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2005-2006 Girls BasketballTop-10 Poll, Week-6A USA-365.com Special Report By Mark Smith(12-15-2005) |
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2005-2006 Girls BasketballTop-10 Poll, Week-6A USA-365.com Special Report By Mark Smith(12-15-2005) |
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VALPARAISO, IN -
(12-15-2005)
The game of the year appears to be on the horizon in South Bend where
undefeated defending 3A state champion St. Joseph's (6-0), in the top-25 in the
nation, is looking at a Tuesday, Jan. 10 date with powerful 4A No. 6 South Bend
Washington (10-1) in a game that will match D-1 guards (Notre Dame) Melissa
Lechlitner (22.3 ppg.) and (Tennessee) Sydney Smallbone (20.0) against 5-foot-9
Washington freshman guard Skyler Diggins (22.5), who has been unstoppable so
far. The contest also pits Washington's 6-2 sophomore Katie Boocher
against St. Joe's 6-5 sophomore Kristen Dockery.
Washington, which averages 75 points a game crushed Penn (8-2) 76-32 Tuesday (12-14-2005) night, forcing 27 Penn turnovers. Penn had allowed just 37 points per game. The intriguing factor is that St. Joe will run with Washington and that's why tickets are being withheld to be on sale only from Dec. 19 to Dec 23. NW Indiana coaches will be in the stands because those are the two teams blocking the path of everyone in NW Indiana in the state tournament. Watch the score out of Indianapolis Friday night as two-time defending 4A champion North Central (7-1), which lost for the first time last week, tries to regain the top-spot in the 4A poll at home against new No. 1 Carmel (9-0).
If there seems to be a lack of big time matchups in NW Indiana it's because there are. The Duneland Conference is to blame with the double round-robin that allows the eight biggest teams in NW Indiana only six nonconference games. Whoever thought up the 14-game DAC marathon should be fired faster than Bobby Wade.
Imagine what blockbusters East Chicago vs. Valparaiso, Munster-Crown Point, Merrillville-Gary West Side would be. Well, all you can do is imagine it because none of those games are played. And they would be if DAC suits would come into the 21st century and not ram three meetings (including a likely sectional game) of Crown Point and Chesterton down our throats every year. I've said it 50 times, but if the DAC had an eight-team week long tournament between Christmas and New Years it would be the No. 1 girls basketball event of the season every season. As it is the biggest annual event recently is which senior-to-be is transferring to Merrillville.
And South Central (8-0) may be a lovable bunch, but its hard to justify their No.1 ranking in light of the presence of three-time defending state 1A champion Tri-Central and senior guard Meranda Burnett. Tri-Central beat South Central 49-47 in the playoffs last year and, with one loss on the road at 2A Northwestern (6-3), you'd have to smoke a lot of weed to rank South Central ahead of them.
South Central plays very few 2A teams but they do travel to defending Porter County Conference (PCC) champ Boone Grove (4-4) on Jan. 5. Several teams reach or pass the midway mark in the 20-game regular season this week and some preliminary judgements can be made.
1.) 4A Valparaiso (6-3)
21-2 (2005), 23-3 (2004), 16-8 (2003)
VALPARAISO - Valpo was upset by Crown Point 51-42 Tuesday night in a game where 5-11 guard Erica Humes fouled out. CP jumped to an early lead and Valparaiso may have had to go deeper into the bench than they usually do. The Vikings were just 13 of 39 from the field. Valpo has lost three times by 10 points or less to teams with a combined record of 23-4. But Valpo may have assumed they'd take out CP easily and that is rarely the case. There's a lot of history here. Valpo will have to buckle down against LaPorte and Chesterton in the next 10 days and then they get another shot at Merrillville (8-0) on Jan. 4 in Valparaiso. Obviously, I'm still not convinced that Merrillville is better than Valparaiso. Valpo has embarrassed Plymouth (7-2), Highland (9-4) and Munster (9-2), all by 10 points or more. No one can question their status among the elite teams. But they should be 7-2 or 8-1.
2.) 4A Merrillville (8-0)
12-10 (2005), 18-3 (2004), 15-8 (2003)
MERRILLVILLE - The Pirates move up in the poll because they get 6-2 Lew Wallace-transfer Sharon Houston back on the floor in a 68-50 rout of Michigan City. Houston scored 15 points and grabbed 12 rebounds in her Merrillville debut which oddly, was not covered by the Times newspaper. (They could simply have forgotten the significance of an otherwise unimportant MC-Merrillville matchup. It happens.) You still have to wait to see how the Pirates now work together against a good defensive team. Matches with Munster (Dec. 21), Crown Point (Dec.28) and Valparaiso (Jan. 4) will tell that tale. They get an 'A' for the first 40% of the season but nobody's put any pressure on this team, yet. If the Pirates are 11-0 on Jan. 5, they become the unquestioned region 4A favorites and they better start getting tapes of South Bend Washington. Merrillville is lucky to be 8-0.
3.) 4A East Chicago (5-3)
21-4 (2005), 17-5 (2004), 21-1 (2003)
EAST
CHICAGO - East Chicago should be 7-3 when they get down to
Indianapolis to take on superpower North Central on Dec. 29. The Cardinals have
played four Illinois teams and they are 2-2. But EC should have beaten
Merrillville and would probably welcome a rematch. EC beat Lew Wallace 98-22 in
a game that was unfortunate. This is the calm before the storm and it's
going rock EC like a hurricane.
The Cardinals still have St. Joseph's (7-0), Gary West Side (4-2), North Central
(7-1), Warsaw (6-3), Munster (9-2), Highland (8-4) and south suburban Chicago
power Marian Catholic (7-2). EC's record isn't going to look very good at
the end of the year. This won't be a 20-win season. But the
Cardinals can still end up playing South Bend Washington in the regional
championship game. East Chicago should be better than 5-3 at this point.
4.) 4A Gary West Side (4-2)
23-5 (2005), 22-3 (2004), 20-4 (2003)
GARY - West Side barely escaped at mediocre South Bend Clay last Saturday. The Cougars have something to prove against Munster (9-2) Wednesday night (12-14-5) and they need tough non conference games because South Bend Washington is not in the Gary Holiday Tournament as they were last season. The trip to Lafayette Jeff (6-3) on Dec. 23 is also a quality game. West Side has East Chicago (5-3), Harding (6-1) and St. Joseph's (8-0) coming up in the first three weeks of the new year. These games are interesting but all three play an up-tempo style, probably not what West Side would see if they got to the regional. At 4-2, West Side is where they should be.
5.) 4A Munster (9-2)
17-6 (2005), 6-15 (2004), 6-18 (2003)
MUNSTER - Munster swept four games to win their first Lake Athletic Conference (LAC) tournament. The Lady Ponies beat Lowell (7-1) and Highland (9-4) decisively to take the crown. But Munster comes right out of that four-game funfest with Gary West Side, Highland again, Merrillville and Penn. The Mustangs held Andrean to just 27 points and limited Highland to only 14 field goals. Munster should have won the LAC. They were the best team in the league LAST YEAR. The only caution for the Mustangs here is the truth that December wins mean nothing. But the immediate upcoming schedule will prevent any overconfidence. Munster could easily be 10-1 but they are fine with a nine-game win streak.
6.) 4A Chesterton (5-2)
11-11 (2005), 14-8 (2004), 13-10 (2003)
CHESTERTON - The Trojans edged Michigan City 54-53 Friday (12-9-2005) as Kelly Peller scored 19 and Maddie Wilk added 12. That's two, one-point wins and another by two points. Chesterton is allowing more points than they are scoring, but 5-2 is 5-2. The Trojans forced 28 Merrillville turnovers but lost 44-34. This is not a real good offensive team but the games will always be close. Chesterton hasn't played very many games yet. the schedule will get much heavier including that trip to Lawrence North on Dec. 29. Chesterton is lucky to be 5-2.
7.) 4A Crown Point (6-4)
17-6 (2005), 14-8 (2004), 12-9 (2003)
CROWN POINT - The Lady Bulldogs came through when they had to, beating rivals Boone Grove and Valparaiso in a three-day span. The move of forward Ashley Zaucha to point guard has sparked the offense and 51 points against Valparaiso is evidence of that. But the Bulldogs are in the middle of a 5-games in eight days test and they won't be able to go home for the holidays until they take on Michigan City (5-3) Friday and Hanover Central (3-3) Saturday. Every analysis of CP that I have read so far this year is wrong. They all say that CP lost most of their team from last season. That is not true. CP had eight returning varsity players. The loss to LC and the win over Valpo balances each other out. At mid-season, CP is right where they should be.
8.) 2A North Judson (8-1)
22-4 (2005), 12-9 (2004), 13-8 (2003)
NORTH JUDSON - North Judson bounced back from their only loss of the season to win three in a row including a 10-point win over 3A New Prairie. Chelsea, LeAnn and Miranda Howard combined for 30 points as the Judds beat West Central 53-45. New Prairie apparently tried a slowdown and the game was 11-11 at the half. Chelsea, LeeAnn and Miranda Howard (the entire program seems to be 3 or 4 families and their relatives) combined for 27 points in that game. At 8-1, Judson, a defending 2A state finalist, is exactly where they should be.
9.) 3A Andrean (4-3)
9-13 (2005), 7-14 (2004), 15-9 (2003)
MERRILLVILLE - The 59ers got shut down hard 54-27 by Munster in the LAC tourney. Almost every player had a season low point total and the 59ers made a season low 9 of 19 (47.3%) from the foul line. To be fair, it was 'only' 34-19 after three quarters but that's like saying that the sun was out the day before the 20-inch snowfall hit. But lets be blunt. Andrean has lost to Merrillville (8-0), St. Joseph's (7-0) and Munster (9-2). If the 59ers can get to the final five games of the regular season with a plus-.500 record, they should charge to the wire with a wining streak. The 59ers are exactly where they should be at this point.
10.) 4A Highland (9-4)
19-5 (2005), 17-6 (2004), 24-3 (2003)
HIGHLAND
- Highland got stopped by Munster 48-39 in the LAC title game. The
Trojans sank just 11 field goals and made just 15 of 24 free throws. Tina
Traczyk scored 17 and has increased her scoring since moving to point guard,
something that is good for her but not necessarily good for the team.
That's what happens when a shooter moves to lead guard. But again, the
losses here are to Merrillville (8-0), Gary West Side (4-2), Valparaiso (6-3)
and Munster (9-2). The Trojans are exactly where they should be at
this point.
On
the outside looking in...
1.) 1A South Central (8-0)
18-7 (2005), 12-8 (2004), 9-13 (2003)
UNION TOWNSHIP - South Central stopped Morgan Township (7-2) in the first big Porter County Conference (PCC) game of the year. Senior Mallory Gorski scored 27 as the SC girls picked up the pace and won 60-55. Center Anna Kammrath scored 15 with three blocked shots. This was an oddly defense-free game with only 22 personal fouls and 46 field goals. SC has run the table so far because only John Glenn has been able to slow them. Nobody in the PCC really runs a delay or patient offense, so South Central's regular season title chances are pretty good. But all bets are off when they have to play three times and win the PCC tournament. I think South Central is two games ahead of where they should be at this point but it's probably not accurate to say they're lucky.
2.) 4A Lowell (7-1)
13-8 (2005), 15-9 (2004), 11-12 (2003)
LOWELL - Munster finally stopped the 7-game winning streak of Lowell 45-33. The Devils, playing twice in two towns on the same day last Saturday (due to the backed up LAC tourney), were outscored 20-4 in the second quarter. Lowell is shooting 75% from the foul line and that's why they are where they are. The Devils take their annual excursion to Flora, Indiana this weekend and that means three games in 24 hours. Since the Devils are playing small schools Carroll and Rossville (after a Friday night game with Calumet) at the Carroll County Christmas Tourney, only a 3-game weekend sweep is an acceptable outcome. The Devils and their 6-player rotation is a great story but for anybody to rank Lowell second in NW Indiana indicates that the tired old men at the local newspapers don't really know or care that much about girls basketball. But with that said, if the Devils come home for the holidays with a 10-1 record late Saturday, they will be at least two games ahead of where they should be at this point in the season.
3.) 2A Rensselaer (5-2)
15-7 (2005), 10-11 (2004), 9-12 (2003)
RENSSELAER
- Rensselaer dominated Hebron more than the 48-39 score would
indicate despite shooting 7-of-18 from the foul line. The Bombers led 38-24
after three quarters to break a two-game losing streak (Benton Central and St.
Joseph's). The Bombers should go to 7-2 but they may have bitten off more
than they can chew with a home game against Maconaquah (8-1) on Dec. 28.
Keeping in mind that Rensselaer is a 2A school, losses to Benton Central (7-1)
and St. Joseph's (7-0) are excusable. Rensselaer is exactly where they should
be.