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2003-2004 Girls Basketball'Renegade' Poll: Week 4A USA-365.com Special Report(12-9-2003) |
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2003-2004 Girls Basketball'Renegade' Poll: Week 4A USA-365.com Special Report(12-9-2003) |
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There's nobody here who's so good that that they will dominate the others. This season will be a series of matches between the top teams and nobody's going to go undefeated locally. Meanwhile some nice freshmen like Rebekah Basinger (18.3 ppg.) of Kouts and first year players like Angie Bush (18.3) of Morgan have popped up at small schools. Remember that we don't know who the good freshmen are at big schools because they aren't on the varsity yet. Statewide, Gary West Side's 12-point loss to Kokomo and Andrean's 23-point loss to St. Joseph's indicates that this is comparatively not a strong area of the state yet this season.
1. Gary West Side (2-1)
West
Side is a little hard to find. The win over Hobart was reported on in local
newspapers. The 16-point loss to Kokomo wasn't reported. I believe they like it
that way. Maybe they learned from the boys program that too much publicity is a
negative. Seeing them against Andrean at the Hammond Civic Center, you are
impressed with junior Isabell Rhenwick, who seems to have improved as a lead
guard with senior Belinda Drake. The Lady Cougars' full court press runs around
a bit and the a disciplined team with a top lead guard (see: Crown Point) could
break them down. The Cougars shot 22 of 72 Sunday in the win over Andrean. But
they never could shoot.
2. East Chicago (7-0)
East
Chicago is in a lull in the schedule where they only play Morton and Lew Wallace
in a three-week span. Dee Dee Jernigan (12.8) has to do more offensively
and she may have started with 21 against Morton. She has to do more because she
can. There is no defender in this region who can guard EC's 5-10 soph 1-on-1.
5-10 soph Kelly Watts (12.5) also can do more. EC's foul shooting 10 of 20
(vs. Morton) is a worry. East Chicago's holiday tournament (Dec. 19) is a state
class event unlike most that have ever been held in this area.
3. MERRILLVILLE (4-1)
Merrillville
did a fine job against Chesterton in a 57-31 win, but Chesterton is not a good
offensive team. Julie DeMuth and Marshay Jolly both scored 12 points. 6-2
Brittany Moore has been getting the ball more in the last two games. The Pirates
have shot only 46 free throws. They must make an effort to run the offense
through Moore so they get fouled. They are doing fine. It is unrealistic to
expect new teammates to mesh in 5 games. They should easily be 7-1 when
they host Lake Central on Dec. 19.
4. Valparaiso (7-1)
The Viking girls have just been dominant except for the game against Merrillville. Center Cassie Kerns (13.3 ppg.) had help, but she held down LC's 5-10 Jen VanDerZanden (12.3) to just four point's in Valpo's 37-30 win at LC last (Dec. 5) Friday. Senior guard Lauren Hutton (8.6 ppg.) is the key and she scored 11 big ones against the defense of LC's Katie Mitchell, an elite athlete. Valpo has held seven foes to 38 points or less. Valpo had to drop out of the Warsaw tournament so the big December game is next Tuesday (Dec. 16) against rival Crown Point (5-2).
5. LAKE CENTRAL (4-2)
I was surprised that LC was shut down by Valpo's defense. LC needs to turn it around and it will be tough at home Friday against Crown Point (5-2). Linsey Smith scored 24 last week in a 55-38 rout of Munster, but the Indians' double figure scorers were held to a combined 20 points against Valparaiso. LC still heads south to the Center Grove Tournament on Jan. 3. We'll know a lot more by then.
The jury is still out on Crown Point. A disappointing loss to Chesterton 38-27 was followed by a dominating win over undefeated Lowell 50-31. With Cassie Pruzin (16 ppg, 41 steals) leading the way, the Lady Bulldogs have a chance against anyone. But they need 5-10 Blayre Reeves to score and rebound in double figures. The Bulldogs are not a good shooting team so they must score in transition. Furthermore, they must get to the foul line and improve on a horrible 49 of 102 (44.1%). You can't live like that.
7. Chesterton (5-1)
The 23-point loss to Merrillville was a jolt but not a surprise. The Trojans really are not a good offensive team and they play a half court game that plays right into Merrillville's hands. I can't see them beating Merrillville at all this year. Coach Jack Campbell got his 200th win (200-122) in 16 seasons in a 42-33 win over Wheeler. The Lady Trojans' Kelly Pellar (11.2 ppg.) and Stephanie Boyle (11.4 ppg.) are doing fine, but guards Catherine (Cat) Campbell and Holly Melton have not shot well and they must. They simply have to.
Lowell fell behind 24-5 to Hobart and rallied to win. It is unheard of to come from 19 points behind in girls basketball. McKensey Wietbrock (14.3 ppg.) scored 18 in the 52-45 victory and Lowell hit 24 of 31 from the line. Lisa Schulfer (13.6) grabbed 15 rebounds in the big comeback win. If Lowell could come up with a third double figure scorer even for just 10 games, it could bring them championship trophies. To be honest, they have beaten North Newton, Hanover Central, Andrean and Hobart but they have not defeated a team with a winning record. To beat Hammond by 2 points (as they did in the LAC tourney Tuesday) is not encouraging.
Andrean got beat by Gary West Side 60-43 Saturday, but things will turn around for them. The losses to Penn, West Side, Lowell and St. Joseph's, have all come to teams at .500 or better. Kim McCloskey scored 19 with 19 rebounds against West Side. Suzanne Cunningham has struggled at the foul line and Brooke Bosak has been sick. But the 59ers will finish the season with a winning record and a sectional title. Note that they beat Calumet 50-40. That's a sectional rival. The loss to Highland in the LAC 1st round might be a blessing. Andrean didn't need four games in five days. There is some confusion on when they'll play Bishop Luers (4-1). I believe it is Dec. 20 but some web sites say it is Jan. 2.
Lets be honest. Boone Grove has completed the softest portion of a very soft schedule. That ends now. The Lady Wolves will take on neighborhood rival Crown Pint (5-2) Saturday night and we'll get anointed revealed. Karissa Walter (19.8 ppg.) is getting scoring help from Becky Keller (11.8) and Rachel Jenkins (10.7 ppg.), but we're about to find out if they can score points in big games against big teams. Boone is looking at a match with arch-rival Hebron Dec. 22 or 23 in the South County Tournament (No pairings have been announced) and another one in the PCC tournament. Boone has to be eyeing teams like Wheeler (4-2), Winamac (7-1) and Rochester (6-0) down the line. They'll have to beat 2 of those 3 to get back to the Warsaw Semistate.
Could
be good.....
Highland (6-3)
The 26-point loss to Valparaiso was discouraging, but Highland's style plays right into Valparaiso's hands. The Trojans can slow up-tempo teams, but they don't want to play halfcourt teams with big baselines. The Trojans have beaten Valpo only twice in 16 meetings. The LAC tournament is big to the Trojans, who are the defending champions. The big win over Andrean Wednesday... might be misleading. They caught a tired, ill and injured 59ers squad.
Wheeler (6-2)
Alison Roper (15.1 ppg.) and Becca Bruszewski (10.9 pg.) are giving the BearCats solid offense. Wheeler is 0-18 all time against Chesterton. I believe that Wheeler faced more intense competition in the PCC and they'll have to gear back up at the end of the year. The Wheeler Holiday Tournament will allow Wheeler to face Andrean, a good matchup. Wheeler has a 50-50 chance to win he LAC tourney this weekend.
LAKE
CONFERENCE TOURNAMENT
Tuesday, Dec. 9 - Home
Team in Bold
LOWELL 43, Hammond 41
Griffith 31, Bishp Noll 29, OT
Munster 55, Kankakee Valley 50
Highland 57, ANDREAN 24
Hobart 47, Whiting 32
Gavit 50, Morton 49
Wheeler 58, Lake Station 9
Calumet 50,
Clark 39
Coming up.......
Thursday, Dec. 11
Bishop Noll at Hammond
Andrean at Kankakee Valley
Lake Station at Whiting
Clark at Morton
Griffith at Lowell
Highland at Munster
Calumet
at Gavit
Saturday Dec. 13
at Highland
Semifinals: Griffith-Lowell winner versus Highland-Munster winner
@ 10 a.m.
Wheeler-Hobart
winner versus Calumet-Gavit winner @ 12 p.m.
Consolation: 10am loser versus 12pm loser @ 6 p.m.
Championship: 10am winner versus 12pm winner @ 8 p.m.