Published: February 17, 2008 12:05 am      

Bulldogs still perfect, beat Arlington

New Albany 21-0 after 64-54 victory

NEW ALBANY — New Albany’s path towards an undefeated regular season continued Saturday night at the Doghouse, with the Bulldogs coming away with a 64-54 victory over visiting Indianapolis Arlington.

The Class 4A No. 1 Bulldogs (21-0) might not have been as dominant in the victory as hey have been the last few weeks, but even a middling effort by New Albany was good enough for a double-digit win.

The Golden Knights (5-13) could have the most misleading record in Indiana high school basketball, having played most of the top teams in the Indianapolis area and in a few premier out-of-state tournaments.

“I think they were methodical on offense, but I think that’s probably how you have to play us,” New Albany coach Jim Shannon said. “Still, I think we were able to control the game.”

New Albany pulled ahead by 10, 23-13, at the end of the first quarter following a put-back by center Donnie Hale, who finished with 18 points and 12 rebounds. The Bulldogs would maintain a double-digit lead throughout the contest, although a 3-pointer by Arlington guard Maurice Berryhill made the score 62-54 with 1:21 left in the game.

A dunk by Hale off a feed from guard Braydon Hobbs on New Albany’s next possession sent the lead back to 10 and resulted in the final margin.

Hale’s dominance was a major factor in New Albany’s success on the glass. The Bulldogs hammered the Golden Knights on the boards, capturing 29 rebounds to Arlington’s 18.

Nonetheless, Arlington’s guard combo of Berryhill, Phillip Freeman and Aaron Weeden notched 35 points between them, with the points coming off drives to the basket and from beyond the 3-point arc.

“We’re not used to seeing guards as quick as what they had and that hurt us,” said New Albany forward Matt Lynch, whose 12 points came off 4-of-7 3-point shooting.

It was Senior Night in the Doghouse, with Hobbs, Lynch, Spencer Shannon, William Barber and Will Young playing their final game in front of the home crowd. There were still quite a few of the typical Bulldog crowd-pleasing moments, including a length-of-the-court pass from Hobbs to Hale in the first quarter that resulted in a lay-in; an acrobatic reverse lay-in by Barber in the third quarter and three dunks by Hale in the fourth quarter.

“It was an emotional night,” Lynch said. “We wanted to go out and play well.”

New Albany will head to Bloomington North next Friday in search of a perfect regular season. Tonight, they’ll learn about their postseason draw and the route they may end up taking to get to Indianapolis and the Class 4A state crown next month.

Shannon said the Bulldogs are ready.

“These kids know they have a chance to go undefeated, but these kids don’t get too hung up on that,” he said. “They’re not interested in individual accolades or anything like that. They put on their poker faces and go and play.”



IND. ARLINGTON 13 13 13 15 — 54

NEW ALBANY 23 16 14 11 — 64

Arlington (5-13) — Berryhill 13, Freeman 12, Long 9, Jenkins 8, Rhorer 2, Qualls 0, Washington 0.

New Albany (21-0) — Hale 18, Lynch 12, Barber 10, Roland 10, Hobbs 8, Rohlfing 5, Shannon 1, Young 0, Winburn 0, Klein 0, B. Martin 0.

Three point field goals — Arlington 6 (Weeden 3, Jenkins 2, Long) New Albany 8 (Lynch 4, Roland 2, Rohlfing, Hobbs)

Rebounds Arlington 18 (Long 5), New Albany 29 (Hale 11)

Turnovers — Arlington 17, New Albany 16.

JUNIOR VARSITY: New Albany 66 (Winburn 15, Br. Martin 16, Jr. Martin 10, Whitehead 2, Benson 2, Brown 5, Chrisman 3, Kerr 6, Klein 3, Meyer 2, Newbolt 2); Indinapolis Arlington 34 (T. Burnett 5, Booker 15, Joe Johnson 2, A. Burnett 2, Jim Johnson 4, Sharp 3, Williams 3)