Region Roundball Review
December, 1998
News Updates
      

No. 4 Ben Davis raised its state ranking stock on Tuesday after soundly beating No. 2 Kokomo in the Hall of Fame Classic in the first game of the day at the Chrysler Fieldhouse in New Castle. That ranking worth looked to be in jeapordy in the evening championship game, when the Giants were behind 48-37 going into the final quarter of their game with No. 9 Terre Haute South. But a 29-point fourth quarter explosion gave Ben Davis the opportunity to save the game with a final 2-second possession and a tied score. Amazingly, the Giants pulled it out on a buzzer-beater by soph Shyra Ely to win the game. That finish was impressive enough to raise the national ranking of Ben Davis from No. 21 to No. 19 just minutes later when the USA Today rankings were posted that evening. Sophomore Ashley Allen, who scored 27 points in the qualifying game, was named Tournament MVP, and Ely, Sarah Strahm (Ben Davis), Amy Zercher (Northwood), Cara Stuckey (TH South) and Dorcus Lawson (TH South) were all named to the HOF All-Tournament Team by the media.

Attendance at the Hall of Fame Classic was down this year after the format was changed to combine both the boys and girls games into a one-day weekday event. In the past, the girls played on a Friday, while the boys played the next day. By going to the one-day format and the resulting time restrictions, the evening consolation games for both girls and boys were eliminated, leaving the losing morning teams with nothing to do but watch the championship game in the evening. This displeased many fans, who drove quite a distance to see their teams play only one game. Hopefully this situation will be corrected in the future. The Indy Star is carrying an article about the disappointing HOF format on it's Indiana's Game on-line web site.

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The Crown Point Shootout will be featuring a very competitive field on Saturday, with No. 1 New Albany, No. 10 Logansport, No. 5 Rushville (3A) and Crown Point. If the weather holds, a good crowd is expected to come out and see what should be four very good games. The action begins with Rushville (6-1) and Crown Point (6-4) at 11:00 a.m. (CST) and then New Albany (8-0) and Logansport (7-1) square off at 1:00 p.m. (CST). Last year Logansport (3-year Shootout participants) and New Albany (2-year Shootout participants) met in the championship final (picture), and New Albany walked off with the tournament hardware. This year Logansport will be looking to challenge the No. 1 team in the state to get a second chance at a Shootout championship. Stopping Miss Basketball candidate Kennitra Johnson will be the goal of the Logansport defense, and capitalizing on the play of Logansport center Kristen Lowry will be key to any chance for a win by the Berries. Rushville, whose only loss of the season so far has been to Connersville, will be looking to get a shot at the No. 1 team by getting through Crown Point in the first game of the tournament. Senior standout and Miss Basketball candidate Elizabeth English will be key to Rushville's game plan. Crown Point runs a balanced attack, but sophomore Sarah Zondor will most likely be the target of Rushville's defense. The evening action begins with the 6:30 p.m. consolation game, immediately followed by the 8:00 p.m. championship game. We will hopefully be bringing you results from the tournament throughout the day. Check our Game Results Posting Board on Saturday for the latest Shootout updates. For complete Shootout information and maps to the Crown Point High School gym, go to the CP Lady Bulldogs web site.

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There have been a great number of holiday tournaments taking place over the past week or so and we've been trying to keep you updated with the latest scores as best we can. Many of the tournament games are linked to news articles wherever we can find them. We usually try to update game coverage links twice a day, so check back later in the day to get the most complete coverage on games. An especially interesting Connersville Examiner article covering the Connersville v. Center Grove game where Miss Basketball candidate April McDivitt was pitted against Center Grove's Emily Butler in the Columbia City Classic, is definitely worth a read. We urge you to pass on any information you might have regarding game results, or just post them on our Game Reporting Board.

The updated list of state scoring leaders is now available via the IHSAA web site. You can reach it any time from our State and Region Rankings & Statistics page, or directly from here today. Frosh Shanna Zolman of 3A Wawasee is still in the lead with a 30.7 ppg average. However, Lindsay Secrest of 1A Bloomfield is closing in with 29.9 ppg. Locally, Erica Martin of 1A Kouts is now the Region-area scoring leader at 24.9 ppg (No. 11 statewide), surpassing previous Region leader Tracie Mezera of 2A River Forest, who is now averaging 24.1 ppg (No. 15 statewide).

Former Highland center standout, Jennifer Kaczka, made a crucial closing-seconds free throw and had 11 points and 11 rebounds for Wichita State in her team's 58-55 upset victory over No. 24 Southwest Missouri State yesterday. Southwest Missouri State features Jackie Stiles, who averaged an astounding 46 ppg in high school and scored over 3,000 points during her prep career. She was "held" to 24 points in yesterday's game. Area fans were fortunate to be treated yesterday with an opportunity to watch Kaczka on the Fox Sports Network. You can read a short recap of the game on the ESPN women's basketball web site.

For those of you planning to venture out to the Hall of Fame Classic on Tuesday, December 29, we remind you that you can access the information for this outstanding event at the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame web site. Included at that site are directions to the Hall of Fame (which is nearly adjacent to the tournament venue, New Castle Fieldhouse--occupancy 9,325), as well as information about the girls and boys teams that will be competing in the 16th edition of the tournament. According to information we found there, the following teams will play in the morning, with subsequent games taking place ten minutes after the final buzzer of each preceding game:

Beginning at 9:30 a.m. (EST):

Girls - Ben Davis (4A) vs. Kokomo (4A)
Girls - NorthWood (3A) vs. Terre Haute South (4A)
Boys - Benton Central (3A) vs. Bloomington South(4A)
Boys - Blue River Valley (1A) vs. Terre Haute North (4A)

Evening events are as follows:

6:00 p.m. (EST) - Girls Championship
8:00 p.m. (EST) - Boys Championship

The first girls game should be a tough one for both teams and exciting for fans. Kokomo (10-0) is currently ranked No. 2 and features an outstanding senior duo in Tia Davis (5'11 G) and Heather Cusick (5'9 G/F). The Kats also have an oustanding opening lineup and a very strong bench to be the favorite in that contest. No. 4 Ben Davis (9-1) features highly-touted sophomore Shyra Ely (6'1 F/C), who is considered a top prospect nationally. Combined with 3-point specialist sophomore Ashley Allen (5'9 G) and experienced junior Sarah Strahm (5'11 G/F), the Giants will be looking to topple the Kats superior ranking. Ben Davis is ranked by USA Today as the No. 21 team nationally.

The second game features two teams that are looking to get some respect for their programs statewide. No. 7 NorthWood (5-1), who is trying to climb back to the top of the 3A poll after losing their season opener, will be welcoming back senior standout Amy Zercher (5'9 G/F) to the lineup after a broken hand injury she sustained before the first game of the season. Paired with senior partner Natalie Will (5'9 G), the Panthers will be trying to impress with a victory over favored Terre Haute South. South (9-1) features three senior standouts in Cara Stuckey (5'6 G), Dorcas Lawson (5'8 F) and Joileen Brewer (5'10 F). These three are 4-year starters and are the base of a team that has had a great deal of success so far this season. The Braves would like to get a crack at either Kokomo or Ben Davis in the evening final to improve their status statewide.

Admission to the HOF Classic is $8.00 for a all-day ticket and $5.00 for the evening events.

Today's late news additions are at the bottom of today's news

Details about the upcoming Crown Point Lady Bulldogs Holiday Shootout on Saturday, January 2, are now available at the Crown Point team's web site. This tournament should be one of the best of the holiday season, with No. 1 New Albany, No. 5 Rushville (3A), No. 10 Logansport and an up and coming Crown Point team. Three All-Star candidates will be playing in the tournament -- Kennitra Johnson of New Albany, Elizabeth English of Rushville and Kristen Lowry of Logansport. Johnson, who has signed with the University of Connecticut, and English, who has signed with Colorado State, are both considered top candidates for Miss Basketball honors this season. The action begins with Rushville and Crown Point at 11:00 a.m., then New Albany and Logansport at 1:00 p.m.. The consolation game will be at 6:30 p.m., followed by the championship game at 8:00 p.m. (All times listed are CST.) Info at the CP Lady Bulldogs web site includes all of the tournament details, a map to Crown Point High School and a list of restaurants and hotels in the area. Don't miss what is sure to be a great day of competition!

Munster missed the services of junior starting point guard Kiley Wallace last night in its first-round battle against Andrean in the Highland Holiday Tournament. It seems that Wallace is yet another Region victim of a season-hampering knee injury, the nature of which, at this point, has not yet been disclosed. Filling in for the injured Wallace was freshman sub Stephanie Schrage, who did a respectable job with 9 points and 4 assists in the losing effort. It is unclear at this time when or if Wallace will return to the Munster lineup.

"Tricia Armour, a junior guard at Jimtown, broke the school record for three-pointers in a game as she hit five in a 61-47 loss to South Bend Riley on Dec. 19. The Jimmies also broke the team record for treys in a game with six overall."

"Sommer Hadley, a senior forward at Danville, became the school's career scoring leader in girls basketball Dec. 15 when she scored 13 points to lead the Warriors past Speedway 67-25. Hadley left the game with 879 points, passing Christy Buckley, who tallied 876 points from 1985-88."

"Kami Vaal, a senior forward at Northeast Dubois, became the school's career scoring leader in girls basketball Dec. 15 when she moved her career total to 877 points with a 25-point effort as the Jeeps fell to South Knox 67-66. Vaal surpassed Jill Schroering, who had scored 860 points."

The Coaches' Poll is out for the week, and there are very few changes for this holiday break. In all classes, the No. 1 teams remain the same with New Albany in 4A, Evansville Memorial in 3A, Triton Central in 2A and North Vermillion in 1A.

In 4A, all teams remain intact, except that Hobart falls out of the No. 10 spot to the 11th position after losing to Chesterton on Saturday, and Logansport moves on up to No. 10. Chesterton also receives some respect with 1 vote in the 4A poll to log into the 15th position.

In 3A, very minor changes are all that is seen with some change in positioning, although South Bend Adams steals the No. 10 spot from Corydon by 1 vote.

In 2A, Ft. Wayne Luers moves up two spots to No. 7, while Forest Park overpowers Frankton with a margin of 16 votes to take the No. 10 spot.

Finally in 1A, Bloomfield falls from No. 5 to No. 9 and Rising Sun takes the No. 2 spot from New Washington despite receiving no first place votes.

As always, you can reach the Coaches' Poll at any time from our State & Area Rankings page.

The local papers are providing us with a lot of on-line material today. The Times out of Munster has listed its girls Top 10 in the Region for the week. You can view their picks on the Times Top 10 Rankings page. They also are featuring some interesting behind-the-scenes stories and comments about players and teams in area girls basketball. You can view those in The Times Prep Zone 2-Minute Drill.

The latest update of the IHSAA Scoring Leaders as of December 12 includes three Region-area players that are averaging over 20 points a game. Tracie Mezera of 2A River Forest is averaging 24.1 ppg (13th place), Erica Martin of 1A Kouts is averaging 23.6 ppg (15th place), and Jackie Campbell of 4A Chesterton is averaging 21.1 ppg (30th place). The scoring leader for the state is still Shanna Zolman of 3A Wawasee, who is now averaging 31.0 ppg. To see a complete listing of state scoring leaders, go to the IHSAA Scoring Leaders page.

Today's late additions are at the bottom of today's news

The Indiana State Coaches' Poll is out for the week of December 15. There have been few changes in 4A, but the other three classes have seen some major realignments.

The top 8 teams in 4A retain their rankings, although Kokomo has taken 2 of New Albany's 11 first place votes from last week's poll. Perry Meridian breaks into the Top 10 after giving Ben Davis all it could handle over the weekend in a 4-OT marathon in the Marion County Tournament. Logansport dropped out of the Top 10, while Hobart retains its No. 10 spot. Locally, Gary West Side and Portage tied with Homested to hold the 12th position, each with 8 votes.

In 3A, the top 3 remain the same with Evansville Memorial at No. 1, while Cathedral climbed 4 steps to the No. 4 spot with an 8-0 record. Franklin took the biggest drop in that poll giving up 4 spots to drop to No. 8. Locally, S. Bend Washington brought in 11 votes for the 13th position and Andrean mustered 3 votes to tie for the 16th position after its loss to Merrillville on Friday.

In 2A, North Knox dropped from the No. 1 position to No. 3 after a one-point loss to Forest Park over the weekend. That puts North Judson now at the No. 2 spot. The remaining teams in 2A all played musical chairs and switched positions, except for Eastern Howard, which stayed put at No. 7.

In 1A, North Vermillion retains the top spot, although it lost 2 first place votes to New Washington, now in the No. 2 spot. Lakeview Christian moved up two notches to No. 7. Locally, Morgan Twp. received 3 votes and MC Marquette received 1 vote to hold the 12 and 13th positions, respectively.

About the scariest thing that can happen to any female basketball player these days is the dreaded knee injury. As soon as a player goes down in a game with a leg injury of any kind, the first thought on everyone's mind is a tear to the ACL, or anterior cruciate ligament. NWI has seen its share of ACL injuries already this season. Highland's Corrie Kaczmarek went down in her team's game against Griffith. Griffith's Sam Quintero suffered the same fate just last week and now word out of Lowell may have guard Katie Porento on the injured list as well. Players around the state are suffering similar season-ending injuries that are taking months out of the competitive season. The Ft. Wayne News Sentinal is featuring an excellent article about ACL injuries. "Knee-deep in injuries" is an in-depth look at the ACL injury and theories behind its high occurrence for girls. Interesting reading for coaches and all of us with daughters, sisters or friends in basketball.

Late addition: For all of you who love the girls game as of late, there is a great article in the Bloomington Hoosier Times about how women's college basketball has toughened up over the past decade. There are some insights there from premier college coaches Jim Izard (IU), Jennifer Jacoby (IU), Cheryl Reeve (ISU) and Carolyn Peck (Purdue). According to these coaches, hustle and toughness are things that college coaches are looking for in high school players today, and they are not impressed with the stationary play of some high-scoring prep stars who put up the numbers, but do not do the other things that would identify them as being able to compete at the collegiate level. This article contains some interesting insights for you players out there who are trying to attract the attention of college coaches. Definitely worth a read.

The statistical leaders for NWI are out this morning and the top 3 leaders in each category are being shown as follows:

Northwestern received some bad news this week when it was decided that former Lake Central standout Kristina Divjak will undergo surgery on her left knee in December and, as a result, will be sidelined for the remainder of the season. It was not stated if Divyak will be red-shirted for another season of eligibility, although Wildcats coach Don Perrelli stated that their goal at this point is to "make sure that she is able to come back and play the type of basketball that we're used to seeing from her." A preseason All-Big Ten selection, Divjak averaged 22.1 ppg last season.

The scoring leaders for the state have been released by the IHSAA and 3A Wawasee standout freshman, Shanna Zolman, tops the list averaging 30.3 ppg. (This has got to make her dad, Wawasee head coach Kem Zolman, pretty darn happy!) The top 5 also includes another freshman from 2A Southwestern, Brianna Howard, who is pouring in 25.5 ppg. Also, freshman Candace Dark of 2A Fountain Central made the list in the No. 31 spot with 20.0 ppg. Looks like this freshman class is making their mark early. Region area players who are on the list include junior Tracie Mezera of River Forest (No. 7 with 25.3 ppg), senior Erin Miller of South Bend Riley (No. 23 with 21.0 ppg), and senior Jeanette Gray of Valparaiso (No. 29 with 20.9 ppg). To see a complete listing of the girls scoring leaders, you can link to the IHSAA report showing the same.

"Brianna Howard, a freshman at Southwestern (Hanover), broke the school's single-game scoring record Nov. 28 when she tallied 38 points against Madison Shawe."

"Lori McCracken, a senior forward at Washington, broke the school's single-game scoring record in girls basketball Dec. 5 when she poured in 46 points as the Hatchets defeated North Daviess 98-30. McCracken hit 22 of 32 shots from the field, including one three-pointer. The previous school record was 42 points by Julie Helm in 1995. The single-game Washington scoring record for boys basketball also is 46, set by McCracken's brother, Rob McCracken, in 1995."

"Stephanie Owens, a senior at West Central, broke the school's single-game scoring record with 46 points and tied the three-point record with six as the Trojans defeated Washington Township 68-31 on Dec. 5."

The IHSAA has posted a list of personal best performances on its Girls Basketball page. The leader in the scoring category (35+ points minimum) was Amy Gearlds of Beech Grove, who scored a whopping 51 points against Indian Creek on November 15. In the rebounding category (20+ rebound minimum), Lindsay Secrest of Bloomfield pulled down 24 against Linton-Stockton on November 17. No one was listed in the 3-point category (7+ minimum). You can view the entire list at the IHSAA Personal Best Page.

Highland may be without the services of its starting point guard, Corrie Kaczmarek, after the sophomore went down with a knee injury last week. It has not yet been determined if the injury is an ACL tear, but unfortunately, that is what the diagnosis is expected to be. This would be a setback for Highland, as Kaczmarek is a workhorse that can handle the ball and expertly dish it off to top-scoring teammate Jenny DeMuth. She is also a defensive specialist that will be missed on the Trojan press. The point guard duties may now go to DeMuth, who is probably the best remaining ball handler and passer the Trojans have on the roster. This position change could challenge DeMuth physically in close games, where she will be required to do it all for four full quarters of play.

The Valparaiso edition of The Times was carrying a feature article about Valparaiso junior point guard Erin Sampsel in yesterday's news. (We get the Crown Point edition so we missed it yesterday.) This outstanding point guard on Valparaiso's 6-0 Vikings will be key to Valparaiso's anticipated success this season. Sampsel's height of nearly 6 feet at the point guard position provides a lot of options for the Vikings offensive and defensively.

Shanie Smith, a senior at Tri-Central, became the first girl in school history to score 1,000 career points. She topped the mark Nov. 20 with 24 points in a season-opening victory over Taylor.

Kristen Whitton, a junior guard at Marion Lakeview Christian, broke the school record with six three-pointers in a game Nov. 21 in a 72-65 triumph over Whitko. Whitton also finished with a career-high 40 points.

The Griffith/Highland game will be broadcast on station WJOB-AM (1230) tonight. Varisty begins at 7:30 p.m.

Purdue
Ball State
Indiana
Indiana State

The Indiana Coaches of Girls Sports Association Top 10 basketball team rankings have been released, and as expected, there have been some major realignments throughout.

In 4A, last week's No. 1 Ben Davis loss to 3A No. 8 Roncalli moved New Albany to the the top spot. Valpo moves to No. 2 and Kokomo rings in at No. 3. Center Grove made a leap from the No. 10 spot to No. 6 after breaking Martinsville's 55-game winning streak over the weekend, and Martinsville dropped from No. 4 to No. 9 with the loss to Center Grove. Two Region-area teams, Hobart and Portage, moved into the runner-up slots at the No. 11 and 12 positions, respectively, and Gary West Side received just 2 votes to tie for the No. 15 position after it's loss to Hobart.

In 3A, Roncalli catapulted five spots to No. 3 after upsetting 4A No. 1 Ben Davis. Locally, Andrean logs in at the No. 11 position in the runners-up category with 7 votes, and S. Bend Washington received 5 votes to tie for position No. 13. Evansville Memorial retains the No. 1 spot in 3A, with Northwood following at No. 2. Northwood played its season opener last night, which was delayed due to their school's football team playing in the state finals. They lost to Penn. (See next news item.)

In 2A, its the stronghold of the "North" schools, as North Knox, North Judson and North Newton hold on to the top 3 spots in that order. Surprisingly, Ft. Wayne Luers, who recently upset last week's 4A No. 11 Homestead, did not break into the Top 10. However, they are knocking on the Top 10 door with 21 votes, just 2 behind No. 10 Leo, and 3 behind No. 9 Eastern.

In 1A, North Vermillion takes over the No. 1 spot from now No. 2 Rising Sun. Locally, Morgan Township drops from No. 6 to the runners-up category with just 10 votes compared to last week's 84 votes, and Michigan City Marquette remains in the runners-up category as well, however dropping 13 votes from last week's poll.

The Indiana State Coaches Association Poll was expected to be available today. However, we have been unable to find it anywhere. As soon as we are able to determine the results of that poll, we will bring them to you. Many changes are expected, as several top-ranked teams lost games over the past week.

1. Snider (1-0)
2. DeKalb (4-0)
3. Bishop Luers (3-0)
4. Homestead (2-1)
5. Bishop Dwenger (3-0)

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