Conference clarity versus conference chaos was the trend of this week on the girls side.
While Woodlan girls long ago claimed at least a share of the ACAC title, this week Angola claimed at least a share of the NECC title and Homestead got just two wins away from claiming at least a share of the SAC crown. In the NE8, things got chaotic as now four teams share the top spot in the conference.
SAC
• What do you need to know about Carroll? They are fighters. Despite not having, arguably, their two best players in the lineup, they went 2-1 this week beating Norwell in a great game before holding off Bishop Dwenger on Friday night. The Chargers have gone deep all season and it has paid off with Emily Parrett and Olivia Hoeppner out of the lineup. Delane Sheets was one to step up strongly this week with leadership and on court effort including her 11 point, 4 assist effort in the strong win versus Norwell where Carroll played tremendously on both ends of the floor in the first half.
• South Side has to be yearning for a postseason meeting with Homestead. Again on Friday, the Archers came so close to being the first team to ever beat Homestead in a SAC regular season game. But close doesn’t count and South Side will have to look back on their early lead and plan on how they can expand it if there is a next time. Olivia Smith was fantastic and looked comfortable as she put up 18 points and dished out six assists. But Homestead went on a 9-0 run to end the first and start the second quarter, showing they are still very comfortable playing from behind which makes them such a dominant team.
• Homestead added to the 1,000 point club on Saturday when Sydney Graber reached the total in a win over top ranked Lawrence North. Oh yeah, Homestead beat the top ranked team in the state. We almost forget as they dominate in Fort Wayne just how good Homestead is. They have one loss, it is not in this state and now we start considering if Homestead could be a true state championship contender right now.
• Bishop Luers‘ Lydia Reimbold reached 1,000 career points on Saturday in a 23 point effort against Canterbury.
NE8
• Bellmont‘s defense is dangerous and it has me really looking forward to their meeting with offensive powerhouse Norwell. The Squaws held county foe South Adams to just 15 points on Wednesday. 15. Then, their defense was so suffocating Friday in a big NE8 win over first place Columbia City. This zone moves exactly the way a perfect zone should and the Squaws had 11 steals while forcing over 20 turnovers against the Eagles on Friday.
WHO IS COLUMBIA CITY?
Friday night was, what I expect to be a wakeup call for Columbia City. The Eagles’ wins over the likes of Norwell or Bishop Luers have made it seem like the Eagles are one of the hottest underrated teams in the area. But after Friday’s loss to Bellmont, the Eagles have lost 3 of their last 4 and no longer have sole control over what happens in the Northeast 8 race.
But there was a lot of good for Columbia City in their loss to Bellmont. Eight different Eagles chipped in and they really did good with working the ball around the perimeter and finding gaps to pass to the post against Bellmont. Their drawbacks came when they dribbled the ball too much or made the effort to make long skip passes cross court. If Columbia City can work the ball down to Bekah Marshall and Brayden Lickey more, it will certainly clear up the outside better. Marshall scored all four of her points Friday in the first quarter and she looked able to exploit even the toughest interior defenses but never got the chance to get a flow.
If one thing is for sure, the Eagles have effort for days and if they can channel that and their focus, they still have a share of the conference title to claim down the road. Hayley Urban and Olivia Shearer put up immense efforts for a comeback late in the loss to Bellmont and I really do thing the Eagles will use this game to refresh being able to put out that effort for four quarters.
ACAC
• Nine different Woodlan girls scored Thursday in a win over Blackhawk Christian. With Woodlan firmly in control in the ACAC regular season, this has to trouble teams hoping to beat the Warriors next week in the ACAC Tournament. Gabby Joyce hit four threes to lead the team in scoring, but Addison Bayman and Dakotah Krohn also scored in double figures. When that three headed monster is ticking, the Warriors are too tough.
• Who could be coming for Woodlan? Heritage. This was the matchup that we expected to be for the ACAC and while Woodlan got the win in the regular season, next week could be fun. Bree Dossen showed on Saturday that she could be the best player in the conference. She scored 29 points on 11-of-15 shooting in knocking down Adams Central and now Heritage has a lot of momentum.
NECC
• Angola is taking at least a share of the NECC title this year. They can guarantee that now because no conference team has been able to take a game off them. But winning out of conference is something that they need to do too, which is why beating upstart East Noble on Wednesday was big. The Hornets are getting contributions across the board with Hanna Knoll obviously leading the way. But it is when the likes of Ally Lorntz and Danielle Dunham put up quality numbers that the Hornets are at their best. But lets not understate Knoll, who averaged just over 20 points and 5 steals in three wins this week too. This is the 8th NECC title in program history, something they can clinch outright just after the conference tournament.
• Alexis German had a great week for Prairie Heights. She scored 24 points and also dished out seven assists on Wednesday in a win over Michigan’s Bronson High School. On Friday, she became the fifth Panther girl to reach 1,000 career points.
• Morgan Ostrowski continues to assert herself as possibly the best post in the NECC. She had 11 points, 15 rebounds and five blocks on Wednesday in a 60-44 win for Garrett over Wawasee. She is a bit of a rim protector and a major rebounding force. On Friday, in a critical win over Central Noble, Ostrowski had 16 points and 14 rebounds.
AREA
• Wake up Chloe Jolloff! After an up and down year for Lakewood Park‘s star scorer, Jolloff had arguably the best week of her career. Her 24 points on Saturday against Elkhart Christian was nice, I’ll admit that. But on Thursday night, Jolloff pushed out a triple double, one of the rarest high school basketball feats. In a win at Clinton Christian, Jolloff had 23 points, 21 rebounds and 11 assists.
VOTE
As always, make sure you vote in this week’s Performance of the Week FAN VOTE. Remember, this doesn’t reflect a body of work as much as the best single game performance. Voting is open through Tuesday: FAN VOTE: Girls hoops Performance of the Week for Jan. 6-11
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