2010-2011 Renegade Girls Basketball  Week-13 Poll A USA-365.com Special Report by Mark Smith (02-16-2011)

MICHIGAN CITY, IN (02-20-2011) The sectional round of the 36th state tournamnet wiped out most favored teams in Northwest Indiana. Class 4A Sectional 2 was 'ground zero' for powerful teams as three of the top four teams in the Duneland Athletic Conference were gone for the year before the sectional championship game.

The upsets brought some surprise smiles to upset minded teams at Lake Central, Chesterton and Wheeler, but I don't know if those results changed NW Indiana's prospects for regional success.

At the 4A Valpo Regional, LC (13-10) and Chesterton (15-8) will meet for the third time with the winner facing either Penn (20-1) or Elkhart Memorial (22-1) in the regional title match. The DAC team won't be favrored.

Wheeler (13-9) faces the toughest draw of any NWI sectional champ, facing Culver (23-1) on Culver's home floor in Marshall County. The Bearcats are coming off good wins over River Forest and Hanover, both reversals of regular season decisions. But Culver's 6-foot-1 Gwen Zehnar (16.1 ppg.) and 6-foot-3 Pat McGee (10.9 ppg,) would appear to block everyone's path at the 2A Culver Regional.

Griffith may have the best chance of a semistaste berth among local teams, but Culver Academy will confront them with 6-foot-2 sophomore Andrijana Cvitkovic (14.0 ppg.) and 6-foot-3 senior Casey Hall (4.2 ppg.) and 5-foot-5 senior guards Brenna Newell (11.8 ppg.) and Kylee Shipley (11.6 ppg.).

Gary Roosvelt (17-6) has not played anywhere near the schedule that Benton Central has, so a Griffith victory over Culver Academy would draw BC (20-1) in the regional title game at Rensselaer.

Bowman Academy's first ever regional berth in their final year in Class 1A will see them try to overwhelm West Central, led by 5-foot-7 guards Marissa Hamilton (12.8 ppg.) and Justine Kruger (11.8 ppg.)

I hate to say it, but Charlie Sheen will be elected Pope before anybody from Northwest Indiana wins a girls state title. We just aren't close.

36th IHSAA Girls Basketball Tournament
Northwest Indiana REGIONAL Championships

CLASS 4A at VALPARAISO
Penn [20-1] vs. Elkhart Memorial [23-1]
Chesterton [15-8] vs. Lake Central [13-10]

CLASS 3A at RENSSELAER
Benton Central [20-1] vs. Gary Roosevelt [17-6]
Griffith [15-6] vs. Culver Academy [16-6]

CLASS 2A at CULVER
Fairfield [17-3] vs. Garrett [22-2]
Culver [23-1] vs. Wheeler [13-9]

CLASS 1A at CASTON
West Central [18-4] vs. Bowman Academy [16-7]
(FW) Canterbury [20-2] vs. Triton [13-9]

1. (4A) Michigan City (19-4)
2010 (15-8), 2009 (21-4), 2008 (20-6), 2007 (22-2), 2006 (14-11)

MICHIGAN CITY: I thought Michigan City the DAC champ, had the best year. And they have the best future. Despite a surprise loss to Chesterton ending their season. MC has 5-foot-5 guards Jameka Collins (11.2) and Toni Murphy (14.2) returning for two more seasons. Aubria Clifton (9.4 ppg.,) and Keshyana Cooper (9.5 ppg.) are also sophomore with two years left. This was the year to get Michigan City and only Chesterton truly did,

2. (4A) Hobart (18-2)
2010 (19-4), 2009 (15-6), 2008 (12-9), 2007 (7-14), 2006 (11-11)

HOBART: Hobart lost to Merrillville in the sectional quarterfinal ending a 54-12 run the last three years. Seven Brickies graduate including the heart of these last three teams.
Hobart rates second on losses only to Ben Davis (24-0) and Merrillville (14-8) but they never truly overcame the loss of 5-foot-5 leading scorer Amanda Corral, who missed the entire season due to a knee injury. The Brickies did all they could do but they end with three losses to Merrillville in four games over the last two years. I can't see Hobart being a sectional contender next season, but I've been wrong about them before.

3. (4A) MERRILLVILLE (14-8)
2010 (25-2), 2009 (10-11), 2008 (17-5), 2007 (16-6), 2006 (19-3)

MERRILLVILLE: The Pirates eliminated Northwest Crossroads Conference champion Hobart 49-48 but lost a sectional semifinal game to Chesterton 62-61. The Pirates lost eight times including once to powerful Elkhart Memorial but they return all but one player next season. Guard Raveen Murray (18 ppg.) , the top offensive player in NW Indiana, scored 30 in the season finale against Crown Point and 30 more against Chesterton in the final game. Murray being eliminated ended and chance of a NW Indiana team surviving the regional. Merrillville 's problem is size. I don't see a big player coming but that's what they really need. When you get outside NW Indiana, everybody has a 6-foot-1, 6-foot-2 girl now.

4. (4A) Chesterton (15-8)
2010 (7-14), 2009 (15-8), 2008 (10-11), 2007 (7-14)

CHESTERTON: Chesterton won its second sectional in the Class sports era (since 1997) with upset wins over Michigan City and Merrillville. Center Claire Holba (20.9 ppg.) and guard Brooke Gardner (15.9 ppg.) carried the Trojans , who have won four games in a row by five points or less. Chesterton seems to gain more by playing their regular DAC foes again and again. This team tied for second in the DAC and won three sectional game son the road. I think the mission is accomplished here.

5. (4A) Crown Point (15-8)
2010 (10-11), 2009 (12-9), 2008 (6-15), 2007 (10-11), 2006 (11-11)

CROWN POINT: Crown Point was 11-1 and lost seven of their last 10 including a very surprising 55-49 loss to sub-.500 Portage. Before concluding that it is something about this team, the facts reveal there is a bigger problem. CP was 7-3 last year and finished 10-11. They Bulldogs were 9-0 in 2009 and finished 12-9. They were 10-5 in 2006 and finished 11-11. Three different coaches. It's going to be very hard for CP to win the DAC because they have to deal with the speed of Merrillville and Michigan City one night and the height of somebody like Chesterton the next. But CP must play a more difficult schedule. They need to seek out some state-rated teams for foes. Next year is promising with the return of leading scorer Courtney Kvachkoff and 6-foot-1 forward Michaela Prough. But this team hasn't had a true lead guard since Cassie Pruzin graduated seven years ago. Short of that, they could ask Kvachkoff to play the point.

6. (4A) Lake Central (13-10)
2010 (15-7), 2009 (12-10), 2008 (9-13), 2007 (7-14)

ST. JOHN: LC lost early to Hamilton Southeastern (15-6) and Carmel (20-5) and then roared back to win the sectional title. They were much better the title game against Gary West Side than they were in the opener when they barely survived East Chicago in overtime. In truth, they benefited from a somewhat soft sectional but LC won for the first time in 12 years and they don't care. Obviously they are overmatched at the regional level but Id guess they've reached their season goal. Here's the model for CP. Take a whipping from state giants early and then climb back into contention.

7. (4A) Gary West Side (19-5)
2010 (17-5), 1009 (17-7), 2008 (18-5), 2007 (16-6), 2006 (16-7)

GARY: This was about the softest 19-5 I've ever seen I think coach Rod Fisher got a lot of wins out of a somewhat disorganized group. The Cougars were 6-4 in games decided by 10 points or less and that does not speak well for them. West Side was crushed 57-35 in the 4A Munster Sectional title game and its hard to know exactly why that game got out of hand but this wasn't a smart team at all and they were no thereat to go beyond the regional. Word is: They have good freshman class. Hopefully with a lead guard. The Cougars always be good.

8. (3A) Griffith (18-5)
2010 (19-6), 2009 (16-7), 2008 (17-5), 2007 (15-7), 2006 (14-8)

GRIFFITH: This team barely scraped by Knox 42-40 and Andrean in overtime to win the 3A Sectional at Calumet and you have to wonder if they are running out of gas. They scored one point total in the first quarter against Andrean and just 38 in five periods. Come on girls. Score some points. The Panthers will face teams this weekend that they cant totally shut down and 38 points wont get it done. Griffith is the defending 3A regional champ but it would be an upset if they win the regional again with this little offense.

9. (3A) Andrean (14-9)
2010 (14-6), 2009 (12-9), 2008 (8-12), 2007 (18-5), 2006 (16-8)

MERRILLVILLE: The 59ers lost for the second time to Griffith 38-31 in overtime to end their season. This team didn't win close games. they were 5-6 in game decided by less than two points and 0-2 in overtime. The Niners were the only NW Indiana team to beat Boone (20-2) and they lost twice to Hobart (18-2). They'll miss oft-injured Natasha Zurek but the 59ers have good size returns in Ana and Marija Nicksic. The schedule they play (nine 4A schools) should be good enough to prepare them for the 3A playoffs but the record shows they haven't won the sectional in five years now. This season had to be a big disappointment because the window of opportunity was there.

10. (2A) Boone Grove (20-2)
2010 (23-2), 2009 (16-7), 2008 (16-7), 2007 (18-5)

PORTER TOWNSHIP: The Wolves are Crown Point-lite. They don't play enough tough teams outside the PCC. The Wolves lost 43-36 to Culver in the 2A Sectional semifinals. Boone is 92-23 in the last five seasons but the record shows: They have won only three sectionals in history. Guards Brittany Shaffer (12.4) and Emily Bobrowski (11.7) return next season and the Wolves, who graduate only one player, will again be Porter County Conference favorites. But they need to play 4A neighbors Merrillville and Valparaiso to get tougher.

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Revised: March 05, 2011 .