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2007-2008 Boys BasketballWeek-1, Top-10 PollA USA-365.com Special Report by Mark Smith(11-30-2007) |
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2007-2008 Boys BasketballWeek-1, Top-10 PollA USA-365.com Special Report by Mark Smith(11-30-2007) |
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CROWN POINT (11-30-2007) - Let's recap last season briefly before we move on because it was an uplifting, yet upsetting year for those in NW Indiana who like high school basketball.
It was good year for NW Indiana boys as East Chicago (4A) and Oregon-Davis (1A) won state titles. And if we can stretch it a little, Plymouth (25-2) won the 3A title. Leaving O-D alone for a second, a sport needs its tradition. And in boys basketball, East Chicago and Plymouth are Northern Indiana traditions. To replenish your memory, the 'legacy' schools have to win once in a while. That's why East Chicago and Plymouth winning is good for the sport.
EC won six games to win the title and you can't take that away from them. But let's not talk about the great tradition of East Chicago because the tradition of East Chicago is to win with East Chicago players, not D-1 transfers who mysteriously show up. To me the state title is tainted due to a player who was never declared eligible. And none of the 'genius' area coaches who preach about 'winning the right way' and rail against the evils of class basketball had enough nerve to say that East Chicago and Angel Garcia were and are 1000% wrong in what occurred last season. Playing Indiana high school basketball is a privilege, not a right.
But state titles aren't about anybody but the school involved. EC didn't win it for the region. They won it for themselves. If they are okay with winning this way, more power to them. Kinda like Barry Bonds.
This season features a powerhouse Duneland Athletic Conference with Merrillville, Chesterton and Crown Point returning the majority of their rosters. State champ East Chicago is back, but they'll be targeted by Gary West Side, another school that has lots of experienced players back in uniform.
Among small schools, it's going to be a very good years in the Porter County Conference with 1A schools Kouts, LaCrosse and Hebron expecting to turn losing records into winning records. PCC champ Morgan Township returns all of its starters and 2A rivals Boone Grove and Hanover Central are stocked with very promising young players as was evidenced by Hanover's first-ever win over 4A Munster 61-56.
This year will be refreshing for me. I didn't like the greasiness and
litigation involved with East Chicago's title run last year and the overhype of
Valpo stars Rob Hummell and Scott Martin, to me, was a little over the top. I
appreciate team play, not so much emphasis on individuals.
This year, EC's Angel Garcia is actually eligible, the top DAC teams all have
balanced rosters and many small schools (the essence of Indiana basketball) are
on the rise. With the sectionals all changing faces, this will be a very
interesting basketball season in Northwest Indiana.
MERRILLVILLE: Hopes should be
very high here with 6-foot-8 junior Jonathan Nwunannu and 6-foot-7 junior Ryan Smith (7.6
points, 6.5 rebounds) along with half court hero
Anthony 'Bo' Patton (9.0 ppg.), who hit a
three-point half court shot to beat Chesterton
57-55 in overtime at last year's sectional.
When you have the point and the post you are in
good shape.
Add 6-foot-6 Gary West Side transfer Darius
Stephens, who most definitely can play. The
Pirates welcome back guard Mario Stapleton to
play with Aireus Stephenson (7.3, 25 3-pointers)
in a senior backcourt with speed.
6-3 senior Marquese Green is an excellent defender and 6-foot-6 football quarterback Dolapo Macarthy joins the varsity as a front court reserve. Outside of Chesterton, I'm not sure who has the experience in the front line coming back that Merrillville has. Six seniors and five players 6-foot-4 or taller. This team has an embarrassment of speed, experience and front court power. The Pirates' only problem is one that assumes that they can play with anyone. They don't appear to have anybody to take the last shot, but talent-wise that could develop. Still, this is a potential semistate team.
2. (4A) CROWN POINT (0-0)
2007 (12-9), 2006 (9-13), 2005 (13-9), 2004
(6-16)
CROWN POINT: Crown Point returns potentially the best team in school history, including NW Indiana's top backcourt in 6-2 Kyle Hanaway (8.3 assists per game) and all-stater Stephen Albrecht (19.0 per game, 60 3-points goals), NW Indiana's top long range shooter. The front court of 6-foot-3 Zach Cecich, 6-6 Aleks Alavanja is strong and experienced and 6-1 Ben Derks (5.7 points. 25 3-pointers) is another deadly wing shooter. On the bench is 5-11 Billy Cox, 6-5 Derek Garletts and 6-7 newcomer Jacob Burkholder, who has been out two years with a bad back. All eight are seniors. Junior achievement should come from 6-foot-2 three-sport star Michael Lipton, 5-10 speedster CJ Mantel and 6-5 low post prospect Nate Akers. There are no holes and there are no excuses. They are a touch slow compared to Merrillville, but if Burkholder is healthy, this is the No. 1 team. We have to wait and see on that, but no one has more returning players than Crown Point. This is also a potential semistate team, but they're in Merrillville's sectional.
3. (4A) East Chicago (1-0)
2007 (22-3) 2006 (19-5), 2005 (13-8), 2004
(13-10)
EAST CHICAGO: The Cardinals return 6-foot-5 Kawaan Short (10.5 rebounds per game) and 6-foot-11 Angel Garcia (12.2 ppg.), but beyond that there are questions. I love to watch senior lead guard Derrell Conner, but I don't know if he is a pass-first, shoot second guard that EC needs. Garcia can dominate a game, but he can also disappear as his 12.2 average suggests. They will overwhelm half of the teams on their schedule with size and reputation, but they play Lawrence North, Warren Central, Crown Point and New Trier of Winnetka Illinois. EC is lucky to be in the sectional they are in, because they don't have to beat Merrillville, Crown Point or Chesterton until the regional. With Munster down, EC is a win over Gary West Side away from going back to the regional. But, they don't have CP's shooters or Merrillville's speed and overall size. With a new coach and real questions about who can and will distribute the ball, the realistic goal should be the sectional title. But when you just won state, there's no real pressure on you to win again.
4. (4A) Chesterton (1-0)
2007 (16-7) 2006 (14-9), 2005 (9-12), 2004
(13-8)
CHESTERTON: Surprised? You must live in Lake County. 6-7 center Jack Haupt (10 ppg, 5 rebounds per game) allows all-state 6-5 forward Zack Novak (19.5 points, 7.5 rebounds) NW Indiana's top player, to play his natural position. Guard Tommy Pellar and soccer star Austin Bower are strong in the backcourt and football star Alex Beierwalter adds strength and steadiness at small forward. The Trojans are a physical team and Novak can score as many points inside or out as you need. There isn't a lot of experience on the bench, but that starting lineup is very good. Novak can take the ball in a tie game, go coast to coast and win it all by himself. He proved it last Saturday (11-24-2007) night when the Trojans outscored Mishawaka 78-66 to start the year. Zach Novak scored 20 of his game-high 35 points to rally his team from a nine-point deficit.
5. (4A) Gary West Side (2-0)
2007 (14-7), 2006 (7-14), 2005 (19-5), 2004
(12-7)
GARY: Gary West Side lost 6-foot-7 Darius Stevens to Merrillville, but lead guard Gerald Campbell (16.6 ppg.) has one more year, plus they return high-caliber perimeter players in 6-foot-4 DeShawn Clay (17 ppg.) and 6-foot-3 Xavier Jones. Xavier Jones is rated among the best sophomores in the state and once you see him, you don't doubt it. The problem here is that West Side has no post player and they have to play teams that do. I don't know if the Side wants to speed things up or slow them down. But they have to make a concerted effort to change pace on teams because they aren't very big. The Cougars have no post player if we're talking about playing the state's top teams. The 41-38 win at Lake Central indicates the Cougars will slow the pace. Can they beat East Chicago? As big as EC is? As small as West Side is? That seems far fetched.
6. (3A) Wirt (1-0)
2007 (14-9), 2006 (12-9), 2005 (9-12), 2004
(6-15)
GARY: Wirt is a defending 3A sectional champ led by strong guards 6-2 DeAndre Allen (17.7 points per game) and 5-10 Erick Hester (10 ppg.) and they get 5-9 junior speedster Stephen Jenkins from Gary Roosevelt and 6-4 junior Mark Witcher, a transfer from Gary West Side. The Troopers lost 6-2 forward Geoff Smith, who transferred to Indianapolis to play for superpower Lawrence North. Can't blame him. Lawrence North is a state contender. Wirt? Most of the top 3A teams want to press you and steal the ball. That won't be possible with Wirt. They want you to press them. When you have lead guards the way they do, a regional final rematch with 2007 3A state champ Plymouth has to be the goal.
7. (2A) Bishop Noll (1-0)
2007 (9-13), 2006 (6-15), 2005 (8-14), 2004
(15-10)
HAMMOND: It's a reach to put a team that hasn't had a winning season in four years in the Top-10, but they have seven seniors including 6-foot-4 high scorer Jason Chroba (22.1 ppg,.) and 6-2 Eric Schooler on the perimeter with 6-foot-4 Antoine French up front. I don't know how good 6-foot-5 Kris Wilson (5.9 points, 2.8 rebounds) can be but they need him up front. Noll wants to push the ball up the floor hard and it was all good in a 62-49 season-opening win at 4A Morton on Nov. 23. They still play Gary Roosevelt, East Chicago and Andrean. Lots of times it seems to me, Noll is better off going with five guards. But if they can get a 50-50 break on the boards and control the pace of the game, they can go a long way in 2A, especially with Boone Grove no longer in 2A Sectional 33.
8. (4A) Michigan City (0-1)
2007 (8-13), 2006 (9-12), 2005 (6-16), 2004
(2-19)
MICHIGAN CITY: This team would be much higher here if I knew that 6-foot-9 Jarrod Jones, an all-stare forward was healthy. Jones broke his leg last year and has been slow to recover. MC was KO'd in their opener 76-57 by South Bend Washington, but Jones averaged almost 18 points per game last year and he is an intimidator. Senior guard Stephen Ward (11.9 ppg.) knows how to get the ball to Jones. They need another post player so Jones can roam and it could be 6-6 Darrell Hopkins. Football star Adam Harmon may move right into the starting lineup. They may start slow, but it's hard not to have them in the Top-10 even though it's been a long walk between winning seasons. The one thing I just don't know here is Jones' health and if he can't play, this is a sub-.500 team.
9. (3A) Calumet (1-0)
2007 (14-8), 2006 (4-19), 2005 (4-17), 2004
(2-20)
GARY: There's a lot of seniors here. No post player, but a lot of speed. 6-2 Mike Akins (13.3 per game last year) scored 28 in the season-opener against Hanover. 6-3 CJ Montgomery added 27 while 5-7 senior Laron Bryant added 10 assists. You're going to have to slow them. Up-tempo 3A rivals like Hammond and Clark better be sure they want a track meet against Calumet. Almost all of the Warriors are the same size, guards 5-foot-10 to 6-foot-3. They have no competition whatsoever in their league, the new Greater South Shore Conference (GSSC) except Bishop Noll. Center Larry Alexander, a 6-foot-5 senior is not a major factor and he needs to be. But there is speed and shooting ability here. Teams with powerful low post players and strong lead guards will hurt Calumet, but teams without those players will get hurt.
10. (3A) Hammond (1-0)
2007 (15-10) 2006 (9-11), 2005 (16-10), 2004
(13-10)
HAMMOND: Like Calumet, a small, speedy team. Hammond has 12 seniors listed on the varsity. That's unlikely to last, but speedsters like 5-11 Marius Bailey (10 ppg.), 6-1 Robert Jackson plus football stars Louis Willis and David Moore give the Wildcats enough players to come at any foe in waves. Hammond doesn't play many 4A schools, but they do battle rival East Chicago and Gary West Side. I don't know how well Hammond can shoot the ball from outside and that will eventually be an issue. Here's another team that will have problems with power in the low post and top lead guards. They opened with a 73-67 win over Gary Roosevelt last Tuesday (11-27-2007) with four players including David Tucker, who scored 19 and Bailey, who added 17. There's a lot of evenly matched teams (Clark, Calumet, Hammond, Roosevelt, Wirt) in 3A, but nobody has more seniors than Hammond.
On the outside looking in...
(1A) Morgan Township (0-0)
2007 (16-9), 2006 (5-16), 2005 (10-14), 2004
(19-4)
MORGAN TOWNSHIP: Morgan returns 6-1 senior Troy Turner (11.0 ppg.) and 6-2 Eric Spaulding (10.2 ppg.) who created balanced scoring last year. 5-11 guard Jon Grubl (8.9 ppg.) has two more years and the Cherokees are the Porter County Conference favorite. Everyone else hopes to play well. Morgan did last year. But they have little margin for error because Hanover and Boone Grove are bigger and stronger. Junior varsity center Chris Goodpaster has to add something against teams like Hanover. They played so well as a team last year and they have a new coach now. There's no guarantee they can do it again.
(4A) Valparaiso (2-0)
2007 (23-3), 2006 (21-3), 2005 (22-3), 2004
(22-3)
VALPARAISO: Valparaiso has some very strong young players that all get a chance now. New coach Chris Benedict will slow every foe down. They have no chance if they don't because all five starters are new. The Vikings began with wins over Boone and Hobart and they took only 37 shots in a 47-37 win over Boone. Hayden Humes, a 6-foot-7 forward, will star for a team that will be small by DAC standards. Senior guard Trent Reddington anchors the team. Reddington had 17 against Boone. Humes had 14. There is a tradition of winning here and they have a quality new coach. The league is very tough but the Vikings can stay close in almost every game.