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2007-2008 Girls BasketballWeek-2 PollA USA-365.com Special Report by Mark Smith(11-24-2007) |
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2007-2008 Girls BasketballWeek-2 PollA USA-365.com Special Report by Mark Smith(11-24-2007) |
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MICHIGAN
CITY, IN - (11-24-2007)-
The season began with some ominous shows of strength outside Northwest Indiana.
Not only is South Bend Washington (4-0) rolling out of the gate, as expected,
but rival Penn (4-1) is also dominating to the extent that it is not an
absolute that Washington, the defending state champ and top-ranked 4A team,
survives sectional play. The new IHSAA alignment has Washington and Penn as
sectional rivals.
Class 3A Twin Lakes (4-0) dominated the Journal and Courier Classic in
Lafayette, except for a one-point win over 4A McCutcheon (3-2). Downstate, 4A
power Kokomo (3-1) was beaten 75-67 by tiny Oak Hill (5-0) in a game where the
score should grab everyone's attention.
Not so much the margin of victory but that Oak Hill could score 75 points on
Kokomo, a giant of girls basketball. Oak Hill then got out the 'whippin' stick
on 4A power Huntington North (3-1) by a shocking score of 63-45. Did you know
that Oak Hill was 24-2 last season?
Looking ahead, 1A champ Oregon-Davis (6-0) hosts North Judson (3-0) on Dec.
4. Also, who plays for 3A Bishop Chatard (4-0)? They've beaten four consecutive
4A schools and they last three wins have been by 20 points or more. And Fishers,
the Hamilton County school that opened to basically divide the students that
were overflowing Hamilton Southeastern two years ago, defeated Southeastern
(3-1) last week 42-39.
Its time to get serious now as the holiday is over and everybody's got to
start playing regularly. Everybody may change their opinion on who's good in
the next two weeks.
1. (4A) Michigan City (2-0)
2007 (22-2), 2006 (14-11), 2005 (6-15), 2004
(6-16)
MICHIGAN CITY: Michigan City has a 31-point win over Adams and a 32-point win over Lake Central. What I don't understand is how anyone can refer to Portage as the favorite in the Duneland Athletic Conference (DAC). Michigan City was 14-0 last year and returned four starters including their best player in guard TaKenya Nixon (21 ppg.), who has led an offense that has not been challenged. Portage travels to Michigan City on Nov. 30. MC was 9-of-10 from the line in a 68-36 win over Lake Central but just 3-of-17 from 3-point range.
2. (4A) Portage (3-0)
2007 (16-9), 2006 (4-17), 2005 (4-17), 2004
(10-12)
PORTAGE: Portage played a strong game on the road to win at Crown Point 48-39 and they then rolled over Andrean 52-22. Lisa Samplawski hit five of the Indians eight three-pointers at CP to boost her side. Senior 5-10 forward Gloria Hernandez posted 17 points at Andrean as Portage swept a season-opening three-gamer road trip. The Indians step into the first now with Merrillville (4-0) in the home opener Friday (11-23-7) night, Hobart (4-1) and Michigan City (2-0) in a seven-day span. We'll know a lot of truth about Portage on Dec. 1.
3. (4A) MERRILLVILLE (4-0)
2007 (16-6), 2006 (19-3), 2005 (12-10),
2004 (12-8)
MERRILLVILLE:
Merrillville has beaten Highland, Andrean, Valparaiso and East Chicago to get
off to another good start. The Pirates are 39-9 the last three seasons. I
think the win over Valparaiso 56-53 was very significant because the Pirates
gave up six inches per girl at a couple of positions. Merrillville must deal
with being small (nobody over 5-9) every week.
This Friday's game is a crossroads for Merrillville. The Pirates swept the
season series from Portage last year but then lost by six to Portage at the
sectional.
4. (4A) Chesterton (2-1)
2007 (7-14), 2006 (16-8), 2005 (11-11), 2004
(14-8)
CHESTERTON: The Trojans got smacked down by Penn 49-35 but nobody should feel bad about that since Penn has two players signed up to attend D-1 schools. The Trojans have not proven to be a good-shooting team so far this season. They were just 11-of-43 in the win over LaPorte 40-33, saving the day with 13-of-17 from the line. 5-11 Morgan Palombizio scored 13 against the Slicers and 5-11 Abbe Skube has 13 against Penn. But 6-foot-2 junior forward Lily Svete scored 19 for Penn. The Trojans get back to normal size competition Friday when they host Crown Point.
5. (4A) Gary West Side (3-0)
2007 (16-6), 2006 (16-7), 2005 (23-5),
2004 (22-3)
GARY: Gary West Side has roared out of the gate with three quality wins including a 63-56 win over Hammond. Jasmine Brown scored 20 and 5-4 junior Aurielle Anderson added 19. West Side's wins over Fort Wayne's Harding high and Hammond have seen them come from behind in the final quarter. There's some Lowell football theory here. West Side's girls run at you for three quarters and wear you down in the fourth quarter. The Cougars sank only 15 of 25 foul shots against Hammond and that needs to get better. But the Side should be 6-0 when they get to Lafayette to play Jefferson (2-2) on Dec. 7.
6. (4A) Highland (4-1)
2007 (20-6), 2006 (12-11), 2005 (19-5), 2004
(17-6)
HIGHLAND: The Trojans hit the 'quarter pole' of the 20-game season with a four-game winning streak following an opening 58-50 loss to Merrillville. To tell the truth, Highland is going to do very well the rest of the year as it appears to be a down year in the Northwest Crossroads Conference (NWCC). The Trojans romped over Lake Central 50-30 and walked by Kankakee Valley 48-19 in a game where no one on the winning team scored in double figures. With no tournament in the NWCC, Highland has 20 single games and only four of them in the month of December. The schedule will eventually hurt them but it looks like happy holidays here.
7. (4A) Valparaiso (1-3)
2007 (8-14), 2006 (13-8), 2005 (21-2), 2004
(23-3)
VALPARAISO: If you are paying attention here, Valpo has lost to Carmel (4-0), Merrillville (4-0) and Hamilton Southeastern (3-1). If you thought Valparaiso was good at the start of the year, you cant drop them for losing to three Top-20 teams. What you're looking for here is the return of 6-foot center Becca Hoefler which I have heard should happen this month. The Vikes were bombed by 17 points by both 4A No. 4 Carmel and 4A No. 5 Hamilton Southeastern at the Lake Central Classic Saturday (11-10-2007), but they were within 56-53 of undefeated Merrillville. I'm telling you. Don't run away from Valpo just because of a couple of losses to top teams. I always say... Don't be fooled by wins and losses early in the season.
8. (3A) Hammond (2-1)
2007 (17-9), 2006 (15-8), 2005 (15-7), 2004
(8-12)
HAMMOND: The Wildcats led Gary West Side until a 24-15 fourth quarter by West Side stole the game in Gary. Even so, here's a good loss for Hammond. Forward Dalita White scored 19 points inside and 5-10 wing Sancheon White posted 20 against the fast-breaking Cougars. What Hammond does not have is outside shooting. No 3-point goals at West Side and just 18-of-29 from the foul line. Hammond should have more fun when they return to Gary to take on high-scoring Roosevelt on Nov. 29.
9. (1A) Oregon-Davis (6-0)
2007 (25-3), 2006 (14-8), 2005 (11-11), 2004
(7-14)
HAMLET:
Those who have seen them say they are better
that three or four of the teams I have
ranked ahead of them. I'm not so sure yet. But they are better than everyone in the PCC
and everyone but Highland in the NWCC. O-D
beat PCC contender Washington Township 69-31
and has narrow wins over 3A Tippecanoe
Valley and South Bend St. Joseph's.
Oregon-Davis plays 4As Plainfield and speedy
South Bend Riley and they host undefeated 2A
North Judson (3-0) on Dec. 4. It's very hard
to rate 1A schools because some of them are
in towns so tiny they haven't been heard
from for years. Plus there are a lot of 1A
private schools like Fort Wayne Canterbury
and University plus charter schools popping
up all over the state.
But, with the schedule O-D is playing, and
the lead guard in Gabi Minix, they are the
overwhelming favorite to reach the state
finals out of the north.
10. (4A) Crown Point (2-2)
2007 (10-11), 2006 (11-11), 2005 (17-6),
2004 (14-8)
CROWN POINT: The Bulldogs were close in losses to Warsaw (2-2) and Portage (2-0) but the outlook is still promising. Despite 25 fouls called at Warsaw and 26-of-31 foul shooting for the Tigers, CP still lost just 48-41. CP now stops playing back-to-back games and they get a better shot at preparing for teams. No center has emerged on offense to open up things for perimeter players like Daneila Tarailo (14.4 ppg.), but the full court defense has been strong and that's a factor going to Chesterton Friday night. 2-2 is the record they should have right now considering who they've played and I don't think there's much question they'd beat Gary Roosevelt (3-0) or North Judson (3-0) right now.
HEY, WHAT ABOUT US??????
(2A) Hanover Central
(3-0)
2007 (8-12), 2006 (9-12), 2005
(10-11), 2004 (11-11)
CEDAR LAKE: The Lady Cats are off to their best start in this decade with junior guard Jordan Kramer (19.0 ppg.) breaking the defensive pressure and starting the offense. Senior Chrissy Homolka had 17 in a win over Wheeler and junior Lindsey Martinez had a career-best 15 in a win over Lowell. You can't get too excited until the Lady Cats beat somebody with a winning record, but if they beat Calumet they've got a shot to go 8-0 to start the year before the December schedule (Crown Point, Andrean, Griffith) gets tougher. The sky is truly not the limit as Hanover has no one over 5-foot-8 in the starting lineup, but the Lady Cats are one of the few NW Indiana teams with a true lead guard.
(2A) North Judson (3-0)
2007 (18-5), 2006 (19-3), 2005 (22-4), 2004
(12-9)
NORTH JUDSON: Great tradition here and a quick start. But they Jays have also beaten three sub.-500 teams including a 51-17 rout of Wheeler. Senior Whitney Trusty scored 22 against the Bearcats and senior forward Chelsea Howard banked in 14. There is a core of six seniors here and they have three players at 5-11 or taller. But for the first time in four years, they do not have a lead guard and that will catch up to them sooner or later. And 'sooner' may be Dec. 4 on the road at unbeaten Oregon-Davis (6-0).