It is an absolutely loaded slate of games this week on the boys side of things. There are 10 to 12 boys games that could be really fun events with basketball played at a higher level. Unfortunately, Bounce made his standards and will follow them: 5 top boys games, 5 top girls games.
In addition, for the the first time this week, Bounce will break down the top game of the weekend in a completely separate column on Friday morning, so check back then for a complete breakdown and prediction of Saturday night’s Carroll at East Noble boys showdown, our very first Outside the Huddle Game of the Weekend.
So, while Blackhawk Christian’s debut against a completely new North Side on Tuesday and Friday’s showdown for the Braves against New Havem will be talked about and Bounce himself will travel to Leo on Wednesday night as they host Churubusco, Bounce won’t have the room to predict those today.
How much to bank into Bounce’s picks? Well my first week of boys picks was about as good as my first week of girls picks: rusty at best.
Last week: 5-5
Overall: 18-12
THE GENTLEMEN
Bishop Luers at Canterbury, Tuesday
The Knights will be one of the teams playing their first game this week and night one is an interesting one. Bishop Luers has a relatively young, but still experienced team. Multi sport players Norman Knapke and Nate Moore, coming over from football give them a winning mentality instantly to go with great on court vision and ability from Naylon Thompson and Jalen Causey. But right now, we don’t know much about how this group clicks with a new coach a year after they didn’t click with a new coach. And we don’t know much about coach Fonso White at all…yet.
What we do know is that Canterbury is going to play very good basketball and be feisty. Although they lost on opening night, Will Shank was fabulous for the Cavs. The Noah’s (Wolfe and Drapala) also played well and we know they will continue to. Bounce may be way wrong on this one, I will admit that now. But I am always a fan of going with what I know versus what I don’t
Bounce picks Canterbury
Snider at East Noble, Tuesday
While it won’t be my game of the weekend, this is certainly the game of the week. Snider is expected by many to be vastly improved, including yours truly. The Panthers have a lot of weapons and if there are enough touches to go around and hierarchy to those touches, they could be a lot of fun. East Noble is already 2-0 and with a deep three player rotation at the top of their own hierarchy, the Knights will force the Panther defense into some uncomfortable situations. Bounce doesn’t pick point spreads because they are just too unpredictable in high school hoops. But lets just say, this will be close and I expect a dog fight.
Bounce picks Snider
New Haven at Northrop, Tuesday
Another team with a lot of focus and pressure on them is Northrop, who let DeKalb hang around a little too long on Thanksgiving Eve. At the end of the night, they got the job done though, led by Qualen Pettus’ 18 points and a double double from Sydney Curry. New Haven will present some of the same problems DeKalb did, including a significant threat from deep (Donovynn Sisson-Lewis scored 27 points, shooting 10-of-13 from the field including 5-of-6 three pointers in a win over Woodlan). But the Bulldogs are also going to be able to play an active game as well. This is a big test for both sides.
Bounce picks Northrop
Westview at Churubusco, Friday
Is the NECC on the line in week two of the season? The Warriors, already a favorite for a state run in Class 2A, have been nothing but overwhelming in the opening week to improve to 2-0, including beating Class 4A’s Northridge. The Eagles have built themselves back up to a potentially championship level very quickly under coach Chris Paul. The question here will be if they are ready enough this early in the season for a well oiled Westview machine.
Bounce picks Westview
South Side at Jay County, Saturday
Both played not-so close openers last Saturday with different results. Can the Archers show the appropriate respect for Jay County’s shooters and can actively match aggression on the interior. Size matters here and the Archers need to avoid interior mismatches on the big physical Patriots.
Bounce picks South Side
THE LADIES
Columbia City at Bishop Dwenger, Tuesday
The Saints have a big week ahead and starts with this challenge where home court advantage could be big. The Saints have won at least five of their first six in each of the last three seasons now, but with a younger group few would have said they would be 5-1 at this point. While The Eagles have depth to make this a tough game, there is no reason to think Dwenger isn’t highly capable, even if a little young.
Bounce picks Bishop Dwenger
Huntington North at Bishop Luers, Tuesday
Kudos to Bishop Luers, who have rallied off three decent wins (Mississinewa, Snider and Columbia City) after starting off 0-3. The scoring depth is starting to shape up with players like Kennedy Glenn getting more comfortable. Bounce stopped buying into a team I thought highly of in the preseason. Maybe that was too soon.
Bounce picks Bishop Luers
Homestead at Carroll, Friday
Nobody in this area is beating Homestead unless the Spartans have a terribly off night. I will say that now, I will stand by it. And no disrespect to anyone else. But in the three games of the Spartans’ that I have seen, they have decimated their opponents in three pretty unique ways. Carroll is playing good ball and are just as deep in offensive and defensive prowess as last year’s senior laden team. But there just aren’t enough weapons, especially with Homestead’s weapons just keep getting better.
Bounce picks Homestead
Norwell at Huntington North, Friday
Where do you even being with Norwell? They may be deeper offensively than last season, even with losing a lot to graduation and not having an every night primetime scorer. It gives the Vikings a lot of girls to try and guard when, right now, Huntington North relies significantly more on one player, Madalyn Robrock.
Bounce picks Norwell
Jay County at South Side, Saturday
This continue to be a difficult early schedule for the Patriots, who have one of the toughest early season schedules and will play Homestead and New Castle earlier in this week. South was clicking but will have had a 13 day layoff before their Friday/Saturday back to back. I don’t doubt they will be just fine coming back from that game break but you never really know until you try it. Bounce would love to see this game mid season and with a Patriot team that won’t be as spent from the week as they will be come Saturday. I’d like to see that game instead of this one, but even then it wouldn’t change my choice.
Bounce picks South Side
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I’d start looking in to the group of guys from Prairie Heights to make some noise. A group of upperclassmen now that have been playing varsity ball together for the last 2 seasons.