Hanover 2A Sectional Girls Basketball Preview A USA-365.com Special Report by Mark Smith (02-07-2011)

CLASS 2A
@ Bishop NOLL Sectional 33
2-8 (Tues.) Lake Station [6-11] vs. River Forest [13-6]
2-11 (Fri.) HANOVER CENTRAL [9-9] vs. Bishop Noll [6-14]
2-11 (Fri) Wheeler [11-9] vs. Lake Station/River Forest
2-12 (Sat) 2A Bishop Noll Sectional championship game - 7 p.m.

@ North NEWTON Sectional 34
2-8 (Tues) Hebron [3-16] vs. Culver [20-1]
2-8 (Tues) Winamac [11-9] vs. North Newton [5-14]
2-11 (Fri) BOONE GROVE [20-1] vs. Culver (21-1) 7 p.m.
2-11 (Fri.) North Judson [9-11] vs. Winamac (12-9) 8:30 p.m.
2-12 (Sat). 2A North Newton Sectional championship game - 7 p.m.

@ FAIRFIELD Sectional 35
2-8 (Tues) Bremen [8-11] vs. Westview [12-8]
2-11 (Fri) LaVille [8-11] vs. Jimtown [14-5] 5 p.m. (CST)
2-11 (Fri) Fairfield [15-3] vs. Bremen/Westview - 6:30 (CST)
2-12 (Sat) Fairfield Sectional Championship - 6:30 p.m.

@ PRAIRIE HEIGHTS Sectional 36
2-8 (Tues) Prairie Heights [8-11] vs. Fremont [11-9]
2-8 (Tues) Eastside [10-9] vs. Garrett [19-2]
2-11 (Fri) Churubusco [6-13] vs. Winner Game 1 - 5 p.m. (CST)
2-11 (Fri) Central Noble [3-16] vs. Garrett (20-2) 6:30 p.m. (CST)
2-12 (Sat) Prairie Heights Sectional championship game - 6:30 p.m.


@ CULVER REGIONAL

2-19 (Sat.) possibly HANOVER CENTRAL vs BOONE GROVE (22-1) or Culver (23-1) 9 a.m. (tentative start time)
2-19 (Sat.) Prairie Heights champ (probably Garrett (22-2) vs. Fairfield champ (Fairfield (17-3) or Jimtown (16-5) 10:30 a.m. (CST)
2-19 (Sat) Culver Regional Championship game - 6 p.m. (CST)

HAMMOND (2-11-2011) Few teams have taken more advantage of their slotting in the state basketball tournament than Hanover Central has. The Lady Cats, grouped with Bishop Noll, Wheeler, Lake Station and River Forest in Class 2A Sectional 33, have won that pairing for three years in a row.

No doubt there's been some good fortune there. Wheeler's 6-foot-2 all-stater Becca Bruszewski, now at Notre Dame, graduated the season before the last enrollment realignment created this five-team playoff package.

Hanover has not been loaded with talent during this period but they've been able to play well at the right time -- that time being early February. HC was much better than the field in 2008 and 2009, winning four of five sectional games by 15 points or more. The Lady Cats also did an excellent job to win three times in sectional week last season.

It would be overly dramatic to say this is the end of an era of HC sectional success, but it's hard to see exactly what's coming in 2012. Hanover will graduate just two seniors (Becky Fortner and Megan Kirn) off this present team, but the landscape in Sectional 33 will certainly change.

Bowman Academy, now 1A, has been a Class 2A school in enrollment for at least two seasons and they certainly join Sectional 33 in 2012. The figures are still fluid, but Whiting may also become a 2A school and Sectional 33 is the only possible playoff home for them. There's a chance that Bishop Noll drops to Class 1A and Andrean falls to 2A, but Andrean might go to Sectional 34 with Boone Grove and Hebron. And Hanover itself is on the upper portion of the 2A world. If they become a Class 3A school by enrollment, everything changes for Hanover Central in the post-season and you can forget about them meeting any of the schools in the past paragraph.

So tomorrow, in the sense of the next four year realignment term, is out of Hanover's control. Tomorrow, in the sense of Friday, Feb. 11 is in their hands and they'll certainly be favored in the match-up with host Bishop Noll (6-14). The Warriors have lost six in a row and have averaged just 34 points a game over the 20-game regular season. One of Noll's wins is over Michigan City Marquette (0-18) and none of them are over a team with a winning record.

Noll was in the Hanover holiday tournament, but they did not face the host school losing 68-20 to eventual champion Knox (7-13) before topping Covenant Christian (5-14) by a narrow 32-29 margin.

It's understandable that teams focus on one game at a time, but when you get a bye to the sectional semifinals, you must win twice in two days. Part of Hanover's task this weekend is the logistics of traveling from Cedar Lake to the north end of Hammond twice and playing reasonably well both times.

Hanover relies on guard Blayr Poston (14 ppg.), the PCC leader in steals, and her full court game. But it's always a concern to be able to shoot accurately on a neutral site, especially a place like Noll, which has an open shooting background. Most high schools have the basket just a few feet in front of the wall. Noll has lots of space behind the basket and that traditionally causes problems for teams that do not regularly play there.

Hanover does need some three-point shooting to win and an early key for them Friday will be to see if they are making some long range shots of the wing. Hanover wouldn't be surprised to see Wheeler (11-9) in Saturday's championship game, but the numbers favor River Forest (13-6), a school HC barely defeated 52-48 in the season opener back in November. River Forest did not get a first round bye, so they need two wins just to reach the finals. But the Ingots, who have never won a girls sectional basketball title, enter the playoffs on a four-game winning streak including a 46-42 win over Bishop Noll.

Katie Buehler (12 ppg.), a 5-foot-9 forward and Mary Salinas, a 5-foot-5 guard, combined for 35 points in that long ago game as RF led 48-38 with 2:50 left in the game. Hanover scored the final 14 points of the game to steal the win, something River Forest certainly has not forgotten.

Wheeler has lost to both River Forest and Hanover, but they have an up-and-coming player in 6-foot forward Nicole French (7 ppg.) to pair with 5-foot-10 older sister Paige Finch (7.2 ppg.) and 5-foot-5 senior Brooke Hutchins (5.5 ppg.). It's hard to say who Hanover would rather play.

The winner of the Bishop Noll sectional faces the winner of the six-team Class 2A Sectional 34, which features a semifinal confrontation between Boone Grove (20-1) and Culver (20-1). Hanover split their final four games including a 53-43 road loss at Boone Grove. The Lady Cats, who have lost in the regional semifinals three years in a row, have never faced Culver, which is led by 6-foot-3 senior Patrice McBee (10.8 ppg.) and 6-foot-1 center Gwen Zehner (16.3 ppg.) and that's just too far ahead to concern yourself with.

With Hanover's boys team not playing this week (unless they have rescheduled last week's postponement with LaCrosse), the Lady Cats should have a full support team in the stands as they try to win Hanover's sixth sectional championship.

Tickets for state tournament basketball are $5 each night and, if you want to follow Hanover, you're going to have to head north. There is unlikely to be any radio for this sectional, which runs simultaneously with the larger 4A Sectionals at Munster and Portage.

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Revised: February 09, 2011 .