Region Roundball Review

November, 1998
News Updates

Second-ranked 3A Northwood suffered a major setback this past week when one of its key players, senior Amy Zercher (5'10" G), broke a bone in her hand at practice. It is not known at this time how long the Ball State signee will be sidelined by the injury, but her team is hoping that she will be able to be back in the lineup by the time the Hall of Fame Classic rolls around on December 29. Northwood also has at stake a 67-game homecourt winning streak, which began in 1992. The Panthers host Mishawaka Penn for their home opener this Tuesday. You can read about this development for Northwood in The Goshen News.

This Week Around the State

Ben Davis (4A #1) lost to Roncalli (3A #8)
Martinsville (4A #4) lost to Center Grove (4A #10)
Homestead (4A #11) lost to Ft. Wayne Luers (2A NR)

Last Week

Connersville (4A #8) lost to Mt. Vernon (3A NR)
Center Grove (4A #10) lost to Franklin (3A #6)

Carrying on with our earlier comments, this season is sure to be a fan-pleaser

After Hobart's victory over West Side on Wednesday, we expect Hobart will make an appearance in the upcoming coaches' poll to be released on Monday evening. Although the Brickies have received some votes in the early going, they have not yet broken into the 4A Top Ten. With Ben Davis losing to Indianapolis Roncalli and Ft. Wayne Homestead losing to unranked Ft. Wayne Luers, there are bound to be some realignments showing up in the next poll. So far there seems to be no "elite" team like Martinsville or Lake Central emerging on the scene. Looks to be an exciting season for Indiana girls high school basketball fans with lots of Top 10 changes until tournament time.

1. Valparaiso 4-0 (2)
2. Hobart 3-0 (3)
3. West Side 0-1 (1)
4. Portage 3-0 (NR)
5. Andrean 1-0 (9)
6. Munster 3-1 (10)
7. Crown Point 2-1 (NR)
8. Griffith 2-0 (8)
9. Highland 1-2 (5)
10. Lake Central 2-2 (7)

The Region Roundball Review will be putting out its own weekly Region and State rankings starting on Monday. Although we had intended to do a fan poll instead, we just have not been receiving enough vote entries to put up legitimate rankings by the fans. Therefore, we will be discontinuing that feature. However, fans can still continue to vote in the sectional poll for all four classes, which tabulates the results instantly. Watch for the Region Roundball Review Region and State rankings beginning on Monday, November 30.

 Happy Thanksgiving!

The only brown ball you lift today should be the variety with drumsticks and wings attached and the name Butterball on the wrapper! Enjoy the day with family and friends. Best holiday wishes to friends nearby and around the state from the Websters in Northwest Indiana.

Tonight, Region fans will get a head-to-head look at two teams that could both wind up at the 4A Warsaw semi-state in March. Gary West Side drops in on Hobart (7:00 p.m. varsity start) for a battle royale. Both of these teams are expected to do great things this season, Gary West with All-Star candidate Kristin Cheairs and crew (who definitely pushed Lake Central in the Merrillville regional last year), and Hobart with its last-chance senior squad that is looking for the Holy Grail of Region basketball--a semi-state championship trophy. This will be a good chance for West Side to see how they measure up at this point in the season. Because Gary area teams overall have not been that strong since the days of Angela Hamblin ('94 Wallace), West Side has a lot of weak games on its schedule that do not help them see where they stand in terms of the tougher competition. West and Hobart bring different weapons to the table. Although both are big and physical inside, Hobart's post players have been known to pop a few from behind the arc as well. West Side has it over Hobart in speed, though, with Krisin Cheairs and Tahkisha Sweezer wheeling down the floor. But Hobart's Abby Coons is solid at the guard position and knows how to play smart defense. Definitely the best game in the Region tonight.

Several NWI teams are making their first appearance in the Indiana Coaches of Girls Sports Association Top 10 voting for the week of November 23. In 4A, Hobart and Portage, although not in the Top 10, make their first appearance with 4 votes each in the runners-up category. Highland (0-2) and Munster (2-1) both fell off the 4A poll with losses over the weekend. In 3A, Andrean gets 4 votes in its first appearance in poll voting, but have not cracked the Top 10. Remaining in the polls from NWI are Valparaiso at the No. 3 spot in 4A, North Judson and North Newton, No. 2 and No. 3 respectively, in the 2A poll (despite losses for both over the past week), and Morgan Township, previously No. 3 in the 1A poll, drops down to No. 5 with a 1-2 record. You can view the complete poll here.

Munster over Highland 45-27. Both of these teams had received votes in last week's Indiana coaches poll, although neither was ranked in the Top 10. Both made strong finishes last season, and are long-standing carryover rivals from the now defunct Lake Suburban Conference to the new Lake Athletic Conference, so the stage was set for a showdown. Expectations were high with super soph Jenny DeMuth leading the charge for Highland, but it became evident early on in the game that Highland needs to balance its attack in order to be a factor in the Region this year. Munster's game plan was to shut off DeMuth and, thus, shut off Highland's offense. It worked with a fine performance by Munster's Susan Hay with the DeMuth defensive assignment, and a clicking offensive effort by the Mustangs. Munster has the more balanced attack, but could face some trouble in NWI play with a not-so-deep bench. That could change as the season moves along, but someone from Munster's bench will have to step forward to pick up the slack when the starters are off the floor for Munster to sustain an attack strong enough to take on teams like Lowell and Portage, who they will be seeing in December.

Lake Central over Chesterton 53-49. Lake Central was struggling in a bad way with their opening games, and a lot of the talk around the Region was that LC would be going through a long, long season without much success. Then they come along and beat Chesterton, who is considered a contender in the tough Portage sectional with Valpo, Hobart and Portage. It seems that the guard play of last year's reserves Cristin Hanyzewski and Mariel Yekich has been improving by leaps and bounds, which is giving LC a triple threat backcourt. Speed seems to be the spark for the Indians, and that would make sense, as Chesterton is not considered a team that would match up well with a lot of speed. We'll be keeping an eye on the Indians when they go to Kokomo over the weekend to see if they continue to improve.

2A River Forest over 1A Morgan Township 55-53. River Forest is sneaking up on a lot of teams early in the season, but that won't continue if they keep upsetting good teams. Morgan Township was ranked No. 3 in 1A when the Ingots downed them earlier last week. The central reason for River Forest's success is Tracie Mezera, who is racking up double-figures in every game. She had 24 against Morgan Township, 17 in the second half. Keep an eye on this team when sectionals roll around. They could be a surprise 2A entry for NWI when regionals roll around.

Hanover Central. Although they are sporting a losing record at this point, HC is surprising a lot of teams that are expecting big wins over this team. They put a scare in both North Judson and North Newton, ranked No. 2 and No. 3 in the state coaches' poll, with close games that went down to the final minutes. The No. 33 2A sectional will be really interesting since North Newton, River Forest and Hanover Central will all be trying to get out. The team that peaks is the team that will come away with it, and I think it could be any one of these three. Hanover Central has some young players that are becoming a factor on the floor, and combined with some upperclassman leadership, they just might get revenge for some season losses during the tournament.

Crown Point over Munster 49-48 (OT). Not too many people in the Region are expecting big things out of Tom May's Bulldogs this year with the loss of seven seniors who made up the core of the CP team that went to the state championship two years ago. The Bulldogs have a lot of young players, and only 2-3 of the upperclassmen have seen any type of significant varsity time over the past two years. Munster was coming off a spectacular thumping of Highland and the feeling was that the Bulldog Pups were going to be in over their heads. But, with nothing to lose, CP went at the Mustangs full blast and created some good results. Munster is a very fine team and catching them the night after a big, emotional win was to CP's advantage. But once this CP team gets the turnovers under control (23 in this game), they could be a surprise team at the end of the season. Much of this will depend on the emotional maturity of some of the younger players and how they develop in their roles over the season, as well as the leadership of the upperclassmen. I expect this team will be up and down throughout the season and will need to pull it together to peak at sectional time in order to be a factor.

We are posting for the first time today our Red-Letter Region Performances, which we will be noting on a weekly basis. You will always be able to access this feature from our "Games & Reviews" menu or from the quick link on our home page. The first recognitions are for the week ending November 14 in the following weekly categories:

Peak Performers - Players who display outstanding performances in a game or week of games.

X-Traordinary Contributors - Unheralded players who may not have the stats that bring attention, but who represent the "x-factor" that makes the difference in a game-altering equation.

Region-Area Rookies - First-year varsity sophomores and freshmen who are making valuable contributions to their teams.

Notable Benchmarks - School/conference/state-setting records or notable benchmarks achieved by players and/or teams.

Since there were so many notable performances in and around the Region in just the first week of play, we have decided to limit the pool of eligible players to the following counties: Lake, Porter, LaPorte, St. Joseph, Newton, Jasper, Pulaski, Starke and Marshall. HOWEVER, before you cry foul, we are providing a posting board for anyone to post the details of an outstanding performance by any player in the state. That posting board can be accessed from the top of the Region Awards page. Please feel free to give recognition to the outstanding performances or contributions of any worthy player in the state.

Head Martinsville coach, Jan Conner, will most likely be chalking up her 400th win as a coach this Friday when the Artesians take on Owen Valley. Conner, who began her coaching career at Warren Central, will be the second girls coach in the state to attain the 400-win mark. Cinda Brown of Rushville has the highest number of girls basketball wins with 424. You can read about Coach Conner's anticipated win in the Lafayette Journal-Courier.

USA Today has ranked Indianapolis area Ben Davis at No. 22 in its USA Today Top 25 teams in the nation and No. 7 in its Midwest rankings. Led by sophomore Shyra Ely (6'0" 16.5 ppg) and junior Sarah Strahm (5'10" 11.1 ppg), Ben Davis is also ranked No. 1 with 10 first place votes in the current 4A poll. Coming in at No. 1 in the country is Butler High School in Huntsville, Alabama.

The Indiana Coaches' Poll is out for Monday, November 16. There aren't too many surprises for this very first poll of the season. Locally in the 4A poll, Valparaiso comes in at No. 3 behind No. 1 Ben Davis and No. 2 New Albany. Also, Gary West Side and Munster received votes but are not ranked in the top 10 in 4A. In the 3A poll, Evansville Memorial was an almost unanimous choice for No. 1, but no local teams were ranked or received votes. In the 2A poll, No. 2 North Judson and No. 3 North Newton followed top pick North Knox. And in the 1A poll, Morgan Township comes in the No. 3 spot behind No. 1 Rising Sun and No. 2 Dubois. Also Michigan City Marquette logs in at the No. 10 spot in 1A, which it shares with Clinton Prairie.

Starting at practices all around the state today, coaches will be wondering what happened to some of their players. They'll be diving for balls, moving their feet on defense, boxing out and going after rebounds like they've never done before. What's the reason? They were at the Mackey Arena in Lafayette yesterday to see the Purdue Lady Boilermakers defeat reigning NCAA National Champs and previously undefeated Tennessee. Looking around at the 11,000+ fans in attendance, it was obvious that many of the spectators there were high school basketball players, many who came together as a team dressed in their team warmups or letter jackets. The stadium parking lot was dotted with yellow school buses from school districts all around the state. And what a game for them to see! The Purdue Lady Boilers, especially the players with Indiana roots, were an inspiration to everyone there. Many of the girls watching the game yesterday had already seen some of the Lady Boilers play on their own high school gym floors within the past 7 years as high school players, so the connection between reality and the dream of playing college ball was very real. It was obvious the level of play needed to make it to the college ranks, and that point was not lost on many in attendance. Thank you, Lady Boilers, for a terrific game! Congratulations to all of the Indiana high school grads who played outstanding minutes -- Stephanie White-McCarty (Seeger) who finished just one point shy of hitting the 1500-point mark at Purdue, Mackenzie Curless (Martinsville), Candi Crawford (Homestead), Katie Douglas (Perry Meridian), and Kelly Komara (Lake Centeral). It was fun to be there and watch all the different facets of the college game. (A lot of us really got a kick out of Stephanie White-McCarty planting a big one on her husband after the game!) To see some nice pictures and to read the AP version of the game, go to today's Indy Star article covering this history-making win for Purdue.

This weekend's surprising upset of Hoosier Basketball Magazine's No. 2 Connersville by unranked Mt. Vernon by a score of 49-44, emphasizes that this long season before tournament play could be even more interesting than anyone ever expected. Although many top-ranked teams are expected to do well with high-profile performers, those teams are still trying to fit some pieces of the puzzle together in the early going. Teams such as Connersville with April McDivitt, New Albany with Kennitra Johnson, Ben Davis with Shyra Ely, and Valparaiso with Jeanette Gray and Erin Sampsel, still must find a way to win the really tough games with new and inexperienced talent in key positions. (Although New Albany is probably in the best position of the four top-ranked teams to do that.) Those new players will be the x-factor when tournament time rolls around in February, the key being who will step up to complement the proven players. Follow the regular season play of teams like Kokomo, Ft. Wayne Snider and Gary West Side, with balanced and experienced talent, to see who could be tournament darkhorses if the early top-ranked teams and their inexperienced players do not rise to the challenge.

Jeanette Gray (5'10" F) of Valparaiso will be signing her National Letter of Intent today to attend hometown Valparaiso University next fall. Jeanette was holding out for the signing until today, Friday the 13th, which she feels will create a good luck start for her college career.

The Indy Star is reporting this morning that 2A Triton Central standout senior Tiffany Miller (6'1" C) suffered an ACL injury during her team's scrimmage with New Palestine. Miller is expected to be back in the lineup by mid-January after surgery and rehab. This will definitely put a chink in Triton's offensive armor, as Miller scored 12.1 ppg and pulled down 8.1 rpg last season, and is the main floor leader for the Tigers.

The following Region players were named to The Times 1998 Preseason All-Area Team: senior Kara Austgen (5'7" G Andrean), senior Jennifer Bayer (6'1" C Lowell), senior Jackie Campbell (5'10" G Chesterton), senior Kristin Cheairs (5'6" G West Side), senior Abbey Coons (5'9" G Hobart), sophomore Jenny DeMuth (5'10" G Highland), senior Jeanette Gray (5'10" F Valparaiso), junior Susan Hay (5'7" G Munster), junior Cathy Herring (5'8" G Morton), senior Erin Jedlikowski (6'1" F Portage), junior Kristi Koselke (6'0" G North Newton), junior Tracie Mezera (5'6" G River Forest), senior Lori Moore (5'7" G Lake Central), sophomore Joann Smith (5'5" G Gavit), and sophomore Kimberly Smith (5'10" F West Side).

The Indianapolis Star is reporting that two seniors have made verbal commitments to attend colleges on basketball scholarships next fall. Center Grove's Emily Butler (5'7" G) will be going to Northwestern, and Indianapolis Tech's Angela Dancy (5'7" G) will be going to Butler. Both are expected to sign National Letters of Intent during the signing period, which begins tomorrow. You can read Emily's comments about her choice to attend Northwestern in the Star article. Butler will be joining Northwood's Natalie Will at Northwestern next year, who just made her choice to become a Wildcat known recently as well.

The Times Top 10 in the Region for the upcoming season is as follows.

1. West Side
2. Valparaiso
3. Hobart
4. Lowell
5. Highland
6. North Newton
7. Lake Central
8. Griffith
9. Andrean
10. Munster

Interestingly, the Region Roundball Review Top 12 matches The Times first four picks. We will be posting the area media rankings throughout the season. Watch for an updated format for easy access to a variety of polls and rankings on our site soon.

At Valparaiso University women's exhibition game against the Supreme Court Basketball team yesterday, there were quite a few notable high school juniors on campus visiting as recruits. Sitting behind the Valpo bench with their parents were Erin Sampsel (5'11" G Valparaiso), Karen Force (5'8" G Columbus East), Kristi Koselke (5'11" G North Newton), Susan Hay (5' 7" G Munster), Megan Mauck (5'7" PG Boonville), Natalie Yudt (6'0" G Portage), Julie Mandon (5'11" C Hobart), and Julie Goad (5'7" G Twin Lakes). These players are top prospects in their class and most will probably end up at Division I schools somewhere within the next two years. Valpo U could have used some firepower from this talented junior group Sunday, as they lost 70-65 to the "Supremes", going 4-26 from the arc against an effective zone. The Crusaders begin their regular season against Colorado State on Friday in Colorado.

The Connersville News-Examiner is carrying a review piece about the Connersville/Franklin scrimmage of last night. Although 1999 Miss Basketball candidate April McDivitt had a fine start, it sounds like it will take some time for the team to gel with some new faces in the lineup, including underclassmen Jenny Cooper (sophomore) and Missy Taylor (freshman). Connersville is ranked second in Hoosier Basketball Magazine, and together with that ranking and the publicity surrounding McDivitt's Miss Basketball run, the Spartans are now "enjoying" target status, which they will need to be prepared for in every game they play. Franklin came all out against Connersville and the Spartans, according to their coach Larry Miller, did not respond well. He is hoping for some improved intensity and uptempo defensive play from his team as the season progresses.

We had two informative scrimmage reports from last evening that have been posted on the Games & Reviews reporting board. The reports are on the Valparaiso/Highland scrimmage, and the Kokomo/Marion scrimmage. Thanks to contributing reporters for two excellent reviews! If anyone else has a review they'd like to post, or if you would like to comment on the reports that are already there, please feel free to do so. We will be fine-tuning the game reporting area before the first games next week. You can reach the Games & Reviews board at any time from the main menu.

Both local papers are reporting this morning that Gary West Side standout Kristin Cheairs (5'8" G) has verbally committed to the University of Illinois-Chicago and will be signing a National Letter of Intent later next week to become a Flame next year. Apparently, Kristin made the decision to commit against the wishes of her high school coach, Rod Fisher, who wanted her to wait until after the basketball season when she might have a longer list of schools to choose from. The Cougars are expected to fare well from the region in the state tournament series, and advancing in the tournament will likely bring attention from college coaches to Cheairs speed and athletic ability. Her first-step is second to none in Region-area high school basketball. Kristin had other ideas, though, and decided to remove the shadow of the college question from over her last year of high school basketball. UIC first-year coach Tim Eatman, a former Iowa assistant, impressed Cheairs with his coaching style, which she observed at practice on Friday while she was making an official visit. Another helpful UIC connection for Cheairs was that former Gary Lew Wallace and Iowa grad, Angela Hamblin, is now on the UIC staff as a basketball operations intern. The Flames were 7-20 last year and Cheairs will join fellow Hoosier Jennifer Cook ('96 Evansville Bosse) to bring some Indiana flavor to a mostly Illinois native team. Coach Eatman, a reknowned recruiter, has certainly made a steal from larger programs with a commitment from this outstanding Region guard.

4. Valparaiso
15. Gary West Side
19. Hobart
25. North Judson
29. Crown Point
37. Lake Central
46. Morgan Township
50. North Newton (tie)

Also notable in the 2A pre-seaon HBM rankings is North Judson in the No. 1 spot and North Newton in the No. 3 spot. Morgan Township makes an appearance at the No. 3 spot in the 1A rankings. Individual recognition goes to the following region players who received pre-season HBM All-State honors:

If we have inadvertently left someone off of the region area list of honors (it was a LONG and small-font list), please let us know, and we will add any missing names to the list.

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