NW Indiana Girls Basketball Renegade Class 2A Sectional/Regional Preview

2003-2004 Girls Basketball

'The Renegade' Sectional / Regional

Preview: Class 2A

A USA-365.com Special Report

(2-8-2004)

2-10-4 (Tu) BOONE GROVE [15-4] vs. Bishop Noll [11-9] 7 p.m.
2-13-4 (F) Wheeler [17-3] vs. Lake Station [0-19] 6 p.m.
2-13-4 (F) HANOVER CENTRAL [11-10] vs. Noll or Boone - 7:30 p.m.
2-14-4 (S) Championship game - 7:30 p.m.

2-10-4 (Tu) Jimtown [11-9] vs. LaVille [13-8]
2-10-4 (Tu) John Glenn [12-8] vs. Westview [16-6]
2-13-4 (F) Tuesday's winners meet - 6 p.m.
2-13-4 (F) Bremen [15-6] vs. Fairfield [9-11]
2-14-4 (S) Championship game - 7:30 p.m.

2-10-4 (Tu) North Judson [11-8] vs. Rensselaer [10-10] 7 p.m.
2-13-4. (F) Winamac [18-2] vs. North Newton [10-8]
2-13-4 (F) Rochester [19-2] vs. North Judson or Rensselaer
2-14-4 (S) Championship game - 7:30 p.m.

2-10-4 (Tu) Delphi [5-14] vs. Clinton Central [9-10] 6 p.m.
2-10-4 (Tu) North Montgomery [10-10] vs. Sheridan [1-18] 7:30 p.m.
2-13-4 (F) Tuesday's winners meet - 6 p.m.
2-13-4 (F) Seeger [13-7] vs. Fountain Central [10-10]
2-14-4 (S) Championship game - 7:30 p.m.

RENSSELAER: Rensselaer has fond memories for Boone Grove. With snow postponements, the Wolves made four trips to Rensselaer in eight days to win their first-ever sectional championship last year. To visit again, though, the defending 2A regional champion Wolves are going to have to get down off a late season roller-coaster which has seen them lose two of their last three games after a 14-2 start.

Boone Grove has lost to two of the five teams (Hanover and Wheeler) at the Hanover Central Sectional, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. The 42-40 loss to Hanover was a stereotypical upset where the emotional underdog shocked the slightly lackadaisical favorite. Boone beat HC by 34 points nine days later.

Wheeler beat Boone by nine points in January but has since lost guard Ali Roper (12.3 ppg.) to a season-ending knee injury. The BearCats (17-3), looking for their first-ever basketball (boys or girls) sectional title, got an absolute 'Yellow Brick Road' draw, getting a first round bye and winless Lake Station (0-19) in the semifinals.

Wheeler has the week off to prepare for a one-game shot at school history while Boone has to go to war, starting with a quarterfinal game against vastly improved Bishop Noll (11-9). Noll has played a significantly tougher schedule (they may be the only 2A team in the state that has played four 4A schools) than any of the other four teams here and they are a more physical team which is patient offensively. The fact that Noll has allowed more points (40.5 per game) than they have scored (38.1 per game) is deceptive. The Warriors lost 60-25 to giant Lawrence North and 74-30 to superpower East Chicago (15-4).

Noll cannot allow Boone to steal the ball and score in transition and I can't see how they can get that done all night. Guards Vanita Gary and Karly Hooker are both 5-foot-3 and they will have problems with 5-10 Becky Keller and 5-5 Karissa Walter.

Walter suffered a minor concussion on Thursday, Jan. 4 in a loss to North Judson. If she is sub-par, Noll will have the edge. They have more athletic teams than Boone has. But I think Walter plays and she helps Boone wear down Noll's ball-handlers for key turnovers.

Hanover Central has the depth and outside shooting to beat Bishop Noll. But they too, will have trouble with Boone Grove's full court pressure. The Lady Cats will probably use a series of half court defenses to expose Boone's 3-point shooting woes (0-for-11) against North Judson.

Hanover, the home team, is a wild, unpredictable bunch. They could get routed by Boone or they could upset Boone again and prove too athletic and deep for Wheeler. Top scorer Jill McElmurry (16.2 ppg.) needs scoring help from Christie Wick and Krysta Rickey, who hit a last season free throw to give her side a rare Hanover victory over Kankakee Valley last week.

But Boone plays well when they are desperate and the Lady Wolves should beat HC on offensive rebounds. Boone wants a rematch with Wheeler and, barring further injury, they should be primed for a peak effort. If Wheeler was at full strength, they'd move on but Boone Grove simply has too much depth. If Boone can stay out of foul trouble (four players fouled out in the earlier match with Wheeler) and go back to their trapping, pressing roots, the Lady Wolves should run to the lead early and hold on to win their second consecutive sectional title.

At North Montgomery, the host school has played the toughest schedule and can't see a ranked team until the title game. North Montgomery ended the year with a four-game winning streak and they have defeated Fountain Central by 37 points. Seeger has won seven of their last eight and they have good size but lets stay with the home team here.

Bremen got a bye and should win at home in their sectional. They have the best record against the best schedule and five returning starters off a 16-8 team. It's a major upset if Bremen's bus isn't in the Rensselaer lot on Feb. 21.

The final Rensselaer Regional team should be Rochester. You can make a good argument that Rochester is the premier 2A team in the northern half of the state. They have lost only to Riley (13-7) and Tippecanoe Valley (19-2) and those losses came on the same day over the Christmas Holiday.

The Zebras have four returning starters off a 22-3 team including all-stater Courtney Felke, a Division I lead guard, who averages 20.6 per game. Soph guard Ryleigh Carr (12.6 ppg.) is a good long range shooter and 6-foot center Jenna Easterday (10.1 points, 5.2 rebounds) must be accounted for inside.

Rochester smoked out Winamac 75-57, beat Bremen 81-60 and 3A power Twin Lakes (16-5). They have faced an amazing 14 winning teams.

To make matters worse for Boone Grove, Rochester led Boone by eight in the Triton Regional semifinals last year with two minutes to play before the Wolves scored the final 13 points of the game for an incredible 57-52 upset.

Rochester has waited 365 days for a rematch and it's very hard to see Boone Grove, even with backing from a big crowd, winning this game. Bremen should beat North Montgomery, but they got leveled by Rochester on Jan. 13 and it's very hard to see them making up the difference. The Zebras get a quarterfinal sectional bye and no one who they are unfamiliar with in their path.

There's no way Rochester, one of the state's top-50 teams in any class, should not be in the semistate on Feb. 28. In fact, Rochester should play Shenandoah in the state championship game. But then again, there's no way Rochester should have not reached the semistate last year, either.