November, 1998
News Updates
News thru Sunday, November 29 |
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.
The No. 4 Martinsville Artesians saw their 55-game winning
streak end last night in an 80-57 loss to No. 10 Center Grove. The Trojans
were led by senior Emily Butler,
who scored a career-high 32 points and dished out 6 assists. For Martinsville,
senior Courtney Cooper scored
30 points, but received no significant help from her teammates. The Artesians
had 32 turnovers in the game to end the streak, which keeps intact the
57-game winning streak by Ft. Wayne Northrop set during a period from 1985
to 1987.
The parity within the girls basketball scene at the state
level this season is becoming more and more evident as games are played.
Consider the following which has transpired so far:
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
The DeKalb
Evening Star and the Kendallville
News-Sun are carrying a number of season preview articles about
northeastern Indiana girls teams, including Angola, DeKalb, Eastern, Fremont,
Garrett, Hamilton, Lakewood Park, and others.
News thru Friday, November 27 |
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.
The statistical leaders for NWI were named in today's Times
newspaper. Although some schools do not seem to be reporting in, the top
five leaders in each category after the first two weeks of games is as
follows:
Scoring |
2-Point Percentage |
||
J. Campbell (Chesterton) J. Gray (Valpo) A. Walker (Wheeler) E. Martin (Kouts) C. Herring (Morton) |
24.5 ppg 21.3 ppg 19.0 ppg 19.0 ppg 19.0 ppg |
D. Zagorski (Munster) A. Carnahan (Crown Point) M. Miller (whiting) L. Homan (Valparaiso) D. Jeffries (Morton) |
1.000 (04/04) .777 (07/09) .750 (03/04) .750 (03/04) .750 (09/12) |
3-Point Percentage |
Free Throw Percentage |
||
E. Coddington (Griffith) M. Gonzales (Kouts) A. Bernard (Crown Point) S. Jones (Bishop Noll) A. Drapac (Morton) K. Wallace (Munster) |
.666 (04/06) .666 (02/03) .666 (02/03) .555 (05/09) .500 (02/04) .500 (04/08) |
M. Runyon (Griffith) S. Zondor (Crown Point) M. Pickering (Portage) M. Smith (Chesterton) S. Hay (Munster) K. Porento (Lowell) S. Grabczak (Hobart) |
1.000 (04/04) .923 (12/13) .888 (08/09) .875 (07/08) .857 (12/14) .857 (06/07) .857 (06/07) |
Assists |
Rebounds |
||
E. Sampsel (Valpo) A. Karamanis (Wheeler) J. Campbell (Chesterton) K. McGinley (Morgan Twp) E. Hutchison (Lowell) T. Kollintzas (Whiting) C. Herring (Morton) |
6.7 apg (20) 6.5 apg (13) 5.5 apg (11) 5.0 apg (10) 5.0 apg (05) 4.7 apg (14) 4.7 apg (14) |
L. Mitchell (Calumet) L. Schultz (Wheeler) J. Bayer (Lowell) K. Law (Morton) J. Gray (Valpo) |
16.0 rpg (32) 14.0 rpg (14) 13.0 rpg (13) 12.7 rpg (38) 12.0 rpg (36) |
Steals |
Blocks |
||
J. Smith (Gavit) S. Efantis (Bishop Noll) K. Kruchowski (Kank Valley) N. Yudt (Portage) C. Cooper (Lake Station) |
5.7 spg (17) 5.5 spg (11) 5.3 spg (16) 5.0 spg (15) 5.0 spg (05) |
L. Schultz (Wheeler) E. Jedlikowski (Portage) R. Merkell (Munster) M. Gonzales (Kouts) D. Kain (Kouts) |
4.0 bpg (4) 3.0 bpg (9) 2.0 bpg (8) 2.0 bpg (4) 2.0 bpg (4) |
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.
We have posted our player picks for last weeks games ending
November 21 for the Red
Letter Region Performances. Stop by and take a look at who had outstanding
performances in the Region for that time period. Picks for the week ending
tomorrow will be posted next Friday.
Special thanks to all of you who have taken the time to
post game results and recaps on our Games
& Reviews Reporting Board. You provide an invaluable service to
our visitors. We encourage all visitors to report any scores and/or reviews
of games which they might attend. We also encourage you to comment on games
that have already been reported by replying in the game thread there, especially
if you have anything to add about that particular game. We are especially
looking for coverage from some of the 1A and 2A schools in the area. If
you are not sure how to post on the reporting board, or if you have questions
in general about reporting games, please
do not hesitate to contact us and we will try to answer any questions
that you might have.
News thru Thursday, November 26 |
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.
News thru Wednesday, November 25 |
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.
Was fortunate enough to catch the last half of the Valpo/Penn
game last night and got a first look at this year's Vikings. Seems that
they are living up to their No. 3 ranking in 4A, and with good reason.
Indiana All-Star shoe-in Jeanette Gray is
looking as good as ever. She is a solid and reliable force on the floor
and very difficult to stop. It seems that she can attack the basket at
will and is patient enough on offense to create those opportunities at
the right time. Junior point guard Erin Sampsel has
gained a lot of poise on the floor since last year and was very impressive.
She looks like she is the tallest player on the floor for the Vikings and
might be measuring in at about 6'0. This is creating some havoc for opposing
defenses, as she is able to see the floor extremely well, pass over defenders
and create some devastating man-to-man mismatches whenever she's in the
paint. Her decision-making last night was impeccable and she commanded
the floor extremely well. Inside, sophomore Courtney
Rosenbaum (5'11") is really getting the job done. She has really
bulked up from last year (so much so I had to look at a program to find
her because I didn't recognize her on the floor), and is playing like a
veteran. The off-guard and other post duties are being handled by a variety
of players rotating off the bench. The Vikings' only current weakness may
be if either Gray or Sampsel are not on the floor for any sustained length
of time. Valpo does not have the same look and does not effectively execute
its patient, wide-open offense without these two on the floor. This may
change as the bench gains experience over the course of the season.
If you hadn't heard about it already, last night the Connersville
Spartans, led by Miss Basketball candidate and Tennessee recruit April
McDivitt, thumped on a local team from Muncie Southside by a score
of 118-19. McDivitt had 50 points in the game (about 25 per half), and
numerous other stats to go along with that. Scores at the quarter breaks
were 34-2, 60-6, 85-8, and 117-18. (Looks like the Spartans REALLY let
up on the defense in that last quarter.) If you'd like to read a Spartan's
review of the game, you can find it at the web site of our IIBWA partner
Fifthquarter.
The Pacers are making a bid to have a WNBA franchise team
play in Indianapolis in the near future. However, it looks like if Indy
gets the nod, no team will be playing until the summer of 2000. That is
when the new Conseco Fieldhouse will be first available for use during
a WNBA summer season. The facility is expected to be completed by the fall
of 1999 and will be the home court of the Pacers organization. When approving
WNBA franchises, the NBA, which owns the rights to the WNBA teams across
the country, looks for up-to-par facilities and a large interest base for
women's basketball. The Pacers hope that the combination of the new fieldhouse
and high interest in women's basketball (as evidenced by Indiana's large
numbers in AAU girls basketball and attendance at Big 10 schools in Indiana)
will be enough to get a WNBA team of their own.
For those of you who were either
at the Purdue v. Tennessee game or watching it on television (or wished
you had seen it), there is a great review on the game at the ESPN women's
college basketball site. It analyzes the game plan executed to perfection
by Purdue to topple the undefeated and reigning national champ Vols. Great
reading for all of you basketball buffs out there. Go
to the ESPN article.
News thru Tuesday, November 24 |
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.
The past week in NWI brought some interesting and surprising
game results, which we note 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 will be posting our picks for notable Region performances
on Friday. If you would like to nominate someone for that honor, please
view the nomination procedures on our Red-Letter
Region Performances page. Also, if your
nominee does not qualify for Region honors due to geographical limitations,
please feel free to recognize any worthy player on our posting
board for Outstanding Individual Performances from around the state.
News thru Friday, November 20 |
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.
Although this young lady was nominated but did not make
it into our Region recognition awards due to geographical limitations,
we would like to make you aware of super Manchester soph Jessica
Hicks (5'10" F), who has been
turning heads with her double-figure scoring and rebounding efforts in
early season play. Jessica has her
own web page where you will find the latest updates on her progress
and the progress of the Manchester Lady Squires, now coached by former
Martinsville assistant Keri Nichols.
We will be covering the head-to-head battle of Munster
and Highland later this evening. These Lake Athletic Conference schools
have a long-standing rivalry with one another, as well as some evenly matched
weapons. These elements all make this THE must-see game in the Region
tonight. Highland received 5 votes in the recent 4A poll, and Munster received
3. Check our Games & Reviews reporting board later this evening to
see if the 4A poll is on target in its rankings.
The Michigan City News
Dispatch is carrying a thorough preview article on the Michigan
City Wolves. The Wolves are hoping to improve last year's record, which
is a challenge being a member of the strong Duneland Athletic Conference.
Playing well against the likes of Valparaiso, Hobart, Chesterton, LaPorte,
Merrillville, Portage and Crown Point is a tall order for even the strongest
DAC teams. The Wolves were 0-7 in conference play last season, but have
some new freshman and sophomore players who will give their team a boost
and some added depth this season.
News thru Thursday, November 19 |
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.
Several games this Friday for teams in the Region and elsewhere
have been rescheduled due to the boys football playoffs. Locally, Crown
Point's game with Plymouth has been changed to December 11, Valparaiso's
game with Penn has been changed to November 24, and Lowell's game with
Andrean has been rescheduled to an undisclosed date in January. If anyone
else has news of rescheduled games, please send
them to us and we will be happy to post them here.
DeKalb senior Maria Recker is making strides in planning
for her future career. Automatically, we all think basketball career, but
this young lady is preparing herself for a career in medicine. A feature
article about Recker in the Ft.
Wayne Journal Gazette details her experiences as a student in a Health
Occupations Education class. This class includes hands-on experience, including
rotations at an emergency room, veterinary clinic and nursing home. Interesting
reading. And, yes, there is life after basketball....
News thru Wednesday, November 18 |
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.
This Friday, Valparaiso will be hosting Mishawaka Penn
in an early benchmark game for both teams. Valpo will be facing its toughest
opponent so far in the season, and this will be Penn's season opener. Valpo,
currently ranked at No. 3 in 4A, will be looking to see how its younger
players will do under pressure against a notable opponent. Penn will be
gauging its team makeup for the season after losing a couple of key players
to graduation and senior Lisa Mattison (5.8
ppg) to a foot injury. You can read a season preview about the Penn Kings(wo)men
team in the South
Bend Tribune.
Kendallville News-Sun reporter Matt Getts writes
in a feature article that the Associated Press out of Indy has decided
not to have an AP poll for girls basketball. Although a weekly AP media
poll exists for the boys, the AP stated that "it had been considered,
but decided against" a similar poll for the girls. The AP, however,
will release the state coaches' poll at the same time it releases the media
poll for boys. What's up with that? It would be nice to have a media poll
that ranks girls teams in the state regardless of class similar to the
boys.
The Connersville News-Examiner is carrying two interesting
articles in today's on-line edition. One is about the Connersville/Rushville
matchup scheduled for tonight. The other is about the Miss
Basketball race between the stars of those two teams, April
McDivitt of Connersville and Elizabeth
English of Rushville. Interestingly, these
talented young ladies live in towns only 17 miles apart. The C-Ville vs.
R-Ville game, which pits two great rivals, will be covered by Fifthquarter.
Check there later this evening to get their up-to-the-minute report on
the outcome of that game. Region area fans will get a look at English and
a third Miss Basketball candidate, Kennitra
Johnson of New Albany, in the Crown Point
Holiday Shootout on January 2.
News thru Tuesday, November 17 |
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.
Several schools in the Region will be reclassified by enrollment
next year if the IHSAA continues with the four-class system for basketball,
volleyball and baseball. Schools affected include South Bend Washington,
which moves up from 3A to 4A, and Hammond Morton and Gary Wirt, which move
down from 4A to 3A. Also, Rensselaer drops from 3A to 2A, and Hebron moves
up from 1A to 2A. You can read about all of the schools affected in the
state in an
article by the Indy Star.
After its thrilling win over Tennessee on Sunday, the Purdue
Lady Boilers received the top votes in the nation for the first AP poll
of the regular season. This is the first time ever that the women's program
has received a top national ranking. Also, Notre Dame logged in at No.
10. You can see the entire AP
poll here.
News thru Monday, November 16 |
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.
Again the South
Bend Tribune is featuring team preview write-ups about some of
the stronger teams in the Northern Lakes conference, including Northwood
and Plymouth. Also featured in today's edition of the same publication,
is South
Bend Washington, headlined by super soph Jackie
Batteast (5'11" F), a Hoosier Basketball
Magazine Second Team All-State selection.
Thompson Indiana, a marketing and communications
company out of of Madison County, has created a neat new
web site covering high school basketball in connection with their on-line
news publications. They have both girls
and boys sections, and a lot of interesting feature stories there, including
season previews and game recaps. Hats off to another great web site availble
to fans to follow Indiana high school basketball!
Both Kristen Lowry and Amy
Muelhausen of 4A Logansport signed their National Letters of Intent
in a double-signing ceremony last week. Lowry will attend Xavier and Muelhausen
will attend IUPUI next year. You can read the comments made by these young
ladies on their college choices in an article
in the Logansport Pharos-Tribune.
We have posted the final pre-season fan poll results for
the sectionals in the north and south regions of the state for all four
classes. We encourage you to vote
in the regular season polls, through January 31, when voting will be
closed for the regular season. We will then conduct a quick poll for two
weeks before the first sectional games begins on February 16. We will then
do weekly polls for the regionals, semi-state and state tournaments each
week before they take place.
We had plans to do a weekly fan poll on Region and state
teams, the results of which would be posted every Monday during the season.
Our deadline for submission of votes was noon on Sunday, and as of that
time, we had only received 4 submssions for the Region poll and 2 submission
for the state poll. We feel that in order to post legitimate poll results,
we need at least 10 submissions for each. Although we cannot identify any
individual making a vote submission, we can determine multiple submissions
from the same person by the IP numbers on each, so please do not send multiple
votes. We will try again this week to see if we get enough. If not, we
will discontinue this feature. Thanks to those of you who submitted votes
this week.
We have added the Logansport Pharos-Tribune, a new
on-line newspaper, to our Prep
Sports News Map. Stop by and take a look at their excellent news coverage
of girls basketball in the Logansport area.
News thru Sunday, November 15 |
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.
More season previews are appearing
on-line, including South Bend area teams
and players
in the South Bend Tribune. The Ft.
Wayne Sentinel is carrying a nice variety of feature articles in its
Prep Sports Highlights area about the upcoming season. Also, several teams
in the northeastern part of the state are previewed in the Kendallville
News-Sun, including West Noble, East Noble, Central Noble and Westview.
Other teams in the northeast are covered in the DeKalb
Evening-Sun, including DeKalb and Angola.
The first poll of the season by the Indiana Coaches of
Girls Sports Association will be out early this week for all four classes.
We will bring that to you as soon as it is available. That poll is divided
by class, with only three coaches for each class voting for their respective
classes within each of the state's voting districts.
We have added the Crown Point High School Lady Bulldogs
web page to our High
School Team Links page. Although still under construction, you will
find some interesting features there, including pre-game program comments
from Crown Point Head Coach Tom May for
all home games.
Assistant Valparaiso University coach and
former Indiana All-Star Tracy
Roller (Crown Point), is featured in an article
by The Times that describes how she was favorably influenced
by Tennessee Coach Pat Summit's book about coaching. A nice story about
a very nice and enthusiastic young lady.
News thru Friday the 13th! |
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.
Terre Haute South senior point guard Cara
Stuckey (5'6") will be hanging up her high-tops and her #23
jersey after the basketball season for good next year by accepting a scholarship
to play golf at IU. Stuckey, who averaged 15.3 ppg and 5.7 apg last season,
is a key player for the Lady Braves, who are expected to go far in this
year's state high school tournament series. TH South is ranked 9th in the
Hoosier Basketball Magazine preseason rankings. If the Braves make it to
the state finals, Stuckey will be no stranger to the pressure. She made
appearances at the state high school golf tournament as a freshman, sophomore
and finished tied for 14th in this fall's state golf championship competition.
You can read about Cara's choice to play golf in college in the Terre
Haute Tribune Star.
Season previews continue in several
on-line newspapers, including Connersville
in the Connersville News-Examiner, Huntington
North in the Huntington Herald Press, South
Bend Riley, South
Bend Adams, and South
Bend LaSalle in the South Bend Tribune, and West Lafayette,
McCutcheon, Lafayette Jeff, Lafayette Harrison, and Central Catholic in
the Lafayette
Journal and Courier.
Last year's Indianapolis Lawrence standout Krysten
Parson made her college debut appearance a
memorable one by scoring 21 points in Goshen College's 61-56 come-from-behind
season opening win against the Trinity Christian Trolls on Wednesday. Parson's
efforts included scoring 6-10 from the field and 9-10 from the free throw
line. You can read about Parson's outstanding freshman performance in the
Goshen News.
News thru Thursday, November 12, 1998 |
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.
Thanks to those of you who are posting game results
on our Game Reviews & Scores
reporting board. Be sure to read John Corbett's recap of the Ben Davis/Indianapolis
Cathedral scrimmage. It's a real nice write-up with some insightful comments.
Two games in the Region have been canceled and rescheduled
as follows: Portage v. East Chicago has been rescheduled for November 19
at East Chicago, and Hobart v. S. Bend St. Joe's has been rescheduled from
this Saturday to Wednesday, December 2.
Again, several season preview articles
are appearing on-line today. Included are Marion
and St.
Joe's in the South Bend Tribune, Tri-West
in the Indy Star, Rochester
area schools (Caston, Avon, Tippecanoe Valley, North Miami, and Culver)
in the Rochester Sentinel, Yorktown
and Delta, Muncie
schools (Burris, Central and South), and Delta
in the Muncie Press, Franklin
County in the Connersville News-Examiner, and Eminence
in the Martinsville Reporter-Times. (Some of these stories may
not be accessible after one or two days because their links are not permanent.
We'll try to maintain them as long as possible.)
Purdue frosh Kelly Komara
(Lake Central) gave a stellar performance off the bench in Tuesday night's
game against the Russian Dynamo Club, scoring 17 points. Komara figures
prominently in giving Purdue a tremendous amount of consistency at the
guard position while subbing for senior backcourt standouts Stephanie
White-McCarty (Seeger) and Ukari
Figgs. You can read about Purdue's win in
articles at the Purdue
Exponent and the Lafayette
Journal and Courier. You can also read a Lafayette
J & C article about sophomore Katie
Douglas (Perry Meridian) and her success in
pre-season play. Katie scored 14 points in the win against the Dynamo Club.
News thru Wednesday, November 11, 1998 |
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).
News thru Tuesday, November 10, 1998 |
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 Indy Star is also carrying a great grouping
of articles about the upcoming season, including features about sophomore
sensation Shyra Ely
(6'1" F) of Ben Davis, and several previews for all classes. Definitely
worth a look during your basketball surfing today. To get to the list of
articles, visit
the Indiana's Game area of the Star.
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.
The Indiana
Internet Basketball Writers' Association (IIBWA), of which the Region
Roundball Review is a member, has posted its first members state poll for
the girls' season. The IIBWA is a consortium of web sites around the state
of Indiana that cover high school basketball. The boys' poll has also been
released.
News thru Monday, November 9, 1998 |
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 NCAA dead period begins today with the official Letter
of Intent signing period set for Wednesday, November 11, through Wednesday,
November 18. It is always interesting to see if anyone has had a change
of heart during the signing period, as verbal commitments are non-binding.
We will keep you updated of such changes, if any, that we become aware
of. To see which Indiana players are scheduled to sign before the 18th,
see the Player Status Report in our College
Bound area, as well as our NCAA calendar and definitions of related
recruiting calendar terms.
Our Indiana Internet Basketball Writers' Association (IIBWA) partner,
Fifth Quarter,
is featuring an article by webmaster Randy Beckett featuring some of the
top freshmen in the state who are expected to make an impact for their
teams this season. Included in that article from the Region is 5'9"
guard Alex Webster
of Crown Point. Also included are Shanna Zolman
(5'8" G) from 3A Wawasee, Candace
Dark (5'8" G) from 2A Fountain Central,
Missy Taylor (6'0"
F) from 4A Connersville, Bridget Branson
(5'11" F) from 1A Turkey Run, and Ashley
Hughes (5'6" G) of 1A North Vermillion.
As we mentioned earlier, all scrimmage and game reports
are being posted on our Games
& Reviews reporting board. This is where all future game reports
will be posted as well, including any on-line news articles that cover
games in the Region and around the state. Currently, you will find the
Martinsville/Lebanon scrimmage there, among others. The format of the reporting
board allows anyone to post a comment in the reporting thread. That way
if someone reports on a game and you have something to add to their assessment
of the game, you have the opportunity to comment as well. You can find
permanent links to the reporting board in three different places at the
Region Roundball Review: directly above at the start of this news page,
on our home page beneath the visitor counter, and on the Games & Reviews
menu bar. We suggest that you check the reporting board often, as not all
links to on-line news articles are permanent and may expire after only
one or two days. Wherever possible, we will try to maintain links for as
long as possible. We also encourage everyone to post the results of any
game they might attend as soon as possible, even if it is just the score.
Game highlights and/or stats will be greatly appreciated by us and your
fellow basketball enthusiasts as well. Thanks.
You might want to check the best upcoming games in the
Region for the week on our Best
Upcoming Games & Events Calendar. We hope to have coverage from
a majority of those games for you by this weekend.
The final pre-season Top
12 Fan Surveys for the Region and state have been posted and we are
now accepting new votes for our weekly fan poll. Votes will be taken
through Sunday noon of each week, with results posted the following Monday
evening. Please give us your Top 12 every week for the Region and state.
We also will be posting the weekly polls of several area publications and
from the Indiana Coaches' Basketball Association. The first of the early
season Region polls should be out tomorrow, with girls basketball season
preview coverage expected to appear in The Times out of Munster
tomorrow.
News thru Saturday, November 7, 1998 |
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.
News thru Friday, November 6, 1998 |
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.
The Times out of Munster reported this week that
Portage senior standout Erin Jedlikowski (6'0"
G/F) has verbally committed to play at Division I Charleston Southern
University in South Carolina next year. Among the schools on Erin's short
list were University of Pennsylvania, Southern Illinois-Edwardsville, and
the U. S. Military Academy. She also received a home visit from Colgate.
Influencing Erin's decision was the presence of former Portage grad Natalie
Fornari, a cross-country runner, who works in the women's basketball coaching
office at CSU. Erin made a visit to the campus there last Sunday and felt
the fit was right. Charleston has an enrollment of just over 2,300 and
plays in the Big South Conference. Besides looking forward to the team
unity and uptempo game played by the Buccaneers, Erin is planning on learning
how to surf. CSU is located right on the beaches of the Atlantic Coast.
It was also reported in The Times this week that
Tom Haluska will replace Harold
Jones as girls varsity basketball coach at Hammond Clark High School.
Tom is a 1983 graduate from Whiting High School. He served as varsity assistant
to former EC Central girls coach Joe Huppenthal
for the 1995-96 season, and has been Hammond Morton's girls JV the past
two seasons compiling a 26-9 record. Haluska has a strong friendship with
Chicago Bulls coaching legend Tex Winter, so don't be surprised if Clark
runs the triangle offense sometime in the future. According to The Times,
Haluska has finally gotten the break he's been waiting for. "I'm looking
to build, to get things started at the lower level, which is so important
in order to be successful. You look at the better programs in the area,
like Lake Central and Crown Point, and they play man-to-man defense. I
like man-to-man and the up-tempo style." Haluska also wants to start
kids playing at a younger age, and talks of possibly starting an AAU feeder
program. Haluska's positive attitude and long-term plans will be a big
boost for the Pioneers, who have gone 4-17 and 3-18 the past two seasons.
A Logansport contact tells us that,
after having her tonsils removed recently, senior Kristen
Lowry (6'2") of Logansport is a hopeful
for the Berries' first game on November 20 against Huntington North. Lowry,
the Logansport's top scorer and rebounder (19 ppg, 12 rpg) missed last
night's pre-season scrimmage against West Lafayette Harrison and is not
expected to be back in action for about another week or two.
(Late addition) Senior Lake Central standout
Lori Moore (5'7" G) of last year's state
finals team has been named The
Times Soccer Player of the Year for the second year in a row. Moore,
who is a Division I soccer prospect, will be the offensive focus of the
Indians basketball team this year after the graduation of an outstanding
senior class in Kelly Komara, Kelly
Kuhn and Katie Imborek. Moore is an
aggressive player on the soccer field and will be counted on to carry over
that attitude onto the basketball court to help her Lake Central Indians
contend this season.
(Late addition) The Martinsville Reporter-Times
is carrying a preview
piece about the Lady Arties that has some interesting news in it, including
the addition of Christy Smith (Benton Central/Arkansas)
of the WNBA Charlotte Sting as an assistant varsity coach. Smith played
for Martinsville head coach Jan Conner during
Conner's tenure at Benton Central and was the starting point guard there
at that time. Smith went on to receive many honors at the point while at
Arkansas and was just recently named the NCAA's Woman of the Year for the
state of Arkansas. Conner talks a bit about her team and how they will
not be letting up in intensity, despite the loss of last season's super
senior class. Interestingly, we might all be doing a double-take when we
get a look at this season's roster. The Bodine-Traylor duo is still there.
But that's not Kristin Bodine and April
Traylor; it's Carmen Bodine and Ashley
Traylor, freshman sisters of last season's 1-2 Martinsville punch.
It is uncertain whether they will be able to contribute at some point at
the level their sisters did, but it will be an interesting combination
to watch over the next few years. And don't count out Martinsville this
season just because they've lost the heart of their lineup. They have a
knowledgeable coach, some exceptionally strong and seasoned returning players,
new young talent and a point to prove.
(Late addition) We have added two new links to the
College Links in our College
Bound area. Both are NCAA databases that make it very easy to get information
that is sometimes difficult to find. One is a database that has available
contest schedules for every NCAA school. The other is a database that will
give the e-mail addresses of members in the athletic department of participating
NCAA schools. We hope you will find these resources useful.
Due to some scheduling difficulties, the Andrean/Crown
Point game scheduled for Saturday, November 14, will be AT Crown Point
and not Andrean. Game time remains the same, with a 6:00 p.m. start for
JV, and a 7:30 p.m. start for varsity.
Our news reports and site updates have been thin for the
past week due to some family health issues here in the Region Roundball
Review household. My mom had open-heart surgery in Chicago Tuesday, and
after some anxious moments, we are happy to report that she is improving
daily. Thanks to all of you who have been contributing news this week in
anticipation of next week's start of games. We will be catching up with
coverage over the weekend.
News thru Monday, November 2, 1998 |
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.
So far, we are aware of four scrimmage openers taking place
in the Region this week. On Tuesday, November 3, Wheeler will play at Bishop
Noll (6 p.m.) and Calumet will play at Hammond Gavit (6:30 p.m.). On Friday,
Highland will be at Valpo (6 p.m.), and on Saturday, Portage will be at
Griffith (6 p.m.). If you are aware of any other scrimmages taking place
this week, please let us know and we will post them here and on our Best
Upcoming Games & Events page, where after this week we will be
posting what we think are the best matchups in the region for each upcoming
week.
We were able to get our hands on a copy of the Hoosier
Basketball Magazine this weekend at the Valpo U exhibition. We suggest
that you get your hands on a copy, too, as this year's edition is packed
full with team preview reports and picture ad after picture ad of region
and state teams and players. (It's always interesting to get a look at
the faces of the young ladies mentioned on this site and in the news.)
Indiana girls basketball Region teams that were ranked in the HBM Pre-Season
Top 50 (regardless of class) are as follows:
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:
1st Team |
Jackie Campbell (12)
- Chesterton Kristin Cheairs (12) - Gary West Side Jeanette Gray (12) - Valparaiso |
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2nd Team |
Erin Jedlikowski (12) - Portage | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
3rd Team |
Jenny DeMuth (10) - Highland Lori Moore (12) - Lake Central |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
4th Team |
Abbey Coons (12) - Hobart Cathy Herring (11) - Hammond Morton Jody Lackey (11) - Morgan Township |
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All-State |
|
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.