You know that a kid is special when a 31 point night feels like a disappointment. That’s what happened last night when New Albany traveled to Madison and the Cubs threw double, triple, even quadruple teams at the state’s 4th all-time leading scorer. Rumors of “hack-a-Romeo” even swirled.
The New Albany Bulldogs proved that they are not a one trick pony, easily handling Madison 68-37 on the night. Fellow Bulldog senior Sean East, an unheralded star in his own right, added 18 points on the night for New Albany.
For Langford, who had scored 160 points in his 3 prior games, it made the math to catch the state’s current all-time scoring leader Damon Bailey a bit more challenging. But by the same token, he’s shown the ability to have eye-popping nights that can put him right back on schedule.
New Albany improved to 19-1 on the season, and it goes back home to face Bedford North Lawrence next weekend in a game that is sure to have even more intrigue and hype if that is possible. That’s because Damon Bailey’s son, Brayton Bailey, plays for BNL. So Damon will be there to watch, and who knows, maybe Brayton will be asked to slow down Romeo and protect his dad’s record. Brayton is a 6-2 sophomore guard that looks destined to be playing Division 1 college basketball in a few years. His freshman year statistical profile sounded a lot like his dad’s, with 12 points, 10 rebounds and 7 assists per game.
Langford remains at 4th on the all-time list and now needs 354 points to catch Bailey. Here is the updated summary of Langford’s game log for the season:
As you can see, Langford would need to average 39.3 points over his remaining games and have his team reach the state finals in order to surpass Damon Bailey and become the state’s all-time leading scorer. Note that New Albany would also need to NOT get a first round sectional bye in order to get an extra game.
Here is the current all-time IHSAA boy’s scoring list as Langford closes in on Deshaun Thomas:
THE INDIANA BOYS ALL-TIME SCORING LIST (IU PLAYERS IN BOLD)
- Damon Bailey, 3,134
- Marion Pierce, 3,019
- Deshaun Thomas, 3,018
- Romeo Langford, 2,780
- Brody Boyd, 2,632
- Rick Mount, 2,595
- Trevon Bluiett, 2,568
- Cooper Neese, 2,496
- Billy Shepherd, 2,465
- Alan Henderson, 2,419
- James Blackmon, Jr., 2,387
MADISON VIDEO
You can follow us on Twitter: @daily_hoosier
Find us on Facebook: thedailyhoosier
Photo: Times Mail / Garet Cobb
