A short holiday week ahead. So how many games to preview does this week lend itself to? Well I have to play catch up after losing so many games last week with teams quarantined.
My competently invisible traveling trophies stayed put last week. The Blackhawk Christian boys beat Canterbury. And on the girls side, Carroll has been stricken with quarantine so their newly won honor wasn’t defended.
LAST WEEK: 15-4 (six games postposed due to quarantine)
2020-21 RECORD: 59-19
2019-20 RECORD: 139-48 (.743)
BOYS
CONCORDIA AT LEO, MONDAY
The Cadets have found some footing with a couple of wins and really playing with more confidence. Unfortunately, they are about to face the defacto SAC leaders in Leo, a team who isn’t even in the conference. Leo is 4-0 against SAC schools and has picked up three of those wins at home. So Concordia heading to Amstutz Road isn’t the best thing for them right now. Neither is their lack of size to handle DJ Allen. Bounce picks Leo
BREMEN AT CENTRAL NOBLE, TUESDAY
Bremen has had a solid start, but they bring a low scoring output against a high octane offense. After the Cougars were noted as needing some toughness, they appear to have found that in wins over West Noble and DeKalb. Watch for the Cougars to get out on the break and score quite a bit. Bounce picks Central Noble
NORWELL AT ADAMS CENTRAL, TUESDAY
Both teams need a win, but after Norwell finally got over the hump this weekend, they have to be a team more comfortable with themselves. We said from the beginning of the season that once they had some scoring depth, they’d be alright. Here they are showing they aren’t just Luke McBride. Bounce picks Norwell
WAWASEE AT COLUMBIA CITY, TUESDAY
The Eagles have shown they are ready to take on and all comers and they have another fun challenge with the Warriors. The Eagles need to right the ship a little bit after two straight losses but they’ve been in both of those games this past week. This could be a really good game. Bounce picks Columbia City
WESTVIEW AT LAKELAND, TUESDAY
The Warriors get back in the saddle and it doesn’t get easy. The winner of this one will move to 3-0 in the NECC and really take control of the conference. This is a pretty major game of these two teams who are pretty close to each other in distance and talent. The Lakers have impressed and the Warriors have overwhelmed. Who had the first half NECC lead going to the winner of this game? Bounce picks Westview
BLUFFTON AT NORWELL, WEDNESDAY
The two Wells County schools go to battle at The Castle as Norwell isn’t taking any breaks in this short week. Bluffton has been consistent minus one major setback and Hayden Nern is the best scorer in this game. Can a newly deep Norwell be more consistent? Close one. Bounce picks Bluffton
CONCORDIA AT EASTSIDE, WEDNESDAY
Concordia, likewise, isn’t taking it easy in the short week and a trip to Eastside isn’t much easier for them than a trip to Leo earlier in the week. The Blazers are very tough and defend the ball well. Eastside will have to do a good job getting out on Concordia shooters and watch how well the Cadets can spread the ball. Gut says Luke Speckhard shows up. Bounce picks Concordia Lutheran
OPS HOLIDAY HOOPS (boys games, all Tuesday)
BROWNSBURG VS. CARROLL, 11 A.M.
The Bulldogs have gone 3-3 against a really challenging schedule, so they present Carroll with the biggest challenge they have seen so far. This is going to be a back and forth affair with Pierce Thomas of Brownsburg and Carroll’s Jalen Jackson primed to battle back and forth. Torn on this one, so we always go with the guy even though it may fire the Chargers up. Bounce picks Brownsburg
SOUTH BEND ADAMS VS. BISHOP DWENGER, 11 A.M.
Adams comes in as one of the unbeaten teams in this conference at 5-0 and averaging over 70 points per game in the process. This is an experienced Eagle team with five seniors in the starting lineup and they know how to do damage, led by Brayden Saxton. The Saints are always gamers, but the Eagles bring a tough squad to town to try and counteract. Bounce picks Bishop Dwenger
WARREN CENTRAL VS. HOMESTEAD, 11 A.M.
Don’t tell host Carroll, but this is the biggest game of the day for my money. D’Ante Davis is hard charger for Warren while Malik Stanley and Chandler Jackson are both big pieces. The health of Andrew Leeper may or may not play a role, but even without him, Homestead is awfully top heavy too. Fletcher Loyer is in the argument as the best player in Northeast Indiana right now. Bounce picks Homestead
BROWNSBURG VS. HOMESTEAD, 5 P.M.
The Spartans and Bulldogs are both in for shootouts at 11 a.m. so take a break, eat an orange slice or two and come back out firing late. Brownsburg, as you can read above, is a team I am high on. But Homestead is higher on the totem pole. Bounce picks Homestead
SOUTH BEND ADAMS VS. CARROLL, 5 P.M.
This is a game where Carroll is going to want to settle in early. They don’t want to get into a shootout with an Adams team that has solid depth. Rebounding will be critical so Bounce will go ahead and call on Sam Strycker in this one. Bounce picks Carroll
BISHOP DWENGER VS. CANTERBURY, 5 P.M.
Part of this could depend on Will Shank’s health after spending multiple games out of the Cavalier lineup injured. The Saints are playing good but will have to be playing their second game on the day. You never know how you are going to do in that scenario until you do it. Meanwhile Canterbury doesn’t have to; if they have Shank, that is a nice advantage. We have to assume though that they don’t. Bounce picks Bishop Dwenger
GIRLS
CHURUBUSCO AT BLUFFTON, TUESDAY
This has been another really good start for Bluffton, sitting at 7-3 but looking to get back into a winning streak instead of trading wins and losses. This is a good start against a Busco team trying to find a stride and Bluffton has only been able to play twice at home so far. Emme Boots is playing some of the best basketball of her career right now. Bounce picks Bluffton
GOSHEN AT HOMESTEAD, TUESDAY
Wow Goshen is good. They come into this week at 7-1 and their lone loss saw them held to a surprisingly low scoring total. The question is, are they near Homestead’s level. Yearly, I’d say no but this isn’t just any year. Goshen is solid but the reality now is that Homestead is really correcting some of the issues that handed them early losses. Two weeks ago, maybe this is a different conversation, but I think Homestead is mostly back to form. Bounce picks Homestead
PRAIRIE HEIGHTS AT WEST NOBLE, TUESDAY
Prairie Heights has some good games and wins under their belt recently. West Noble comes in as one of the hottest teams in the area, winners of their last three and holding a partial lead on the NECC. Another big number conference win if they can get it here. Bounce picks West Noble
WARSAW AT NORWELL, TUESDAY
This is a stellar contest with two of the area’s best teams going head to head. This is a great challenge for both teams and one Bounce is really looking forward to. But right now, especially after their comeback against Garrett, we just can’t bet against Norwell, especially at The Castle. Bounce picks Norwell
WOODLAN AT JAY COUNTY, TUESDAY
This one is still critical in the ACAC. Woodlan’s loss over the weekend post-quarantine puts them in a must win situations every ACAC game. Jay County will be working to bounce back themselves after a loss, although not a bad one against South Side. The Patriots are 4-1 at home. Bounce picks Jay County
EASTSIDE AT WOODLAN, WEDNESDAY
Woodlan is back playing and they aren’t taking any breaks this week. None at all. If they win Tuesday, this is a no brainer because of the momentum they could have. But win or lose, the Warriors have to have something left in the tank after a busy week of play. Eastside’s defense is stout but after giving up a game to Lakeland in a major way, we have to question the consistency of it. Bounce picks Woodlan
CATHEDRAL AT HUNTINGTON NORTH, WEDNESDAY
The Fighting Irish can score pretty well and they’ve played a different level of team a lot of nights than Huntington North has. The question is how much can the Vikings slow things down in this one. I think right now that Cathedral could be the better team, but making that long trip Wednesday to visit the Vikings isn’t in their favor. Not like Huntington North is a slouch anyway. Bounce picks Huntington North
These opinions represent those of Bounce and Outside the Huddle. No opinions expressed on Outside the Huddle represent those of any of our advertisers. Follow Bounce on Twitter at Bounce_OTH
Be the first to comment