NW Indiana Girls Basketball Renegade Season Final Poll

2003-2004 Girls Basketball

'Renegade' Season Final Poll

A USA-365.com Special Report

(3-7-2004)

Most polls stop when the regular season ends. Why? Because if they continue through the winner-take-all games, the rankings will get embarrassing. That didn't happen here. Gary West Side was number one all season and they lost on the home floor of the No. 2 team Valparaiso. Play that game in Gary and don't have West Side meet undefeated South Bend Washington (21-0) earlier the same day and the outcome is probably different. It was a good year in northwest Indiana with several good, but not great teams.

1. Valparaiso (23-3)

Valparaiso beat a tired West Side team decisively and then played Warsaw (26-3) into overtime at Warsaw. If the former didn't prove the Viking girls were this region's number one team, the latter did. The Vikings return lots of size in 6-3 all-stater Cassie Kerns (13.9 points, 8.4 rebounds, 56% FG) , 6-2 Lindsey Humes and her 5-11 sister Eric Humes ( 40 of 80 FGs), who showed herself as a strong defensive player against Warsaw star Jacklyn Leininger. Also coming is Michelle Lang, a 6-0 sophomore. The Vikings must replace guards Lauren Hutton and underrated Leslie Bryan but that may not be as difficult as you might think. Valpo doesn't ask their guards to be great. Just protect the ball and get it to the big people. The Vikings will have another 17-20 win season.

2. Gary West Side (22-3)

West Side didn't come through in the regional championship game and lost 58-43 to Valparaiso. The Cougars had to defeat a 21-0 team in the morning regional game and had nothing left at the end of the regional title game. They'll come back and do it again. Isabelle Rhenwick (11 ppg.) is a fine lead guard and Erica Simpson is a solid 6-0 forward. Michelle Hamblin missed half the season with a knee injury and she'll be back. West Side is loaded with players and they will dominate Gary again next season.

3. East Chicago (16-5)

East Chicago again did not play well in the sectional, barely beating Highland 44-37 and losing 38-35 to Gary West Side. The true test of a good offensive team is how much good defensive squads can slow them in the state tournament. EC is easily slowed when the good teams face them. Still, Dee Dee Jernigan (15 ppg, 10 rebounds, 4.4 assists), who scored 13 against West Side, returns next season as the top offensive player in this region and she must begin to maximize her ability. Jernigan must score 20 every night. Center Jernita Moore (8.1 ppg.) returns after an injury-plagued year and 5-10 G-F Kelly Watts (11.4, 5.7 rebounds) creates a mobile front court. EC needs to develop depth so they can shuttle players in and amp up the defense.

EC needs to schedule all the talented teams they can find the next coulple of years. They should call Crown Point, which returns four starters, Boone Grove, which returns nine varsity players and Marian Catholic (21-6), the top team in Chicago's south suburbs. The Cardinals were too young to get out of this region this year. There will be no excuses for East Chicago the next two seasons.

4. MERRILLVILLE (18-3)

Obviously, the Pirates hoped to get past the sectional quarterfinal round, but they got a bad draw and got beat by Valpo (21-2) for the second time. They did win the first (and possibly the only) double round robin DAC title and that's a major achievement. It is not easy to add a significant senior transfer. It rarely works. The strength of teams like Kokomo and Warsaw is that they have senior basketball players who have played together all their lives. Those teams defeat teams like Merrillville which come together late. That's a fact. Or at least a trend. The Pirates will be a smoother offensive bunch next year with Melissa Borom and Brittany Usery back at guard, 5-10 Brittney Huish at forward and 6-2 Brittney Moore at center. Moore is another player who must maximize her ability in her junior year. I don't know how much she can score but she must average 10 rebounds a game next year. But CP and Valpo will still have great power. The DAC will be a premier conference next year, possibly stronger overall than it was in 2004.

5. CROWN POINT (14-8)

The Lady Bulldogs will look back on a good scenario when they drew the winner of a first round game between Valpo (21-2) against Merrillville (18-3). That won't happen very often. CP now readies for a peak season in 2005 with league MVP Cassie Pruzin (17 points, 4.8 assists, 5.9 steals, 4.4 rebounds) and three-year starter Kaitlyn Sertich at guard plus 5-10 forward Jill Weiand returning as seniors next year. The difference between Valpo and CP is size and that's when 2005-sophomores Anjellica Rospond and Courtney Perry, both six foot tall, must develop into solid DAC caliber starters. The Lady Bulldogs have a half dozen other girls ready to be varsity players but they're all in the 5-4, 5-6, 5-8 range. Note to CP (and several other teams). Basketball is an offensive game. You must be able to hit the open shot. The time to learn is NOW. Nothing can be done during the season.

6. Chesterton (13-8)

Chesterton lost 44-38 at Crown Point (14-8) to end the season. Realistically, the Trojans' earlier wins over CP 36-27 and 37-27 came before the Lady Bulldogs upped their playing level. The 13-8 record includes 5 losses to Merrillville, Valparaiso and Gary West Side, something they must address again next year. Chesterton returns 6-foot Stephanie Boyle (13.4 ppg.) and 5-10 Cassie Pellar (9.5 ppg.) but they will hurt for backcourt players next year in a league with very experienced guards at LC, CP and Merrillville. Chesterton also can't win this league playing basically seven players. CP and Merrillville will be able to play 10 and Michigan City is coming on. Right now, they appear to be the 4th best team returning in the DAC next year. But the Trojans have the size to match Valpo and they have six months to work on the shooting.

7. LAKE CENTRAL (11-10)

Strength of schedule puts LC ahead of Highland, especially after LC's 54-47 loss to Gary Sectional champion West Side. But sometimes a close loss in the playoffs when no one expected you to win is deceptive. LC had a very average year, losing two games to Crown Point that they should have won. Guard Katie Mitchell will return next season along with 5-11 Ali Vajda. 5-8 Angie Funston, 5-7 Alyssa Duncan and 5-9 Lisa Kruse all have two more years. There is talk of an outstanding eighth grade player coming to LC that will add to their ability. They need that. Here's another team that needs a major upgrade in skill level to win in the league they're playing in.

8. Highland (17-5)

Highland devised a defense to keep it close against East Chicago and they did, losing just 34-29. The Trojans lost Georgiann Michaels to an ankle injury and she didn't play in this game. I don't think that Highland can beat East Chicago right now and that is disappointing to them, but this year's team achieved all realistic goals. The Trojans sill have the core of tall players, 6-1 Katie Kane, 5-11 Ashley Sampson and 5-10, Cassie Siska. They will continue to win in the LAC. But you can't prepare for East Chicago and Gary West Side by playing Lowell and Munster. Highland needs to play speed like Boone Grove, Elkhart Memorial and South Bend Washington or size like Marian Catholic and St. Joseph's. EC will be nationally ranked next season and, unless Highland comes up with a true creator at guard, they will again have a good regular season and a short post-season.

9. Wheeler (20-4)

Without Allison Roper (12.2 ppg.), Wheeler survived two overtimes against rival Boone Grove 52-50 in a classic sectional championship game. The two wins over Boone, neither at home, are the highlights of a landmark season, 20 wins and the school's first-ever sectional title. Seniors came through. Guard Danielle Geer, Alyse Bruszewski and Maggie Schultz all made big plays as Boone came from behind three times to win after top scoring freshman Becca Bruszewski (16.5 ppg.) fouled out. The Bearcats were embarrassed by eventual state champion Rochester (25-2) in the Rensselaer Regional semifinals, but the reality is that Rochester is about 10 points better. The Bearcats need to develop depth and avoid becoming one dimensional. It was glaring how smoothly Wheeler's offense ran once Becca Bruszewski fouled out against Boone Grove. Wheeler needs to vastly upgrade their nonconference schedule because the LAC Blue is weak. They don't want to be a team like Highland was a few years back. A local power that cleans up on weak neighbors and then gets shut down outside the region.

10. Lew Wallace (12-5)

I don't know how good this team is but they are big with 6-2 Sharon Houston and 5-11 LaQuita Williams, who are both sophomores. Houston's numbers are so good you question them. She had 14 points, 11 rebounds and six blocks against KV and 20 points, 18 rebounds and seven blocks against Andrean. Their schedule has been poor and they haven't even played 20 games, but there's a lot of raw talent here. Houston grew six inches in the last two years so she may not get taller. As Highland proves, you can win with big players even if the skill level isn't that high. Wallace needs to play 50 games this summer as a team to get some team feeling. And the LW athletic department has to get in gear. You can't have a 15-game schedule when 20 are allowed. Call Boone. Call Marian Catholic. Call anybody. But if you only play 15 games during the regular season Lew Wallace will NEVER EVER get deep into the state tournament.

What's going on????....

Horace Mann (11-9)

Horace Mann had seven juniors on a winning team, even though star Shanee Butler (21.3 ppg.) graduates. The question has little to do with basketball. Barring a last second reprieve, Horace Mann, one of the oldest schools in northwest Indiana, will be closed after this school year. It is inevitable because Mann is down to 570 students after many years at over 1,000. The students go to Gary West Side and Gary Roosevelt with the largest percentage going to West Side. That will strengthen the Cougars depth wise immediately. In the short run, the disappearance of a 3A school turns the Calumet sectional into a 5-team bracket with three quarterfinal byes. In the long run, this closing MAY drop the smallest 4A school (probably Hobart) down to 3A, which would make them sectional and regional contenders. Also, a drop of a 4A to 3A might push Michigan City into Sectional two where they actually should be with Merrillville, Michigan City, Valpo, Portage, Chesterton, CP and LC.
Of course it all goes out the window if the IHSAA votes on cutting from four to two classes but, (psssst) you didn't hear me say that.