And a happy holidays to you. We wrap up one of two back-to-back weeks with a less than full schedule as this coming week holds New Year’s Day as well. But there were still some games to look back at last week before a Christmas Break of two days.
So this week again, I will combined my weekly Sunday columns to just one, talking about the girls and boys happenings of the week gone by.
SAC
• Patience continues to be a critical part of Carroll‘s game. There was a part of Bounce that thought the Chargers were dead to rights on Tuesday morning in their first game of the OPS Holiday Hoops. Brownsburg looked like they were going to hit any shot they wanted, scoring their first 15 points off three pointers and hitting nine total in the game.
Meanwhile, Brownsburg’s defense had Carroll slowed early. Their zone spread out the Carroll offense but the Bulldogs were fast to close out on shooters too, not giving the Chargers nearly enough good looks early.
In both of those phases, the Chargers exercised patience. Jalen Jackson started to pick apart the defense and did a tremendous job on getting reads on open lanes from the free throw line in. And, as expected when that happens, the Chargers roared forward. Jackson ended up leading the Brownsburg win with 20 points, but once he could attack at the rim, it opened up the floor for others. Sam Strycker finished with 16 points on 6 of 7 shooting and Cody Burkey finished with three triples.
The patience almost paid off again in the afternoon game, although they did ultimately suffer their first loss of the season to South Bend Adams. Things were really bleak late until couple of steals and transition buckets pulled them back into it before the 57-54 loss. Jackson added 20 more points and Ryan Preston scored 15. The Chargers play their best composed and patient; Tuesday was a big sign of that.
• How many do it all guys can you have on one team? After checking in on Homestead‘s win over Warren Central on Tuesday and then again with an evening win over Brownsburg, I have to ask that.
Their key four: Fletcher Loyer, Luke Goode, Andrew Leeper and Grant Simmons all just do a lot of everything. Teams would salivate to have just one of those kind of glue guys on the court for them and coach Chris Johnson has four. You have two guys averaging over 20 points per game in that collective and those two (Loyer and Goode) are also the team leaders in assists. Each of the four is averaging nearly four rebounds or higher while Loyer and Simmons lead the team in steals and Leeper leads Homestead with 2.2 blocks per game. That is a major wow factor.
But the stand out on Tuesday as the Spartans went 2-0 at the OPS Holiday Hoops and stayed unbeaten overall was how everyone else contributes. The pace against Warren Central was not for the faint of heart. In the confined space of Carroll’s Alumni Gym, the speed seemed even more frantic. Quinn Harmon, Caeden Kaopuiki and Kaleb Kolpien didn’t put up high digit stats, but all of their contributions were key and shouldn’t be lost on Tuesday or in Homestead’s solid start. They keep pace and continue to be role players in elevating the Spartans as one of the most dangerous teams in the state.
Bounce was asked this week if I think, when/if the time comes, that the Spartans can handle the likes of Carmel. But my question is, who can they not handle if they are playing at their best? Anybody else looking forward to January 12 (aka when Blackhawk Christian comes for a visit)?
NE8
• Zack Troyer must have known he needed to step up after an inconsistent day last Saturday at Grace College. He never quite found a flow last weekend, but Monday was the exact opposite. Leo stayed unbeaten as Troyer led them to their fifth win this year over an SAC opponent.
Troyer was at his best in the game, involved in every play while he was on the court. He wasn’t shy about putting the ball up, shooting 16 times and hitting 10 for 20 points. He also added 10 rebounds and three steals in the 75-57 win over Concordia.
Games where Troyer’s confidence doesn’t wane are games that Leo will be the best at this season. The good news is this team is very deep and when one guy falters or struggles, there are plenty of other guys to step in. That is why they remain unbeaten. But for Leo to take a Northeast 8 title and hope for another Sectional, they have to have Troyer clicking. Again, this probably sounds like he doesn’t click enough, he certainly does. Monday was just an active reminder of how good he is at the top of his game – when he is involved with almost everything that happens within six feet of the rim.
• Tuesday was a night for Norwell girls where, once again, maybe you get a little worried. Warsaw was in town, the newest team to try and pick up a win at The Castle. And Warsaw has worked through some really good wins by flexing their depth and ability to outclass and outrebound some of the toughest opponents both on and off their NLC schedule.
But this ended the same as every other game with a team traveling to The Castle. Actually, this one was surprisingly less close than imagined.
The Knights led Warsaw nearly from pillar to post despite a furious Tiger comeback towards the end of the game. Warsaw actually jumped out to a 12-7 lead but then the Knights pushed back, just like they always do. Norwell outscored Warsaw 38-14 in the middle quarters. The lead got less comfortable in the fourth with Warsaw winning the period by 11, but it was never a situation where the Knights panicked.
Norwell capitalized on their chances at the free throw line, hitting 20-of-24 freebies in the contest. Every Knight chipped in at the free throw line, which has to make coach Eric Thornton happy. Mackinzie Tolliver and Grace Bradtmueller both went 6-of-6 while Maiah Shelton went 4-of-8 during her team high 21 point night. Kaylee Fuelling and Lauren Bales both went 2-of-2 from the charity stripe.
• You know it is never a good night for you when you WANT Luke McBride to shoot three pointers. Count Adams Central in that collective after Tuesday night. McBride was perfect from everywhere but three point range as Norwell picked up a second straight win after starting 0-5.
McBride was 8-of-8 inside the arc, 1-of-1 from the free throw line and still finished a solid 3-of-7 from three point range during a 26 point output. McBride has been exposing lackadaisical defenses on the perimeter for some time, but for him to be able to attack inside that arc is what will set him apart and keep Norwell in contention for a few years still. The lead that McBride is taking for Norwell isn’t surprising but it is still fun because of his age. Despite being almost untouchable from the field on Tuesday, he also managed eight assists and four steals.
McBride’s 73 percent shooting on Tuesday was a good way to lead this young squad, which McBride is a young part of. As a team, Norwell shot 51.7 percent from the field, including a 6-of-8 night from expanding interior threat Brody Bolyn, who is becoming increasingly more difficult to contain at the rim. Bolyn also had nine rebounds, as did Luke Graft.
Norwell won their third straight on Wednesday night by turning back ACAC frontrunner Bluffton thanks to big first and fourth quarters on their early senior night. Seniors Jared Conrad and Eli Riley combined for 15 points in the 16 point win, so I’d say they did their part on the night.
ACAC
• South Adams coach Josh Hendrixson was certainly happy to get back to near full strength this week. It meant a 1-1 effort, but getting into the win column after a sluggish 0-3 start to the season is still breath of fresh air.
Still, early foul trouble for returning James Arnold on Monday meant that he really couldn’t help out much anyway for a lot of the game. Still the Starfires jumped out to a big lead over Northfield before Arnold’s 4-of-7 shooting and 13 points gave them a push in the second half. Trey Schoch continues to be a big all around threat for South Adams despite getting pigeonholed as mostly a shooter in the past; he had 17 points, seven rebounds and nine assists in the win.
The Starfires returned to the court on Tuesday in a close loss to Cowan despite the size of the Blackhawks, boasting posts of both 6-foot-6 and 6-foot-10. Arnold, really getting into his flow, scored 21 with 10 rebounds in the loss. Again, it was a loss, but things are looking up for South Adams with a lot of ACAC play still to happen. With one loss in the conference already, being near full strength (they are still missing Aidan Wanner) or at full strength is huge because it is the Starfires who now have to play spoiler to help themselves.
• Is it just me, or is Emme Boots playing the best basketball of her career right now?
The Bluffton senior has been a major staple of the program’s offense since her freshman year when she helped Bluffton end a long Sectional title drought. And then again a year later when they won another crown. Last year, there seemed to be struggles mixed in to moments of greatness.
Now, all of the sudden, she is one of the most consistent big offensive threats nightly and has the Tigers at an 8-3 start, the best since an 11-3 start when she was a freshman and the Tigers won that first of two straight Sectional titles. Boots scored another 24 points on Tuesday and is really pushing a torrid pace. Her 17.6 points per game lead the squad and she’s been held to single digits just once: a win over Eastbrook and you can’t be too upset about a win.
Her craftiness in getting to the rim and finishing has always been a great hallmark of her game. It will be fun to see if she can keep it up in 2021 and get the Tigers back over the hump to another title of some sort.
• Jay County is back in control of the ACAC and never has that been more evident that Tuesday night’s absolute destruction of Woodlan, 50-28. The Warriors returned after a two week quarantine and were no match for a Patriot team that seems unrivaled right now in the ACAC.
At 2-0 in the ACAC and 9-2 overall, the Patriots have the second biggest margin of victory in the conference and losses to North Central and South Side aren’t exactly like they lost to slack schools along the way in 2020. They get one more go this calendar year by traveling to very dangerous Yorktown on December 29. But the Patriots are already in a great space when you realize they hadn’t won nine games or more by the end of December since 2015.
The 2014-2015 season was when Jay County joined the ACAC and they promptly went 30-1 in conference and won five straight regular season conference titles before last season’s rebuild. That rebuild, which still only saw them lose once in conference, didn’t take long at all. With Renna Schwieterman (21 points, 5 steals on Tuesday) as arguably the best player in the conference as just a sophomore, who is going to stop Jay County from rallying off a few more titles in the next few seasons?
Their mark as an ACAC team is now at 37-2 spanning six and a half seasons.
NECC
• The Lakeland and West Noble girls each improved to 5-0 in the NECC on Tuesday and it is going to send us to 2021 with a lot of intrigue at the top of that conference. And for the first time in years, the stranglehold at the top doesn’t run through Angola or Central Noble, but both of those teams can still play spoiler in the regular season and NECC Tournament in January.
Right now, Lakeland and West Noble have to continue to make sure they are deep programs. Although Lakeland faced near last place Westview, they pushed the pace and it was helpful to get so many girls involved, as they have all year. The Lakers have three top end scorers and it was Bailey Hartsough, Peyton Hartsough and Faith Riehl that led them again. But they were also able to get playing time for 10 different girls and scoring out of seven of them.
West Noble was able to get nine girls playing time in their win over Prairie Heights, also seeing seven of them score. But West Noble flexed harder with four girls in double figures scoring led by Mackensy Mabie‘s 18. On Wednesday, West Noble pushed out to 6-0 in conference with a win over Fremont, led by Lilly Mast‘s 23 points and scoring from seven others. The Chargers are right there and with all of the attention that Garrett and Lakeland are getting at the top of the conference, West Noble is kind of a quiet force but a force nonetheless.
While all of that is happening and Garrett awaits one more game before the end of 2020, they have a national power on their hands. As of Wednesday’s games, Nataley Armstrong is ranked number one in the nation in assists per game by schools that report to Max Preps. Armstrong’s court vision has led her to 9.4 assists per game in Garrett’s 10-1 start. While the Railroaders were idle this week, Armstrong’s ranking helps them keep making a splash.
• Speaking of teams that are slyly in NECC conversation, look on the boys side at Eastside. The Blazers became just the second NECC team this season to earn a win over a SAC team by beating Concordia Lutheran on Wednesday. That is a quality win for the Blazers, who sit at 4-1 overall. Even better than that, for their sake, the Blazers (1-0) are the only team not named Westview that still has zero conference losses. Obviously it is early in the season with just one NECC game in, but if the Blazers are built up enough, they could really be a spoiler in the conference.
That could be seen clearly in their 8-of-10 shooting in the third quarter that really opened up their lead against Concordia.
Gabe Trevino scored 22 points against Concordia and continues to prove he is one of the most consistent scorers in the conference, shooting 70 percent from the field in the win. Trevino also provided six assists and seven rebounds next to Owen Willard‘s five assists, six rebounds and 14 points. Is this the best tandem in the NECC that not enough people are talking about? The Blazers get tested before year’s end with West Noble on the slate, but they are playing really strong basketball right now.
APPETIZERS
Blackhawk Christian boys scored a school record 118 points on Tuesday in a win over Lighthouse CPA. Marcus Davidson (31 points) and Caleb Furst (30) led the way. Davidson his seven three pointers and Furst went 12-of-12 from the free throw line….Churubusco boys’ win over Columbia City on Wednesday was their first against the Eagles in the past four years….Inside intel says that the Snider boys basketball team beat their coaches in a scrimmage on Wednesday. Head coach Jeremy Rauch won a loose ball battle against Karson Jenkins, but Bounce nose – I mean knows – that Jenkins won the war.
VOTE
Remember to vote in both of this week’s Performance of the Week polls. Both of these polls will close on Tuesday, December 29at noon.
Vote for the BOYS basketball single game best Performance of the Week
Vote for the GIRLS basketball single game best Performance of the Week
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
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