2007-2008 Boys Basketball  Week-11, Top-10 Poll A USA-365.com Special Report by Mark Smith (03-12-2008)

EAST CHICAGO (3-12-2008) - In a bit of a surprise, all NW Indiana teams were eliminated at the regional level after there was perhaps just one major upset in sectional play in Northwest Indiana with ranked teams like 1A Morgan Township, 2A Bishop Noll and 4A East Chicago advancing to the regional level.  The jolt was East Chicago, which seemed a lock-solid cinch to advance to the semistate to face Marion for the second year in a row.  But unheralded South Bend Riley scored the final 13 points in a row over the last 3:43 left to eliminate the defending 4A champion Cardinals 61-60.

Bishop Noll (1A), Westview (2A), Kankakee Valley (3A), Clark (3A) and Crown Point (4A) were all wiped out in the semifinals of the regional, a near total wipe-out for the six-county area (Lake, Porter, LaPorte, Jasper, Newton and Starke) county area we call Northwest Indiana.
  
And then, after the first five sectional champs got low-bridged, EC lost in the final moments and EC fans fired trash onto the floor at Michigan City.  It was not the region's finest hour, although at this writing, the end-of-the game mis-behaving by the very unhappy EC fans was not reported on heavily outside this area.  Not yet.

One final nod to Kankakee Valley (13-11), which pulled as close as you can get to a big upset, beating Calumet 68-65 in the semifinals of the 3A KV Sectional and topping Rensselaer in the finals.  The Kougars were in the regional even though they've allowed more points this season than they have scored.  But playing eight 4A schools, including superpower Jefferson (23-1) and powerhouse Munster (16-6) clearly paid off as did the home floor, the tradition-rich KV gym down in Wheatfield.

Some of you may have missed the girls state finals on cable.  I did, too.  It is my understanding that the finals were moved to Digital cable channel 114 and no announcement was made.  That further limits who can see the finals because everyone who has cable does NOT have digital cable.  But, Digital Cable Channel 114 did show the IHSAA Network broadcast of Carmel-Brownsburg live Saturday night.

I apologize for not knowing that last week, but ComCast local programming in NW Indiana has been shut down and there's no one to pose questions to.  You can watch all the Illinois playoff action you want on CN 100 (if you have Digital Cable) but now that Michael Jordan's son Marcus, playing for Whitney Young, is out, why would you?

1.  (4A) East Chicago (20-4)
2007 (22-3), 2006 (19-5), 2005 (13-8), 2004 (13-10)

EAST CHICAGO:  I've called on East Chicago all year not just to win, but to dominate and they did at the sectional and regional, blowing out Munster (16-6) and Gary West Side (19-5) by solid scores of 60-45 and 67-51 to win the sectional for the third season in a row.  EC then shut down Crown Point (17-7) by 15 points and led Riley by 16 in the second half.  But then they folded.  The guard line of Bryce Walker and Derrell Conner just could not control the game in the final four minutes when EC was roasted 13-0, but there were awful shots all around.  It's going to be tough on the seniors to have that as their last game.  I hope that those who play in college have a happier ending.  I would have liked to have seen Chesterton face East Chicago to see how that matchup would have gone, but that didn't occur.  That makes EC No. 1 on strength of schedule.

2.  (4A) Chesterton (19-3)
2007 (16-7), 2006 (14-9), 2005 (9-12), 2004 (13-8)

CHESTERTON:  Chesterton's bid for the state finals ended with a 59-57 loss to Crown Point in the Class 4A Michigan City semifinals.  Zack Novak's 3-point shot tied the game with 40 seconds left, but CP's Stephen Albrecht won the game with a jump shot with three seconds to go.  Chesterton had defeated CP twice during the regular season.  It was a reversal from last year, when CP beat the Trojans twice during the season and lost in overtime at the sectional.  The hidden truth here is: CP and Chesterton have met 15 times in five years and they have met five years in a row at the sectional.  It's time to seed the top two teams in the post-season sectional.  Novak, certain to be named an Indiana all-star, scored 27 points and hit six three-point goals in his final game.  It's going to be very tough to rebuild next year as six of the top seven players now head for graduation.

3.  (4A) CROWN POINT (17-6)
2007 (12-9), 2006 (9-13), 2005 (13-9), 2004 (6-16)

CROWN POINT:  Crown Point didn't play well at the regional, losing 52-37 to East Chicago at the Michigan City Regional.  In an odd game, CP didn't get to the foul line even once.  But truthfully, watching the game, you almost had to be reminded of that fact.  The officiating was a little timid, but it didn't heavily favor EC until some goal tending calls got ignored in the late going.  CP looked very strong in wins over Michigan City, Chesterton and Hobart to win the first eight-team 4A Michigan City Sectional.  Stephen Albrecht's (17.9 ppg.) foul line jump shot with three seconds left broke a 57-57 tie and beat Chesterton 59-57.  Michael Lipton's 23 points in the quarterfinals boosted CP past Michigan City 60-41.  Kyle Hanaway (5.3 points, 7.1 assists) passed out 10 assists in CP's 80-58 victory over Hobart (14-9) in the sectional finals.  This was the first CP sectional title in 10 years and just the seventh in 98 years of the state tournament.  CP will get over the disappointment of not beating EC and realize they had a good year.

4.  (4A) Merrillville (16-5)
2007 (13-9), 2006 (17-4), 2005 (18-4), 2004 (9-12)

MERRILLVILLE:  The Pirates lost to DAC champ Chesterton in the first round of the Michigan City Sectional.  This was a deep, young, athletic team without any really good offensive players and the idea that they would beat Chesterton (19-3) and CP (17-6) was unrealistic.  Mario Stapleton (11.6 ppg., 49-of-98, 84.4% free throws) ended his career with a strong push, while almost all of the Pirate back court graduates, including three-year veteran Bo Patton.  But the future is now.  The Pirates return 6-foot-8 Jonathan Nwannunu, 6-foot-8 Ryan Brown, 6-foot-5 Darius Stephens and 6-foot-5 Dolapo Macarthy.  The Pirates must break in new guards, but they have candidates.  Nobody has a front line like this returning for the 2009 playoffs.  And again, there was a significant gap between the top four teams in 2008 and everyone else.

5.  (4A) Gary West Side (18-5)
2007 (14-7), 2006 (7-14), 2005 (19-5), 2004 (12-7)

GARY:  The Cougars were not ready to play in the post-season.  They barely beat Lowell 48-43 and were wiped out 67-51 by East Chicago.  I don't have the best explanation for that, but when you look at their team, it's a minor-miracle they won 18 games.  This team really didn't have a center and they were very young at a lot of positions.  Coach John Boyd did very well here to get this team to the sectional final.  West Side needs a big player up front to deal with taller teams like Lake Central in their sectional.  The guard tandem of Xavier Jones and DeShawn Clay can be the best in NW Indiana next season.

6.  (4A) Michigan City (11-9)
2007 (8-13), 2006 (9-12), 2005 (6-16), 2004 (2-19)

MICHIGAN CITY:  The Wolves were quickly eliminated 60-46 by eventual sectional champ Crown Point at the Michigan City 4A Regional.  The Wolves will have to rebuild around forward Chance Nelson (23 of 55 in 3-pointers) and strong guard Adam Harmon.  Jerrod Jones (Ball State) and Stephen Ward (Bethel) played 4 years on the varsity, but with new coach Bob Buscher, here's a chance for him to build his own team.  It's my understanding that Michigan City will be the sectional and regional host until the next realignment.  That does create an opportunity.

7. (4A) Munster 16-6
21-4 (2007), 20-4 (2006), 16-8 (2005), 20-2 (2004)

MUNSTER:  I thought Munster peaked late in the season and wasn't as good at the East Chicago Sectional as they were two weeks earlier.  The Mustangs are a skilled team which needs to let nature take its course.  They are small and not physical.  Alex McGuire, a 6-foot-4 forward, has potential to be the late blooming offensive impact player they need and the Ponies have plenty of ball-handlers.  Munster has to see the 2009 playoffs as their time.  EC will be down.  Andrean and Lowell will be trying to rebuild and this team has confidence against Gary West Side, a team they've beaten four times in a row.  The record is 93-24 over the last five years, but (and I've said this before) they play in basically a 3A league and then compete in the 4A playoffs.  They have to be so much better than they THINK they have to be.  Munster will also have to deal with rival Lake Central and 6-foot-8 Eric Summers in 2009. But one of these years, the Mustangs will break through and I think 2009 is one of those years.

8.  (2A) Bishop Noll (19-5)
2007 (9-13), 2006 (6-15), 2005 (8-14), 2004 (15-10)

HAMMOND:  Noll got jolted 69-54 by Westview in the 2A regionals, ending a very good season.  The Warriors were just not good, sinking only 17 of 29 from the line and trailing by 10 early against Westview (24-1), the eventual regional champ.  The Warriors rallied from an early 11-point deficit to beat Hanover Central 74-60 and sweep the 3-game HC sectional.  It was impressive how the Warriors rallied on the road in a situation where you know they were a little tired.  Seniors Jason Chorba (21.1 points, 9.6 rebounds, 2.2 steals) and Eric Schooler (10.9 points, 6.6 assists, 4.3 steals) and 6-foot-4 junior Kris Wilson (11.6 points, 6.2 rebounds) led an up-tempo no-brakes attack and Noll averaged almost 70 a game.  The future?  It's unclear.  The top Noll players graduate, and as always at a private school, it's hard to say who's coming in from eighth grade.

9.  (3A) Clark (15-8)
2007 (21-5), 2006 (16-7), 2005 (8-13), 2004 (12-9)

HAMMOND:  Clark was dominated in the second half on the road at defending state champ Plymouth.  All-stater Randy Davis rolled up 28 points as the Pioneers lost at the regional level for the third year in a row.  It will always be tough for a Lake County team to win at Plymouth against Plymouth.  That's just the way it is.  The Pioneers held off Wirt to win a third consecutive sectional championship 63-59 over Wirt.  The bye helped them here, but they won the 'big' game on the road.  The balanced all-senior Pioneer attack of guard Jon Carpen (15.2 points, 3.3 assists, 2.4 steals), forward Mario Ramirez (12.7 points, 7.1 rebounds, 2.3 steals) and center Nick Curosh (12.6 points, 10.6 rebounds, 4.5 blocks) helped those three consecutive sectional triumphs.  It will be a while before anyone from Lake County wins three consecutive sectional titles again.

10.  (3A) Wirt (15-9)
2007 (14-9), 2006 (12-9), 2005 (9-12), 2004 (6-15)

GARY:  Anybody who won 60% of their games had a good year, but there weren't any significant wins here and the season ended with a 63-59 loss to Clark in the Gary Sectional finals.  I thought the Troopers had the backcourt to control any opposition here, but Clark proved that wrong as the Troopers just seemed to struggle all year.  Their talent, even with top guards DeAndre Allen and Erick Hester, may have been overstated (at the very least, it never substantially showed up) and the lack of size may have been underestimated.  If Wirt couldn't beat Clark, they probably wouldn't have won at Plymouth.  Unless they get some kids who were not on the roster this year, the immediate future could see some slim pickings.

On the outside looking in...

(2A) Boone Grove  (12-10)
2007 (11-12), 2006 (19-6), 2005 (18-7), 2004 (13-9)

PORTER TOWNSHIP:  Boone Grove did lose the sectional title at Culver, but the future is very bright.  The Wolves have seven sophomores who will all be juniors with varying degrees of varsity experience next year.  Wayland Roach (13.3 ppg.) and Mike Eleftheri (10.2 ppg.) come back as the team's leading scorer and lead guard.  The key to Boone's future probably has nothing to do with playing basketball.  6-foot-4 Danny Block, Jacob Wright and Ryan Reynolds are all very skinny 16-year-old boys who need to be rough and tough 17-year-old boys.  That may be a lot to ask, but the three forwards are the key to the 2009 playoffs.  The only seniors next year will be guard Ben Vasquez and 6-foot-2 forward Alex Radivan.  This potentially is one of Boone's best-ever teams and the loss to Culver might have been a good thing.  The Wolves need to understand how far they have to go to get where they could possibly go.

(2A) Wheeler (16-5)
2007 (17-6), 2006 (19-6), 2005 (16-5), 2004 (20-5)

UNION TOWNSHIP:  This was Wheeler's seventh winning season in a row and their record gets lost because their competition isn't strong.  The Bearcats have the top sophomore duo in NW Indiana with 6-foot-4 guard Petar Todorovic (14.6 ppg.) and 6-foot-5 forward Andrew Rudakas (18.5 ppg., 10.0 rpg.) and that bodes very well for the 2009 playoffs.  Wheeler lost 63-54 to Bishop Noll and they shouldn't have beaten Noll, which is senior-dominated.  The Bearcats need a lead guard and I don't see him on the roster.  Wheeler will be battling Hanover Central for the sectional title next year and they've beaten Hanover 10 years in a row.  If the Bearcats get that ball handler, they can pick up the pace of the game a little and they will overwhelm most 2A teams.  The power appears to be in 2A next season with Boone, Hanover and Wheeler.