Published: March 12, 2008 04:47 pm            

CRESS:New Albany does it the only way it knows how

SEYMOUR — The sound you’ve heard coming from the Class 4A boys’ basketball tournament has not been the squeaking of sneakers, nor the bounce of a basketball.

It’s been the sound of giants falling from every corner of the state.

The reports have come in from across the state. No. 3-ranked Bloomington South goes down in its postseason opener. No. 5 Carmel hits the canvas in its regional.

Thud. Clank. Boom.

It’s a year where Goliath is out. Where David is the new black. Where Cinderella is not only in, but has purchased a brand-new set of Nikes instead of a single slipper. Where eight of the state’s top-10 teams are making their plans for spring break travel instead of booking rooms in Indy.

No. 8 Marion is one that has survived — barely. The actual Giants needed overtime to beat upstart New Castle in their regional final.

The other ultimate survivor in this topsy-turvy tournament isn’t too hard to find. It’s the team that’s been on top of the polls for all of 2008. It’s the team that has yet to find itself on the losing end of a single contest.

It’s the team that won a regional so convincingly that a coach from Brownsburg (scouting his next opponent) simply put down his pencil and watched.

It’s New Albany.

There are so many storylines in place for the Bulldogs’ magical season. There is the old “can they run the table?” bit that gave the New England Patriots so much trouble earlier this year.

There’s the whole “can they win a regional?” thing. This one is put to bed.

But, to me, the most interesting thing about New Albany is its absolute immunity to all its fellow giants falling like timber in a rain forest.

“We’ve thought about how it was just us and Marion,” said Bulldog sixth-man Matt Lynch, wearing the smile you only see on a kid’s face after a regional victory. “But we can’t worry about all that. We just want to come out and play our game and do things our way.”

Sure, but still — how could they not worry?

This is a basketball team that stalled out in the regional round like a Ford Festiva in Friday’s snowstorm. A team that — of all those giants — looms the largest. That Bulldog logo may as well be a bull’s-eye.

How, with each victory, that pressure becomes heavier. So heavy you have to wonder how a bunch of 16-18-year-old kids can handle it.

How they handled it is where the story lies.

The Bulldogs opened the regional by taking on one of those giant killers head on. East Central — the very squad that took out Bloomington South (which was expected to be one of New Albany’s biggest obstacles to Conseco) — came out on Monday night and showed exactly how it pulled off such an upset.

The Trojans grounded the Dogs. They slowed the pace. They wouldn’t take any look that wasn’t perfect. They took the lead.

For all of one quarter.

The Bulldogs let Central take its shot, then they took theirs. And, of course, they did it their way.

A “did that just happen?” behind-the-back pass from Spencer Shannon to William Barber for a layup and the lead. A 22-4 second-quarter spurt that turned those old uneasy feelings into complete joy.

That’s New Albany doing it its way.

In Tuesday’s regional final, Evansville Reitz — the team that gave the Bulldogs their toughest game of the regular season — gave New Albany its best shot once again.

And once again there was that uneasy feeling for everyone. Everyone except New Albany.

A 6-0 Bulldog lead turned to 16-9. But Cinderella came back, pulling back to within a single point at halftime. That turned into a third-quarter Reitz lead.

But New Albany’s way is to never panic. To never be out of command.

Even without the lead, it seems like it’s always the Bulldogs’ game — no matter the opponent and no matter the style.

You know the rest.

The sleeping-giant Bulldogs roared back to life. A contested putback from Donnie Hale put New Albany back in the driver’s seat. A 3-point barrage from Barber and Braydon Hobbs made it a double-digit margin. TeNale Roland knifing through the paint like he always does, schooling a defender for a 44-33 advantage.

That perfect regular season is a distant memory now. But New Albany, despite all the pressure, despite all that clanking from its ranked brethren, is still rolling right along.

No pressure. That’s the New Albany way.

“It had to be in the back of New England’s head,” said Bulldog boss Jim Shannon, who admitted perhaps a little case of nerves in the early going. “The kids, though, haven’t been really thinking about that stuff.”

Through it all, that’s the big story of this team. That they play their game no matter what the circumstances.

And there are no stranger circumstances than this tournament, this season.

It’s far from over, of course. There are more Cinderellas lurking. Brownsburg is big and talented and no pushover.

“It’s anyone’s game,” Shannon said. “When you get to the final four, you aren’t playing anyone you shouldn’t be playing.”

He’s right.

It’s just that New Albany’s strength is that it won’t be playing Brownsburg, as much as it will continue to play its game, and that might just be enough.

And that sound you hear might just be the jubilant roar of a team, a town, a community, sounding forth its victory cry from Conseco Fieldhouse to every corner of the state.

Contact Matthew Cress at matthew.cress@newsandtribune.com.

        

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