November, 2000
News & Updates
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Region
Roundball Review November, 2000 News & Updates Go to Game Scores View Archived News Editions |
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Welcome to the news area of the Region Roundball Review. This page will be updated as information becomes available. If you have any news about girls basketball in the Region or around the State, please e-mail us with your information and we will include it here. Please note that not all links shown here will stay active indefinitely. Many links are to daily on-line publications that change or remove links from their sites on a daily basis. For your convenience, you can use the calendar at the right to access news for a particular day. |
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Important
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| News thru Thursday, November 30 |
The
Lake Area Cable Region Basketball X-tra one-hour weekly, hosted by Jaime
Perko and Mark Smith, debuted last Thursday on Thanksgiving evening, and it was
great to see a full 60 minutes of discussion, interviews and video clips about
NWI girls basketball. Besides the two Crown Point players that were
mentioned earlier, interviews were also broadcast with Highland's Jenny
DeMuth, Hebron's Lauren Bechtold,
and Andrean's Jamie Gutowski. All of
their coaches also had a few comments to make about their respective teams as
well. This weekly will have a new edition tonight, although it won't be a
full hour of girls basketball. Since the boys' season has gotten fully
underway, 30 minutes will be devoted to the boys, and 30 will be about the
girls. Tonight's broadcast will appear as follows over the next few days:
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Channel |
Broadcast Times |
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Lake Area Channel 3 |
Thursday
at 8:30 and 11:05 p.m. |
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Valparaiso Channel 43 |
Thursday at 11:00 p.m. |
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Portage Channel 4 |
Saturday at 12:00 noon |
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The biggest game in the state this weekend might be the 4A Top Ten matchup between No. 5 Highland and No. 8 Crown Point on Saturday. We believe this is the first 4A head-to-head between two Top 10 teams in the state so far this season. Always a battle no matter the rankings, these two teams are always ready to duke it out. Last season, this was a 3-point game that went down to the wire with Highland surviving for a 53-50 win on Crown Point's court. Highland brings Miss Basketball candidate Jenny DeMuth (20.6 ppg), seasoned senior point Corrie Kaczmarek and a young & talented supporting cast to the table. Crown Point counters with senior scoring ace and All Star candidate Sarah Zondor (21.0 ppg), athletic junior Alex Webster and a number of seasoned and capable veterans in senior Nikki Borys, Amanda Bernard and junior Carissa Triplett. Although state rankings and bragging rights are at stake, both teams will be using this game as a benchmark for the work that needs to be done before the February tournament season. It is possible that these two teams could meet in the NWI 4A Regional, although No. 7 Gary West Side might have a thing or two to say about that. There should be a good crowd on hand in Highland for this NWI showdown, although the highly publicized Times Region Roundball Rumble (no connection to the RRR) is scheduled for the same night, featuring some of the best boys teams from around the state. We're not sure about the number of crossover fans who will have a problem deciding which event to attend, but we've been told by several media people that they would prefer to be at Highland on Saturday night -- if only they had the choice! One media outlet that will be in attendance is Lake Area Cable, which will be broadcasting the game on tape-delay. Since there is a cable pay-per-view event scheduled for late Saturday evening, this game will most likely be shown Sunday morning, with a possible re-broadcast early next week. When we get those broadcast times, we'll pass them along on our message board.
A number of hot conference matchups take place around the Region this weekend as well, with all eight Duneland Conference teams tangling up Friday night for the first DAC games of the season. Merrillville hosts Michigan City, LaPorte is at Hobart, Chesterton is at Valpo and Portage hosts Crown Point. In the Porter County Conference, 1A No. 5 Kouts will have to deal with 2A Hanover Central. Both teams have lost one game so far this season, but will be looking to establish a foothold in the PCC to challenge favorite Hebron for season conference honors.
The Michigan City News-Dispatch has an interesting article about the rebirth of several Michigan City athletic programs, including girls basketball, since the consolidation of the two high schools there in 1995. Due to the efforts of three new young coaches at the Duneland Athletic Conference school, three programs are starting to turn the corner. Michigan City is already well-known statewide for its outstanding volleyball and girls track teams, both with a number of phenomenal athletes. But since consolidation, the girls basketball team has suffered greatly, usually ending up in the DAC cellar year after year. New head coach Monica Claridge, just out of college herself where she played on the St. Joe's women's basketball team, laid down the law early with her charges, but has also infused her youth and energy into the program. The benefits are already beginning to be felt there. Many in NWI believe that Michigan City could be a sleeping giant in girls basketball. The athletes and the talent are both there. It's just a matter of bringing it all together and creating a sense of pride for the program. Claridge is determined to make her program a success and plans to stay at MC for as long as it takes.
It's
old news, but the ICGSA poll came out on Monday. One of the interesting
things to evaluate about the four polls are the number of votes each team is
dropping or picking up every week. Most of us just look at the rankings,
but if you take a look at the points, there are some changes in that category
for teams that remain in the same spot from week to week. To better follow
the ICGSA vote changes, we will be adding a new column to each ICGSA poll
starting on Monday, which shows how many points +/- a team has moved from the
previous week. Looking at the polls from this week, the teams with the
biggest vote gains were:
4A No. 8 Crown Point (+27)
3A No. 2 Plymouth (+12)
2A No. 8 Triton Central (+26)
The teams with the biggest vote losses were:
4A No. 9 Valparaiso (-69)
3A No. 4 Frankfort (-15)
2A No. 7 Leo (-13)
We were unable to determine the change in votes for 1A, as no votes were
itemized in the previous week's 1A poll.
If you haven't seen this one yet, you need to take a look. Ed Robinson of Southern Indiana's High School Basketball has put together an OUTSTANDING piece on Miss Basketball candidates Ashley Allen (Ben Davis), Jackie Batteast (SB Washington), Jenny DeMuth (Highland), Shyra Ely (Ben Davis), Kate Endress (Evansville Memorial), Kathy Hay (Madison), and Kristen Weddle (TH South). His coverage includes photos, stats, audio and video. A fantastic job and a tremendous resource for all of those voting in the Miss Basketball election in the spring. We will keep this one linked to our Rankings & Statistics page for easy reference.
Senior Laura Hartman of Evansville Memorial is the 2nd S & L Publishing Girls Basketball Athlete of the Week. Hartman was honored for her outstanding game against Vincennes Lincoln when she scored 24 points on 9 of 15 shooting from the field and 4 of 7 free throws. The 5'10 guard also logged 5 rebounds, 5 steals, and 2 assists in a 78-71 win. If you would like to nominate an athlete for the next S & L Publishing award, please email Steve Stremming at chiefs@ori.net. You might also want to check out the front page of Hoosierland Report for webmaster Nick Ray's "Putting the Smack Down" recognitions. So far HR has picked Wawasee's Shanna Zolman, Columbus North's Tina Bolte and Castle's Angie Rodgers for this award.
The Benton Central Lady Bison are on a tear this season, especially when you consider their recent upset of highly-regarded Lafayette Jeff last week. But besides tearing it up on the court, this team has had time to make a difference in their community as well. According to head coach Sandy Herre, the Bison recently raised $6,026.52 for use by their community for those in need. The funds were raised through a bake sale, various contests and a Basketball-A-Thon, where 36 Lady Bison basketball players from grades 7-12 collected pledges for each shot made of 100 free throws by each player. An astounding $2,260.43 was collected from this fundraiser alone. Our hats go off to the Lady Bison program and Coach Herre for taking time out of their busy and hectic schedules to give back to their community in a BIG way!
In case you didn't see it on our message board today, we've added a new weekly "feature" there, that basically is just a message thread that will give everyone the opportunity to give details about outstanding individual or team performances during the week. In the past, we've tried to honor outstanding weekly performers, but we found that this monster of a website just wouldn't allow us to do a very good job of it on a weekly basis. (We can barely keep up with the features we have now!) So, we've decided to turn it over to our visitors as a chance to give out props to those players or teams they feel have put in an overall outstanding performance sometime during the week. Performances don't have to be linked to statistical production or leading scorer in the game. How about recognizing those "sixth woman" players who come off the bench to make a difference, or defensive players who shut down the opposing team's top scorer? To those of you who have a few HTML skills, feel free to link news articles, photos or whatever else you want to your posts on those threads. We'll be looking forward to your posts each week!
The Terre Haute Tribune Star has some notes about Wabash Valley area basketball players, including freshmen that are contributing in a big way to their teams so far this season and Toledo's Courtney Risinger (TH South), who scored 36 points recently in a win over Radford.
For those of you who are interested in following this type of information, ESPN Sports recently rated the top girls basketball recruits at center, power forward, small forward, shooting guard and point guard positions for the Class of 2001. Several Indiana players are among those listed.
Unfortunate news has come our way about former Hanover Central standout and 2000 PCC MVP Melanie Brumbaugh. According to Mark Smith of the Crown Point Star, the Taylor University frosh sustained an ACL tear after five games into her rookie season and she will be red-shirted for the remainder of her freshman year. Brumbaugh, however, will retain an additional four years of eligibility, since she had very few games into the current season..
Miami sophomore Heather Cusick (Kokomo) was recently named the Mid-American Conference Scholar-Athlete of the Week for her accomplishments on the court and in the classroom. She had a great outing last weekend in the First Tennessee Classic Tournament at Vanderbilt and was named to the All-Tournament Team. You can get complete details at the Miami women's website.
Another former Hoosier high school player was named as the Big Ten Player of the Week. According to the Indiana Daily Student, Indiana's Jill Chapman (Blackford) was given the honor after averaging 14 points and 10 rebounds in four games last week.
Cornell frosh Karen Force (Columbus East) has started all four games and leads her team in points, assists, and minutes played so far this season.
| News thru Monday, November 27 |
The big news in the Region over the weekend was the 1-point loss Valparaiso suffered on the home court of 3A No. 2 Plymouth on Saturday. The Vikes, who are as good as ever on defense, have been struggling to find their offensive rhythm the past few games and are experiencing an inordinate number of turnovers (at least by Valpo standards, that is). The good news is that it is early in the season, and there is plenty of time for Coach Greg Kirby to fix what ails the Vikes. And it will happen. With four returning starters and an able supporting cast, it will not be long until Valparaiso is humming again. And let's not forget. A loss to Plymouth is not unexpected. They are ranked No. 2 in their class and are a team to be reckoned with. Right now, they are considered the favorite over Warsaw, Wawasee and NorthWood for the Northern Lakes Conference title this season. What everyone seems to forget about Valparaiso is that they are a team making major adjustments from last season. They lost their floor leader to graduation and have increased the strength of their schedule. Plymouth was a replacement for 2A Boone Grove. And gone is Tippecanoe Valley, who was in the early part of Valparaiso's schedule last season. The Vikes had these two games to improve their play and build their confidence before hitting the meat of their schedule last year. We think, like Arnold, they'll "be baack". As for Plymouth, the big question right now is the status of 6'1 interior threat Brandy Swihart, who went down with a knee injury in the last 15 seconds of the Valpo game. If she does not return soon, Plymouth will have to make some major adjustments to their inside-outside game plan with no other player taller than 5'10 Lindsay Houin on their roster.
The ICGSA Poll is due out today, and with the Pilgrims' win over the Vikes, expect to see some changes in 4A. Also, losses by No. 8 Lewis Cass and No. 9 Eastern Hancock in 2A will most likely account for some adjustments in that Top 10 as well. No. 4 Kouts in 1A lost a tight contest to 2A North Judson that took a turn in the second half when 6'5 Bluejay junior Kelly Boyd exploded for 14 of her 16 points to seal the 9-point upset. If the 1A voters are ready to make their results official this week, expect to see the Fillies drop a couple of notches as well.
We only have two voters for the RRR Top 12, and we live in the same house, so it's not too hard to gather the results for our rankings. We have a new top team in NWI this week after Valpo's loss to Plymouth. Highland takes the top spot with continued success over their competition. Even though the Trojans must contend with the handicap of a weak Lake Athletic Conference schedule, they have proven themselves with wins over talented South Bend Riley and NWI power Portage. The real test for our No. 1 team will be our No. 2 Crown Point on Saturday. The Bulldogs will be coming off of another tough test the night before against DAC power Portage for a 1-2 punch on the weekend. On Friday, Highland will warm up with rebuilding LAC opponent Griffith before their game with Crown Point. These are just a few of the great games to catch in NWI this weekend.
Girls basketball fans around the state will join NWI fans with a great menu of games to feast on after the Thanksgiving holiday. Look for our updated previews of Top Games & Upcoming Events early tomorrow.
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The
RRR caught West Side at Chesterton on Saturday evening in a
convincing 40-point win over the rebuilding Trojans. Their warm-up shirts
say it all -- SPEED KILLS. The Cougars rely mainly on a high-speed,
full-court trapping press that is deadly against average ball-handling
teams. The Cougars are quick and unselfish, and converted on just about
every steal they made against the Trojans on Saturday. West Side has yet
to be challenged by an equally-worthy and deep opponent, but their talent and
various weapons are evident. The Cougars do not lose much when they
substitute, and Coach Rod Fisher does so
freely and often. Seniors Kim Smith
and Tai Adkins are the obvious leaders on
this team, and their experience will be valuable when their schedule produces a
few tough opponents. West Side's first real challenge of the season may be
South Bend Riley on December 16. The Wildcats are not as deep as
the Cougars, but have a very talented 3-point attack in sophomores Crystal
Norman and Suntana Granderson,
and senior outside sharpshooter Christa Ragukonis.
Some might consider the outcome of this one an indicator of what is to come in
Sectional 1 since Highland, the Cougars' most dangerous sectional
opponent, defeated Riley during the first week of the season by just 6 points.
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Additional West Side v. Chesterton
game photos. Click to enlarge. Hover your mouse over the photo
to get a description of the action. |
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The
Times featured senior point guard Joann
Smith of Hammond Gavit in its latest edition of The Prep
Zone. Smith, who honed
her game playing ball against the "boys in the neighborhood" on the South Side of
Chicago, pulled off a triple-double a week ago against Lake Station. With
13 points, 11 assists and 14 steals, she dominated the court and is the player
that makes the highly-regarded 3A Gladiators go this season.
The
Times also released its Top Ten with comments about each team for the week on
Friday. There were no changes from last week's rankings as follows:
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1. Valparaiso 2. Crown Point 3. Gary West Side 4. Highland 5. Portage 6. Hebron 7. Andrean 8. Kankakee Valley 9. Gavit 10. East Chicago Central |
S
& L Sports has released its Top 25 Ratings for the week of November
27. As might be expected, Valpo takes a plunge after its loss to 3A
Plymouth on Saturday. Also, S & L drops Brownsburg after
a 21-point loss to No. 1 Ben Davis.
Rating |
SCHOOL |
WIN/LOSS |
Schedule |
Last Week |
| 1 | BEN DAVIS | 2-0 | @ N 30 Lawrence North | 1 |
| 2 | CENTER GROVE | 3-0 | @ N 28 Franklin, @ D1 Terre Haute North | 3 |
| 3 | TERRE HAUTE SOUTH | 4-0 | @ D2 North Central-Marion | 4 |
| 4 | FORT WAYNE SNIDER | 2-0 | N 28 Anderson Highland, D2 Harding | 5 |
| 5 | CATHEDRAL | 2-0 | @ N 29 Indianapolis Cardinal Ritter | 6 |
| 6 | HUNTINGTON NORTH | 2-1 | @ D2 Warsaw | 7 |
| 7 | FORT WAYNE BISHOP LUERS | 4-0 | N 28 South Adams, D2 Fort Wayne Northside | 8 |
| 8 | HIGHLAND | 5-0 | D1 Griffith, D2 Crown Point | 9 |
| 9 | VALPARAISO | 4-1 | D1 Chesterton | 2 |
| 10 | CROWN POINT | 4-0 | N 28 Lowell, @ D1 Portage, @ D2 Highland | 10 |
| 11 | NEW ALBANY | 2-0 | @ N 30 Bedford North Lawrence, D2 Indianapolis Bishop Chatard | 11 |
| 12 | KOKOMO | 5-0 | @ N 30 Anderson | 12 |
| 13 | PLYMOUTH | 4-0 | D2 North Judson | 17 |
| 14 | COLUMBUS NORTH | 3-1 | N 28 Batesville, D1 Perry Meridian | 14 |
| 15 | WAWASEE | 3-0 | N 28 West Noble, D1 Culver Academy | 15 |
| 16 | SOUTH BEND RILEY | 5-1 | D1 Penn | 16 |
| 17 | PENN | 2-1 | @ N 28 NorthWood, @ D1 South Bend Riley, D2 Goshen | 18 |
| 18 | GARY WESTSIDE | 3-0 | @ N 28 South Bend LaSalle, D2 Hammond Gavit | 19 |
| 19 | BLOOMINGTON SOUTH | 2-1 | @ N 28 Seymour,@ D1 Southport | 20 |
| 20 | ROCHESTER | 4-0 | N 28 Culver, @ D2 Southwood | -- |
| 21 | BROWNSBURG | 4-2 | @ D1 Danville | 13 |
| 22 | JASPER | 3-0 | N 28 Culver, D2 Evansville Central | 24 |
| 23 | CARMEL | 5-1 | @ N 28 Roncalli, @ D1 Warren Central | -- |
| 24 | PORTAGE | 3-1 | D1 Crown Point | 25 |
| 25 | SOUTH BEND WASHINGTON | 3-1 | N 30 Elkhart Central | 23 |
| 25 | ALEXANDRIA | 4-0 | N 29 Lapel, @ D1 Frankton | -- |
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Others: |
BENTON CENTRAL, CONNERSVILLE, JEFFERSONVILLE, TRITON, GREENSBURG, CASTLE, EVANSVILLE MEMORIAL, DeKALB, COLUMBIA CITY, LAWRENCE NORTH, PLAINFIELD, PERRY MERIDIAN, SOUTHPORT, DECATUR CENTRAL, MOORESVILLE, SHENANDOAH, VINCENNES LINCOLN, NORTH KNOX, WHITE RIVER VALLEY, HOBART, NorthWood, McCUTCHEON, SULLIVAN, FRANKFORT, PIKE CENTRAL, MADISON, FOREST PARK, NORTH JUDSON, MUNCIE CENTRAL, BEECH GROVE, SALEM, FW NORTHROP, RICHMOND, NEW CASTLE, MT. VERNON-FORTVILLE, FRANKLIN COUNTY, TURKEY RUN, FOUNTAIN CENTRAL, LEO, WINCHESTER, ROCKVILLE, CLINTON PRAIRIE, CLINTON CENTRAL, EMINENCE, HEBRON, FRANKLIN, BREBEUF JESUIT, CASS, BOONVILLE | |||
John Glenn walked away with the championship of the Tippecanoe Valley Thanksgiving Classic with a close 45-44 win over host Tippy Valley over the weekend. Players named to the All-Tourney Team include Maria Marchesano (Elmhurst), Abby Rush (Central Noble), Chasity Zellers (Glenn), Betsy Hummel (Glenn), Tabitha Pratt (Tippecanoe Valley) and Billie Jo Rosenstiel (Tippecanoe Valley).
The South Bend Tribune recently named three girls basketball players as their Athletes of the Week. Junior Hilary O'Connell of Warsaw, senior Erin Downey of South Bend Clay and sophomore Stacy Stevens of Culver Community were honored for their accomplishments the previous week. S & L Publishing also named its first Athlete of Week last Tuesday. Senior Cassie Kline of Huntington North was honored for her accomplishments in her team's win over Olympic Conference foe Connersville.
The Shelbyville News has a review of the first few weeks of Shelby County girls basketball, covering Waldron, Shelbyville, Morristown, Triton Central and Southwestern.
Ben Davis senior top-talent tandem continue to rake in the preseason awards. The ESPN Network has named forward Shyra Ely as a First Team ESPN All-American and guard Ashley Allen as a Third Team ESPN All-American. Ben Davis is also the ESPN Top 25 consensus No. 1 team in the nation. ESPN also had coverage on Ely's recent decision to attend Tennessee.
Dana
Hildebrand of Tecumseh
High School, a 3-sport athlete, has signed with Oakland City College for
volleyball. Hildebrand is a four-year starter on the varsity basketball team, a
three-year starter on the softball team that reached the state finals in 2000,
and a four-year starter on the volleyball team that won two sectionals in those
four years.
While Valpo is adjusting to the loss of last season's floor general Erin Sampsel, the frosh at St. Joe's is proving herself at the college level. Although the Pumas are 0-4 so far this season, Sampsel has emerged in the last two games as a serious scoring threat for St. Joe's. Against Truman State last week she scored 10 points, and over the weekend led her team with 19 points against Rockhurst. St. Joe's is in the rebuilding phase this season and has 10 underclassmen on its roster. Two of them are also making an impact for the Pumas. Sophomore Whitney Avery (Clinton Central) and Heather Allen (Clinton Prairie) have both put up double figures for the Pumas so far this season.
Ball State signees Jessica Aldridge (South Bend Clay) and Kate Endress (Evansville Memorial) were featured in an article on the BSU women's website.
Finally, you may have noticed that we haven't changed our fan poll for a few weeks, and the question on our current one has already been answered. The RRR staff is dry on poll ideas. If you have an idea for a poll topic, PLEASE drop us a note. We're brain dead! Your poll question should be of general interest and cannot be open-ended, but can have anywhere from 2 to 10 choices. And we'll even give you credit for the topic question. (That is, if you want it!)
| News thru Wednesday, November 22 |
Some
big games are on slate this holiday week in NWI.
Probably the biggest game in the Region tonight is #8 Gary West Side at
Hobart. The Brickies are ready to prove that they are a big time threat in
NWI, and what better way to make their point than a win over the highly-regarded
Cougars? Both teams have not lost a game yet, although the Cougars have
only had one outing so far this season. That could be an advantage for the
Brickies, especially on their home court. But the Cougars have some
advantages of their own, including Miami (Ohio) signee Kim
Smith and a host of young guns eager to shoot the lights out.
If you're looking to work up an appetite for Turkey Day with some bleacher
sit-ups and sit-downs, you might want to go watch this one tonight.
Another good one will be Merrillville at East Chicago Central. These two
teams look to be evenly matched, and it should be a fight to the finish.
Merrillville is much improved this season, with some help from a strong group of
underclass players, led by 5'9 Marshay Jolly.
Enjoying a much-improved effort this season are Pirate senior Christina
Peete, juniors Julie Seagraves,
Heather Renehan, Kelly Pero and
outside sharpshooter Morgan Marovich.
We predict Merrillville will sneak up on a few teams who are not expecting a new
and improved version of the Pirates this season. East Chicago could be one
of them.
On Friday, 4A No. 9 Crown Point hosts Warsaw, who received a vote in the latest
4A poll and would like nothing better than knocking off a Top 10 team.
Warsaw is led by junior Hilary O'Connell,
who has been lighting up the scoreboard early in the season with 20+
scoring. She will have to be contained if the Bulldogs want to preserve
their unbroken string of wins. But Warsaw will have three scoring threats
to worry about for Crown Point in senior Sarah Zondor
and juniors Carissa Triplett and Alex
Webster. Zondor is currently averaging 21.5 points per game,
and both Triplett and Webster have had double-double games in scoring,
rebounding and/or steals so far this season.
On Saturday, 4A No. 4 Valparaiso travels to 3A No. 2 Plymouth for what could be
another one of those defensive battles with a low-scoring point total for both
teams. Valpo will try to contain the balanced scoring of the Pilgrims,
while Plymouth will be trying to stop the inside game of the Vikings.
Although about a one-hour drive to get there from the eastern boundaries of NWI,
this one would still be worth the trip.
By the way, we apologize for the lack of updates on our Top Games &
Upcoming Events for this week. We are short-handed since one-half of the
RRR staff is in Alaska this week. We will resume updates on that page next
week when Nanook returns from the North.
Congrats to the four Region teams that grace this weeks 4A ICGSA poll -- No. 4 Valparaiso, No. 6 Highland, No. 8 Gary West Side and No. 9 Crown Point. The RRR cannot remember a time when four NWI teams were ranked that highly all at the same time. The competition is great in the Region this season, especially when you consider the unheralded teams that are challenging these ranked teams each week.
We have an update on the broadcast time of the Lake Area Cable (Channel 3) Region Basketball Xtra that is debuting Thanksgiving evening. It will be broadcast at 8:30 p.m. (instead of 7:00 p.m. as we reported earlier), repeated at 11:00 p.m. that same night and again on Friday at 4:00 p.m. It will also be aired on the Valparaiso and Portage systems. These are special times for this week only, and we'll pass on the regular broadcast times for the remainder of the season sometime next week.
The South Bend Tribune has a few notes about players in their area, including Emily Creachbaum of Marian, Erin Downey of Clay, and twin sisters Jill Bair and Tessa Bair of Rochester. Also of note in the South Bend Tribune, Penn put one over Jackie Batteast's South Bend Washington Panthers 57-48 last night to start off the Northern Indiana Conference race. Although receiving a great deal of defensive attention, Batteast managed 22 points. This was a much better outing offensively for the Kings(wo)men, who were only able to muster 19 points against Valpo last Saturday. The NIC should be a tight one this season, with Penn, Washington, Riley and Clay all looking for a piece of the conference championship pie.
The Kokomo Tribune has some notes on teams in and around the Kokomo area, including Tri-Central, Kokomo, Lafayette Jeff and McCutcheon.
In case you missed the first broadcast, we've been informed that the RRR's 15-minutes-of-fame interview with Lake Area Cable will be repeated on Monday, November 27, at 4:30, 6:30, 9:30 and 10:30 p.m. (The interview is after the first 15 minutes of regular news at those times.)
Freshman Lindsey Secrest (Bloomfield) of Northern Illinois was named the first Player of the Week for the 2000-01 Mid-American Conference season. Secrest hit 8 of 11, including 4 treys, for 26 points in an 83-60 win. More details appear in the Terre Haute Tribune Star.
You may have noticed on the ICGSA Poll that the 1A poll was incomplete. We understand that one of the schools in the Top 10 has requested a manual recount because of some hanging chads on a few of the ballots. ;-) Truthfully, we don't know the actual reasons for the lack of voting in 1A. Hopefully that situation will be rectified soon. Until then, we will report the results as they come to us from ICGSA.
Hey,
everyone!
Have a fantastic Thanksgiving Day!
| News thru Monday, November 20 |
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ICGSA
Poll for 11/20/00 available here.
The
ICGSA poll is due out later this morning, and as soon as we receive it, we'll
post the latest rankings. We're not anticipating any major upheavals in
any class, although there are some teams that may drop in altitude.
In 4A, Decatur Central claimed a victory over unranked Mooresville by 1 point
and then lost to unranked Perry Meridian by 2. Their standing may drop
from the No. 8 spot to places unknown. Other than DC, the Top 10 are
expected to stay
pretty much pat. However, we expect Martinsville and Jennings County may
fall off the radar after both stand at two losses so far this season.
In 3A, Evansville Memorial may see their No. 2 ranking slip after a loss to No.
9 Jasper, and Alexandria may experience the same dip after dropping a close one
to 2A No. 3 Shenandoah. Mt. Vernon may drop as well with a loss to 4A
Carmel. Lebanon may drop off the screen after a 13-point loss this weekend
to 3A sleeper Benton Central.
In 2A, No. 6 Leo probably won't lose much stature, despite a 10-point loss to
Luers. Neither will No. 10 Glenn, who dropped their opener to 3A No. 4
Plymouth, but bounced back for a convincing win over Argos. North Judson
may drop off the voting list after another loss this weekend, while North Newton
may impress with a 7-point win over 1A No. 8 Frontier.
Finally, in 1A, don't expect to see much movement there either, unless
unreported games hold a surprise or two. If North Vermillion had another
good weekend, expect to see them creep into the Top 10.
The RRR Top 12 is now available. Check here for additional updates
later today.
The inaugural edition of the Indiana High School Basketball Guide, published by High School Sports Publications, is now available. This 448 page book is filled with complete rosters, schedules and other information about every girls and boys basketball team in the state. To get your copy, call HSSP at 1-800-969-0097.
The
Times released its Top Ten for the week on Friday. The Top 5,
remained the same, while Hebron and Kankakee Valley improved their standings,
and Andrean, Gavit and EC Central fell a notch or two. Here they are
(previous ranking in parentheses):
1. Valparaiso (1)
2. Crown Point (2)
3. Gary West Side (3)
4. Highland (4)
5. Portage (5)
6. Hebron (10)
7. Andrean (6)
8. Kankakee Valley (9)
9. Gavit (7)
10. East Chicago Central (9)
After Highland's win over Munster on Friday night, Jenny DeMuth was featured in an editorial by The Times. Another senior on the other end of the state, Maria Rickards of New Albany, was featured in an article in the Louisville Courier-Journal. Both of these players are leading their highly-regarded teams in scoring at this point in the season.
The S & L Top 25 Rankings are out, and a few NWI teams are in the running with Valparaiso at No. 2, Highland at No. 9, Crown Point at No. 10, Gary West Side at No. 19 and Portage at No. 25.
NWI
girls fans will be ecstatic to know that Lake Area AT&T Cable will be
broadcasting 7 regular games from around the area this season, as well as one
each sectional, regional and semi-state game from venues TBA. The schedule
for those regular games is as follows, with air times for each game announced
one week in advance:
December 2 - Crown Point at Highland
December 12 - Lake Central at Andrean
December 16 - Crown Point at Valparaiso
January 5 - Merrillville at Hobart
January 6 - Andrean at Highland
January 10 - Hebron at Hanover Central
January 20 - PCC Finals
Besides the airing of the above games, Lake Area Cable will also be debuting its one-hour prep basketball show on Thanksgiving evening, tentatively scheduled for 7:00 p.m. Hosts Jaime Perko and Mark Smith, who is well-known in South Lake County for his sports coverage with The Star, will cover the prep basketball scene in NWI, with 30 minutes devoted to the girls game and 30 minutes to the boys. According to Perko, the debut program will feature mostly girls basketball the first time out, since the boys season is just barely underway. The show will also include interviews with local players and coaches, and Crown Point's Sarah Zondor, Alex Webster and Coach Tom May will be interviewed for the initial airing of this weekly show. Rebroadcasts of the show will also be aired on Friday afternoons at 4:00 p.m. just before everyone head's out for the first night of games for the weekend, and again on Saturday mornings.
The Post-Tribune featured a series of its season previews conference by conference this past week, and the Duneland, considered the strongest in NWI, was featured first in Wednesday's edition, the Northwestern Conference on Thursday and the Porter County Conference Friday. If this is any indication of the P-T's improved coverage this season, we are looking forward to it. A very fine article about last season's DAC MVP Courtney Rosenbaum of Valpo indicated that she has narrowed her college choices to Louisville, Northwest Missouri State and St. Joseph's in Rensselaer, where former Valpo teammate Erin Sampsel is playing. Thursday's edition featured Kim Smith of Gary West Side and her signing with Miami (Ohio), and Friday's edition featured Hebron's Katie Hallberg and her valuable role to the Hawks this season in the post. Saturday's edition covered the Northland Conference and the Independents, and Sunday's edition covered the Lake Athletic Conference. North Judson's Melinda Bunkowfst was the featured player for the Northland, while Highland's Jenny DeMuth was the featured player for the Lake Athletic. The breakdown on the P-T honors and notes for each conference were as follows:
Duneland Athletic
Conference
|
2000-01 DAC Projections |
P-T Individual Honors |
|
1.
Valparaiso |
First
Team |
Northwestern Conference
|
P-T 2000-01 NWC Projections |
P-T Individual Honors |
|
1.
West Side |
First
Team |
Porter County Conference
|
P-T 2000-01 PCC Projections |
P-T Individual Honors |
|
1.
Hebron |
First
Team |
Northland
Conference & Independents
|
P-T 2000-01 Northland & Independent Record Projections |
P-T Individual Honors |
|
North
Judson 15-5
Player to Watch Kassie Koselke, SO North Newton |
First
Team |
Lake
Athletic Conference
|
P-T 2000-01 LAC Projection |
P-T Individual Honors |
|
1.
Highland |
First
Team
(none listed) |
Five more signings took place in the last few days of the early signing period. Southport senior Meskhenet Lands has signed with Loyola (IL), Kokomo's Jennie Martin has signed with Indiana Wesleyan, Ricaye Harris of Muncie Central has signed with Wofford College, senior Christine Cox of Carroll (Flora) has signed with Butler, and senior Natasya Johnson, a 6'1 forward at Madison, has signed with Murray State. Lands, a 5'9 G/F, averaged 11.3 points, 4.1 rebounds and 2.8 assists per game last season. Martin, a 5'6 guard, averaged 7.0 points per game in 1999-2000, while Harris, also a 5'6 guard, averaged 18.9 points and 5.0 assists per game last season. Cox, a 6'3 center, chose Butler over Wofford, Brown, Lafayette and the University of Indianapolis, according to the Logansport Pharos-Tribune. Also, articles appeared in the Boiler Station about Ebba Gebisa's signing with Wisconsin, and in the Warrick News about the signing of Castle's Angie Rodgers with Florida Atlantic.
News about a couple of non-basketball scholarship signings have come our way as well. Brownstown Central senior Leah Wischmeier (6'1 C) has signed a letter of intent to play volleyball at Purdue, and Columbus East senior Kali Carter (6'0 F) will be attending Butler on a volleyball scholarship as well.
According
to the Connersville
News-Examiner, senior Miranda Eckerle of Franklin County went over the 1,000 career point
total when her team handily beat North Decatur 89-43 on Tuesday. She
scored 9 points to add to her all-time lead scoring record at Franklin County.
Don't forget to check those Fan News Boards. We have a new board being manned by Lowell junior Rachel Wielgos during her recovery from stress fractures on both legs, and many of the other news boards contain all kinds of great info specific to the teams listed there. Also, the North Newton Spartans have launched a new website for their team, which can also be found in the future on our School Team Websites page.
All you players in the Lafayette area get home from practice in a hurry tonight and get that homework done so you can get over to the Purdue stadium to see the Boilermakers take on Louisiana Tech tonight in the championship finals of the NIT. Purdue pounded Texas 79-41 yesterday to advance to the finals. This one matches the wits of Purdue head coach Kristy Curry and her former mentor, head coach Leon Barmore of LA Tech. Should be a great one.
Region fans had a great opportunity to see highly-regarded Notre Dame (ranked No. 6 in the nation) when they played at the home of the Valparaiso University Crusaders Friday evening. Notre Dame dominated the first half in the meeting of these two D1 programs. ND's Alicia Ratay put on a 3-point clinic, hitting 5 of 6 treys in the first half, but some better coverage in the second half by Valpo frosh Suzie Hammel (Lebanon) limited her opportunities for the rest of the game, and Valpo actually outscored ND in the second half 29-24. Although the ND sophomore was impressive, Valpo's own sophomore supreme, Jeanette Gray (Valparaiso), also showed her stuff against one of the top teams in the nation. The 5'10 forward scored 14 points from a variety of areas on the floor. After the game, the RRR chatted with ND head coach Muffet McGraw to get her impressions of the game. She was very pleased with her team's first half effort, but was a bit disappointed in the lack of scoring from her bench. However, one player off the bench who she felt has tremendous potential at ND was freshman Janeka Joyce, who scored 11 on the night. McGraw was also impressed with the play of Valpo's Gray, who took it to her top program's defense in a number of ways. The Times had a interesting article about Hammel in Saturday's edition, explaining how the freshman looks to be making a move to the point for the Crusaders after Friday's performance.
A
few notes & articles from the college level:
Shameka
Robinson leaves ISU - TH
Tribune Star.
Ball State women see more victories in future - Muncie
Star Press
USI women add height, experience to solid core - Evansville
Courier Press
Butler starts busy week for IU women - Hoosier
Times
Wildcats thinking N.D. upset - South
Bend Tribune
| News thru Tuesday, November 14 |
Late
additions:
USA Today has named Ben Davis the No. 1 high school team in the country
in its Super 25 Rankings. Also, Center Grove was named the No. 9 team in
their Midwest rankings.
Links to The Times preseason issue are now available. See the
additional news below regarding this item for the links.
The Times
came out with it's very well done
girls basketball preview edition last weekend, which included The Times Top 10
and Pre-Season All-Area Team. As usual, The Times does an outstanding job in previewing every team in
the Region, with rosters, photos of starters and coach, records and breakdowns
for each and every one of the 43 teams covered. The lead story in The
Times preview issue featured the top three point guard juniors in the area
-- Alex Webster of Crown Point, Lauren
Bechtold of Hebron and Jamie Gutowski
of Andrean (pictured at right). Despite what was written here earlier
today about the preview not being on-line, The Times has informed us that
they DO have these articles on-line, including team previews (with rosters,
starters, outlooks and schedules) for all 43 teams! This will be a great
resource throughout the season. Here is the link to The
Times Prep Girls Basketball 2000-2001 Guide. We have added this as
a permanent link to our Rankings & Statistics
page as well. The top teams and players as
selected by The Times were as follows:
|
The Times Pre-Season Girls Basketball Top 10 |
The Times Pre-Season All-Area Team |
| 1.
Valparaiso 2. Crown Point 3. West Side 4. Highland 5. Portage 6. Andrean 7. Gavit 8. Kankakee Valley 9. East Chicago Central 10. Hebron |
Lauren
Bechtold, Jr., Hebron Jenny DeMuth, Sr., Highland Jamie Gutowski, Jr., Andrean Lauren Hansen, Sr., Portage Brianne Harwood, Jr., North Newton Tracey Jackson, Sr., E. Chicago Central Michelle Jones, Jr., West Side Erica Martin, Sr., Kouts Christy Poparad, Sr., Chesterton Courtney Rosenbaum, Sr., Valparaiso Joann Smith, Sr., Gavit Kimberly Smith, Sr., West Side Lee Traynham, Sr., Valparaiso Alex Webster, Jr., Crown Point Sarah Zondor, Sr., Crown Point (link to The Times All-Area player profiles) |
|
|
Inadvertently forgot to mention this one in our last update, but it did have the Region buzzing a bit last week. Word out of Valpo is that sixth woman Karen Puplava from last season's state championship contender Vikings left the team on Monday of last week for unknown reasons. Puplava played a pivotal role in Valpo's game with Huntington North in the Warsaw Semi-State when she made a critical steal that allowed Valpo to score in the last seconds of regulation to tie the game, which the Vikes eventually won in overtime. Puplava is a high honors student in Valpo's challenging Baccalaureate program and is known for her dedication to the game and excellent outside shooting. She was named Hoosier Basketball Magazine Honorable Mention for the upcoming season and All-Area Honorable Mention after last season's campaign. Puplava was a transfer from Crown Point her freshman year when the Puplava family made a last-minute move to Valparaiso before the school year began in 1997. Puplava was expected to give the Vikings solid depth at the point position this season behind this season's point guard starter Brittany Landreth, also a Crown Point-to-Valpo transfer.
|
|
Tomorrow
is the last day of the early signing period, and in the last-minute rush, four
top Indiana seniors have made commitments over the past few days, including two
today.
Nationally ranked Ben Davis senior Ashley Allen,
who announced last Wednesday that she had narrowed her choices to Ohio State and
Arkansas, made her final choice known today by signing a letter of intent to
play for the Buckeyes. Allen is known for her extreme athletic prowess, as
displayed in the photo to the left, as well as her Dial C-O-L-L-E-C-T
three-pointers that often leave defenders with their jaw to the ground,
sometimes near half-court. OSU Head Coach Beth Burns says, "Ashley is
an incredible addition to this years recruiting class. Her great size, and
quickness on the perimeter, along with her ability to score from deep and handle
the basketball will help her to fit right in to our running, pressing style of
play. She brings with her tremendous accomplishments from her career at Ben
Davis High School and her summer AAU experiences with "The Family" --
those experiences define what Ashley is all about: winning." Allen
will spend her senior season looking for another state championship with the
Giants, as well as for a bid on the Indiana All Star Team. The Indianapolis
Star reports on Allen's signing.
West Lafayette senior Ebba Gebisa, who had narrowed her list to nearby Purdue, Michigan, Vanderbilt and Wisconsin, signed a letter of intent on Sunday with the Badgers of Wisconsin. According to a news item at the Wisconsin women's website, Gebisa is expected to be a dominant defensive player for the Badgers with her quickness and agility. Last season, Gebisa averaged 13.0 points and 6.0 rebounds per game last season, and got off to a great start with a double-double (20 points, 10 rebounds) in a win over Southmont over the weekend. Gebisa was a member of the Junior All Star Team this past summer, and was named First Team in Hoosier Basketball Magazine.
|
|
Leo standout 5'10 senior center/forward Jenny Steele will be signing a letter of intent either today or tomorrow with St. Joseph's College in Rensselaer. Steele, who averaged 11.5 points and 5.0 rebounds per game last season, first caught the eye of head coach Lynn Plett during summer basketball and then again a the Spiece and Indianapolis University exposure events. Steel was impressed with St. Joe's elementary education degree program, which she intends to pursue, as well as not being too far away from family. Steele should be able to contribute to the St. Joe's lineup immediately.
According to a press release from the University
of St. Francis in Ft. Wayne, Huntington North senior point
guard Cassie Kline will be playing for the
Lady Cougars next season. The quick and all-hustle 5'3 Indiana Junior All
Star averaged 11.1 points, 6.0 rebounds, 6.2 assists and 4.0 steals per game
last season.
As we announced on our home page yesterday, the ICGSA Poll was released for the week of November 13. There seemed to be a glitch of some sort in getting the 2A results, as no votes were shown as cast. Hopefully the ICGSA will work out the bugs for next week's poll. The Region was well represented again in 4A, with No. 3 Valpo, No. 7 Gary West Side, No. 9 Highland and de facto No. 12 Crown Point getting 14 votes to move up one notch. In 3A, Andrean fell off the radar screen after a 17-point loss to Crown Point, leaving no NWI representatives in the 3A poll. In 2A, no votes were cast, so Hebron and North Judson retained their standings from the preseason rankings. In 1A, Kouts stays at No. 6 as the only representative from the Region. As we also mentioned on our home page yesterday, we have posted our own Top 12 for NWI and the State for the week.
We've updated our Top Games & Events page for the upcoming week. Some great games are on tap around the state this week. Check it out.
Steve Stremming of S & L Sports will be announcing a Girls Athlete of the Week on his site throughout the season starting next Tuesday. Nominations may be sent weekly by Sunday at noon to Steve at chiefs@ori.net. Also, S & L will be releasing its first week of team rankings beginning on Sunday evening, November 19.
We continue to link team previews on our Scores & Recaps page as we come across them. Don't forget to take a look now and then to get all the latest articles on-line.
For those of you out there who have younger daughters playing the game, an interesting article on when youngsters should start strength training is appearing in the Kokomo Tribune.
A
few college women's articles are on-line:
Komara on fire - Gold
& Black
Dingman sparks Pilots' win (Bethel, Kelly Schoon) - SB
Tribune
Rose (Hulman) women want winning season - TH
Tribune Star
Still a way to go (ISU) - TH
Tribune Star
Mixing up success (ISU) - TH
Tribune Star
Lady Hoosiers need intensity - Hoosier
Times
Bennett all business
(IU) - Hoosier
Times
Douglas could make Boilers team to beat - Hoosier
Times
Seniors add familiarity, experience - Hoosier
Times
According to The Times, East Chicago native great LaTaunya Pollard has been named one of ten inductees into the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame.
| News thru Thursday, November 9 |
|
|
Yesterday was the first day of the early signing period, and Indiana had one of the biggest signings in the country when Ben Davis senior Shyra Ely put her John Hancock on a letter of intent to play at the University of Tennessee yesterday. Ely, who had long been expected to attend Purdue, stated on the GoLadyVols website that, "The deciding factor for me was I would probably be better off at Tennessee. I think Pat Summitt can push us to the next level. With her program and her personality, I can get to the next level." Ely has been ranked the No. 1 player in the nation by a number of rating services, including Blue Star, All Star Girls Report and Women's Basketball News Service. Ely will be joined by Wawasee's Shanna Zolman in 2002-2003 to give the Lady Vols a 1-2 Hoosier punch in the future. This season, Ely and teammate Ashley Allen, who announced yesterday that she has narrowed her choices to Arkansas and Ohio State, will defend a state championship title and Ben Davis's No. 1 national ranking when they begin their season on November 22 at Roncalli. Additional coverage regarding Ely's decision can be found in the Indianapolis Star.
Ely
wasn't the only one who made the news yesterday with her signing. A number
of recruits put pen to paper to make their college choices official as
well. Here are a couple of on-line stories about those who did:
Katie Boone (Center Grove) - Daily
Journal
Rachel King (Ft. Wayne Luers) - FW
Journal Gazette
A mention in the Lafayette Journal & Courier informs us that former Terre Haute South guard Debra Crawley has transferred to McCutcheon. The 5'7 junior is an excellent outside shooter and should help the Mavericks as another legitimate threat on the floor.
If you've forgotten the drill from last season, game scores, as we find them, are being posted on our Scores & Recaps page, together with any related links that we can find. We suggest that you check this area of our site on a regular basis, as a number of the links that are found there expire after just one day. If you need to report a score from a game, please do so on our Report Scores board. We appreciate any and all input on games, even if it's simply a score!
Also, on our Scores & Recaps page, we are posting links on preseason articles for a number of teams around the state. Right now you can find preview articles there on over 30 teams from around the state.
Some tough news is coming out of Connecticut about Huskies sophomore Kennitra Johnson (New Albany). According to Husky Hardcores, Johnson has been told by Coach Geno Auriemma that she will not play in the first season game for the Huskies, and maybe even more. According to Auriemma, "Every kid had some goals they had to make in preseason and she didn't get them and she's still not there. Until she gets there, I'm going to hold her out." A back injury has held back Johnson's conditioning somewhat, but other issues are at stake. Hopefully KJ will get things taken care of we'll see her back on the floor very soon.
Purdue's Katie Douglas (Perry Meridian) has been named to the Associated Press preseason All-America women's basketball team. According to the Purdue women's website, Douglas just squeaked by Notre Dame center Ruth Riley (North Miami) in AP voting to be the fifth pick on the 5-member team. You can view the entire AP voting list at CNN Sports Illustrated.
| News thru Tuesday, November 7 |
|
|
Word from the Lowell hardwood is that returning varsity junior Rachel Wielgos will be out for the first six weeks of the season with stress fractures in both legs. Lowell will miss Wielgos in a big way, as she was expected to take on a major Red Devil role in scoring and leadership with the exit of most of last season's roster to graduation. Wielgos made a name for herself at the Merrillville Sectional last February when she poured in double figures against Crown Point to get her team over the top to advance to the Regional. Coach Patti McCormack will anxiously await Wielgos' return sometime in late December or early January.
In case you
