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2003-2004
Boys Basketball
Renegade Poll - Week 5A USA-365.com Special Report(1-1-2004) |
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With
the lack of holiday tournaments, little has been revealed in northwest Indiana.
A half dozen teams can lay claim to being the best in the six county area
(Jasper, LaPorte, Starke, Newton, Lake and Porter) county that makes up
northwest Indiana. There does not appear to be a lot of strength in the South
Bend-Elkhart area so the 'region' winner has a good chance to reach the
semistate.
1. Valparaiso (6-2)
Valpo's
losses occurred when lead guard Brent Kimmell (16.1 ppg.) was ill against LC and
a one-point loss at LaPorte (8-1). Kimmel had a career-high 27 as the VHS boys
rolled over Chesterton 73-63. The Vikings, who led by 22 in the third period,
also got 17 from 6-8 senior Brian McMillan (11.6 ppg.) and 9-of-9 foul shooting
from Jon Moon (12.1 ppg.). Valpo has made 29 of their last 34 foul shots.
It's close, but they're No. 1.
2. Lake Central (7-1)
I
don't understand why LC struggles with quality but inferior teams like Portage.
The Indians won 55-49 (Dec. 27) but committed 19 turnovers against a team, with
only average quickness. Krste Krstevski has scored in double figures in every
game so far. Still, 55 points against Merrillville, 54 against Munster, 55
against Portage. I thought this team could control the pace and had more offense
than that
The
66-63 road loss to Wheeler doesn't look so bad now that Wheeler is 9-1. No loss
at Gary Roosevelt is bad. Local papers barely reported that the 59ers rolled
over Lafayette Catholic 80-63 last Saturday (Dec. 27) with powerful front court
scorers David Carson (20.2 ppg.) hitting for 28 and Luke Harangody (22.1 ppg.)
adding 20. The 59ers are 38 of 55 (69.1%) in free throws in the last four games.
Guard Tommy Finn scored a season-high 12 against Catholic. By the end of the
year, this is the number one team. The 59ers have East Chicago and Penn (5-0)
yet to play.
4. LaPorte (8-1)
LaPorte
ran the win streak to four with easy routs of Frontier 86-68 and Caimbridge City
99-51. Who is Dusty Kling? He scored a career-high 31 against Caimbridge
(Dec. 27) after 22 against Michigan City on Dec. 22. Jerome Vann (17.4 ppg.)
scored 20 with four assists against Frontier. They hit the road for Chesterton
and LC in the first 10 days of the new year.
5. Munster (6-1)
Munster
comes off a 10-day layoff to host Chesterton (5-2). The Mustangs are doing a
good job controlling the pace of the other team and that's why they beat LC
59-54 on Dec. 23. Remember, Wheeler was 30 of 40 from the foul line to beat
Munster 70-64. Nobody else is going to get 40 foul shots this season. Josh
Martin (16.7 ppg.) scored 20 to help beat LC. Here's another team that needed 15
games at the start of the year to get together. Munster at Andrean on Jan. 9 is
another of the 'big' games early in January. 6-7 forward Scott Rutkowski,
who did not play at the start of the season, scored 11 against LC, the tallest
team in the area.
6. East Chicago (5-4)
EC
has been out of town playing that independent schedule, losing 72-67 to
Arlington in Indianapolis, losing 75-65 at North Central in Indianapolis and
beating Start high of Toledo, Ohio 65-61. Those foes, by reputation are
talent-rich. Top three-point shooter Tremaine Cooley was injured in the last EC
game and his condition is not known. Freshman E'Twan Moore (17.0 ppg.) gets
little comment because of EC's 'Wander Indiana' schedule. Any freshman who is
starting and averaging 17 points (and 7-9 rebounds) per game for EC can become a
major player. The Cardinals appear to match up well with Munster (6-1) the Jan.
9 foe, if Cooley, the shooting guard, can play.
7. Gary Roosevelt (5-3)
Roosevelt
got smoked by Bay View, a Milwaukee team, in the Gary Holiday tournament. But
Bay View (5-0) is unbeaten and has also defeated Bishop Noll (5-3). The Panthers
were 30-of-37 from the foul line against Lew Wallace in a 69-68 win. Did anybody
else notice that 6-3 guard Tyrone Appleton (23.0 ppg.) averaged 26 points a game
in the Gary Holiday tournament? How many points is he going to score? Robert
Jenkins (20.1 ppg.,) hardly gets noticed.
8. Wheeler (9-1)
Wheeler
was upset by Hammond in the finals of the 3A Wheeler Holiday tournament holiday
but that's no big deal. Every team needs a loss. What may have been unnoticed
was the fact that that was the first-ever meeting of Wheeler and traditional
basketball power Hammond high. That's a big step up for the Bear Cats. Senior
guard Cordale Micou (18.2) scored 17 in the 63-61 loss to Hammond and wing
shooter Joe Dobson dropped in 26 in Wheeler's 66-47 win over Hanover (3-4). The
senior-dominated BearCats are 78 of 96 (81.5 percent) in their last 5 games from
the foul line.
Hammond's success might encourage up-tempo teams to run with Wheeler but that would be a mistake. The Bearcats will create great matchup problems for Lowell (Jan. 9) and Boone Grove (Jan. 10). Two weeks off will help Steve Wilson, who has a hand injury. Wheeler needs more depth (they use 7 or 8 players at best) to go deep into the state tournament. Note that no other 2A teams are ranked above them. This is not a strong year for 2A in the entire northern half of the state.
9. Chesterton (5-2)
Valparaiso
dominated Chesterton by much more than the 73-63 score Tuesday (Dec. 30) would
indicate. The Trojans have to accept that some DAC losses will come and not lose
focus on the big prize in March. The fact that the Trojans cut a 22-point lead
to four against Valpo is very encouraging. Valpo is the team they must beat at
sectional time. Guard Matt Campbell (18.2 ppg) and forward Casey Martin (13.4)
are consistent scorers and Josh Malone (9.1) helps out.
10. Highland (7-1)
Highland
hasn't played since Dec. 19 so they may be at a disadvantage when they face LC
on Jan. 3. But this is a team that the Trojans can beat. Kris Boyd has to
recover from the LAC tournament final day, when he went scoreless (potential
illness or injury) after averaging 13.4 in his first six games. 6-5 Gary Simkus
averaged 14.7 in four games at the LAC tournament. Andrew Helmer averaged 10.7
ppg. in the four games. The future is now for the Trojans and later with sophs
Helmer and Derek Moser (8.7 ppg.). By the way, Hammond, this team is the reason
you aren't in the top-10. They beat you twice.
Others to watch......
Hammond (3-4)
Two
big wins in the Wheeler Holiday Tournament, including a 63-61 victory over
Wheeler, may have shaken the Wildcats to start moving up. But one upset means
nothing. Hammond needs a winning streak and they will be hard-pressed Jan. 10
against Lowell (5-1) and Jan. 20 at East Chicago (5-3). Who is Jere Taylor?
After averaging 8.8 in his first five games, Taylor, a 5-9 senior guard,
averaged 26.5 in the Wheeler Tournament. 6-8 center Jermaine Brooks
grabbed 14 rebounds against the small Wheeler front line. He also got 11 against
South Bend Washington in a 71-60 loss on Dec. 13. Hammond has to know that one
game, or two games, means nothing. They need a winning streak.
Bishop
Noll (5-4)
After
seeing Wheeler (9-1) and Boone Grove (4-3) lose over the holidays, a light has
to go on in the heads of every Noll player. Again, this is not a strong year in
2A throughout northern Indiana. Noll is a win over Wheeler from reaching the
semistate. But they've got to get ready. Bishop Noll has a difficult Saturday
(Jan. 3) game with different a faith, Indianapolis twin Brebuef Jesuit. Noll's
next telling game will be against sectional rival Griffith on Jan. 9.
BOYS DECEMBER NOTES: Hanover Central (3-4) faces a peak
month with battles against rival and neighbor Lowell (Jan. 3) and PCC arch-rival
Boone Grove on Jan. 9. The Cats have the PCC Cup but they put it on the line on
Jan. 9.
Morgan
Township beat Boone to win the South Country Tournament but the PCC favorite may
have lost 6-6 junior Nate McGinley (16.7 ppg.) to a knee injury, which would
change the balance of power in the PCC.
LaCrosse (5-1) is the favorite in the midwinter Classic on Jan. 2-3 but they
better not overlook winless arch-rival South Central (0-5), who is looking to be
reborn.
LaPorte (8-1) faces Plymouth and Kyle Benge (23 ppg.) on Jan. 17.
Crown Point (2-4) has not won a regular season game at Merrillville since the late 80s but they have a shot Friday at Merrillville (1-6). But the Pirates may get injured stars LaVell Cook (14.5 ppg.) and Josh Mayo (13.7 ppg.) back for that game.
South
Bend Adams (7-1) visits the new Crown Point high school on Jan. 24.
Coming
Up........
MID-WINTER
CLASSIC
at
SOUTH CENTRAL (Union Mills)
Jan. 2 Washington Twp. vs. LaCrosse, 5:00 pm - semifinals
Jan. 2 South Central (Union Mills) vs. Westville, 6:45 pm - semifinals round
Jan. 3 Loser Game 1 vs. Loser Game 2, 5:00 pm South Central consolation
Jan. 3 Winner Game 1 vs. Winner Game 2, 6:45 pm South Central championship
BREBEUF
JESUIT CLASSIC
at
Brebeuf high - Indianapolis) NW Indiana times
Jan. 3 Marquette University (Wis.) vs. Heritage Christian, 9am - 1st round
Jan. 3 Brebeuf Jesuit vs. Bishop Noll, 11:05 am - 1st round
Jan. 3 3 Loser Game 1 vs. Loser Game 2, 5:00 pm - consolation
Jan. 3 4 Winner Game 1 vs. Winner Game 2, 7:00 pm - championship