is so very special. To be able to come back home and coach this special group and to bring a state championship to Jeffersonville— it’ s hard to put into words what that means to me.”
Singleton, who also led his team with five rebounds and four assists, was the best player on a court that was littered with future college hoopers. He said the victory was a fulfillment of a boyhood dream.
“ This feeling is just indescribable,” the Northwestern-signee said.“ A lot of us have been playing for Jeff since we were six or seven years old. We’ ve all spent so much time together on, and off, the court. I’ m just so grateful and blessed to help bring a state title back to Jeff, where it belongs.”
The game came down to one of the oldest plays in basketball. Singleton found Elijah Cheeks for a backdoor layup that put Jeff up 67-66 with 37 seconds left in the extra session. After a flurry of missed shots and loose balls at the other end, Millen McCartney’ s contested 3-pointer at the buzzer bounced off the backboard— and the Red Devils’ celebration was on.
“ I trust all of my teammates and all I did was pass him the ball,” Singleton said of his game-winning assist.“ Elijah puts in a ton of work, like we all do. He made a tough catch in traffic and made the tough finish.”
Cheeks said the play was something Jeff has worked on countless times in practice.
“ Tre was a dog in the post tonight and when I saw my man go to double him, I just instantly cut to the rim because that’ s what Coach Wilkerson has taught us to do,” said the 5-foot-11 junior, who tallied four points and a team-high three steals.“ This just feels amazing. We worked hard all season to get to this point to complete our goal, and we did it.”
JEFF ' S MICHAEL COOPER, TOP, GOES UP FOR A SHOT. AT BOTTOM, P. J. DOUGLAS LOOKS FOR AN OPENING AGAINST THE FISHERS DEFENSE.
NEWS AND TRIBUNE JEFFERSONVILLE HIGH SCHOOL RED DEVILS | BASKETBALL | IHSAA 4A STATE CHAMPS 2025 13