Sports – Page 17

Athlete Spotlight: Bailey Falkenstein

story by Tristan Jackson

Kenneth Groth, Brent Falkenstein, P.K. Falkenstein, Kasey Falkenstein and Kooper Falkenstein — the Falkenstein family has been churning out Jeff High basketball greats since the 1930’s.

Brent’s son, Bailey, is next in line.

Bailey has been playing on the Varsity team since his freshman year. Now a junior, he is the team’s top scorer (18.9 points per game) and has solidified himself as a leader.

“There’s definitely some pressure there,” Falkenstein said about being a top scoring option for Jeff. “But I have to do it for my team.”

With guard/forward Michael Minton being Jeff’s lone starting senior this season, Falkenstein has stepped up and made strides in his own game. He has become a role model for underclassmen, who have also played a large role in the team’s success this year.

“It motivates you to want to elevate your game and get to the level he is at,” said sophomore Drew Taylor on playing with Falkenstein.

Since Falkenstein’s freshman year, the team has seen constant improvement. After a 2014-15 season that saw Jeff only managed an 8-14 record, new head coach Joe Luce was brought in to return JHS to its winning ways. Last season, the team posted a 19-13 record in Luce’s debut.

“Bailey has gotten to the point where not only is he a fantastic scorer and a go to guy for us,” Luce said. “He has learned to make others better around him, and I think that’s why we’ve been able to play better basketball.”

Along with the excellent skillset Falkenstein brings to the floor on a nightly basis, a winning mentality is something he prides himself on.

“I just want to be remembered as a great player who won. That’s really what I want to bring to Jeff — winning,” Falkenstein said.

In the hotbed of basketball talent in southern Indiana, Falkenstein says he is motivated by hearing what other players are doing on the court, and believing that he is just as good, if not better, than every opponent he faces.

A lack of confidence has never been an issue for Falkenstein, as he feels his work ethic has put him in position to not only be a leader on the basketball team, but to also headline a star-studded baseball team at Jeff.

“Bailey is always showing leadership by getting people focused, giving constructive criticism, and letting others know when he made a mistake,” said pitcher, and teammate, Gabe Bierman.

Falkenstein looks for both teams to have great seasons this year and next, and said his goal for the upcoming baseball season is to win a state championship.

Additionally, Falkenstein credits all athletes for finding the time to balance school and a sport. Although it’s difficult to put the work into two different sports, he says sports helped make him a better person and “the man (he is) today”.

As talented as he is on the court, it’s hard to imagine Falkenstein choosing another sport over basketball in the future, but it’s very possible.

Falkenstein is one of the team’s top baseball players, and he believes that he is talented enough to wind up playing professionally at some level.

24 Mar 201719 Sep 2017 by Cameron Njuguna

Battle of Blue Bloods

Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images

In a day full of upsets, the Kentucky Wildcats managed to escape the Wichita State Shockers, 65-62, thanks to stifling defense at the buzzer.

The win advances Kentucky to the Sweet Sixteen of the NCAA Tournament for the sixth time in John Calipari’s eight-year tenure as head coach. But, the road to Phoenix gets bumpy when the Wildcats hit Memphis.

The second-seeded Wildcats have a re-match with another blue blood program, the UCLA Bruins.

UCLA and Kentucky met in a high-scoring affair back in December, but the Bruins managed to knock off the Wildcats in Lexington, 97-92.

In December, these two were nearly identical teams. They scored almost 100 every game and didn’t worry too much about the other side of the ball. Now, Kentucky’s offensive has taken a dive shooting-wise, so they made changes on defense.

These two teams have gone in different directions since their last meeting, Kentucky focuses on defense while UCLA outruns their opponents. They have bought into their systems and have taken completely different paths to the Sweet Sixteen.

A highlighted match-up will be UCLA’s Lonzo Ball against Kentucky’s De’Aaron Fox in a battle of elite freshman point guards.

Fox has taken control of the team from the moment the SEC Tournament started, driving to the rim strong without turning the ball over. With Malik Monk still coming out of his slump, Fox will need to continue to lead his team if they want to get past UCLA.

Ball is another type of monster when it comes to point guards. Coming off a near triple-double against Cincinnati, Ball proved just how explosive he can be when his team needs him to take over.

Kentucky’s got a player that can take over a game, but he hasn’t been much of a factor since March began.

Monk has been slumping since Kentucky’s final regular season game against Texas A&M in which he only scored six points. The freshman shooting guard changes his team when he’s knocking down his shots.

Granted, Kentucky hasn’t lost despite the shooting woes for Monk, but that won’t cut it against UCLA. To beat a high offensive team such as the Bruins, they will need a big game from their star.

Kentucky and Monk have had their backs against the wall on many occasions this season, managing to take charge during these high pressure situations.

Chalk this meeting in Memphis up as just one more obstacle Kentucky will have to overcome on the road to Phoenix.

21 Mar 2017 by patduerr

Record-Drowning Red Devils

by: Haylee Hedrick and Adrian Blair

Michael Jordan, Elvis Presley, Gene Kelly, Tom Brady and Albert Einstein are looked at as superior for dominating within their field. They showcase power and influence over others — otherwise known as dominance.

The JHS boys and girls swim teams have been dominating within the Hoosier Hills for years, gradually beating fierce competitors and overcoming tough obstacles.

Second-year head coach Mike Pepa has witnessed his team push themselves to success.

“From a school standpoint, I think we’re one of the most successful programs in the building as far as our record in the conference, how we place at conference, Sectionals and at state,” Pepa said. “I think we’re probably one of the top three programs in the school building over the last 6-8 years, as far as dominance compared to our conference.”

Girls

There are over 3,000 high school girl swimmers throughout the Hoosier state, which correlates into over 200 teams. The girls JHS swim team are ranked 24 out of those 244 teams.

This year, the girls won all 12 dual meets in the Hoosier Hills Conference, as well as the conference championship meet. The swimmers, along with the girls basketball team, were the only JHS team to go undefeated during conference play.

On Feb. 4, the girls took home first place at Sectionals. Jeffersonville was down 48 points going into the second half of the meet due to the fact that there currently aren’t any divers on the team. With that in consideration, the meet came down to the 400-yard freestyle relay, where Jeff took home first place to edge Floyd Central 465-464.

“Our biggest issue has been not having enough divers,” said Junior Caroline Elliot. “We had two new girl divers who were ineligible to compete in meets due to not having enough dives, and our other diver suffered an injury just before conference leaving us without any divers during Sectional.”

At Sectional, the team broke two Sectional records, two pool records and three school records.

Senior Jacqueline Richard was part of a school record-breaking 200 medley relay. Senior Adeline Dixon broke her own school records in the 100 breaststroke and 200 IM. Junior Rachel Walker also broke her own record in the 200. Walker’s goal is to win a state meet by the time she graduates from JHS.

“Rachel Walker is our fastest girl swimmer. She’s one of the fastest high school swimmers in the state of Indiana,” Pepa said.

Walker qualified for the state finals in both of her events. She qualified fifth in the 500, with her time leaving her in the top seven in the state. She finished 14th in the 200.

The team is also poised to be good in the future, as well. Freshman Megan McEwen and fellow freshman Alyssa Miller, were both part of the 200 freestyle relay that placed second.

“We have two freshmen that made huge impact on the girls team: Megan McEwen and Alyssa Miller,” Pepa said. “Our two most improved swimmers on the girls team are Emma Ellis and Tonya Williams. They did a heck of a job this year compared to last year.”

Boys

The boys team lost seven swimmers from last year. Though thin in numbers, their season was a successful one, consisting of placing in conference despite being made up of mostly underclassmen.

“We’re in a little bit of a re-building phase, but we have the benefit of having some really strong swimmers from the front side, and then developing some new swimmers would be great,” Pepa said.

While the loss of seven boys swimmers stung, it was cause for a total team reconstruction. First-year boys swimmer Kip Jackson believes that the boys team is just a few guys away from being even more dominant.

“This year, we have a very young team, mostly freshman and sophomores. So we are seeing where the underclassmen fit best, whether it be relays or individual events,” Jackson, a junior, said. “There are only four seniors on the boys team and three seniors on the girls team. Hopefully after summer training, we will be back on top next year because I know we are all hungry for that Sectional title.”

On Jan. 28, the boys placed as conference runner-up behind Floyd Central. The Red Devils had three individual conference champions: sophomore Kameron Case with two (100 and 200 freestyle), and freshman Carter Dilger with one (100 butterfly.)

“For boys, Kameron Case was fastest in conference in his events, Levin Martin was very strong in his event, and we have Carter Dilger, who hopefully will have the opportunity to go to state maybe even place at state in his event,” Pepa said.

Dilger was top three in the state for 14-and-under in 100 butterfly and 100 backstroke. Case said his fastest event was the 200 yard freestyle. His time for that was 1:48.

The boys also placed third in Sectional, losing to Seymour (second) and Floyd (first). Case placed first in the 100 (48:07) and 200 (1:44.73). Both Dilger and Case with also be representing JHS at the state finals on Feb. 25.

The rest of the story …

Most athletes have a certain amount of time they must abide by when it comes to their performance. However, swimming is one of the few sports that doesn’t have that.

“We don’t have to worry about playing time…we worry about the clock. The clock doesn’t lie,” Pepa said.

In swimming, dropping a few seconds off of your last time is viewed as a success.

“Everyone has the same goal, whether you’re trying to be in the Olympics or whether this is your first season you’ve ever swam competitively,” Pepa said. “(That goal is) a personal best time.”

While swimming is a strenuous and time-consuming sport, Pepa believes the athletes on his team are some of the best around the school.

“It’s motivating to be around student athletes who perform well in the classroom and constantly try to reach their goal and potential,” Pepa said. “Swimming is not an easy sport. It’s an awful lot of hours and it’s very demanding. It all weighs on you mentally as well.”

In total, most of the JHS swim team trains 18 hours and 45 minutes a week to better their performance, further proving their devotion to the sport.

“Training hard, having dedication, and consequently reaching your potential faster than anybody else that we compete against — to me that’s dominance,” Pepa said.

2 Mar 2017 by hayleehedrick