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2010-2011 Boys BasketballWeek-12, Top-10 PollA USA-365.com Special Report by Mark Smith03-15-2011 |
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2010-2011 Boys BasketballWeek-12, Top-10 PollA USA-365.com Special Report by Mark Smith03-15-2011 |
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MUNSTER (03-15-2011) We didn't
have a lot of change during the regular season in Northwest Indiana high school
basketball.
Munster has been good for years: Munster goes 24-0. Merrillville returned four
starters off a sectional champ: Merrillville goes 20-2.
Bishop Noll, 17-5 last year, adds an all-Chicago area player: Noll goes 25-0. I
don't think anybody is shocked.
It's still hard to believe that Munster is the best high school team in the
entire state of Indiana, but Munster took down all comers and Merrillville
defeated everyone except Munster. It's hard to tell anything about Merrillville,
which played 14 games in the Duneland Athletic Conference (DAC), which is
decidedly down this season with Chesterton (2-19) and Portage (2-19) having
tough years.
Bishop Noll won all 25 games, but just winning all your games doesn't make you
great. It's hard to find a big time opponent on the Noll schedule. Bowman was
10-10. Noll won the regional over Westview 51-41, but you still think they
haven't seen the level of play they're going to see.
The 3A regional was held in Crown Point after it was in Chesterton in 2010. But
where will it be in 2012?
Calumet? Kankakee Valley? Back in Plymouth?
A question for later in the off season.
Its not off-season yet for Munster and Bishop Noll.
Kokomo has to be a favorite over Munster, but Bishop Noll is better than Tipton
and played better than anybody at the regional.
Munster and Kokomo will be a Saturday night game (5:20 CST) at Lafayette
Jefferson.
Look for an announcement about that game possibly being televised on IHSAA TV
state wide.
Traditionally, they air one semistate game and Munster-Kokomo and Batesville-Washington, (with
all-American Cody Zeller) are the only late starting games. Can Lakeshore Pubic
TV get this game on the air?
Can they pre-empt Suzee Orman one time to air one of the biggest games of the
high school basketball season?
Even if they don't, it's been a very good year overall. I do not believe that
there has ever been a season since the advent of class basketball (it wasn't
possible before then) where two Lake County teams have been undefeated with two
weeks left.
1. (4A) Munster (25-0)
2010 (23-2), 2009 (24-2) 2008 (16-6), 2007 (21-4), 2006 (20-4)
MUNSTER: Its hard to
believe Munster can win a four game playoff with Bloomington South (24-2), North
Central (22-2) and Kokomo (22-2) but its a badge of honor to be in such company.
Its like when Lowell was in the state football final four a couple of years ago
with Reitz, Cathedral and Bishop Dwenger.
You want to be defined by that type of company. Munster's won the last four
games by four points or less against unranked opponents. They've been lucky.
But if the season ends Saturday against Kokomo (22-2), its been a third
consecutive outstanding season.
2
MERRILLVILLE: The Pirates swept the Duneland Athletic Conference (DAC) with the help of a 62-55 overtime victory over Valparaiso on Feb. 18. But the DAC was weaker than the NBA's Eastern Conference this season. Merrillville had a strong senior guard tandem in Brandon Clark and Jeremiah Jones. They got an easy draw in 4A Sectional 2 and they shouldn't have lost to Valparaiso. But nobody can argue with 20 wins.
3. (2A) Bishop Noll (25-0)
2010 (17-5), 2009 (13-9), 2008 (19-5), 2007 (9-13), 2006 (6-15)
HAMMOND: The Warriors were lucky to get past Hanover Central in the 2A Sectional semifinals and they have blossomed from that point, winning by 10 or more over Lake Station, Prairie Heights and No. 4 Westview. Noll never trailed at the 2A North Judson regional. Telling the whole truth, Noll got a big break when Bishop Luers lost, but the Warriors should be headed for the state title game. They are better than Tipton (24-2), their semistate opponent. With Adonis Filer at lead guard, they won't get blown out by anybody. And again. All this is no surprise. Going back to the start of the season, the best opportunities for state finals berths were the private schools Noll and Bowman. With the players they have, Noll is where they should be.
4. (4A) Crown Point (18-4)
2010 (8-13), 2009 (15-8), 2008 (17-7), 2007 (12-9), 2006 (9-13)
CROWN POINT: CP did all they could during the regular season and ended up losing only to Valparaiso (15-9) twice and twice to Merrillville (21-2). It was hard to see CP defeating Merrillville even had they not been defeated by Valpo in the 4A Michigan City Sectional semifinals. Even though CP has held the opposition to 32% shooting there is some disappointment after a program-best (since the 1970s) 18-4 regular season because this senior class will be hard to replace. Michael Albrecht (21 ppg.) can be an Indiana all-star, but next season will see four new starters. Look for CP and Merrillville to drop back in the DAC in 2012 while new players get varsity experience.
5. (4A) Valparaiso (15-9)
2010 (19-4), 2009 (20-4), 2008 (11-14), 2007 (23-3), 2006 (21-3)
VALPARAISO: Valparaiso slumped to 12-8 but that was deceptive. They won four playoff games in a row and lost just 40-38 to Munster in the Class 4A Michigan City championship game. Valpo graduates eight seniors and the future is very uncertain. But here's the only NW Indiana team that clearly overachieved this season. They were not one of the best eight 4A teams in the state, but they ware among the final eight playing.
6. (3A) Lew Wallace (10-11)
2010 (19-4), 2009 (14-7), 2008 (13-11), 2007 (5-17), 2006 (4-17)
GARY: Wallace actually is probably 11-10 because there's a good chance they'd have overcome East Chicago's 45-38 lead in that February game that was stopped by a crowd disturbance. The regular season has to be considered a disappointment whether they admit it or not because nobody sets out to be .500. Branden Dawsen, the 6-foot-6 All-American, scored 20 in every game, but 8 of 24 foul shooting doomed the Hornets in a 69-65 loss to Western in the 3A Regional semifinals. I'm uncertain what happens to Wallace next year. Their top three scorers against Western were seniors. But the opportunity to play may bring out more talent and LW could have a more balanced team in 2011. But I'd rather have Branden Dawson than be balanced.
7. (1A) Bowman Academy (12-11)
2010 (29-1), 2009 (19-4), 2008 (7-7)
GARY: Bowman lost the sectional championship game on their home floor, 53-49 to a Morgan Township team that lost at the regional. Since Bowman has been blessed to play in the 1A bracket for four years when they had 2A level enrollment, this ends a 'yellow brick road' for them where they looked better than they truly were. The Eagles bring back top talent in 2012 including 6-foot-6 DeJuan Marerro, 6-foot-6 Elijah Ray and 6-foot-9 Stephen Hawkins. They won't be 'awarded' the state title midway through the season because they are so 'awesome' as they have been the past three years. Bowman finally moves up to 2A and will have to deal with Lake Station (16-6, with 11 varsity players returning) and Bishop Noll (25-0) at the sectional level. Bowman almost had everybody convinced that 10-10 was a great season. Now we see if they are as good as they think. The free post-season ride is over.
8. (4A) East Chicago (13-7)
2010 (17-4), 2009 (14-8), 2008 (20-4), 2007 (23-3), 2006 (19-5)
EAST CHICAGO: East Chicago almost changed the face of the 4A state tourney when they led Munster in the fourth quarter only to lose 44-41 in the 4A Sectional semifinals. EC lost twice to Munster (25-0), and to North Central (22-2), Lawrence North and Crown Point (18-4) so it seems they've had a worse year than they actually had. Jerrick Ware (20.1 ppg, 4.8 assists, 2.0 steals) might have been an Indiana all-star in a normal season, but he'd have to have a very good tryout to make the team with the four top senior guards (Noll's Adonis Filer, CP's Michael Albrecht, Lowell's Austin Richie) in Northwest Indiana this season. EC graduates six seniors, but they reportedly had a lot of underclass talent.
9. (3A) Andrean (15-9)
2010 (13-10), 2009 (10-13), 2008 (2-19), 2007 (5-17)
MERRILLVILLE: Sophs Nick Davidson (19.5 ppg.), Collin Wojcik (13.6 ppg.) and 6-foot-7 senior Adam Bozak (8.3 rebounds per game) led a slow rise in the standing for Andrean and coach Carson Cunningham. Josh James, now 6-foot-7, improved dramatically and scored 13 against 7-foot-1 Chier Ajou of Culver Academy in the Niners' regional loss. Andrean lost to Culver, the eventual 3A regional champ, but that was expected. In 2012, when four 2011 starters (James, Davidson, Wojcik and Matt Ruberry) are juniors, the Niners should be regional favorites unless the regional moves back to Plymouth.
10. (1A) Morgan Township (20-5)
2010 (16-6), 2009 (11-11), 2008 (16-6), 2007
(17-6)
MORGAN TOWNSHIP: Do I think Morgan Township could defeat Michigan City or Lake Central? Probably 2 out of 10 times. But let the record show: The Cherokees lost twice to Kouts (19-3), once to North Judson (22-2), once to 4A New Castle (15-6) and finally to 1A No. 2 Triton (22-3). No bad losses there at all. Morgan defeated defending 1A state champ 1A No. 6 Bowman Academy and 1A No. 6 Canterbury (17-5). They return Ryan Klikus (12.2 ppg.) and the younger brother of graduating leading scorer Brandon Grubl (21.5 ppg.) and 5-foot-10 soph Jordan Grubl (10.5 ppg.). Again, I know they wouldn't win a seven game series from LC or MC. But Morgan Township with about 200 students, can't do much better than this.