 |
2003-2004
Boys Basketball
Renegade Poll - Week 12A USA-365.com Special Report(2-20-2004) |
|
Still, no one stands out as a state
contender heading into the final two weeks of the season. Munster continues to
win close games which speaks well for their composure and coaching, but not for
their long term prospects. Valpo struggled to beat LC in overtime in a game
where one LC player (Krste Krstevski) scored 32 and another Valpo's Brent
Kimmel) scored 31. That type of one man show does not happen against elite
defensive teams. The best prospects for a long state tourney run still
seem to lie in 2A with Bishop Noll, Boone Grove or Wheeler.
1. Valparaiso (16-2)
Valpo
avenged their loss to LC, winning 70-64 at LC in OT on Feb. 13. The VHS
strength... shooting... came through. Valpo was 20 of 23 from the line while LC
was 11 of 17. Valpo's 11-game win streak has pulled them to the brink of the DAC
championship. For the year, Valpo is an amazing (for high school) 209 of 285
(73.6%) from the foul line, the number one mark in NW Indiana. Brent Kimmel
(15.6 ppg.) scored a career-high 31 against LC and junior Jon Moon (11.3)
chipped in with 17. Brian McMillan (12.4 ppg.) who appears to be a 6-8 small
forward playing center, scored 13 with seven rebounds and five assists. Can they
sweep Merrillville (8-9), which has won four in a row, with a win at
Merrillville Friday? Sure they can.
2. Lake Central (13-4)
LC
fell out of the DAC race with their third league loss, 70-64 in OT to
Valparaiso. LC has lost four times, all by six points or less. What's gotten
into 6-3 Krste Krstevski? In his last three games, the senior has averaged 22.6
per game. Senior Brett Summers needed the break in the schedule this week to
heal up an injured ankle. Four losses, all to winning teams, should not knock
this team down. 6-10 Scott Van Der Meer and 6-8 Kevin Parkinson have to dominate
defensively in the lane. Centers are scoring too much against them. But this
team needs a bye at the 4A EC Sectional. They can't beat EC, West Side AND
Munster in five days.
3. LaPorte (16-3)
LaPorte
rolled over South Central and survived a physical game at Crown Point to run
their win streak to four. Jerome Vann (17.2 ppg.) scored 18 at CP but was just
6-of-12 from the line. Vann shoots 50% from the line and the other teams know
it. 6-7 Todd Dermody may be injured or tired. He's scored just 18 points
in his last three games. But the Slicers still average 70 per game and the 4A
Michigan City Sectional does not have a slowdown team that could hurt them.
4. Munster (17-1)
You
get the feeling that Munster is living on borrowed time. 53-50 over Portage...
81-77 over Hobart... Maybe it's just a slump. Josh Martin (14.9 ppg.) is
averaging 18 ppg over his last 3 games. Munster is just 33 of 52 (63.4 %) from
the line in the last three games, but three road wins can't be laughed off. Ten
of Munster's wins are by eight points or less and they are NOT playing in the
super tough DAC. The Mustangs have won an amazing 38 of their last 41 games.
They are either very good, playing a semi-tough schedule... or both. Here's
another team that badly needs a bye in the difficult East Chicago Sectional.
Why
do people continue to say that Andrean's best player and leading scorer is
injured and out for the season? True, Luke Harangody (20 ppg.) is out. But 6-6
senior center David Carson (21 ppg.) is still on the floor and scoring all he
can. Carson scored 26 in the 60-55 win over Marian on Feb. 17. He had 15 and
nine rebounds in a 78-57 win over Morton. He had 22 in a 62-59 win over Penn.
And what's happened with 6-3 senior wing shooter Frank Provenzano? he 59er
tennis star has averaged 19.2 in his last four games. Andrean doesn't need a bye
at the 3A Calumet Sectional. With Griffith and Roosevelt racked by injuries,
Hammond high up and down, could only time stand in the way of a regional
showdown between Andrean and Benton Central (16-2)?
6. Chesterton (12-6)
The
insertion of 6-10 Evan Schmidt into the lineup makes Chesterton better, so they
move up in the poll. Schmidt scored 11 in the Trojans' 64-47 win over a tall
Boone Grove team. The Trojans lost at Merrillville 64-55 but they led at
half-time. Chesterton was 30 of 36 from the line in the last two games. 6-2
guard Matt Campbell (18.6 ppg.) doesn't have to do all the scoring. 6-0 senior
Josh Malone (10.6 ppg.) has averaged 14.6 in his last four games. The Trojans
had four players in double figures against Boone. Here's another team that needs
a bye in the 4A Portage Sectional.
7. Gary West Side (10-5)
West
Side is in the middle of a layoff of undetermined length. I see a 21-day gap in
the schedule, but I don't think coach John Boyd will allow that. No varsity team
should have played 15 games at this point. LaPorte and Wheeler have played 19
times already. Valparaiso needs to drop Class 1A South Central and schedule West
Side, although it's hard to ask DAC teams to schedule ALL tough games. Frankly,
if Hanover Central is going to face Bishop Noll every year in the sectional,
they might want to schedule West Side to get ready. West Side is the 2002 state
champion... they bring a crowd.
8. East Chicago (10-8)
The
Cardinals lost 80-70 to Lew Wallace last week and that's a bad sign. In the 4A
East Chicago Sectional, you will have to play SOME defense. Guard Tremaine
Cooley (50 3-point baskets) scored 28 against Lew Wallace but it wasn't enough.
6-3 freshman E'Twan Moore (15 ppg.) scored a season-low four points in an up
tempo game. He may have been ill or injured. The Cardinals need to stop somebody
Saturday night against neighborhood rival Bishop Noll (12-8).
EC averages 62 points a game and still, they get beat.
9. Highland (13-6)
Highland
beat Lowell 50-41 and Roosevelt 53-50 to clinch a winning season. The Trojans
led Lowell by 20 in the fourth quarter. 6-3 soph Ryan Drake scored a career-high
10 in his first extended varsity playing time. They struggled by a struggling
Roosevelt squad. Highland's losses are to Valpo (16-2), Munster (17-1), Andrean
(12-6), LC (13-4) and Wheeler (17-3) so they are not mediocre. But the question
rising is, 'Who have they beaten?' Highland has scored over 60 points just
five times all seasons and they are not playing the DAC double round robin
schedule. The Trojans are yet to play Clark, Portage and Hobart, three
games that could go either way. If they win ALL three and get a quarterfinal bye
at the EC Sectional, here's still a solid upset pick to go to the regional.
10. Wheeler (17-4)
The
BearCats are getting dragged down by the soft LAC schedule. That's the only way
I can explain the BearCats tied at North Newton (3-12) before winning 70-62 and
losing 65-52 at North Judson (6-12) Tuesday (Feb. 17) night. That's what happens
after walkovers with Lake Station and Whiting. The final game against South
Central (0-17) won't be a loss but it won't be a challenge either. With no one
taller than 6-3 Steve Wilson (14 ppg.) and 6-2 Cordale Micou (17.8 ppg), Wheeler
needs any three-game scenario which does not end with Boone Grove, a team with a
6-6 center, a 6-4 forward and a 6-3 guard. The Bearcats would want to play Boone
first, before they get tired. Wheeler would also want Bishop Noll's Gary
Patterson, coming off a knee injury, to have to play twice before they would see
him in the final. The draw at the Bishop Noll 2A Sectional is more important
than at any other sectional because it's a 5-team playoff. Three teams will get
a bye and one will get winless Lake Station (0-17). Wheeler's girls got a bye
AND Lake Station and they won their first sectional title. If Wheeler gets the
same draw, they'll win too.
Others to watch......
The
Porter County Conference (PCC) champions are about to go prime time. After
dominating Class 2A in northwest Indiana for almost a decade, the Wolves will be
'discovered' by Lake County media as they play for their seventh 2A sectional
crown in eight years in Hammond against LAC champ Wheeler, tradition-rich Bishop
Noll and senior-dominated perennial underdog Hanover Central (9-9). Boone's 10-8
record is very deceptive because the 500-teen school has lost to 2000-kid DAC 4A
monsters Merrillville, Valparaiso, Portage and Chesterton. Two other losses are
to PCC power Morgan Township (13-3) and another is 53-48 at Wheeler.
This is the tallest team locally in Class 2A with 6-6 four year varsity player Phil Bien (9.8 ppg.), 6-4 Danny Borys (17.4 ppg.) and 6-3 defender Will Mitchell. Two wild cards are 5-9 guard Joe Faron who put 10 points on the board in back-to-back games against Chesterton and Morgan Township. Plus 5-9 freshman shooter Jake Pivarnik who can come off the bench and throw in a couple of three point baskets.
This is not a fast team but they are well coached and consistently strong in the state tournament. This sectional is guaranteed to have great drama. Boone and Wheeler have met over 150 times and the Wolves defeated Wheeler for the sectional title last year. Boone hasn't lost to Hanover in 10 years and, to my knowledge, they've never even played Bishop Noll.
Out of town......
4A Lawrence North (20-1)
Reaching
the state finals may be the ceiling for a northwest Indiana school this year
because of 1.) 5-time state champion Pike (15-2) and 2.) Lawrence North, the
2,500-teen giant on Indiana's north side. North has five seniors but the first
player you notice is the next Indiana prep star, 6-11, 235-pound Greg Ogden,
North's sophomore center.
Ogden is so dominant, it is said he will be the first Indiana prep player to jump directly to the NBA. He averages 15 points, 10.3 rebounds and four blocked shots against top competition. North attacks with three guards including 6-5 Stafen Routt, 6-1 Brandon McPherson and 6-0 Michael Conley, all returning varsity players. North had lots of depth including 6-6 senior Tre Kemp, 6-4 senior Mel Hitchens and 6-3 senior Joe Ash. The back-up center is 6-7 junior Don Cloutier.
Lawrence
North can press anyone and, even if you break the pressure, you have to get past
Ogden, a tall order. North has won an incredible 18 games by 10 points or more.
The Wildcat's two losses are to Bloomington South (15-3) and Detroit's
Renaissance high, a defending Michigan state champion. Some of the scores,
especially a 120-55 win over Broad Ripple, are extreme. Before you pass by some
of these scores, look for anything other than 4A schools on Lawrence North's
schedule. Only Brebuef and Beech Grove are 3A. That means North is 18-1 against
4A schools. In northwest Indiana, only the DAC schools play anywhere near (LC
plays 19) 20 4A schools.
The good news for northern schools is that North, a 21-3 team last year and the
1989 state champion, is in the southern half of the 4A bracket. North is a
strong bet to get through the Warren Central 4A Sectional but they will confront
defending state champ Pike at the regional and Bloomington South again at the
southern 4A semistate. Any northwest Indiana team would be very happy to see
Lawrence North... until the game begins.
4A
Lawrence North (20-2)
Coach
Jack Keefer - Offense: 68.7 ppg.
Defense: 50.0
Nov. 26 (W) 67-38 at Lawrence
Central
Nov. 29 (W) 62-49 Brebeuf
Jesuit
Dec. 5 (W) 55-35 Terre
Haute South
Dec. 6 (W) 66-51 at Marion
Dec. 12 (W) 78-67 at Warren
Central
Dec. 19 (W) 69-50 Indianapolis
Arlington
Dec. 20 (W) 61-28 at Kokomo
Dec. 27 (W) 76-64 Northview
Dec. 27 (W) 56-55 (2 OTs) Columbia
City
Jan. 2 (L) 55-58 Detroit (Michigan) Renaissance (Mich.)
Jan. 6 (W) 73-43 at Franklin
Central
Jan. 12 (W) 73-46 at Beech
Grove
Jan. 13 (W) 55-41 Decatur
Central
Jan. 16 (W) 48-46 (Indianapolis)
North Central
Jan. 17 (W) 67-53 Warren
Central
Jan. 23 (W) 86-62 at North
Central (Indianapolis)
Jan. 30 (W) 120-55 Indianapolis
Broad Ripple
Jan. 31(W) 60-46 Center
Grove
Feb. 6 (W) 72-59 at Carmel
Feb. 7 (W) 87-53 Indianapolis
Tech
Feb. 12 (W) 71-42 Ben
Davis
Feb. 17 (L) 55-60 at Bloomington
South
Feb. 24 Pike
(15-2)
Feb. 27 Terre
Haute North (16-3)