NORTHEAST INDIANA’S RARE DOUBLE DOWN
It doesn’t happen very often that our area sends two representatives to the state finals in the same year, but that is what will happen on April 3. With Blackhawk Christian scheduled for a 1:30 p.m. tip-off and Leo playing at 5 p.m. at Bankers Life Fieldhouse, we get a rare double down this season.
It has been a dozen years since the area had a pair of teams at state. It was 2009 when Bishop Luers and Snider represented the 260 and the SAC in the state finals. Bishop Luers captured the Class 2A state title while Snider lost in the 4A title game.
How many other times has this occurred in the class basketball era? This will be the sixth time our area has had multiple boys basketball state finalists in the same season since 1998.
In 2002, Harding and Bluffton lost in the state finals. In 2003, DeKalb and Elmhurst both lost in the state finals. In 2004, Columbia City, Bellmont and Blackhawk Christian all lost in the state finals. In 2008, it was Bishop Luers winning while Harding lost.
CALEB FURST ALSO MOVES UP SCORING LIST
A lot of eyes were on Blackford’s Luke Brown on Saturday in the Bruins’ loss to Blackhawk Christian. One of the best scorers our state has ever seen has always lived up to the hype. His shooting prowess with any space whatsoever and his next-level speed pushed him to 34 points against the Braves.
It moved Brown past 3,000 points and past Romeo Langford as the fourth all-time leading scorer in the history of the state; he finishes his high school career with 3,011 points.
But Caleb Furst moved up too. He may not have 3,000 points, but he has the chance to add a second state title and has to be the front runner for Mr. Basketball. Furst is now in the top 50 for all-time scorers in the state of Indiana at 47th all-time. His 20-point outing in the win over Blackford gives him 2,067 career points with an outside chance at getting into the top 40 during the state finals.
Furst currently sits 37 points away from a tie for 40th all-time, held by Tipton’s Mike Crawford.
XAVIER MIDDLETON AND LEO’S LOCKDOWN DEFENSE
It was mentioned to Bounce on Twitter this weekend that not enough attention was given to Xavier Middleton, but I knew that I would be writing this column so I exercised my patience.
Look, I’ve said it and will say again, Leo’s team effort was what brought it back from down 16 points and pulled the Lions through on Saturday against South Bend St. Joe. Middleton, Blake Davison, Zack Troyer and DJ Allen all had clutch baskets from everywhere on the floor and Ayden Ruble was attacking the basket more aggressively than usual too. As I said on social media Saturday, the downright audacity for Leo to never quit was awe inspiring from the top to the bottom of the lineup.
Heck, watching the bench celebrations from Cameron Groves, Kaeden Miller and Landen Livingston was worth the price of admission.
But Middleton turned the tide in this game. As Coach Cary Cogdell said after the game, the defensive effort too was a team one. JR Konieczny scored 20 of South Bend St. Joe’s first 26 points and himself led Leo at halftime. Yet he never scored again. Read that back: a Notre Dame commit, a likely Indiana All-Star, was held scoreless for more than a half of the semistate game. Every time he got close to the basket in the second half or tried to get a clean shot off (which wasn’t often), he was doubled by Leo. The Lions walled him in and rarely let him get a good look after his strong first half.
That all started with Middleton. Leo made the switch to put Middleton on him midway through the game and Konieczny never looked comfortable after that. Middleton harassed him everywhere he went on the floor and didn’t give him any space. The angles that Middleton cut Konieczny off at in the post showed a high level IQ for the junior guard. It was arguably the toughest defensive assignment of Middleton’s career and he shined.
So if we are talking about praise for Middleton, I am all for that as his value in the win is unparalleled.
BEEN THERE, DONE THAT
Blackhawk Christian, rightfully, played like a seasoned group in beating Blackford. The still-defending Class 1A champions know the big moments as coaches, players and onlookers. They handled the game with poise and domination – something not easily done at this level. But like Bounce said about their semistate win two seasons ago against Lafayette Central Catholic, the Braves made their opponents look more like a JV team in comparison.
That isn’t a knock on Blackford, but rather high praise for the well-oiled machine that the Braves are.
For Caleb Furst, Zane Burke and Marcus Davidson, it is really familiar. They were all on the court in 2019 when the Braves topped LCC to punch their ticket to a Class 1A state chanpionship game that they ended up winning. There was no panic on their faces or in their regional games either; been there, done that.
Burke continually attacked Luke Brown’s defense, pushing Blackford back on its heels. Davidson worked the mid to long range with class, picking his spots, attacking where he needed to and his defense was crucial as the Braves shut down everyone not named Luke Brown for the majority of the game.
And Furst…he was Furst. Not even a jersey change to No. 23, which was weird to see as there was blood on his jersey, altered the look of solitude on his face. He dunked, he rebounded, he ran the floor like a gazelle and he was just the ultimate finisher.
It is impressive that the Braves continue to make things look so smooth and easy as they continue to actually be hitting untested territory. Bowman Academy is the only program to have the multi-class success that Blackhawk Christian is having. Bowman is the only school to compete in the state championship back-to-back years in different classes. Bowman won the 2013 Class 2A state title and then went to the Class 3A title game the next season, losing to Greensburg. It also won the 2010 Class 1A state crown.
But NO TEAM has ever won back-to-back state titles in two different classes.
BLOCK OUT THE NOISE
Can you imagine how hard it must be to play in front fans when you’ve played in quiet and empty or near empty gyms for the better part of four months?
The most normal crowd I have seen all year…you know, 2019 normal…was Saturday at Elkhart’s North Side Gym. There were, quite frankly, a lot of people there. There were times, especially during Leo’s win over South Bend St. Joe, that you could tell that the players and coaches just had a hard time hearing each other. Sitting in front of the Leo student section as I was, the whole place just sounded like a wall of noise. And as much as semistate should sound like that, it just hasn’t. Kudos to Blackhawk Christian, Leo and its opponents for being able to play and succeed under increasingly more loud and rowdy situations as more and more fans are allowed back into games.
Talking to Leo’s Blake Davison after the game, he could barely speak. It wasn’t because of the moment like it was when I talked to him after Leo’s regional title win. This time, he just had no voice left from the game and post-game celebration.
There was also the mental noise that was blocked out. Save for Caleb Furst, there were no two bigger names or hype trains in Elkhart Saturday than that of Blackford’s Luke Brown and South Bend St. Joe’s JR Konieczny. Big players loom large when you get a stage like the semistate setting. Yet, the big players didn’t win (again, save for Furst).
Blackhawk Christian and Leo just looked like the better TEAMS on Saturday. Individual player noise is hard to block out sometimes, too.
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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