2005 Girls Basketball State Playoff Preview: Class 3A

2005 Girls Basketball State Playoffs

Sectional/Regional Preview:

Class 3A

A USA-365.com Special Report By Mark Smith

(2-6-2005)

33^rd IHSAA Girls State Basketball Tournament

(2-6-2005) Class 3A is a monster bracket. In the Twin Lakes Regional bracket alone there are five teams with 15 or more wins including No. 1 St. Joseph's and No. 3 Plymouth.

And whoever survives will still be hard-pressed, most likely by 4-time state champ Bishop Luers (19-2) at the semistate and defending state champ Brebeuf Jesuit (15-5) or Evansville Memorial (17-3) in the state finals. This is the type of bracket that makes you wish that some local TV station broadcasts the state finals regardless of whether there was a local team involved or not.

Because, where NW Indiana is concerned, 2005 will definitely fall into the 'or not' category.

HAMMOND (2-6-2005) Don't let anybody tell you the bye isn't a big break. Griffith, which didn't get said break, must win three games in five days. They are a limited offensive team that averages a little more than 42 points a game and has to control the ball. Griffith would have to beat a Hammond team which did not lose a game in Hammond all year.

Morton ended the regular season on a significant losing streak and neither Morton (7-13) or Clark (4-16) has beaten anyone with a winning record. Gavit (5-15) has 5-11 Latysha Sanders who averages double figures in points and rebounds, but they have problems handling the basketball and have already lost to Hammond and Griffith by more than 25 points each.

Hammond (14-5) and Griffith (13-7) did not meet during the regular season so the Wildcats cannot be certain they can handle Griffith. Hammond is a lot sloppier with the basketball than Griffith is but they are also bigger and quicker.

I've seen much bigger playoff upsets than this and the Panthers have played a tougher schedule. But so has Andrean, and the 59ers lost twice to Hammond high.

Go against form here. Usually, the turnover-free, conservative team will beat the athletic, high-risk squad under pressure. But Griffith is so small and playoff basketball is post-based. The size of 6-foot Cena Nasiloski and Gwen Moliga plus 5-3 Jamica Tucker and 5-10 Rachel Davilla will carry Hammond past Griffith's disciplined, patient offense in close game.

DeMOTTE (2-6-2005) Quickly rule out all the Gary teams. Lew Wallace lost top player Sharon Houston (she moved to Merrillville) in mid-season and they probably want the season to end quickly. Roosevelt has not beaten anyone with a winning record and Wirt only played 14 games (you are allowed 20) which tells you exactly where their program is. Operating at little more than half speed.

That leaves Kankakee Valley (9-11) and Andrean (8-12), both teams who should have better records than they do. KV was 0-6 before they got religion and won nine of their last 14 games.

Wins over Lowell (12-8) and Griffith (12-8) are significant but the biggest one for purposes of February was the 68-58 win over Andrean on Dec. 17.

The 59srs charged to the wire with three consecutive victories in the final week of the season, including a come-from-behind 61-50 win over Bishop Noll.

There is no comparison in the schedules of these two teams. Andrean has played St. Joseph's (18-1) and Bishop Luers (18-2), the two premier 3A teams in the northern half of the state. KV's toughest foe was Crown Point, a strong team but not a state champion as the other two could be.

The Kougars are playing for coach John Gray, who has been released by the traditionally impatient school administration. (They might have waited until after the sectional championship game.)

But the 59ers are sharp. In the last two games, they sank 38 of 50 (76%) from the foul line. If the 59ers had not lost 45-42 in overtime to Hobart, Andrean would have a four-game win streak. 5-10 junior Suzanne Cunningham is becoming a consistent scorer.

The 59ers have lost eight games by 10 points or less while KV has lost six by 10 or more against a lesser schedule.

Many signs points to KV winning but Andrean has the better team and is playing as well as they have all year. Look for Andrean to advance in a close game.

PLYMOUTH (2-6-2005) On paper, this is a mismatch. St. Joseph's, rated No. 1 state-wide, has one of the finest collections of talent in state history with 5-7 Notre Dame recruit Melissa Lechlitner (16.7 ppg.), 5-10 Valparaiso recruit Aimee Litka (15.5 ppg., 5.8 rebounds) , 5-9 sophomore high-Division1 prospect Sydney Smallbone (13.3 ppg.) and 6-4 sophomore, high-Division 1 prospect Kristin Dockery (5.3 rebounds). Nobody matches up. The only way to beat them is to get them on your home court or slow them to a crawl.

Plymouth can do both. The Pilgrims (19-2) start four seniors and they simply limit your possession. They are 8-2 against Class 4A teams with losses to South Bend Washington (17-3) and Warsaw (11-9).

Led by 5-8 senior Stacy Wendel (17.1) and 5-10 soph Elaine Hessel (12.3 ppg.), Plymouth has held good competition to just 33 points a game. They will certainly marshall a large home crowd in a futile attempt to intimidate St. Joe, which has averaged 70 points a game against a schedule that includes 12 Class 4A schools.

The other four schools at Plymouth on sectional week are irrelevant. None could beat St. Joe on their best day and none have anywhere near the discipline of Plymouth.

This game is even. In a similar situation last year, St. Joe edge Plymouth 50-48 in overtime in the Plymouth Sectional title game. St. Joe, however, lost to Bishop Luers 57-56 in the Northern 3A Semistate.

I'm sure St. Joe badly wants the rematch with Luers but Plymouth certainly wants another shot at St. Joe.

St. Joe returns all five players from last year's squad and they have played a schedule that, for 3A, is second to none. No. 3 Plymouth will make it close but they cannot defense all three of Plymouth's double figure scorers.

WEST LAFAYETTE (2-6-2005) - This is a high-quality sectional with three highly-rated foes.

Twin Lakes (19-2) has lost only to Benton Central and Mooresville (15-5) and is led by forwards Betsy Adams (14.7 ppg.) and 5-8 Heather McFadden (16.3 ppg., 7.2 rebounds, 3.9 steals).

West Lafayette (17-3) has already lost to Twin Lakes by 18 but that was back in December. 5-10 soph Michelle Oswalt averaged 16 ppg. last year and has upped that count. (WL does not report stats). The Red Devils have four players at 5-10 or taller and they have seven seniors overall.

Western has found a star in 5-5 senior lead guard Tiffany Reida (19.6 ppg.) who leads a team of five returning starters who were 14-8 last season. 5-8 junior Hannah Thieke is another double figure scorer and 6-1 senior Amanda Rice mans the middle.

Western has lost to Twin Lakes 62-60 and to 4A neighbor Kokomo (14-5) by 25 points. The Panthers' schedule is not all that strong but neither is West Lafayette's. West Lafayette has lost only seven games in two years and they got a bye, the home floor and Western in the first round.

Twin Lakes has to win three in five days but they can. They will only have to play Western or West Lafayette, not both, and they have an 11-game winning streak. I know that West Lafayette is at home with a nine-game win streak but I also know that Twin Lakes beat WL by 17 (75-57 on Dec. 7) two months ago.

Twin Lakes gets a rematch with Benton Central in the opener (BC beat them 53-46) so they wont look ahead. The Indians should beat West Lafayette in the title game.

MONTICELLO (2-6-2005) - There is only a slim chance that Hammond can beat Twin Lakes and odds are even slimmer that Andrean could beat St. Joseph's. St. Joe beat Andrean 87-40 in November. The gap will be about 20 this time.

Hammond turned the ball over far too much to handle Twin Lakes and that gap may be 30 points.

St. Joe, with all five starters back from the 2004 regional champions would be a heavy favorite again. But West Lafayette, which lost 75-55 to St. Joe in last year's regional final, wont be back.

Twin Lakes will be on their home floor, where they are undefeated this season. The Indians will hope to match firepower with St., Joe, outshoot them on their home baskets and win an up-tempo game like East Chicago did when they beat St. Joe 66-62 in East Chicago in January.

It's a tall order. This game will be close because Twin Lakes has a lot of advantages, including a softer semifinal foe.

But St. Joe failed to make the finals last year and that is certainly their only goal. When the game slows because players are tired (2^nd game in two days) size matters and Twin Lakes is small.

2005 Girls Basketball State Playoffs

Sectional/Regional Preview:

A USA-365.com Special Report By Mark Smith

33rd IHSAA Girls State Basketball Tournament

Copyright © 2005 USA-365.com and Meyer Multimedia Services, a division of Meyer Broadcasting Corp. All rights reserved. Revised: February 06, 2005 .

33^rd IHSAA Girls State Basketball Tournament

Copyright © 2005 USA-365.com and Meyer Multimedia Services, a division of Meyer Broadcasting Corp. All rights reserved.
Revised: February 06, 2005 .