Saturday, Jan. 13 / NEW ALBANY 112, SCOTTSBURG 48
BY CARY STEMLE
In basketball, a letdown doesn’t always mean defeat. When victory is a foregone conclusion, the goal becomes good execution, at a time when it’s just as easy to fall into bad habits as the coach rants about running the usual sets.
The New Albany Bulldogs showed where their collective head is on Saturday night during a workmanlike win against visiting Scottsburg, 112-48.
Romeo Langford led the Bulldogs with 42 points, moving into the No. 9 spot on Indiana’s all-time scoring list with 2,447. His running mate Sean East tallied 24 points on 9-of-12 shooting (4 of 6 on from 3-point range), while Derrick Stevenson had 11 and Trey Hourigan scored 10. Sophomore center Julien Hunter was out with the flu, pushing guard Darin Starks (8 points) into the starting lineup and moving Savion Southers (8 points) and Chris Johnson (7) up the depth chart.
New Albany coach Jim Shannon dialed up full-court pressure in the first half to prevent Scottsburg from slowing the pace, and all of the Bulldogs got involved on offense early as East and Langford took advantage of double teams to find open teammates, including Langford’s bullet from the wing to Starks for a layup (see sequence in grainy photos below).
New Albany’s Rome Langford (1) rotates out to receive a pass as Darin Starks (3) circles under the basket.
Langford whips a pass to Starks …
… who hauls in the bullet and lays it in the basket for an 11-4 lead.
“What I told the kids is that I wasn’t nervous about us winning,” Shannon told reporters after the game, “I was nervous about us taking a step back and not playing well, and you don’t want to do that this time of year. …. I thought we did. I thought everybody we put in played hard, I thought they played well together, I thought they shared it really well.
“Scottsburg was outmanned, so it’s hard for me to sit here and brag (but) I thought we did a lot of things well tonight (and) played hard. I didn’t think we disrespected the other team or the game or our fans, and that’s what we talked about before (and) at halftime.”
The Bulldogs led 52-23 at the break, then poured in 32 points in a third quarter that saw them rigorously working through their offensive progressions that are designed to get shots for Langford and East. Shannon retired the press in the second half.
Langford was 14 of 30 from the field, including 5 of 15 three-point attempts, a sub-normal stat that could speak to the challenges of staying sharp in a 64-point win. “He’s a little better than that,’ Shannon noted as he reviewed the stat line after the game. “That dude makes them when the other team is really good. His shot seems to be really on when we need him.”
Next up for New Albany (11-1) is a 5:30 p.m. tilt on Friday against Princeton High School of Cincinnati, led by Ohio’s top player, 6-foot-9 Darius Bailey, who’s committed to Syracuse. The Vikings (11-1) are No. 4 in Ohio’s largest class, and the game will be broadcast on ESPNU.
“They’re really good,” Shannon said of Princeton. “They’re solid. They’re big, athletic. That’ll be a big test for us. … There’ll be some buzz.”
The extra game falls outside the season ticket package, and season ticket-holders can buy tickets at a one-for-one ratio on Tuesday night at the school from 6 to 7 p..m. All tickets are general admission and cost $10 each.
Scottsburg 9 14 15 10 — 48
New Albany 30 22 32 28 — 112
Scottsburg (3-9): Mitchell Prince 13, Treyton Owens 7, Nicholas Sebastian 12, Jimmy Neace 6, Patrick Lincoln 2, Bradley Whitler 4, Brantley Deaton 2, Caleb Beswick 2.
New Albany (11-1): Romeo Langford 42, Sean East 24, Derrick Stevenson 11, Darin Starks 8, Chris Johnson 7, Savion Southers 8, Anthony Irvin 2, Trey Hourigan 10.
3-point field goals: New Albany 11 (Langford 5, East 4, Stevenson, Johnson); Scottsburg 3 (Prince 3).
JV game: New Albany 67, Scottsburg 21.
