2011-2012 Renegade Girls Basketball  Week-3 Poll A USA-365.com Special Report by Mark Smith 12-07-2011

MERRILLVILLE, IN (12-10-2011) No real shockers in the first weeks of the season as the top two DAC teams (Michigan City and Merrillville) stepped to the front while consistent smaller schools Griffith and Boone Grove also showed this won't be a down season for them.

It's hard to find a surprise team. Lowell (6-1) and LaPorte (5-2) were expected to improve this season and they have. Crown Point's assault on the top of the DAC may have been derailed by injury and Bowman Academy hasn't played enough games to show what they can do yet. The eight DAC teams are pretty much prevented from playing in holiday tournaments due to their 14-game league schedule that mercifully ends after next season.

But the Porter County Conference (PCC) teams have no such limitations. Rarely do I make a change at the top of the poll when the top two teams remain unbeaten but the early results from Merrillville indicate they've improved more than Michigan City has. The good news is that these teams will almost certainly meet three times this season.

HANOVER CENTRAL Winter Classic
Wednesday, Dec. 28 - semifinals in Cedar Lake
HANOVER CENTRAL (5-1) vs. Bishop Noll (4-1) 11 a.m.
Oregon-Davis (6-1) vs. Whiting (5-2) 11 a.m.
Wheeler (3-3) vs. Knox (1-5) 12:30 p.m.
Bowman Academy (5-2) vs. Griffith (7-1) 12:30 p.m.

Wednesday, Dec. 28 in Cedar Lake
HANOVER (or Noll) vs. Oregon Davis - 7:30 p.m.
Wheeler (or Knox) vs. Griffith or Bowman - 7:30 p.m.
Thursday, Dec. 29 in Cedar Lake
Championship game - 7:30 p.m.

SOUTH COUNTY TOURNAMENT
Semifinals (at Hebron)
Dec. 22 (Th) Morgan Twp. (3-4) vs. Hebron (3-4) 3 p.m.
Dec. 22 2 Kouts (4-2) vs. Boone Grove (7-0) 5 p.m.
Finals (at Morgan Township)
Dec. 23 (F) 3rd place game - 5 p.m.
Dec. 23 (F) championship - 7 p.m.

1. (4A) Merrillville (6-0)
2011 (14-8), 2010 (25-2), 2009 (10-11), 2008 (17-5)

MERRILLVILLE: The Pirates stomped six teams and ousted undefeated Elkhart Memorial 57-42 on Dec. 3. 6-foot freshman Victoria Gaines and 5-7 Raveen Murray lead an enhanced offense that bombed Chesterton 72-27. Murray, the region's top player, had 18 against Memorial. Gaines, who may be the region's best college prospect, has been in double figures in all six games. Why wasn't this team ranked No. 1 all along? What's wrong with this poll?

2. (4A) Michigan City (5-0)
2011 (19-4), 2010 (15-8), 2009 (21-4), 2008 (20-6), 2007 (22-2)

MICHIGAN CITY: The Wolves have five wins by 10 points or more. MC 5-foot-5 guards Jameka Collins (12.8) and Toni Murphy (19.8) have led the attack on all comers with 5-7 freshman Michal Miller (11.2) piling on. Up from 5-9 junior Aubria Clifton (10.0) and Keshyana Cooper (12.0) who are feeling no pain. How can a team with five girls averaging in double figures POSSIBLY not be top-ranked. What's the matter with this poll?

3. (1A) Oregon-Davis (6-1)
2011 (17-6), 2010 (22-5), 2009 (22-3), 2008 (24-1), 2007 (25-3)

HAMLET: The Bobcats are rolling towards the Hanover Central Holiday tournament and a potential match up with 2A power Bowman Academy (4-2). O-D has a lot of firepower on the guard line with Katie Schwenk (10.6 ppg.), Alisha McIntosh (13.8 ppg.), Ashley Campbell (14.6 ppg.) and Jesse Averone (14.2 ppg.) and the bad news (it's good news in Bobcat-land) is: All but Schwenk are sophomores. O-D blasted North Judson 75-52 Tuesday (Dec. 6) in what was supposed to be a close game. The Starke County girls should see Whiting, Hanover Central and Bowman or Griffith at the Hanover Holiday Tournament, so they will be tested.

4. (4A) Lowell (6-1)
2011 (13-8), 2010 (6-15), 2009 (1-19), 2008 (4-17), 2007 (5-16)

LOWELL: Lowell won three big ones 60-49 over East Chicago (4-1), 76-63 over Crown Point (4-3) and 50-37 over Kankakee Valley (5-2) in a seven-day span. Junior guards Kalyne Godbolt and Sarah Wietbrock have been able to control the pace of the game to the benefit of the Devils, who still can't figure out how they lost to Hanover Central (5-1). Lowell will be favored in their next five games before a major showdown with Merrillville (6-0) in Lowell on Jan. 10. By that time they'll be rising faster in the polls than Newt Gingrich.

5. 2A Boone Grove (7-0)
2011 (20-2), 2010 (22-2), 2009 (16-7), 2008 (16-7), 2007 (18-5)

PORTER TOWNSHIP: Boone is off to another very fast start with seven wins by 10 points or more heading into a Thursday (Dec. 8) battle at Bowman Academy (5-2). Senior guards Brittany Shaffer (18.1 ppg.) and Emily Bobrowski (16.4 ppg.) are getting their share and they're getting help from 5-foot-11 Julie Hogg (9.7 ppg.). But we've seen this a lot from Boone. Look at those wins the last few years. The Bowman game is very big because the Eagles and Boone are now in the same sectional and only one can survive. This also signals a considerable upgrade in Boone's nonconference schedule. Boone also plays at Lowell (6-1) on Jan. 24.

6. (4A) Crown Point (4-3)
2011 (14-8), 2010 (10-11), 2009 (12-9), 2008 (6-15)

CROWN POINT: CP hit a losing streak, falling to Lowell (6-1), LaPorte (5-2) and Carmel (4-4) in a five-day span. Alexis Joseph scored 23 points against Carmel and Abby Kvachkoff had 21 against Lowell. Again, Crown Point was 11-1 last year and lost seven of their last 10. CP was 7-3 in 2010 and finished 10-11. The Bulldogs were 9-0 in 2009 and finished 12-9. They were 10-5 in 2006 and finished 11-11. But the problem right now is controlling the pace of the game against Michigan City and Merrillville. This team has more key injuries than the Chicago Bears. CP is very short at guard without juniors Haley Bordui and Sarah Rivich, who are out for the season. They have to play nearly perfect games.

7. (4A) Lake Central (5-3)
2011 (13-11), 2010 (15-7), 2009 (12-10), 2008 (9-13)

ST. JOHN: The three losses are to Hamilton Southeastern (7-0), Penn (7-0) and Michigan City (6-0) so LC should be in the Top-10. LC has wins over Griffith (7-1) and LaPorte (5-2) so here is the 'strength of schedule' candidate. This is a big, tall team like Crown Point looking for a way to handle the smaller, faster teams like Merrillville and Michigan City. LC will discuss that during their game with CP this Friday (Dec. 9).

8. (3A) Griffith (7-1)
2011 (16-7), 2010 (19-6), 2009 (16-7), 2008 (17-5)

GRIFFITH: The Panthers have no big wins yet, but they have a lot of good ones including a 30-25 win over Hobart. Don't get carried away with how great a defensive team because Griffith is allowing 26 points a game. But don't overlook the number because it shows they control the pace of the game on offense. Panther scoring stats are irrelevant because of the style they play. It's a winning style and a tournament style. It's easier for Griffith to play three games in two days (at let's say, the Hanover Holiday Tournament) than it is for Bowman.
By the way, Bowman Academy and Griffith is the opening morning match up at the Hanover tourney on Dec. 28.

9. (2A) Bowman Academy (4-2)
2011 (17-8), 2010 (12-8), 2009 (5-10)

GARY: The Eagles have a couple of nice wins out of state, but the 74-69 loss to South Bend Washington (3-3) is ominous because Washington isn't what they used to be. The Eagles allow 60 points a game, which is too high for a winning team because it indicates they can only play at one pace. If you look at Bowman's schedule, they play in the four-team Goshen Holiday Tournament on Tuesday, Dec. 27 and the eight-team Hanover Central Winter Classic on Dec. 28 and 29. That's a guaranteed five games in three days. Either that's a misprint or a massive screw-up schedule-wise because Bowman isn't going to have much left for that fifth game.

10. (4A) LaPorte (5-2)
2011 (7-14), 2010 (1-20), 2009 (1-20), 2008 (10-12)

LaPORTE: The Slicers won at Crown Point 60-45 and when's the last time LaPorte defeated three South Bend City schools? Sophomore Jaclyn Heath (16.2 ppg.) and senior shooter Kelsey Sule (12.7 ppg.) have been good against big teams so far. This isn't a big team and it isn't a fast team, but they paid a lot of dues the last two years and the Slicers won't be intimidated. Reality may set in when they play Merrillville (6-0) Friday.

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Revised: December 09, 2011 .