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2003-2004
Boys Basketball
Renegade Poll - Week 15A USA-365.com Special Report(3-10-2004) |
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There appears to be a real chance for four
northwest Indiana teams (Lake, Porter and LaPorte County) to reach the semistate.
The biggest chance obviously is 4A where LaPorte, Valparaiso and East Chicago
are all signed up for the Michigan City Regional. The surprise is EC, which
lucked out when favored Lake Central had to face Highland (16-6) and Munster
(20-2) before facing the Cardinals. But everyone at 1A and 3A sites should be
warned that they are facing formidable foes at non-region sites. That's where
the complaining about officiating usually begins. We need more winning and less
whining.
1. Valparaiso (21-2)
Valpo
rolled by Hobart and Portage to win the Portage Sectional. The 49-39 victory
over Portage would have been much larger had the Vikings not gone an
uncharacteristic 3-of-12 from the foul line. Valpo was almost 75% from the foul
line for the season before the game. Guard Brent Kimmel and forward Brian
McMillan (12.5 ppg.) and Jon Moon (11.8 ppg.) create a formidable scoring attack
and 6-4 Brandon Thomas (8.0 ppg.) scored a career-high 14 against Portage.
Valpo's 46th sectional title won't mean much unless they can slow an athletic
Concord team in the Michigan City Regional Saturday morning. The fear is that a
combination of Concord and LaPorte could wear the Vikings out by the end of the
day.
2. Lake Central (16-6)
LC
still deserves this ranking after two power wins over Highland (16-6) and
Munster (20-2). In retrospect, it isn't that surprising that LC was a step slow
playing their third game in five nights against a host school that had a bye and
a crippled semifinal foe. It's next year now and LC won't be helpless with
the return of guards Dave Hoffmaster and Brett Summers and forward John Maida.
LC should have reached the regional but here's an example of how the 'blind
draw' can blow you up.
3. LaPorte (20-3)
LaPorte
had fun with run-and-gun South Bend Riley in a 96-88 win in the Michigan City
Sectional. The Slicers are very comfortable playing a fast- paced game, which is
why EC will have problems in the Michigan City Regional Saturday. Jerome Vann
scored 33 against Riley and Todd Dermody added 21. The Slicers have a positive
match with East Chicago Saturday morning and then, they have to hope to wear out
Valpo in the MC Regional title game. LaPorte has split with Valpo (20-2), losing
the last meting 64-53, a game where they were outscored 22-10 in the fourth
quarter. LaPorte needs a big defensive game against Valpo. They also need to
shoot free throws better than the 38 of 63 (60.3%) they shot last weekend.
Andrean
barely survived against Horace Mann and Gary Roosevelt to win the Roosevelt
Sectional, but struggles were expected without lead guard Tommy Finn, who has
been out with a knee problem. Amazingly, Roosevelt made up a 28-point deficit on
the 59ers, which would indicate they cannot control the pace of the game without
Finn. The 3A Plymouth bracket is formidable with only Gavit (12-10) appearing to
have no chance. But none of the teams here appear to have a match for 6-6 senior
center David Carson (20.1 ppg.) of the 59ers. Andrean should still be playing on
March 20.
5. Munster (20-2)
A
defensive breakdown and a turnover cost Munster a 4-point lead in the final 20
seconds against Lake Central in the East Chicago Sectional semifinals. Munster
lost the biggest game of the year 55-53 but the truth is, they'd barely escaped
in close games all year. This was a 12-win team, and everyone at Munster should
get great credit for winning 20 without much of the talent they had last year.
Again though, a senior year transfer does not spark a team to post-season
success. We saw that at LC, Munster and Merrillville girls. The future will be
built around 6-7 center Scott Rutkowski, who has two more years.
6. Chesterton (13-8)
Chesterton
had the misfortune to draw a sectional quarterfinal foe they had just beaten in
overtime 96 hours earlier. It's not surprising they could not beat CP three
times. There's not that much difference between the two teams. Top scorer Matt
Campbell (18.4 ppg.) graduates but Casey Martin (11.9 ppg.) and Matt Maple come
back and the key to the future will be the development of 6-10 freshman Evan
Schmidt. Schmidt is still growing and could be one of the few 7-foot
players ever in the DAC. He still has skills to learn but you can't teach
7-feet.
7. Bishop Noll (15-9)
Bishop
Noll got a lucky draw and they won the game they had to win, by two points over
Wheeler (20-5) in the Noll Sectional title game. Now playtime is over. Noll
heads for North Judson where they will battle 5th-ranked Jimtown (21-2), a much
taller squad. Sam Watts and Greg Jones have joined with all-stater Gary
Patterson (22.9) to out-quick most teams and Jimtown will be no exception. But
rebounding will be a problem and 6-4 Vince Johnson can't foul out. Noll has
played two games in one day this year but quick players do slow up as the game
goes on.
8. Highland (16-6)
Highland
had no answer for Lake Central's size and they were quickly smoked in the state
tournament. The Trojans never won a big game all year. The future is bright with
6-6 forwards Andrean Helmer and Derek Moser. The Trojans have beefed up their
schedule. They'll face Richmond and all-state guard Dominic James in the 2004
Region Rumble. The LAC will also not be as tough next year with graduation
hitting Munster and Bishop Noll hard. But Highland needs to develop a new lead
guard and when East Chicago and West Side again loom in the state tournament,
they better have one.
9. Wheeler (20-5)
Here's
another team that got smoked by the draw, forced to face Boone Grove and Hanover
while Bishop Noll waited at home with nothing but Lake Station (0-20) in their
way. There's no way to replace Steve Wilson (13.4), Cordale Micou (17.0), Joe
Dobson (12.2) and Andrew Patten, the heart of the squad. But with a good coach,
Wheeler will compete for the title again in the weak LAC Blue. The Bearcats will
face much less competition in the 2005 2A Sectional as Noll and Hanover suffer
major graduation losses. Look for the Bearcats to have a winning season and a
sectional title contender in 2005.
10. Portage (12-11)
Here's
a coming team for 2005. Portage lost by 10 to Valpo in the Portage Sectional
final but they beat Merrillville and Crown Point. The Indians return Buster
Battreal (14.6 ppg.), Milt Rivera (8.6 ppg.) and speedy guard Justin Ortiz.
Portage also has two 6-7 low post players on the JV who could develop to replace
6-4 Kyle Autrey (10.7 ppg.). The DAC slims down next year as LC and LaPorte lose
tons of good players. Portage is 26-84 all time against Valparaiso but Valpo
loses 4/5 of their entire starting lineup to graduation. Portage has the speed
to deal with Merrillville and Crown Point, the two teams that return the most
players in 2005. How much they play together over the summer will determine how
much they'll win together next fall.
It's
now or never......
Morgan
Township (19-3)
At
Class 1A schools you don't get two Division I players at the same time so Morgan
has been pointing to 2004 when 6-4 Matty Bush (19.9) would be a senior and 6-6
Nate McGinley (14.2) would be a junior. With senior Brian Melton (8.5) and Joel
Phillips (8.0) on the wings, and 6-8 Warren Mosser coming off the bench, the
future is definitely now.
A large crowd of Cherokee people will travel down Route 30 and take high hopes out onto the floor at Triton against Blackhawk Christian (12-10), a nemesis from Fort Wayne. Powerful point guard Shannon Coward, a 200-pounder, controls the game for 30-year coach Gary Merrell. Blackhawk's record is very deceptive because they have played half (Harding, Concordia, Snider, Elmhurst, Luers, Dwenger) in the powerful Summitt Athletic Conference. Morgan's schedule has not been that strong and they are not far from home at Triton. Blackhawk beat Morgan 54-46 in the regional title game last year so they won't be a surprise this time.
The
key will be if McGinley can stay in the game and not foul out. If he can, the
Cherokees should slip by Blackhawk and survive upset-happy Argos. But it
will be a long, wild day and Morgan needs to buckle up. Superpower Lafayette
Catholic looms at the semistate and no one expects Morgan to beat them. But the
season is not a success if the Cherokees do not win twice Saturday.
MORGAN
Township (19-3)
COACH:
MATT BUSH - OFFENSE: 58.0, DEFENSE: 45.8
Nov. 28 (W) 75-73 Knox
(18-5) 2 OTs
Dec. 2 (W) 79-42 at South
Central (0-20)
Dec. 5 (W) 67-49 at North
Judson (9-14)
Dec. 12 (L) 49-60 at Glenn
(16-7)
Dec. 13 (W) 57-42 at Culver
Military (3-18)
Dec. 19 (W) 67-50 Hebron
(10-12)
South County Tournament
Dec.
29 (W) 67-54 Hebron
(10-12)
Dec. 30 (W) 62-49 Boone
Grove (13-9)
Jan. 10 (W) 34-31 Michigan
City Marquette (11-10)
Jan. 16 (W) 55-45 LaCrosse
(14-8)
Porter
County Conference (PCC) Tournament
Jan. 21 (L ) 31-37 Washington
Twp. (11-12)
Jan.
30 (W) 54-412 Hanover
Central (11-10)
Jan. 31 (W) 54-37 at Oregon-Davis
(4-17)
Feb. 6 (W) 51-35 at Boone
Grove (13-9)
Feb. 7 (L) 43-58 at Wheeler
(20-5)
Feb. 12 (W) 66-58 Kouts
(10-10)
Feb. 20 (W) 79-41 Westville
(11-11)
Feb. 24 (W) 63-42 Kankakee
Valley (7-14)
Feb. 27 (W) 51-45 at Washington
Twp. (11-12)
Morgan
Township (1A) Sectional
Mar.
2 (W) 61-49 Kouts
(10-10)
Mar. 5 (W) 51-28 River
Forest (7-13)
Mar. 6 (W) 60-42 Washington
Twp. (11-12)
Triton
(1A) Regional
Mar.
13 (n) Fort
Wayne Blackhawk (12-10) 9:00 am
Mar. 13 (n) Argos
(12-10) or West Central (16-7) 7 p.m.