2007-2008 Boys Basketball  Week-7, Top-10 Poll A USA-365.com Special Report by Mark Smith (01-23-2008)

CHESTERTON (1-23-2008) The final league tournaments gave a boost to small schools Morgan Township (12-2) and Wheeler (10-2) in Northwest Indiana.  Wheeler took advantage of the fact that Noll star Jason Chorba could not play and romped to an easy 72-58 win over the favored Warriors (11-3).  The Bearcats rallied to upset host Calumet in two overtimes for the first title in the Greater South Shore Conference (GSSC) tournament, which by all reports went well.  Players and coaches seemed to want a few changes, but preferred it to just another week of single games.  As always, real ballplayers want to play for a trophy, and not just for an amazingly boring league round robin.

When teams play in dizzyingly dull single league games, you often wonder if the school should pay fans for showing up.  But league tournament games like Morgan Township's classic 59-57 double overtime Porter County Conference (PCC) tournament semifinal or Wheeler's double-overtime 62-61 GSSC championship game survival against Calumet are more entertaining than even a Barrack Obama- Hillary Clinton political debate.  If your league chooses not to have a league championship tournament, you are just taking a stick and driving away paying customers.

As we drift through the 'dog days' of the boys season, there are still nine undefeated teams state wide including 4A No. 1 New Albany (14-0), which has eight games left including five on the road, all against teams with winning records.  The happiest high school on the Indiana basketball planet in late January is Northwestern, a 3A schools in the Kokomo area.  Northwestern (11-0) is the 3A No. 1 boys team, while Northwestern (18-0) is also the 3A No. 5 girls squad.  Bloomington South (13-0) is the No. 3 4A boys team and Bloomington South (14-2) is the 4A No. 8 girls team.

Northwest Indiana basketball watchers are grudgingly admitting after a third high-scoring loss in 13 games that East Chicago isn't the most talented or the best team in this part of the state, a fact that became true when 2007 all-stater E-Twaun Moore graduated.  EC (10-3) hasn't played Merrillville (10-2) or Chesterton (14-0) and they've lost at home to Crown Point (7-5).  But local fans, and I've been guilty of it here, still point to last year and rank them highly.  None of the three teams to beat East Chicago has had what, for them, would be called outstanding seasons.  I don't know who was the first to say it but:  You are what your record says you are.  Chesterton is 14-0 and East Chicago is 10-3.

At the start of the year, many teams needed time.  Well, time has almost run out.  We put them on the 15-game plan.  I remember saying that you should check back with me after 15 games in respect to the hopes of a handful of teams.  For teams like Hammond (7-5), Clark (8-4), Kankakee Valley (5-8), Hanover Central (6-7), Lowell (7-5) and Lake Central (6-7), we're getting to that 15-game point.  You cannot just start playing well in March when the sectional begins.  No matter how meaningless February games seem, that's when a playoff run probably needs to start.

1.  (4A) Chesterton (14-0)
2007 (16-7) 2006 (14-9), 2005 (9-12), 2004 (13-8)

CHESTERTON:  Chesterton won games they should have won, beating Andrean 83-47 and Portage 71-48.  Zack Novak (26 ppg.) had 35 points and 15 rebounds against Portage, but the problem here for the Trojans is that this is the lame portion of their schedule and they need to be as good at the end of it (Feb. 7 at Merrillville), as they were at the start.  The Trojans only have two winning foes (CP and Merrillville) in the final six games, although that's deceptive because rematches with league foes like Lake Central are dangerous games.  14-0 is the best Chesterton start in 53 years and their biggest foe in February may be the increased media and fan attention because of that fact.  No one performs well when all they hear 24-7 is how great they are.  The parents and the papers will become Chesterton's biggest enemy.  Chesterton also has to keep going to Novak and resist getting involved the 'one-man team' debate.  All great teams have one very good player they feature and if Chesterton wants to be a great team, they will get the ball to Novak half the time and shut up about it.  Balanced scoring is for losers.

2.  (4A) Merrillville (10-2)
2007 (13-9), 2006 (17-4), 2005 (18-4), 2004 (9-12)

MERRILLVILLE:  The Pirates' fine record has gone unnoticed and maybe there is a reason.  While they have clinched a winning season with wins over teams like Lebanon (0-13), Andean (1-10) and Highland (1-12), they truthfully have played too many teams like Lebanon (0-13), Andraen (1-10) and Highland (1-12).  I like the way they play and 1-through-10 there is no more talented team in NW Indiana.  But they have proven little.  Rematches with Crown Point (8-5) and Chesterton (14-0) will tell somewhat of a story, but this team will continue to slide 'under the radar' due to lack of incoming artillery.

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

EAST CHICAGO:  The Cardinals beat Gary Roosevelt (2-9) and Hammond (7-5), but lost 75-67 to Crown Point (8-5).  6-foot-6 football star Kawaan Short grabbed 16 rebounds against (Toledo, Ohio) Scott on Jan. 21 and 12 against Roosevelt but EC is playing sloppy.  They committed 16 turnovers against Scott (5-7) and missed 40 shots against Crown Point, which confronted them with changing zone defenses that bothered them.  When teams like Hammond and Lew Wallace try to play 'street ball' against EC, they get blown out.  The Cardinals need to ashcan their 80-points-per-game track meets because (and here's the point locals can't admit) they are not nearly as talented as they were last year without national Top-100 player E'Twaun Moore.  Everybody seems to have realized that but them.  East Chicago can, and eventually will, play a more controlled half-court style, limiting possessions and maximizing their size and width up front.  It'll take another loss or two, but EC will find success in more of a halfcourt game.

4.  (4A) CROWN POINT (8-5)
2007 (12-9), 2006 (9-13), 2005 (13-9), 2004 (6-16)

CROWN POINT:  I am concerned that Crown Point's 75-67 victory over East Chicago last week says more about EC than it does about the Bulldogs, who also lost to Michigan City (7-6) last week.  Stephen Albrecht scored 32 against EC and the trio of forwards Zach Cecich, Jake Burkholder and Aleks Alavanja all scored in double figures against Michigan City.  A typical CP game has the Bulldogs getting the ball inside successfully early and then struggling from out side when the defense adjusts.  The Bulldogs clearly lack perimeter shooting other than Albrecht (17 ppg.) but it's on the roster.  The boys just have to make shots.  Senior Jake Burkholder's improved play makes CP a tall team up front, but again:  You are what your record says you are and CP is 4-5 in the DAC.  They don't need wins.  They need three-game winning streaks.  CP can make that happen this weekend on the road at Valparaiso (5-7) and at home against Boone Grove (6-6), but they figure to see Chesterton (14-0) twice more.  Sectional tournaments are all about three-game winning streaks.

5.  (4A) Gary West Side (10-2)
2007 (14-7), 2006 (7-14), 2005 (19-5), 2004 (12-7)

GARY:  It's an odd season when coach John Boyd and Gary West Side plays games and nobody notices.  But the 'Side' is 10-2 with what, for them, is an undersized team.  The Cougars beat Lew Wallace for the second time this year and they are 5-0 against other Gary schools, all by 10 points or less.  In fact, West Side has won seven games by 10 or less.  There is a lack of offense here and I'm not sure whether it's just inexperience or lack of ability vs. the schedule they play.  But Gary West Side scores 55 points a game and allows 50.  That's a tightrope that won't hold.  That lack of attention West Side has been getting ends Friday when they host the traveling media photo opportunity that is defending 4A champ East Chicago (10-3).

6.  (4A) Michigan City (7-6)
2007 (8-13), 2006 (9-12), 2005 (6-16), 2004 (2-19)

MICHIGAN CITY:  The Wolves got 28 points from guard Stephen Ward to win 67-59 at Crown Point (8-5), a good road triumph.  What isn't obvious about MC is physical guard Adam Harmon, who creates space in the backcourt.  I'm still not sure what's going on with this team that has wins over Crown Point (8-5), Merrillville (10-2) and Goshen (9-3), but losses to lesser teams.  To me, the Wolves look disorganized on offense, but they have stretches where they work together.  First year coach Bob Buscher is obviously struggling with this squad.  But when they play their roles, they clearly can beat anybody in NW Indiana.  Up this week:  Merrillville (10-2) and (South Bend) Clay (11-3).  It's a good year in South Bend and MC benefits from playing all the South Bend schools.  Here's a team that's overlooked because they don't play in South Bend or in Lake County.

7.  (2A) Bishop Noll (10-3)
2007 (9-13), 2006 (6-15), 2005 (8-14), 2004 (15-10)

HAMMOND:  Bishop Noll hit an unsuspected road block last week at the Greater South Shore Conference (GSSC) tournament when top scorer Jason Chorba (19 ppg., 9.4 rebounds) suffered a concussion and missed the tourney semifinal last week at Calumet.  Noll lost 72-58.  If Chorba is back this week, then nothing was lost but that trophy opportunity at the Calumet Fieldhouse.  In the long run, not winning the GSSC could push Noll to want sectional and regional glory even more.  I hope that's the case.  But I don't know Chorba's health and Noll can only play one style.  Without Chorba, they lose at that style.  But a team that has such a high scorer is always vulnerable to injury or foul problems.  Noll has some weak foes coming up and they should be 15-3 going to East Chicago (10-3) on Feb. 15.

8.  (3A) Wirt (6-4)
2007 (14-9), 2006 (12-9), 2005 (9-12), 2004 (6-15)

GARY:  Wirt is still 0-3 in Gary after a 55-53 loss to Gary West Side.  They're still in the poll because it's obvious they have a talented perimeter with DeAndre Allen (20.2 ppg,) and Erick Hester (16.8).  Guards win in high school basketball and nobody's proven they are better than Wirt's two seniors.  But everybody in Gary is proving they are better than Wirt.  The Troopers have lost four times by 10 points or less and, even though they've beaten three winning teams, you get the feeling that with only 10 games played, the Troopers have barely begun the season.  If Chesterton was 6-4 without any quality wins over local teams, they'd be so far from the Top-10 you'd have to send out a search party to find them.  The Troopers are using the Rudy Giulliani philosophy of sitting out the first half of the competition in the hope of energizing the base and racing past the contenders down the stretch.   Everybody fluffs it up and 'says' that Wirt is very good, but when do they prove that?  What happens when they run into the 'Straight Talk Express'?

9.  (3A) Calumet (10-2)
2007 (14-8), 2006 (4-19), 2005 (4-17), 2004 (2-20)

GARY:  The Warriors suffered a major disappointment in the finals of the Greater South Shore Conference (GSSC) championship.  After too-easy blowouts of Whiting 91-43 and Marquette 97-42, Calumet may have made a strategic error and lost a 62-61 double-overtime game to 2A Wheeler (10-2), a team the Warriors should have beaten.  The Warriors got into a Phoenix Suns' style three-point shooting contest and they gave up 11 bonus balls in losing a 26-20 half-time lead.  Calumet threw the game away, attempting 34 three-point baskets.  Why do I say that?  In the GSSC tourney format, you play a Saturday morning semifinal and a Saturday night title game.  With tired legs, why throw up 34 long range jumpers?  Phoenix hasn't won any NBA titles with that style and they never will.  Calumet gets a rematch with Wheeler Thursday night (Jan. 24), but Wheeler's got the GSSC crown.  The Warriors play a weak schedule.  They should to be 18-2 going to 4A Munster on Feb. 19.

10.  (3A) Lew Wallace (10-5)
2007 (5-17), 2006 (4-17), 2005 (5-17), 2004 (9-12)

GARY:  The Hornets have lost 3-of-their-last-5 after a 51-49 loss at Gary West Side on Jan. 18.  Wallace is on another of those NW Indiana hiatus that Gary schools like (or are forced to like).  The next game against an Indiana team is Feb. 8 at East Chicago.  The John Harrell Indiana basketball web site shows 22 games for Wallace so I'm not sure they will play all of their remaining seven games.  LW seems to play for entertainment purposes only.   They average 70 points a game and they allow 67.  Nobody's going anywhere in high school basketball allowing almost 70 points a game.

On the outside looking in...

(1A) Morgan Township (12-2)
2007 (16-9), 2006 (5-16), 2005 (10-14), 2004 (19-4)

MORGAN TOWNSHIP:  Morgan beat Boone Grove and South Central to win their second consecutive Porter County Conference (PCC) tournament.  The Cherokees trailed Boone by 16 before rallying to win a game they should have lost in the semifinals.  Morgan has to be very happy with wining the eight-team single-elimination PCC playoffs and they always play hard but they didn't play well.  Troy Turner (15 ppg.) struggled mightily and Jon Grubl (10.2 ppg.) had hard times on offense.  Watching Morgan's 41-32 win over South Central (it was 12-10 at the half) was as painful to watch as a Bill Belichick news conference.  The problem with being Morgan Township with basically six players is that there is little margin for error.  Everybody always has to play well.  I'm not as optimistic about them as I was before the PCC tournament.


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