SEYMOUR — After taking Floyd Central to overtime earlier this season, Jennings County jumped out to an 11-4 lead late in the first quarter of Saturday night’s Seymour Sectional final.
But in the blink of an eye, the Highlanders showed why they have been among the state’s top boys basketball teams all season. But then Floyd Central went on a 15-0 run to take control and cruised from there to a 70-33 victory for its first sectional title since 1989.
Carson McNulty, Trey Wilson and Keegan Manowitz hit early 3-pointers for the Panthers on their way to that seven-point advantage.
“They came out and played us in man, and we hit some shots early,” Jennings coach Josh Land said. “Then, they changed to a 2-3 (zone), and they’re really long and athletic and did a great job covering the 3-point line. It was just hard to score.”
The Highanders (18-6) scored the final eight points of the first quarter to take a 12-11 lead, then ran off the first seven points of the second period to take a 19-11 lead. The Panthers (14-12) got back to within 24-20, but Floyd Central scored the final four points of the first half and the first nine of the second half to gain some distance.
The 6-foot-6 Grant Gohmann and 6-4 Jake Heidbreder each scored 16 points to lead the Highlanders, while 6-5 freshman Caleb Washington added 12. Floyd Central outrebounded Jennings 42-22.
McNulty led the Panthers with 12 points. Aaron Martin added nine.
“Their bigs guarded our guards, and Manowitz had a hard time seeing guys that were open,” Land said. “When we did get it inside, they were on our backs, and we just didn’t finish. Bottom line, they were just better than we were today.”
Floyd Central moves on to play Class 4A No. 1 Bloomington South (26-0) at noon Saturday in the semifinals of the Seymour Regional.
Jennings was seeking its first sectional title since 2005 and was playing in its first sectional final since 2014. The Panthers, who had lost their sectional opener each of the past five seasons, avenged a regular-season loss to New Albany in Tuesday’s first round, then edged Bedford North Lawrence for the second time this season on Friday to reach the final.
“It’s an accomplishment to beat any of those teams in the sectional,” Land said. “This is always a great sectional, very competitive. We still have a lot to be proud of. I’m proud of my seniors, I’m proud of the way we fought and I’m proud of the way we got better this year.”
