BOYS’ BASKETBALL
Luce likes where his team is at entering New Albany game
By KEVIN HARRIS
JEFFERSONVILLE – Jeffersonville head coach Joe Luce is
certain about one thing as his team prepares for archrival and defending Class
4A state champion New Albany this coming Friday at Johnson Arena.
He likes how the Red Devils are playing at this point in the
2016-17 season. Jeff improved to 7-3 last Thursday at Johnson Arena with a
68-59 victory over Class 2A No. 2 Northeastern in the third-place game of the
inaugural Ted Throckmorton Memorial Tournament.
“We’ve played well all season long,” Luce said. “We had a
couple of games that we haven’t necessarily finished like we would like to. But
overall, we’ve played very well together as a team. We’re sitting at 7-3 after
10 games and we can live with that for right now. We’re just hoping to get
better.”
The Red Devils hope the momentum they acquired from the
three-day tournament, which was named for the late color commentator for
WXVW-1450 AM Radio, will help them snap a four-game losing streak in their
series with the Class 4A No. 4 Bulldogs. New Albany leads the all-time series
80-77.
“We’re looking forward to next Friday and going into a very
exciting environment,” Luce said. “Hopefully, our crowd will be behind us and
it will be a hostile environment for them. We know it will be a good matchup.”
Luce is hopeful that the four games the Red Devils played in
a three-day span during the Throckmorton Memorial Tournament will pay off down
the road. Jeff started the tourney with a 94-61 first-round triumph over
Carroll County (Ky.) on Tuesday. On Wednesday, the Devils defeated Christian
Academy of Indiana in the quarterfinals 66-54 before losing their semifinal
matchup with Indianapolis Cathedral 60-51.
“A lot of it is endurance and togetherness,” Luce said. “We
want to be able to play tired. We want to be able to play mentally challenged,
which you have to be when playing different team after different team and we
did that. Finally, we had to be able to be in a position where we had a chance
to win games. We put ourselves in a position each night to win a game. Even
when we got beat by Cathedral, we still were in a position to win that game.”
Luce had nothing but good things to say about Jeff’s new
tournament.
“It was very well put together,” Luce said. “Our athletic
office and our administration were tremendous. Our community was tremendous. It
was overall just a great experience for all the kids and the coaches.”
Class 3A No. 10 Danville defeated Cathedral in Thursday’s
championship game, 56-55.
PLAYER OF THE GAME:
Bailey Falkenstein, Jeff – The Red Devils’ leading scorer paced Jeff with
17 points. After scoring just two points in the first period, the junior guard
responded with a combined 15 points in the middle two quarters. Along with his
point production, Falkenstein was effective in passing the ball to open
teammates and getting Jeff’s half-court offense to flow better.
“Each and every night, if he doesn’t lead us in scoring, he
leads in some category,” Luce said. “He had a couple of tough (games), but he
came back and really played well tonight.”
KEY PLAY: At the
start of the second quarter, a bucket by freshman forward Tre Coleman off a
Falkenstein sparked a 12-5 run to give Jeff control of the game as it pulled
out to a 27-15 advantage. In the second stanza, the Red Devils outscored the
Knights (8-3) 26-19 to go up 41-29 at halftime. Jeff shot 11-of-13 in the
period.
“I thought our ball movement was great in the second
quarter,” Luce said. “As the ball moved, we were able to get guys in position
where they got great shots and shots they were capable of making. If we
continue to play like that, we’re going to be a hard team to beat.”
JEFF’S STRENGTHS:
Jeff had four guys in double figures, which includes two players coming off the
bench. Along with Falkenstein, senior Mike Minton tallied 13 points and Coleman
and senior Cam Northern provided some major pine scoring with 12 and 10,
respectively.
“Our team has been balanced,” Luce
said. “When we have four-plus guys in double figures, we’re a hard team to
beat. We’re excited about where we’re at.”
JEFF’S STRUGGLES:
Leading 58-39 entering the fourth, the Devils lost some of their moxie in the
final stanza by getting outscored 20-10 by Northeastern. Jeff struggled with
the Knights’ defensive pressure as they pressed and trapped more in trying to
make a rally.
“Especially with a young team, you start playing on your
heels and you forget to play to win,” Luce said. “Those guys did a great job
putting pressure on us and we didn’t respond very well.”
UNSUNG HERO: Coleman
– Along with his 12 points off the bench, the 6-foot-4 freshman ended up
with six rebounds and used his athleticism effectively in the paint against the
Northeastern bigs.
JEFF’S NEXT GAME:
Hosts New Albany, next Friday, 7:30 p.m.
EDITOR’S NOTE
This article, which is the first one for this website, is
dedicated to the tournament’s namesake, Ted Throckmorton.
I got to know Ted, who broadcasted games for more than 50
years on WXVW-AM, very well during my almost 18 years as a sports writer at The
Evening News and News and Tribune in Jeffersonville. Most of the time, we were
at the same games doing our respective jobs. During that time, we became good
friends and developed a great rapport with each other.
I am sure Ted was smiling down from heaven this week while
watching the inaugural Throckmorton Memorial Tournament take place. He will
always be missed.
TED THROCKMORTON
MEMORIAL TOURNAMENT
THIRD-PLACE GAME
JEFFERSONVILLE 68,
NORTHEASTERN 59
Northeastern 10 19 10 20-59
Jeff 15 26 17 10-68
Northeastern (8-3):
Freeman Brou 18, Tyler Smith 18, Nate Reynolds 12, Jalen Hillard 4, Kaleb
Mikesell 3, Harrison Rice 2, Jordan Stolle 2, Blake Hancock 0, Alex Reynolds 0.
Jeff (7-3):
Bailey Falkenstein 17, Mike Minton 13, Tre Coleman 12, Cam Northern 10, Gerrin
Moore 9, Jacob Jones 6, Joe LaGrange 1, Gabe Gallaher 0.
Three-point field
goals: Northeastern 7 (Brou 2, N. Reynolds 2, Smith 2, Mikesell 1); Jeff 7 (Falkenstein 3, Jones 2, Minton
1, Moore 1).
Free throws:
Northeastern 2-6, Jeff 7-14.
Rebounds: Northeastern 28 (Smith 10); Jeff 33 (Falkenstein 7).
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