By Justin Sokeland
WBIW.com
SEYMOUR – In order to pull off one of the incredible upsets in its postseason history, Bedford North Lawrence needed to play as close to a perfect game as possible. Hey, a guy can dream. That’s why March is known for its madness. Unfortunately, that was just fantasy. Reality was much harsher.
New Albany was wide awake. The No.9 Bulldogs would not be caught sleeping, even against an opponent given little chance by the Sagarin computer. They left no doubt while punishing the Stars and cruising through Friday night’s Class 4A sectional semifinal at Seymour without any hindrance.
Creating chaos during almost every possession, New Albany exploded to an 85-43 victory over BNL in the Sectional 15 farewell for the Stars, who are headed down to Class 3A next season. Noah Washington scored 31 points as the Bulldogs (20-5) advanced to the championship against Seymour, while the Stars (6-17) concluded their Class 4A residence and the 2025-26 campaign with a forgettable loss.
The Bulldogs exploded to a 20-point lead in six minutes, triggered the running clock with the first basket of the second half, and hammered out one of the more lopsided setbacks in BNL’s tournament history. Only one team (New Albany with 89 in 2017) scored more points, only one team (New Albany by a 79-33 decision in 2015) won by a wider margin. Those historic beatdowns came during the Romeo Langford era at New Albany, so it’s appropriate the Bulldog legend was sitting behind the bench to watch the next New Albany great in action.
Washington sure put on a worthy show. He was perfect from the floor (9 of 9) as New Albany blasted to a 54-21 halftime lead. Only the second-half mercy rule, with the running clock, kept the Bulldogs (ranked fourth in the state in scoring) from hitting triple digits.
”There’s a reason they’re in the top 10 in 4A,” BNL coach Jackson Ryan said. “They’re clicking at the right time.”
The first six minutes constituted all the required viewing to realize that. While BNL struggled to cross halfcourt against pressure and quickness, the Dogs were let out. Steals for layups, offensive rebounds for buckets. Washington scored four straight times during a 17-2 start, and he added a second 3-point play as New Albany broke to a 24-4 advantage. That was in stark contrast to the regular-season clash, when BNL owned the first-quarter lead and remained within striking range at halftime. Not this time.
“Sometimes it takes a little wake-up call,” New Albany coach Jason Jones said. “This was much cleaner.
“A fast start is really important in games where you’re favored. When we pressure like that, it’s hard to deal with. When our energy is like that, it’s pretty effective.”
New Albany had four scorers in double digits, with Ashton McKee totaling 13 points. Reece McKee recorded a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds, and freshman Karson Stoudemire had 10 points. But the star was Washington, who hit 12 of 15 shots overall.
“I don’t want to say it’s becoming the norm, but it really is,” Jones said. “I see the ball go in, and I don’t realize how good he really is until someone tells me the stats. He’s playing very efficiently, he’s taking the right shots at the right times.”
“He’s a special player,” Ryan said. “There’s a reason why Big 10 schools and ACC schools are lining up to get him. He’s so smooth and so fluid. When he gets going, there’s not a whole lot of teams in the state that can deter him.”
Dax Short paced BNL with 13 points while Parker Kern added 9. The Stars were guilty of 20 turnovers (16 in the first half). New Albany shot a blistering 63 percent (37 of 59), thanks to layups off turnvoers.
“We knew, if we wanted to have a chance, we had to take care of the basketball,” Ryan said. “With their talent, when you give them that many opportunities, you shoot yourself in the foot.”
New Albany will now chase its first sectional title since 2018, while BNL’s championship drought (2001) will continue.
”The story of this team, I’ve never been around a group that had to go through so much adversity,’ Ryan said. “It pains me to say that, because we’re not an excuse-driven program. This is a proud program. This is not us.
”The kids could have packed it in. With so many having the flu, we didn’t know, from one day to the next, how many kids we would have at practice the last two weeks. I appreciate them trying to come together tonight and do things the right way. There will be adversity. You can do things the right way and the ball still won’t bounce your way. That’s just life.”
Seymour 45, Jeffersonville 41 – In the first semifinal, the Owls avenged a regular-season loss to record their first postseason win since 2018. Nate Fritsch paced Seymour (11-11) with 14 points.
Jacob Wilkerson totaled 14 points for the Red Devils (10-13), who bowed out in their sectional and state championship defense. Jeffersonville had topped the Owls 62-53 in December.
The Owls, who won their last sectional title in 1992, conquered Jeffersonville in the sectional for the first time since 2017. Gage Hillian and LaKoda Leavy had 8 points each for Seymour, which limited the Devils to their lowest point total of the season.
BEDFORD NL STARS (43)
3s FGs FTs R F Pts
24 Gibson Crane, f 0-0 3-6 2-3 3 2 8
10 Easton Moore, f 0-0 1-1 0-0 1 0 2
5 Dax Short, g 1-3 5-11 2-2 6 3 13
1 Parker Kern, g 2-4 2-5 1-2 0 1 9
2 Driven Axsom, g 0-1 0-1 0-0 1 3 0
40 Ben Conner 0-1 1-2 2-6 4 2 4
12 Dayson Kirby 0-0 0-1 0-0 1 0 0
11 Jace Nicholson 2-4 2-5 1-2 1 0 7
23 Jett Alvey 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
20 Jack Parsons 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
21 Konnor Hall 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Totals 5-13 15-32 8-16 18 11 43
NEW ALBANY BULLDOGS (85)
3s FGs FTs R F Pts
2 Noah Washington, f 2-3 12-15 5-7 3 1 31
3 Karson Stoudemire, f 0-0 5-6 0-0 2 2 10
12 Seth Winslow, g 0-0 2-4 0-0 0 0 4
5 T.J. Washington, g 0-3 3-6 0-1 0 2 6
0 Reece McKee 0-0 5-7 0-2 10 2 10
10 Ashton McKee 0-3 5-8 3-3 4 1 13
23 Braxton Mayfield 0-0 0-1 0-0 0 2 0
33 Greyson Grubbs 0-0 1-1 0-0 2 1 2
11 Parker Kays 0-2 2-6 0-0 4 0 4
15 Corbin Crone 1-1 1-2 0-0 2 1 3
35 Xavier Henry 0-1 1-2 0-0 1 1 2
32 Vince Baker 0-0 0-1 0-0 0 0 0
Totals 3-13 37-59 8-11 28 13 85
Bedford NL 10 11 13 9 – 43
New Albany 30 24 16 15 – 85
Turnovers – BNL 20, New Albany 6
Field goal percentage – BNL 15-32 (.469); New Albany 37-59 (.627)
Free throw percentage – BNL 8-16 (.500); New Albany 8-11 (.727)
SEYMOUR 45, JEFFERSONVILLE 41
Jeffersonville (10-13) – Zion Mitchell 2, Terrence Nord 7, Jacob Wilkerson 14, Caleb Jones 3, Elijah Cheek 7, Jayvone Roach 3, Germaine Perry 1, Aidan Toler 4
Seymour (11-11) – Carter Stein 4, Gage Hillian 8, Evan Unterseher 7, Nate Fritsch 14, LaKoda Leavy 8, Brody Pendleton 4
