The Lady Devils swarm their two seniors on senior night.The Lady Devils storming out for warmups.Tori Handley with the jump shot.Jhala Henry goes in for the right handed layup.Chelsea Gibson looks for the open teammate.JayLynn Brown trying to keep the ball on offense.Jaylynn Brown with the jump shot.Nan Garcia throws the pass over to the other side of the court.Jaylynn Brown trying to rope around a pass.Head Coach Mike Warren looks on during a jump shot.Kelsie James looking toward the loose ball.Jhala Henry looks on while Kelsie James is running the offense.Jeffersonville cheerleaders lined up.Head Coach Mike Warren watches Kelsie James run the offense.Tori Guepe falling back down after their cheer.Jaylynn Brown being defended my a Castle player.Lyndzy Obremski during a made free throw for Jeff.
Bailey Falkenstein with the layup.Gerrin Moore fighting for the layup.Bailey Falkenstein with the deep three.Bailey Falkenstein with 3 of his 36 points.Gerrin Moore with the layup.Gabe Gallahar with the layup.Gerrin Moore with the three.Michael Minton with the no look pass.Bailey Falkenstein fights for position in the paint.Gabe Gallahar drives past the defender.Bailey Falkenstein drives in the lane.Jacob Jones breaks the defenders ankles.Joe LaGrange throws up the shot as he stumbles.Michael Minton looking to pass towards Tre Coleman.Gabe Gallahar looking on as the first half dwindles down.Jacob Jones driving by the defender.Bailey Falkenstein with the layup.Bailey Falkenstein gets tied up with defenders.Gerrin Moore loses the ball.
Jeffersonville and New Albany play each other in basketball at Johnson Arena on Friday night. Is that a big enough statement for you to read further? It should be.
The two prominent programs meet for what looks to be another heated battle. New Albany “supposedly” leads the all-time series 81-76 after winning the last four matchups with some pretty lopsided victories (aka the Romeo Langford effect) but we’ll talk about that later.
The Red Devils sit currently at 7-3, coming off a third place finish in the Teddy Throckmorton Tournament, while New Albany is 8-2 after playing an excruciating schedule to begin with. Last time the Bulldogs played at JHS they won by 42 points (wow the Red Devils were bad then.) Don’t expect that type of outcome to play out this year.
Okay, I said I’d talk about “him” later and later is now (what a wait you had to experience).
ROMEO LANGFORD IS THE BEST HIGH SCHOOL BASKETBALL PLAYER OUT OF THE STATE OF INDIANA SINCE GREG ODEN.
This is the fourth time Langford will be facing the Red Devils — in the last matchup he had 24 points to go with 13 rebounds in the sectional championship. Oh yeah, he’s only a junior now and shot up all the way to second in ESPN’s Top 60 recruiting rankings.
How do you stop a player of his caliber from tearing your team to shreds? It’s simple, you don’t. There’s no way to hold him from scoring 25 or more points against a defense of Jeffersonville’s caliber. That means there are only a few ways the Red Devils can make this a respectable game throughout.
Not a single player other than Langford can score in double digits for New Albany.
That’s easier said than done considering the Bulldogs have two other outstanding scorers in Isaac Hibbard and Sean East who each provide matchup problems. Hibbard is the senior guard that can shoot lights out but can be a liability on defense at times but seems to never be rattled by the big moment. East is the starting point guard who can hit open three’s and might be the fastest player on the court. Jeffersonville will have their hands full with Langford but can’t forget to get a hand in the face of both of these players if they want success.
Bailey Falkenstein fighting through CAI.
Bailey Falkenstein will be the second best player on the court.
The junior guard leads the Red Devils in scoring and is a prime candidate to score 20 or more points against the rival Bulldogs. Last season, in their regular season matchup he did score 25 points as a sophomore despite the ugly loss. Falkenstein is one of the strongest guards you’ll see step on the court and his play shows it. He’s at his best driving to the basket absorbing contact as he finishes the double clutch layup. Falkenstein is also known to drain a couple three’s a game to compliment. He will be leaned on even more Friday night to try to make Langford’s scoring total not look completely insane by scoring a ton himself.
Jeffersonville is at their best when they are hitting shots.
Michael Minton with the jumpshot against Northeastern.
This could be said for every team but the Red Devils truly live and die by the three. In their win against CAI they went 9 for 13 from behind the arc and in their loss to Cathedral the same day, they only scored three points in the second quarter. Gerrin Moore, Joe LaGrange and Michael Minton will be looked on heavily to drain their open shots as the Bulldogs will dare Jeff to beat them from the outside. If a few shots fall early, we could have ourselves a shootout but if NA extends their defense and makes the Red Devils uncomfortable at the very beginning, the game could be over by halftime.
Freshman will need to step up for Red Devils.
Tre’ Coleman fighting through Carroll County defenders.
Two freshman play big minutes for JHS as 5’8 Jacob Jones is the pestering point guard and 6’6 Tre’ Coleman comes off the bench as the defensive specialist. Jones will be tasked of keeping up with East but he’s frustrated guards all season and will need to carry more of a load offensively. Coleman might earn his first career start against NA because of how great a defender he really is. It’s almost impossible to get a shot off against him which he proved in the last couple of games blocking shots left and right. He’ll also be used to pound the glass which is a weakness for the Bulldogs. Both of these players will be looked upon to play well above their years for Jeff to have a chance Friday.
So, what will happen?
It’s a rivalry game, anything can happen. The Red Devils need to be hitting their shots early and often while forcing New Albany to shoot extremely deep shots for most of the game. Last game, NA went 1-22 from three against the 3rd ranked Logansport (Loganberries really?) and still dominated the game. Obviously they can beat you in other ways including their defense but I believe Jeff is one of the better offensive teams in the state.
Second year head coach Joe Luce will have his young Devils ready to play against the reigning state champions. This could become a game just like last year if Langford gets in foul trouble but I don’t think it’ll be much of one come the fourth quarter. I’m a Red Devil for life but I think the scoring and pure intimidation of this team will be the downfall for Jeff. Can they make this a close game? Of course they can with their scoring ability but Romeo Langford is still one of the best players in the COUNTRY and is almost impossible to beat without someone of his caliber playing for you.
Photos by Phillip SteinmetzGerrin Moore with the jump shot.Tre Coleman falling after throwing up the layup.Joe LaGrange faking out the defender.Bailey Falkenstein with the contested layup.Michael Minton pulling up from deep.Tre Coleman with the pass to Michael Minton.Tre Coleman with the pass to the corner.Bailey Falkenstein with the three point jumper.Joe LaGrange with the third point jump shot.Gerrin Moore with the mid range jump shot.Bailey Falkenstein shooting his shot.Gerrin Moore with the layup.Joe LaGrange with the pass to Gerrin Moore.Tre Coleman fighting for the layup.Jacob Jones trying to dribble around the defender.
Gerrin Moore going up for the layup.Bailey Falkenstein laying it up through the defenders.Tre’ Coleman laying it in.Michael Minton shooting the three pointer.Bailey Falkenstein finishing through contact.Gerrin Moore flipping it in.Gerrin Moore driving to the basket.Gerrin Moore throwing it back out of the paint.Joe LaGrange with the floater.Joe LaGrange with the jumper.Tre’ Coleman finishing inside.Bailey Falkenstein with the aggressive layup.Bailey Falkenstein with the off balance layup.Jacob Jones with the floater.Cam Northern finishing in the paint.Jacob Jones throwing the pass inside to Tre’ Coleman.Gerrin Moore with the fast break slam.
Photos by Phillip SteinmetzJacob Jones passing it to Gabe Gallahar to the three point line.Cameron Northern going in for the layup.Bailey Falkenstein fighting for the layup.Bailey Falkenstein looking for the pass.Tre’ Coleman attempting the layup.Gerrin Moore with the post fade shot.Jaden Coleman (JV) throwing down a dunk after an ally-oop off the backboard.Jaden Coleman (JV) goes up for the cram.
Story by Phillip Steinmetz, Photos by Jay Williams
On Tuesday night, Jeffersonville basketball officially started their season with a home scrimmage against Charlestown. This was the first time anyone has seen this years boys team with the first regular season game just around the corner against Southport next Wednesday. They played five 12 minute running quarters, four of varsity and one of junior varsity. The young Red Devils looked impressive the entire night and showed great potential for a team with only two seniors on the roster.
Jacob Jones looks poised for a standout freshman season
Could there be any more pressure on the freshman point guard? He’s been asked to start varsity as a freshman on a team that is rich with tradition and pride. This scrimmage was the first time a lot of people have seen him play on this kind of level. The freshman guard impressed early and often. He shot the ball with confidence as hemade his first basket with a corner three and played sworming on ball defense throughout. Jones played quite a bit in the scrimmage and only committed one turnover on a bad pass in transition. He won’t impress you with size or his passing ability but he plays with the type of confidence that makes him able to compete with the bigger and stronger guards. Jacob Jones lead the team in scoring with 16 points and looks poised to lead the Red Devils in scoring for quite a bit of games this season and will only improve as the season goes forward.
Interior defense could be an issue until Coleman is eligible
In the starting lineup for the interior it included Gerrin Moore, Michael Minton and Bailey Falkenstein. Junior Jaden Coleman figures to be the main big man in the post this year once he’s eligible but the timetable has yet to be figured out for when he will be cleared to play after playing at Rock Creek last season. Jeff figures to be able to score in the post with Moore being able to put the ball on the floor and having a soft touch around the rim but defending the post is a different story. Senior Cam Northern played the best on defense in the post with being the biggest player on the team. When Coleman is eligible though, is when the Red Devils could really take off. He is a lengthy and athletic forward that can crash the boards with the best of them. The Pirates got most of their points in the paint and were able to draw fouls going toward the basket. Until Coleman is eligible, the weak point of the Red Devils will be the interior defense play.
Shooting the ball with consistency will be key for the young Red Devils
Jeffersonville is going to be one of the better shooting teams this year. The Red Devils combined to make 10 three’s on the night with Jones leading the way with four long range baskets. Gabe Gallahar and Michael Minton had two a piece, LaGrange and Falkenstein had one each also. The perimeter defense wasn’t the best for Charlestown but making ten three’s is still something impressive. Jeff has six shooters that are reliable from beyond the arc on any given night and they showed it Tuesday against Charlestown. LaGrange has the most potential to be a lights out shooter but getting open shots consistently will be the only issue. Gallahar looked more aggressive in finding his shot which could be what he is asked to do the most this season. If the Red Devils are able to hit at least ten three’s a night on a decent percentage, they could hang around with some of the tougher teams in the state.
In all, Tuesday night was an impressive showing by the Red Devils. Yeah, it’s only Charlestown but last season Jeff only won 72-61 at home. Jeffersonville is going to be really young, but they showed flashes of what could be a promising season behind who looked like the most dominant player on the court last night, Bailey Falkenstein. He was the player to get everyone going and in position to have such a successful game against the Pirates. The combination of his strength and scoring ability should make him the leading scorer for the Red Devils this season.
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