expanding.
Douglas, another Wright State signee, totaled 12 points while Singleton (en route to Northwestern) totaled a quiet 9 points. But that’s the signature of an unselfish team, when the stars don’t go hunting shots. They got plenty of support from Boyd (9 points) and others.
“We have nothing to hang our heads about,” Godlevske said. “They have three Division I kids. They were All-State, like they should be. They play really good basketball. I was very impressed with the high percentage they shot (10 of 20 from long range). They had some open looks, a lot of them were deep, so they made shots.”
“We don’t put a lot of pressure on them on the offensive end,” Wilkerson said. “There’s three things we ask: don’t turn it over, shot selection, and make the extra pass. It’s the simplification of the equation, but it’s really powerful.”
Matson, in his final game, scored 19 points while Dax Short added 9. BNL, which did not attempt a free throw, went one-and-done in the postseason for the ninth time in the last 10 seasons.
Jeffersonville, which advanced to the semistate final last season, took another step toward its ultimate goal.
“We have to take it one game at a time,” Cooper said. “Our goal is to play seven games. We’re two for two so far.”
New Albany 70, Floyd Central 54 – In the second semifinal, the 11th-ranked Bulldogs (19-3) conquered the Highlanders (5-19) for the second time this season, advancing to the final as they chase their first sectional title since 2018.
Noah Washington paced New Albany with 15 points, one of four double-figure scorers for the Bulldogs. Chris Lampkins added 13, Jordan Treat totaled 13 and Rylan Schrink finished with 11.
Sam Higgins and Landon Reed had 22 points each for Floyd.
BEDFORD NL STARS (38)
3s FGs FTs R F Pts
5 Dax Short, f 3-4 3-5 0-0 2 4 9
22 Isaiah Sasser, f 0-1 0-1 0-0 2 1 0
31 Logan Miracle, c 0-0 0-3 0-0 0 2 0
10 Patric Matson, g 3-6 8-15 0-0 6 2 19
3 Quincy Pickett, g 2-4 2-4 0-0 1 0 6
12 Jacob Ritter 0-1 1-2 0-0 0 0 2
4 Parker Kern 0-0 0-0 0-0 1 1 0
11 Colton Taylor 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 1 0
23 Tyler Stigall 0-1 1-2 0-0 0 0 2
24 Gibson Crane 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
1 Jerett Gilbert 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 1 0
Totals 8-17 15-32 0-0 14 12 38
JEFFERSONVILLE RED DEVILS (68)
3s FGs FTs R F Pts
12 P.J. Douglas, f 1-3 5-8 1-1 4 0 12
0 Tre Singleton, f 1-2 4-8 0-0 3 0 9
5 Michael Cooper, g 4-7 9-15 1-2 2 0 23
2 Terrence Nord, g 1-3 1-4 0-0 3 0 3
11 Elijah Cheeks, g 1-1 2-2 0-0 3 0 5
10 Caleb Jones 0-1 0-1 0-0 0 3 0
24 Shawn Boyd 2-3 3-4 1-2 1 3 9
4 Raijon Laird 0-0 0-0 1-2 3 0 1
15 Aidan Toler 0-0 0-0 0-0 1 0 0
20 Jacob Wilkerson 0-0 3-4 0-3 0 0 6
1 Te’Sean Harper 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 1 0
31 Mason Longest 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Totals 10-20 27-46 4-10 21 7 68
Bedford NL 11 7 7 13 – 38
Jeffersonville 15 19 15 19 – 68
Turnovers – BNL 17, Jeffersonville 7
Field goal percentage – BNL 15-32 (.468); Jeffersonville 27-46 (.587)
Free throw percentage – BNL 0-0 (.000); Jeffersonville 4-10 (.400)
NEW ALBANY 70, FLOYD CENTRAL 54
New Albany (19-3) – Noah Washington 15, Jordan Treat 13, Rylan Schrink 11, Chris Lampkins 13, T.J. Washington 5, Reece McKee 2, James Knox 2, Braden Brewer 1, Braxton Mayfield 6, Seth Winslow 2
Floyd Central (5-19) – Landon Reed 22, Sam Higgins 22, Jacob Stewart 2, Carter McQuigg 4, Tate Smith 1, Logan Young 2, Parker Kays 1
.png)
