NW Indiana Boys Basketball Renegade Class 3A Sectional/Regional Preview

2003-2004 Boys Basketball

'The Renegade' Sectional / Regional

Preview: Class 3A

A USA-365.com Special Report

(3-3-2004)

Class 3A used to be the home of private schools and, outside this area, it still is. But locally, Bishop Noll has dropped to 2A depriving fans of a Bishop Noll-Andrean playoff game. That leaves no superpower in northwest Indiana to confront the powerful Sectional 20 champion (which figures to be No. 5 Western (18-2) or No. 8 Benton Central (18-3) at the Plymouth Regional. Long range prospects in this 4-sectional bracket are not good. Note that No. 1 Heritage Hills and No. 2 Vincennes battle downstate and No. 3 Bellmont and No. 4 Tippecanoe Valley out east. The 3A winner out of this regional will be hard-pressed to go any further. One final note: Friday (3-5-2004) could be the final game ever for Horace Mann high school. A vote to close the school will be held on March 9. That would change the bracket for next season and adjust the 3A division in 2007.

1. 6:00 Tue: Hammond [11-9] vs. Clark [12-8]
1. 7:30 Tue: Morton [6-14] vs. Calumet [1-19]
3. 6:00 Fri: Winner Game 1 vs. Winner Game 2
4. 7:30 Fri: Griffith [11-11] vs. Gavit [10-10]
5. 7:30 Sat: Championship

GARY (3-5-2004) - It's time for Hammond high to step to the front, led by 5-9 lead guard Jere Taylor. They have to go up tempo on everybody here because no one in this bracket has their talent. Hammond beat Clark 58-53 in January and they've also defeated Griffith, Calumet and Gavit. Gavit has beaten Hammond but it was 47-46.

Clark has a winning record for the first time in 20 years but the truth is, it's basically a product of the schools around Clark losing enrollment and becoming weaker through the years. Clark lost at home to 2A Hanover Central.

I've got believe Griffith can defense Gavit's Charles Cruz and beat them again. (Griffith won 47-36 earlier) and if the Panthers do indeed get injured 6-6 center Todd Polgar back in the lineup, they should be able to take out whoever is in the top bracket. There is no outstanding team here so don't underestimate the advantage of being able to prepare all week for one foe.

1. 6:00 Tue: Gary Roosevelt [9-12] vs. Wirt [6-14]
1. 7:30 Tue: Kankakee Valley [7-13] vs. Lew Wallace [8-11]
3. 6:00 Fri: Winner Game 1 vs. Winner Game 2
4. 7:30 Fri: Horace Mann [5-14] vs. ANDREAN [13-6]
5. 7:30 Sat: Championship

GARY (3-5-2004) - There is a huge advantage for Andrean here. Horace Mann is not a strong team. Mann's only significant win was an upset of West Side when the Side didn't have lead guard Robert Hall. If Lew Wallace gets guard Marcus Rhodes back off the injured list, LW will get by KV.

On the home court, Roosevelt takes out Wirt and meets Wallace. The Hornets won 68-55 at Roosevelt in November, but lost 90-87 at home to Roosevelt in December. High-scoring guards Robert Jenkins and Tyrone Appleton will make LW-Velt a fast breaking showdown.

Which will prove what? This has been a poor year in Gary basketball and Andrean will be waiting for the winner. If, with a week off, lead guard Tommy Finn (ankle) is back to good health, the 59ers win their first sectional title in 4 years. No one here has a post player like the 59ers' David Carson (21 ppg.) and tired teams lean on the low post. Winning teams that get a bye win 6-team sectionals about half the time. This is that half.

1. 6:00 Tue: Culver Military [3-17] vs. Knox [15-5]
1. 7:30 Tue: New Prairie [12-9] vs. Plymouth [15-6]
3. 6:00 Fri: Winner Game 1 vs. Winner Game 2
4. 7:30 Fri: Mishawaka Marian [6-15] vs. St. Joseph's [3-18]
5. 7:30 Sat: Championship (CST - 6:30 p.m.)

PLYMOUTH (3-2-2004) - Somebody in this group is going to have to find a way to stop 6-foot-1 junior guard Kyle Benge of Plymouth who has 65 three-point baskets. Last Friday, when Bremen double-teamed Benge, guard Geoff Sheets hit seven three-point goals in a 56-44 Plymouth win.

Usually, elite shooting teams struggle in the state tournament because defenses are more intense, fatigue is more prevalent and surroundings are unfamiliar. That might not get to Plymouth, which is on their home court. Plymouth has lost to Northwood, Warsaw, Northridge, LaPorte, Tippecanoe Valley and Glenn, all winning teams. The Pilgrims have also defeated Warsaw, Northridge and Northwood.

Knox has won 36 of their last 46 and 10 of their last 11. They are the defending sectional champs, but they play a lesser schedule. Plymouth has won 29 sectionals and this is a comeback season after a 7-14 year in 2003. Can Marian or St. Joseph's steal the sectional from the Knox-Plymouth winner? Honestly? No.

So Plymouth's 5-point victory over Knox will lead to the 2004 3A Plymouth Sectional title.

1. 6:00 Tue: Maconaquah [12-8] vs. Frankfort [12-9]
1. 7:30 Tue: West Lafayette [9-12] vs. Western [18-2]
3. 6:00 Fri: Winner Game 1 vs. Winner Game 2
4. 7:30 Fri: Twin Lakes [11-10] vs. Benton Central [18-3]
5. 7:30 Sat: Championship (CST - 6:30 p.m.)

FRANKFORT (3-2-2004) - If Benton Central and Western are equals, BC got a break by having to play just two games to win the Frankfort 3A Sectional. Benton Central ended the year with a 57-51 loss to Harrison (16-5). But Western, a suburban Kokomo school, has played somewhat of a questionable schedule. Teams like McCutcheon (5-16), West Lafayette (9-12) and Kokomo (5-14) are not as strong as usual so Western's slate has some holes. Both Western and BC are relatively small teams (no one taller than 6-5) with lots of depth. Western is 37-7 the last two years and BC is 32-11. Maconaquah beat Andrean, but they are largely a junior team and would have to win three times.

Frankfort, at home, cannot be overlooked. The Hot Dogs (yeah, I know) have won 46 sectionals, but they've dragged through a 12-9 slate as well. One of the fundamentals of the tournament is don't ignore the obvious. Any coach who would is about to tell you he'd rather play three games than two is either about to lie to you or about to get fired.

This is a close group, but any kind of analysis comes back to BC winning two games in 24 hours and moving on. BC has already beaten semifinal foe Twin Lakes by 12 and it's hard to find a really good team that Western has beaten.

Frankfort winner (Benton Central) vs. Gary Roosevelt winner (ANDREAN)
Calumet winner (Griffith) vs. Plymouth winner (Plymouth)

PLYMOUTH (3-13-2004) - There's a lot of power in the first game as BC and Andrean both want to pick up the pace. Usually, strength of schedule (an Andrean strongpoint) is of benefit in the regional, but the 59ers have a dichotomy. They want to run and shoot because of three-point gunners Bernie Talian and Frank Provenzano, but they need to slow the game to get to David Carson (21 ppg.) BC has no one taller than 6-4 so they can't let the game get into the half-court. I like the 59ers to win this game by one or two points.

Plymouth, on their home floor, is too strong for Griffith. The Pilgrims coach Jack Edison is over 475 wins and they will be very tough to defense with a week off, shooting at their home basket.

In the title game, the shooting team gets tired and the bigger team comes on. Andrean and Plymouth have a lot of baseball history with the 59ers being denied regional titles repeatedly in Marshall County. I think the 59ers, benefiting from playing the first game, have a little bit left at the end, winning their first regional title in four years by less than three points.