Seymour boys basketball coach  Scott Miller said he liked the way his team performed in the first half of Tuesday night's game against New Albany.

"For 16 minutes we were an outstanding basketball team," he said.

However, the Owls couldn't keep up the pace in the second half as New Albany pulled away to an 81-58 win in the Hoosier Hills Conference and season opener for both teams.

The Owls got off to a good start, leading 9-4 following an old-fashioned 3-point play by Jordan Eggersman. A pair of 3-point baskets by Matt Trimnell, and a ‘3' by Jordan Kiel kept the Owls even at 17-17 before the Dogs scored the final basket of the quarter to lead 19-17.

The Owls took a 24-21 lead on a 3-pointer by Brandon Polbito at 6:16 of the second period before the Bulldogs built a 36-28 lead by the 1:45-mark, and went into the locker room up 41-31.

New Albany outsored Seymour 38-27 in the second half and held a 74-44 lead in the middle of the fourth quarter.

The Bulldogs had too many offensive weapons for the Owls, namely Donnie Hale, a 6-foot-7 junior and a Division I prospect, and TeNale Roland.

Hale finished with 17 points, and Miller said he had to earn every one of them. "We're happy with the job we did on Hale and Matt Trimnell had a lot to do with that.

"Roland hurt us." Roland shot 10-for-17 in the first half, including hitting his final four shots of the second period, to help the Bulldogs increase theirlead.

The Bulldogs seemed to turn up the pressure in their man-to-man defense in the second half and forced the Owls to change some of their patterns on offense. The Bulldogs extended their lead to 49-33 with three minutes left in the third, and to 58-40 going into the fourth.

Miller said his team stood around too much on offense in the second half and didn't have the offensive flow that he was hoping for, and that limited their options.

Jordan Kiel topped the Seymour scoring with 17 points and Trimnell added 15.

 Roland topped all scorers with 22 points, Hale finished with 17 and Tate Rohlfing added 12.
New Albany finished shooting 35 of 63 from the floor to 19 of 59 for the Owls.

The Bulldogs dominated the rebounds 37-16.

"It's a rough way to start," Miller said "New Albany is a very good team.

"We've got a lot to build on. I'm very excited about the character of this team."

The Owls will face another strong opponent in Bloomington South Saturday night in the Lloyd E. Scott Gymnasium. It will be South's opener.

Box score

Seymour 17 14 9 18-58
New Albany 19 22 17 23-81
SHS (0-1)-  Polbito 2-8 2-2 7, J. Eggersman 2-7 3-3 8, Kiel 5-9 4-5 17, Trimnell 6-16 1-2 15, Carmichael 2-8 0-0 4, Fife 0-2 2-2 2, Toppe 1-3 0-0 3, Moore 1-5 0-0 2, Kirtley 0-0 0-0 0, Ude 0-0 0-0 0,  E. Eggersman 0-1 0-0 0, totals 19-59 12-14 58, 3-point goals: Kiel 3, Trimnell 2, Polbito 1, J. Eggersman 1, Toppe 1.

NAHS (1-0)- Whitehead 3-4 0-2 6, J. Martin 3-4 1-1 8, Roland 11-21 0-0 22, Hale 7-16 3-3 17, B. Martin 3-5 0-0 6, Winburn 0-2 0-0 0, Klein 1-1 1-2 3, Rohfling 5-7 1-1 12, Newbolt 0-0 2-2 2, McDaniel 2-3 0-0 5, totals 35-63 8-11 81, 3-point goals-J. Martin 1, Rohfling, McDaniel.

Rebounds: SHS 16 (Trimnell 5), NA 37 (Hale 9, B. Martin 9), turnovers: SHS 18, NA 16; fouls: SHS 13, NA 14

Junior varsity
Seymour 9 4 12 13-38
New Albany 13 13 17 11-54
SHS (0-1)- E. Eggersman 19, Fellows 6, Hubbard 2, Mudge 4, Hill 5, Ridlen 2.