The Renegade scores 76.5% on Boys B-ballTournament Picks

'The Renegade' scores 76.5% on Boys Basketball IHSAA Tournament Picks

A USA-365.com Special Report

(3-23-2004)

The Pick	The Result
(1A) Tri-Central 56, Blackhawk 50	WRONG... Blackhawk 64-57
(3A) Western 67, Bellmont 65	WRONG... Bellmont 56-46
(3A) Chatard 57, Mater Dei 51	WRONG... Mater Dei 55-44
(1A) Waldron 66, White River Valley 54	RIGHT...Waldron 82-76
(2A) Jimtown 50, Garrett 39	RIGHT... Jimtown 57-45
(3A) Brownstown 60, Centerville 53	RIGHT... Brownstown 81-73
(4A) Lawrence North 61, Bloomington North 49	RIGHT... Lawrence North 63-54
(4A) Columbia City 56, Valparaiso 52	RIGHT... Columbia City 39-34 (OT)

In every bracket except the weak 3A bracket, the state finals includes the No.1 team in that class. That rarely happens. The 4A game is a rematch of the Hall-of-Fame tournament which means that both teams expected to be here. The massive fan bases from Bellmont and Columbia City will jack up the attendance of the state finals. the entire town of Waldron will show up. Look for session two, the night time session, to put 15-20,000 fans in Conseco Fieldhouse, a boost for Indiana basketball.

There may be 10,000 alone to see the battle between 3,000-kid giant Lawrence North and 1st-time state finalist Columbia City. For the sake of Indiana basketball, thanks goodness Valpo and their weak fan base didn't get there.

1A - No. 1 Waldron (26-0) 70, Blackhawk (15-10) 55
Waldron's 6-6 Justin Barnard, one of twin forwards for the state's only undefeated team, scored an amazing 49 points last week in Waldron's 82-76 win over White River Valley. Barnard was an unbelievable 21 of 25 with 20 rebounds. Granted. WRV isn't a defensive dynamo but those numbers are insane. Blackhawk guard Shannon Coward hit 13 fourth quarter points to lift Blackhawk over Tri-Central 64-57 last week but I still think they're lucking through. The Blackhawk press may make it close but there's no way the Waldron 'Wonder Five' gets stopped short of 27-0.

2A - No. 1 Brownstown (27-1) 66, No. 4 Jimtown (24-2) 56
A total conflict in styles and the toughest game to pick. Brownstown averages 75 points a game and has won 25 games in a row. But Jimtown has won 20 straight and they slow it down around 6-8 center Kyle Johnson. Brownstown was 19 of 24 from the line last week including 8 of 8 in the fourth quarter and they had five players in double figures last week. But Jimtown allows just 40 points a game and they have slowed real good talent. Both teams are in the state finals for the first time. I'll take the up-tempo offensive team here. Most of the time, take the real good offensive team over the real good defensive team. It's easier for a good team to lift their offensive game than it is to lift their defense.

3A - No. 7 Bellmont (23-4) 48, (Evansville) Mater Dei 45
Bellmont is a problem with 6-6 junior forwards Aaron Ritchie and Adam Arnold, who combined for 28 points and 22 rebounds in a 58-46 win over Western. Bellmont was 28 of 36 from the line. Mater Dei's upset of Bishop Chatard may not have been an upset. It's the second victory for Mater Dei over Chatard this year. The youth of Bellmont is worrisome here but the two big post players will worry Mater Dei. This game will be a backdrop as the crowd gathers for the 4A final.

4A No. 1 Lawrence North (28-2) 52, No. 6 Columbia City (25-3) 35
There's no TV of the state finals in northwest Indiana and it's a shame because this has an outside chance of being a classic as, just like 50 years ago, Milan (CC) attempts to slow down and take out the athletically superior Muncie Central (North). The giant Columbia City fan base could put 5,000 into the 22,000-seat Conseco Fieldhouse and Bellmont is from the same conference (Northeast Hoosier) as CC so the Braves fans should stay over and cheer for the Eagles.

Lawrence North is trying to ascend to the state throne for the first time since 7-foot Eric Montross walked the halls in the late 80s. The matchup of 6-6 Doug Sheckler and North's 7-foot sophomore Greg Oden.

Earlier this year, at the Hall-of-Fame tournament, North beat Columbia City in 2 overtimes. Somewhere in the stands, hopefully (if they stay for the finals), Waldron's identical twin brothers Justin and Jordan Barnard will watch to see if Columbia City's twins Scott and Marcus Moore can also grab the big trophy.

North's Greg Oden was held to eight points last week in North's 63-54 win over Bloomington North but he grabbed eight rebounds and blocked eight shots. He is considered an NBA-caliber prospect and he's just 16 years old. His presence alone will bring out a lot of Indianapolis area fans who have never seen him.

With all these plots and subplots and Columbia City's close-down-the town fan following, I wish this was going to be a better game.
There is no way that Columbia City can defense the inner-city speed of the Wildcats and the 7-foot wingspan of Oden. The Eagles must win the war with 20-pass possessions and Sheckler fouling Oden out of the game. Possible? Yes. Likely? Not at all.

Bloomington North coach Tom McKinney made a comment after last week's Seymour Semistate loss. "They're a lot quicker than us," he said. That's REAL bad news for Columbia City. I believe the double-overtime Columbia City loss to Lawrence North was the second game of the day for both teams. This time, it's the only game of the day and Lawrence North, which hopes to start a multiple state title run, will be ready.