The #1 New Albany Bulldogs (16-2) hosted the Jennings County Panthers (12-6) last night. The Bulldogs were without 5-star recruit Romeo Langford as he missed his first game due to a dislocated pinky finger on his shooting hand. Langford is expected to miss 2-3 weeks and will be reevaluated then.

Before the game, senior Isaac Hibbard was honored for scoring his 1,000^th point last weekend.

The Bulldogs came out quick with a 6-0 lead within the first two minutes. The Panthers battled hard in this first quarter, but Isaac Hibbard and Sean East tallied seven points apiece to push the lead to 18-11 in favor of New Albany.

The Panthers switched to a zone in the second quarter. The Bulldogs struggled throughout most of the quarter with the zone. With 1:57 left in the quarter, the lead was trimmed to two. The Bulldogs used a quick 5-0 run to end the half to lead 28-21. Tyler Vogel had 12 points in the first half for Jennings County. Sean East scored 12 points, also.

The third quarter was all New Albany. Hibbard scored the first six points of the second half, leading to a Jennings County timeout. The Dogs continued their good play for a 14-2 run to lead 42-23 with 4:41 in the third quarter. Isaac Hibbard scored 10 in the quarter. The score was 57-34 to end the third.  

The fourth quarter was much of the same. The final was 84-55. New Albany scored 56 points in the second half. Jennings County’s 18 turnovers led to 26 New Albany points. Isaac Hibbard led all scorers with 27. Sean East finished with 26, and junior Blake Murphy added 13. Tyler Vogel had 19 for the Panthers.

New Albany will travel to Columbus East (6-10) on February 4^th. The Bulldogs are expected to be without Romeo Langford once again.