NW Indiana Girls Basketball: 35th IHSAA Girls Basketball Tournament Preview

35th Indiana Girls Basketball Tournament

A USA-365.com Special Report by Mark Smith

(02-18-2010)

VALPARAISO, IN (02-20-2010) The girls regional basketball championships go head-to-head with boys swim sectionals and wrestling state finals (the boys state tournament operates unopposed) this Saturday as one of those 'ball of confusion' weekends the IHSAA likes to create.

There's no real reason the girls swim season begins when it does. So there's also no reason the swim season can't start and end two weeks earlier taking it out of conflict with the girls basketball tournament. Slide the boys swim tourney up two weeks and it no longer conflicts with anything but girls sectionals and you have cleared a lot of the problem.

Wrestling, which occurs Wednesday nights and Saturday afternoons, does not conflict with the basketball tourney. One question I've never had answered is why the IHSAA piles state tournaments on the same weekend instead of stretching them out to create maximum interest and gate receipts. The girls regional tourney is the toughest day of the season physically. It is the only time when winning teams are required to play twice in one day. Most girls teams do not do that at any time during the regular season. A team like Hanover Central has to travel Friday night because they are crossing time zones and playing a morning game. You cannot risk any Saturday morning travel delays for any reason.

A team like Merrillville can play an early morning game and then go home (I don't know if they will) before the night contest. Someone like Elkhart Memorial does not have that option. Imagine you are the athletic director at Hanover. Do you go to the boys state finals to see if the Petrov brothers win state titles or do you go to Culver to see if the girls win the second regional basketball title in school history? Lets say you're the AD at Merrillville. Do you go to Valparaiso to see if your girls win the school's first regional basketball title or do you go to Indianapolis to see if your boys like undefeated heavyweight James Travis win state wrestling championships?

What if you are a parent of a swimmer and a basketball player?

I don't understand how it helps the IHSAA or its member schools to have three state tournaments reaching crucial points on the same day (this Saturday) at the same time.

Most of the girls regionals have three contenders and a longshot. Outsiders and media like the 'Cinderella' teams, but true fans like four favorites going head-to-head. One of the better weeks of the season usually sees little radio coverage and no TV.

CLASS 1A
Kouts (19-3) vs. (FW) Canterbury (21-2) 9:30 (CDT)
Oregon-Davis (21-4) vs. Tri-County (17-6) 11:30 a.m.

CASTON (2-20-2010) Tri-County is the pretender here. Come on. They beat Pioneer (10-11) by nine points to win the sectional title and now they face a Division I guard in Gabrielle (Gabi) Minix, a 5-foot-8 guard who has averaged 21 points a game against a difficult, wide-ranging schedule. Unless Tri-County can get Minix off the floor, they can't win this game. TC plays a half court style averaging just 44 points a game and allowing 34. They have played no 4A schools and just two 3As.

This seems to be a mismatch. Oregon-Davis is 8-0 against 3A schools and they have losses to 4A powers South Bend Clay (21-4) and Elkhart Memorial (23-2). They have seen far better teams than Tri-County.

In the second game, two-time defending 1A state champ Canterbury has also played eight 3A schools and they are 7-1. The Cavaliers, who were 23-4 last year and 21-5 in 2008, average 73 points a game with the same starting five that won the title last year. Kouts, which has three losses to Boone Grove (21-2), simply hasn't played anybody else who's really good and they need a gimmick defense to handle Canterbury's 5-foot-11 forward Tabitha Gerardot, a Valparaiso University recruit.

The matchup of Oregon-Davis and Canterbury is a repeat of the last two seasons. The Cavaliers won 61-55 and 49-43 on the way to the title. Minix is a great player and O-D has played tougher teams than Canterbury has. It's easier to slow tired teams than it is to speed them up. Look for an Oregon-Davis upset win here.

OREGON DAVIS 55, CANTERBURY 50

CLASS 2A
Winamac (17-6) vs Garrett (16-8) 9:30 a.m. (CDT)
Westview (13-9) vs. HANOVER CENTRAL (13-9) 11 a.m.

CULVER (2-20-2010) Two-time defending champ Garrett is back with a new team from the one that rolled through Marshall County the last two years. Garret needs 5-foot-11 forwards Megan Getts and Ashley Overbay to control the boards against a young Winamac team. The Railroaders allow just 36 points a game and they press full court. The question is, with younger guards, can you press them? Winamac is a very young team and I'm very surprised they are here. They held 4th-ranked Boone Grove to nine first half points in a 50-33 win in the Hebron Sectional title game, but I wonder how much of a fluke that was.

The Warriors are a very small team physically, but coach Jim Swaney is highly-respected and he'll have something for Garrett. The second game features two long shots in Westview, which is here because Jimtown (22-2) lost all-state guard Sarah DeShone (21 ppg.) to a season-ending leg injury. Westview is a bad offensive team and they know it. The Warriors were 12 of 36 from the field against LaVille and 15 of 37 from the foul line in two sectional games. They press full court and try to score in transition because they shoot 30% from the field and 50% from the line. Hanover has a frightening habit of starting slowly. They trailed Wheeler 10-1 and 28-20 before some frantic full court pressing created a third consecutive sectional title.

HC operates on a thin thread. Guard Courtney Pattison wears a knee brace that would stop a truck. Leading scorer Blayr Poston (13 pg.) is a freshman playing in her first state tourney. Some days their forwards rebound well. Some days they don't. Hanover is on a four-game win streak that follows a four-game losing streak. Westview is a bad foul shooting team. Hanover? It depends on what day it is. Poston can miss six in a row and then make six in a row. But HC and Garrett have an edge on Winamac and Westview. They've been here the last two seasons and they expected to be here.

That, plus HC's superior (to Westview) shooting ability, is the reason I think they'll meet in the final.

Garrett, on paper, is about 20 points better than Hanover. Hanover wants one more shot at Garrett after losing to them 69-38 and 76-61 the last two seasons and Garret would certainly and understandably underestimate them.

HC doesn't have the depth to press twice in one day and that's their best weapon. HC needs to hit some three-pointers and they become more difficult as the day goes on. If this game is tied at halftime. Garrett is in serious trouble because they're supposed to win and Hanover will realize an opportunity they've waited three years for. But I would take Garrett to get ahead early and hold on.

GARRETT 59, HANOVER CENTRAL 49

CLASS 3A
Griffith (17-5) vs. Benton Central (20-4) 10 a.m.
Gavit (21-1) vs. Plymouth (13-9) 12 noon

RENSSELAER (2-20-2010) Plymouth has no player who has averaged in double figures this season, but they are a slow-paced team that averages 39 points a game and allows 37. Griffith is a slightly more experienced carbon copy. It'll be interesting to see what they can do against two offensive-oriented teams.

Plymouth is led by 6-foot-1 center Marissa Green (6.2 ppg.) and junior Guard Meagan Barron (7.6 ppg.), but the Pilgrims use nine players in every game. Gavit is led by guard Breaunna Rivoli-Johnson, who averages 17 per game, but has a bad knee she must play with. The Gladiators average 62 points a game but their schedule featured 12 losing teams. They did defeat Griffith in overtime, but they have to start quickly on the road here and nothing in their 22-game schedule would indicate they can do that.

Griffith has to slow a Benton Central team which has won its last four games by 15 points or more. BC is undefeated against 1A, 2A and 3A teams and they are then defending regional champ. Lead guard Caitlin Tolen is a 5-foot-10 freshman while leading scorer Hillary Moore is a 5-foot-10 junior center. Griffith must slow the pace and they can with veterans like Lauren Hansen at guard and Shan Lynn Bias on the wing.

Both teams rolled through sectional play so this might be the best game of the day. Griffith plays at a slower pace and that is desirable when you are playing the second game of the day. I just see BC with too much offensive firepower and a semi-home town crowd coming up from Benton County.

BENTON CENTRAL 48, PLYMOUTH 39

CLASS 4A
Munster (15-8) vs. Merrillville (22-1) 9:30 a.m.
Elkhart Memorial (23-2) vs. South Bend Clay (21-4)

VALPARAISO (2-20-2010) I'm not sure how Munster defeats Merrillville in this first semifinal. The Pirates won by 12 points when the two teams met during the regular season and Merrillville may be better now. Both teams won three times last week, but Merrillville, with five days rest, will be able to use their speed, their No. 1 asset. Sophomore point guard Raveen Murray (17 ppg.) and senior Bryonna Davis (19 ppg.) will be problems for the Mustangs Kara Curosh and Jennifer Walton.

Munster needs to start fast because Merrillville has played at Valpo four times this season (they are 4-0) and they are very comfortable there. Junior Munster center Alex Fimbiatti has to get the best of Merrillville's 5-foot-9 pivot Tracee Mitchell, but the Lady Ponies also need a gimmick defense, a triangle and 2 to encourage Murray and Davis to give the ball up to non-scorers.

The second semifinal game matches 20-game winners Clay and Memorial in the third meeting of the season between these Northern Indiana Conference rivals. Memorial won both times 69-59 and 61-56 in games so close it's unlikely either side will change strategy. Clay can't.

The Colonials have four senior starters who average in double figures, including 5-foot-7 twins Ariel (13.2 ppg.) and Asia Easton (15.0 ppg.) along with 5-foot-9 seniors Raven Boston (13.9 ppg.) and Yalana Smalls (11.7 ppg.). Ariel Easton scored 31 in the 58-53 win over Mishawaka in the South Bend Sectional, Clay's first sectional title in 10 years.

Clay's problem is that Memorial's forwards 6-foot Jada Buggs (14.5 ppg.) and Akyah Taylor (16.9 ppg.) can be potent inside and guard Brionna Barnett (12.9 ppg.). Taylor was 8-for-8 in the 42-31 sectional title win over Warsaw.

There's a lot of cliches about meeting a team for the third time, but I think Memorial is an inside-offense team while Clay has to run. I think Memorial wins a third time over Clay. That pits Memorial against Merrillville and the Pirates will be a 'home' team. It would be Merrillville's sixth game on Valpo's floor this year. But Memorial's bigger players would find mismatches close to the basket, which is where the weakness in Merrillville defensively lies.

I think the Pirates match up well against Clay, but unless the Pirates can rattle Memorial's sophomore lead guard, the Chargers will move on to the semistate.

ELKHART MEMORIAL 65, MERRILLVILLE 61