Hey another short week ahead with the New Year’s holiday taking place. But still some very fun games to round out 2020 are on the agenda and some fun ones to kick off the new year on Saturday, January 2.
My competently invisible traveling trophies stayed put last week. Blackhawk Christian played an out of area team and Carroll girls again did not play.
What you will not see here are games from the girls Hall of Fame Classic (featuring Norwell) or the boys Hall of Fame Classic (featuring Blackhawk Christian), which will both be previewed early this week in their entirety. Also, you won’t see games from the annual Huntington North Tournament, which was cancelled late last week. We also won’t include other random games from random day long tournaments this week.
LAST WEEK: 14-6 (six games postposed due to quarantine)
2020-21 RECORD: 73-25
BOYS
INDIANAPOLIS CATHEDRAL AT BISHOP LUERS, MONDAY
Hopefully the Knights enjoyed their 9 days out of the fire after a big loss to Homestead because they go right back into it against a team who’s one loss came in two overtimes to that Spartan team. Five different guys average double digit scoring for coach Jason Delaney’s team. This is a major, major challenge for the Knights. BOUNCE PICKS CATHEDRAL
BELLMONT AT SOUTH ADAMS, TUESDAY
Getting back in the swing of things at the right time for South Adams against a county rival. James Arnold looked really good in his second game of the season and Trey Schoch is one of the best all around players in the conference right now. BOUNCE PICKS SOUTH ADAMS
COLUMBIA CITY AT NORTHWOOD, TUESDAY
This could be a really fun game with NorthWood looking strong at 6-1 headed into this one. Columbia City’s defense was amazing last week against Wawasee but not so much a day later at Churubusco. Which one of those Eagle teams will we see? BOUNCE PICKS NORTHWOOD
BISHOP LUERS AT TIPPECANOE VALLEY, TUESDAY
A much better matchup for the Knights than the day prior, you just have to hope you have legs left at the battle with Cathedral, especially since you have to travel. I expect Naylon Thompson to kind of have his way here though with the Vikings lacking anyone of his athletic build. BOUNCE PICKS BISHOP LUERS
HOMESTEAD AT MARION, TUESDAY
Winning at Marion is never easy but Homestead has a different kind of formula than almost anyone else in the state, let alone this area. Another look at Fort Wayne native Jalen Blackmon against the top city talent is always going to be fun, but behind him they just don’t have the legs for Homestead. BOUNCE PICKS HOMESTEAD
NORTHROP AT NORWELL, WEDNESDAY
All of the sudden, Norwell is back in their winning ways and that give them major confidence heading into this game at The Castle. Both squads are young and the Bruins have the legs to really test Norwell. I’d like to see the competition on the inside of this one because Brody Bolyn has developed nicely for the Knights. This may be as close as we get this week in the area. BOUNCE PICKS NORTHROP
LEO AT WARSAW, WEDNESDAY
This is one, like you have and will see many times this season, where length comes into question. As in, does this team have enough of it to stop Zack Troyer and DJ Allen? Or even the high level of activity to stifle emerging threat Xavier Middleton? Here is your answer: BOUNCE PICKS LEO
FREMONT AT WOODLAN, SATURDAY
This will be Woodlan’s second game back from quarantine, so they should have shaken off some rust. Fremont has played some quality games so far and are not going to be a breeze at all. But my feeling is Joe “Don’t Call me Joey” Reidy is going to let off some steam all week after sitting for so long. BOUNCE PICKS WOODLAN
LAKELAND AT COLUMBIA CITY, SATURDAY
The Eagles have another tough one on tap against a Lakeland team that just couldn’t string together enough last week in a tough loss to Westview. Columbia City presents some of the same challenges Lakeland faced in that game as they are very active with their limbs on the defensive end. Brayden Bontrager is going to get his but will be shrink in critical moments? We know the Eagles don’t usually. BOUNCE PICKS COLUMBIA CITY
WESTVIEW AT ANGOLA, SATURDAY
Here is one we’ve been waiting for. Lost once to the postponement demon this season, Westview coach Ed Bentley returns to former home and faces his former team. The Hornets are still gamers because coach Brandon Appleton doesn’t settle for a lack of effort. But right now, Westview has made a believer out of me and I believe that they have too many multi-skill guys to stop. BOUNCE PICKS WESTVIEW
GIRLS
BELLMONT AT EASTSIDE, TUESDAY
The Bellmont girls couldn’t be coming back into action with a better matchup. These two teams can mirror each other very well. The question is, you’ve heard it before, is court rust a real thing. Guess we find out really quickly in this one, perhaps the best girls game of the week? BOUNCE PICKS BELLMONT
GOSHEN AT COLUMBIA CITY, TUESDAY
This is a very tough Goshen team that has either beaten or given fits to every local team they have faced off against. Don’t expect that to change on Tuesday and don’t expect the Eagles to have answers either. BOUNCE PICKS GOSHEN
PRAIRIE HEIGHTS AT WHITKO, TUESDAY
These are two teams who really want a win to finish 2020. The Panthers have lost six of their last eight while host Whitko has lost three straight and not won since December 1. The Wildcats are still a very young, very much work in progress. And while PH too is a work in progress, proven pieces like Alayna Boots should be more than enough to close out the year with a W. BOUNCE PICKS PRAIRIE HEIGHTS
ADAMS CENTRAL AT WOODLAN, WEDNESDAY
Woodlan has got to hope that they’ve shaken off some rust after a really rough return to action last week. The Flying Jets’ Jekyll and Hyde season has seen them not win more than two straight at any point but they are still for making the argument that they are the second best team in the ACAC. Does it matter much in the conference race? Probably not. But as a ACAC Tournament prep, this could be very important. BOUNCE PICKS ADAMS CENTRAL
BLACKHAWK CHRISTIAN AT SOUTH ADAMS, WEDNESDAY
A rare week layoff leads into this for the Braves while South Adams has seen their last six games postponed and they have not played since December 8. It does the Starfires no help that Blackhawk Christian, at 13 wins, has the most wins in the state right now, tied with Frankton. BOUNCE PICKS BLACKHAWK CHRISTIAN
CONCORDIA AT HOMESTEAD, WEDNESDAY
Maybe? Well lets at least get it on the schedule one more time anyway. This game has been a real burden on the SAC schedule. The Cadets returned from quarantine with a hard fought loss to Northridge but then its still a week before this game. Meanwhile, the Spartans are just getting better as players are really starting to find and stick to their roles. BOUNCE PICKS HOMESTEAD
BLUFFTON AT BELLMONT, SATURDAY
Another really great game for the Squaws this week as Bluffton has been playing some really solid basketball. This is an interesting challenge for each of the teams. Bellmont wants a win to continue positive footing while they aren’t in quarantine and Bluffton wants a boost towards the ACAC Tournament. Who kicks off 2021 with a win? BOUNCE PICKS BELLMONT
GARRETT AT LEO, SATURDAY
Don’t expect this to stay close long at all. Why its important though is Garrett needing to get rolling again after multiple weeks off themselves. And one game isn’t going to do that. Garrett needs sustained competition because we’ve seen how good they are when they get hot. May be some rust still here, but don’t expect that to last for 32 minutes. BOUNCE PICKS GARRETT
HERITAGE AT JAY COUNTY, SATURDAY
The last two unbeaten teams in the ACAC square off for a matinee game. Winner of this one has real control over the conference as the girls season sneakily has turned the corner to the second half. Heritage has really impressed, they have some nice wins and have multiple girls stepping up. Jay County has seemed to be on another level lately though and the program has NEVER lost an ACAC regular season game on their home court. BOUNCE PICKS JAY COUNTY
SOUTH ADAMS AT ADAMS CENTRAL, SATURDAY
Nothing quite like the SA/AC rivalry. As far as we go here at Outside the Huddle, this is really a South Adams year. They took the lone football win, should be a heavy boys basketball favorite and the Starfires love those bragging rights. Its almost as if we don’t know what the girls team has in store at this point after a long absence but we do know what AC can do. The question is, combined with an early in the week game, can AC finally rally off three straight wins? BOUNCE PICKS ADAMS CENTRAL
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