Found on Newspapers.comAs New Albany and Jeffersonville get ready to renew their long-running cross-town rivalry, let’s return for a moment to a particularly intense period of games some 25 years ago, when today’s players were scarcely a gleam in their parents’ eyes and both squads routinely came to the first contest of the New Year ranked in the Top 10 and led by future DI players.
In fact, four times between 1992 and 1997, one of teams entered the game ranked No. 1. Each of those games ended in a so-called upset.
I was covering Southern Indiana high school basketball for The Courier-Journal as a free-lancer, and I recall asking my editor, Gary Schultz, to not give me an assignment on that particular evening so I could go to the NA-Jeff game as a fan. With my dad, Bob “Mainie” Stemle, in tow, of course.
Here’s a quick look back at those games:
1992
No. 1 Jeff, led by Joe Estes and a group of talented underclassmen, traveled to the Doghouse to face No. 10 New Albany led by Pino Pipes and Noy Castillo. Such was the pre-game hype that the sold-out game was broadcast on Pay Per View (New Albany only), with nine New Albany bars also inviting patrons in to watch. According to The Courier-Journal’s advance story, New Albany coach Jim Miller was worried about Jeff’s pressure defense, but Castillo and the other Bulldog guards handled it and New Albany won 73-66.
1993
Jeffersonville’s eventual state championship squad was loaded with Sherron Wilkerson, B.J. Flynn, Brien Hanley and Cory Norman, but had just lost to Richmond in a holiday tournament to fall to No. 3. LaDrell Whitehead exploded early and No. 8 New Albany led by 18 at the half, but the Dogs had no answer for Hanley (32 points), and the home-standing Devils stormed back to win 73-70 in a classic. This game was also a big time sell-out, and was on PPV in Clark and Floyd counties as well as Louisville.
1994
Jeff had won 22 in a row and again came in at No. 1, but New Albany got the win at home, 83-69, prompting this awesome C-J headline: ‘LaDrell tolls for Devils’ win streak.’ Whitehead told the C-J’s John Pillow that, “I didn’t think any of them could guard me. None of them.” And he was right, as the 5-9 powerhouse went off for 39 points with six assists and six steals.
Found on Newspapers.com1995
The roads were icy and all other area games were postponed on this night, but the basketball gods simply couldn’t countenance canceling this matchup. No. 2 New Albany was led by Lamont Roland and Chad Hunter, but No. 14 Jeff defended its 50-game winning streak at Johnson Arena with a 59-41 rout. Yonnes Sanders led Jeff with 18 points.
1996
New Albany’s eventual state runners-up came in ranked No. 1 and defending a 56-game home winning streak of their own. But No. 10 Jeff, behind John Early’s 21 points and 18 from Jim Sigler, broke Bulldog Nation’s collective heart with a 75-62 victory.
1997
New Albany was again ranked No. 1 but fell 68-62 at No. 10 Jeff. The Red Devils’ Kyle Bixler was clutch, hitting a big 3-pointer and draining free throws down the stretch. ‘Jeff’s home is Bulldogs’ tomb,’ read the C-J headline, followed by, ‘No. 1 team bows, but is it an upset?’
2018
Once again this game has marquee status, with both teams ranked and managing high expectations. New Albany superstar Romeo Langford led the Bulldogs to a pretty easy win at Jeff last year, and word on the street is that the Jeff camp — perhaps looking at Floyd Central’s defeat of New Albany earlier this year — believes it has the better team.
One thing about those games from the 1990s was the sheer in-your-face intensity. The players knew one another from the playground, and with a number of mercurial personalities on both sides, the games were played at a fever pitch that you thought might lead to an outright brawl at any given moment.
That’s not how this year’s New Albany team plays. Despite constant harassment by opponents and fans, Langford is always quietly composed. Similarly, three-year starting guard Sean East is also a calm and low-key personality. I’m watching this year’s Dogs to see who emerges as a more outwardly emotional leader, a role that departed guard Isaac Hibbard seemed to play last season. That may be elusive on a team playing so many underclassman along with seniors Langford and East.
Tonight’s atmosphere will also be super-charged, and we’ll get another look at how New Albany responds to getting smacked around by a physical opponent that’s hell-bent on saying they beat Langford and crew.
I can’t wait!
