By Cary Stemle
Seymour, Indiana—We know a few more things than we did at this time last week.
One, Sean East really loves shooting in the Seymour gym.
Two, New Albany seems to have added a few new offensive wrinkles for tournament time.
And, yes, there will be a rematch.
New Albany, an 84-42 winner over Seymour on Friday, will face Floyd Central, which held off Jeffersonville 50-46 in the first game, on Saturday night at 7 p.m. for the sectional crown. The No. 3 Dogs will look to avenge their only blemish, a 49-47 overtime loss in the fourth game of the season in which they fell behind 22-6.
New Albany exploded out of the gate Friday night, running up a 19-0 lead in less than five minutes. Romeo Langford sandwiched spectacular dunks around two East threes, then fed a streaking Julien Hunter for a slam. East hit his first seven threes en route to 23 first-half votes, while Langford added 16.
New Albany came out pressing the issue on defense, which coach Jim Shannon said was by design.
“I knew they wanted to hold the ball and stall, so we were trying to take them out of that,” he said. “We didn’t want to chase them around all night and have a game in the 40s or 50s. … I thought we did have a good sense of purpose. We were focused. It’s the kind of game you want to see, playing loose.”
The second half was a fait accompli. Langford left for good with more than five minutes left in the fourth quarter and finished with 32 points. Early on, it seemed, he was in play-making mode and dished off some nice assists, as if to show opposing defenses the price they’ll pay for grossly overplaying him.
With 31 points on 9 of 15 three-pointers, East set a new career high just two games removed from scoring 30 in the Dogs’ home finale against Bedford North Lawrence. A nearly 50 percent shooter from three-point range on the season, East admitted he likes the optics in the Seymour gym.
“I’ve been getting used to it,” he said. “It felt like everything I got up was going in … When we came here last Saturday (to practice), we only shot shots from the moment we walked in till we left.”
Now the fun begins. The first New Albany-Floyd game, on Dec. 8, seems a lifetime ago. New Albany (22-1) hasn’t lost since, while Floyd (24-1) has fallen only once, 55-50 in overtime to Bloomington South on Dec. 30 at New Castle.
New Albany won 70-58 at Bloomington South on Nov. 25.
Shannon noted that both teams have improved since, and he expects a closely matched contest — hopefully one where his team doesn’t have to dig out of an early 16-point hole. “I haven’t been down 22-6 since 1987,” he said, laughing. “Both teams are playing really well. Floyd is big, they defend well and they go inside well.”
New Albany’s comeback in the first game was fueled by pressure defense. Floyd also showed susceptibility to pressure on Friday night as Jeff furiously cut a 15-point lead to two late in the fourth quarter.
“I’m sure they don’t want to play up and down,” Shannon said, “but you can only speed a team up so much. You try to speed the up too much and you give up layups and putbacks. You’ve gotta pick your poison.”
