2016 Renegade Girls Basketball
Final Poll... and a Look Ahead to 2017

A USA-365.com Special Report by Mark Smith

03-21-2016
Gary West Side's Dana Evans (11) led the state in scoring this past season. 35.8
points per game to go with 5.4 rebounds, 5.0 assists, and 5.3 steals. West Side may not be the number one team going into the 2017 state tournament, but Evans will almost certainly be the number one player. (Photo by Mark Smith)

MERRILLVILLE, IN (03-25-2016) Only one Northwest Indiana team reached the state finals and Oregon-Davis lost at the semistate, so it wasn't a memorable year in girls basketball.

I’m a little surprised because we had some team-building in the off-season. Griffith’s best player transferred to Andrean. Bishop Noll’s best player (and one of Clarks’ best prospects) moved to Morton. LaPorte’s two best players moved to O-D and South Bend St. Joseph’s. It’s a new day which resembles the old day.

In the 20th Century, players were lured to jump their own school and seek greener pastures. Today, I think the players and parents are more proactive, seeking a better situation for their girl. Parent and families move so players and students change high schools. Some moves are unavoidable and not planned. Others are are centered around a better opportunity for the family. So it's not a stretch to say that some are centered around a better opportunity for the best athlete in the family. Especially in Indiana if the athlete is a basketball player.

And with our state’s politically driven desire to cripple public schools: The insertion of the ‘poison pill’ of charter schools, which, by design, take public school students and drain public school funding... I’m guessing kids will move more frequently and more freely than they did in the past.

So, by the time we tip off what will be the 2017 season in November, three things will not be happening:

1.) Peyton Manning will not be playing in or broadcasting NFL games.
2.) Donald Trump will not be president of the United States.
3.) The Cubs will NOT have won the World Series

And several Northwest Indiana girls basketball teams will start the season with players who were on other rosters this past season. So I'm assuming something I cannot logically assume. I'm assuming that everyone stays where they are. Here are five teams of interest for the 2016-2017 season. Not necessarily the five best teams going into next season. Just five squads to watch.

1. (4A) East Chicago (19-6)
 2015 (15-10), 2014 (4-16), 2013 (12-11)

EAST CHICAGO: The Cardinals' six losses were to elite teams including (Danville, Ill.) Schlarman (23-2), (Detroit, Michigan) King (21-2), Gary West Side (19-5), Lawrence North (20-4), LC (23-2) and state champion Heritage Christian (26-4). But in East Chicago basketball, if you don’t win the sectional title, your year is a disappointment. Few teams will ever have more than EC has coming back next season. EC will be led by junior-to-be guard Janae Bishop (25.2 ppg.) and 5-foot-3 soph-to-be Precious Browning (11.8 ppg.), 6-foot-5 soph TiYanna Jackson (10 .7 points, 11.7 rebounds and 4.5 blocks per game) and 6-foot-3 soph Tiara Jackson (4.2 points, 8.8 rebounds). Add Zarian Friarson (4.0 ppg.) who played in 26 games as a sophomore and EC should have the players they need.
What they will have to do is come up with two different lineups and two different styles of play for facing small, quick teams and larger squads. They have the schedule. They have the experience.
But Class 4A Sectional 1 will feature the state’s top offensive player in West Side’s Dana Evans. EC knows the sectional hill is still one that’s very hard to climb.


2. (4A) Gary West Side (19-5)
2015 (18-8), 2014 (19-4), 2013 (17-4), 2012 (17-5)

GARY: West Side doesn’t have all the players coming back that East Chicago does. But they have the one player back that everyone else doesn't. Brianna Joiner (9.3 points, 8.4 rebounds) has a senior season coming as does 5-foot-11 JaeLyn Parker (3.2 points, 4.8 rebounds). 6-foot Jada Dixon (3.7 ppg., 4.5 rpg) also has potential. But this coming season will center on Dana Evans, the 2016 NWI player of the year. Dana averaged 35.8 points per game last season with 5.0 assists and 5.4 steals. The 5-foot-5 guard was our state’s leading scorer and the hope is, she won't have to average 35 a game next season. Look for the Cougars to travel a lot as any good team is going to want to play West Side to go against Evans.

Now lets be honest. With all the charter schools in Gary, players come and go. Your season-ending lineup isn’t always the lineup you have when you open the next year. I would not be shocked to see a new face or two at West Side. But even if the Cougars return only the girls presently in the program, Gary West Side will be a marquee team going into the 2017 playoffs and a legitimate thereat to defeat anyone they play.


3. (1A) (MC) Marquette (24-3)
 2014 (9-16), 2013 (4-149), 2012 (2-18)

MICHIGAN CITY: There’s a reality everyone is going to have to face here. Marquette went 24-3 with a team full of freshmen. That doesn’t happen. 6-foot-1 twins Emma Nolan (16.0 points, 8.8 rebounds) and Sophia Nolan (15.9 ppg., 6.0 rpg.) have three more seasons. So do guards Megan Crook (7.9 points, 3.4 assists) and Emmy Joseph (4.9 points, 4.7 assists). Junior to be Morgan Marovich (4.6 ppg,) is a 35% 3-point shooter. Every girl on the roster last season is eligible to return for next season. This team needs to get bigger and stronger for the sake of rebounding and distance shooting. That’s going to happen naturally if they stay together. The best thing that happened to Marquette may have been losing at the regional this season. By not reaching the semistate this season, I believe that means they will be Class 1A for the next three seasons no matter how much success they have. Marquette truthfully should be in Class 2A. I think all private and charter schools should play ‘up’ a class. MQ is going to be an overmatch for most 1A schools in this state. The table is set for them.


4. (4A) Merrillville (20-7)
 2015 (21-8), 2014 (16-7), 2013 (23-2), 2012 (21-1)

MERRILLVILLE: The thing about Merrillville is that they return lead guard Jasmine Wright (11.2 ppg.). Jasmine could shoot even better (she was 33 of 106 on 3s and 72 of 91 from the line) and she could be bigger (that’s not happening: she’s 5-foot-3 on a good day) but her ball-handling makes Merrillville a top team. Kiara Thompson (10.0 points, 5.1 rebounds) should be back for her senior season and Guard Alexus Shirrells (4.3 points, 2.3 steals) has one year left as well. The Pirates have holes to fill and they will be small again. Merrillville has to develop usable player depth that isn’t obvious right now. But Wright gets the ball from ‘Point A’ to ‘Point B’ whenever the Pirates need it and that gives Merrillville a chance in most games. She is the player even the best NWI teams don’t have. The Pirates may take 6-10 losses during the regular season, but if they can stay healthy, they’ll be one of the 4A Sectional 2 favorites.


5. (3A) Lighthouse Academy (17-8)
 2015 (17-6), 2014 (6-9), 2013 (3-13), 2012 (0-8)

GARY: Lighthouse won't be the fifth best team in NW Indiana next season but they are coming off back-to-back 17-win seasons and the core of the team was freshmen and sophomores. Junior-to-be Daijah Smith (17.2 points, 8.2 rebounds), a 5-foot-10 wing, has been Lighthouse’s leading scorer for two seasons. Add 5-foot-6 guard Lyric Ward (12.6 points, 2.8 steals), guard Shaiana Johnson (10.7 points, 2.4 assists) was a third double figure scorer in the sophomore class and that does not include Kiaria Brown (10.1 ppg.) who made a big contribution as a freshman.

The enrollment situation in Gary is so fluid that one or two Lighthouse girls could be else where next season. But since Daijah Smith’s dad is head coach Thomas Smith, that’s unlikely here. Lighthouse plays in a ‘soft’ sectional but a very difficult regional. They have been eliminated in the regional semifinals two years in a row and the games have not been close. The Lions have to beat some Duneland Athletic Conference (DAC) teams on the schedule and they need to travel in state to get tougher. I think they know that and are willing to do it. Lighthouse has only had a program for five years.


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Revised: March 21, 2016 .