
New Albany defeated Logansport 58-33 on Friday night in New Castle to win the Hall of Fame Classic championship.
NEW CASTLE — People watch New Albany and Logansport for the offense. New Albany came into the Hall of Fame Classic championship game averaging 63 points per game. Logansport came in averaging 75.
Friday night, New Albany finished with 58. Logansport? A season-low 33.
The Berries feature four players in double figures. Friday night, just one player finished with more than 10: Matt Jennings led the team with 12.
The team shot just 30 percent from the floor, including 19 percent in the second half. Logansport didn’t score a point in the third quarter, turning what was a five-point deficit at halftime into an unmanageable one in the closing minutes.
New Albany dominated the boards to the tune of 44-25 and scored 24 second-chance points. Romeo Langford, who came in averaging 29 points per game, finished with a game-high 20.
“There were tired legs out there on everybody, so shots weren’t falling,” New Albany coach Jim Shannon said. “That goes with the territory of playing two hard games in one day. But I thought our defense picked up in the second game. It did kind of make a statement.”
While Langford didn’t shoot like he usually does — he finished 8-of-19 from the floor and 0-of-6 from deep — he grabbed 11 rebounds and had two blocks.
“He does so many other things,” Shannon said. “Everyone’s always interested in his points. He is, too, and we are, too, and we’d love for him to get 30 or 40 every night, but today he didn’t. He rebounds, he defends, he blocks shots. Those are momentum-changers for us. He’s incredible and does a lot of good things.”
Langford didn’t even know his team didn’t allow any points in the third until after the game was over. But it meant his team heeded the coach’s words.
“Coach said in the locker room, ‘The team that’s going to win is going to be the one with mental toughness,’” Langford said. “It’s the second game of the day, everybody’s tired. That’s what we did, especially on defense.”
The prolific scorer said he takes pride in more than just filling up the basket.
“Other guys want to stop me, and I don’t like being stopped,” he said.
When coach tells me to guard the best player, I’ve got to read the game plan and stop him.”
As for Logansport, coach Pat Skaggs said his team’s lack of ability to rebound and lack of offensive execution proved costly.
“Their defense was outstanding the whole game, but I thought we shot ourselves in the foot and reverted to playing too much one-on-one and didn’t play team basketball,” he said. “I thought this morning we had great ball movement. Tonight, it was one pass, catch and hold and somebody’s driving. I don’t think we ever got into a good rhythm.”
While New Albany didn’t put on the offensive show it’s accustomed to, it was enough on this night to get the job done.
“The point thing doesn’t bother me,” Shannon said. “We’re not trying to set some state record in scoring points. We’re trying to win. We did that today.”
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Romeo Langford: Learning to live in the spotlight
LOGANSPORT 7 14 0 12 — 33
NEW ALBANY 11 15 15 17 — 58
Logansport (8-1): Will Penny 2-4 5 Jalen Adaway 3-11 6 Hunter DeHaven 1-6 2 Sam Skaggs 0-2 Matt Jennings 5-15 1-2 12 Jacob Cox 1-1 1-2 3 Tucker Platt 1-2 2 Jack Skaggs 0-3 Chase Fisher 1-2 3 Zach White 0-1 Team totals: 14-47 2-4 33
New Albany (7-2): Romeo Langford 8-19 4-5 20 Derrick Stevenson 3-3 9 Julien Hunter 3-3 2-3 8 Sean East 3-11 6 Isaac Hibbard 3-12 4-4 11 Peyton Martin 0-2 Savion Southers 2-3 4 Marcus McGee 1-2 1-1 3 Team totals: 23-56 11-15 68