This Saturday, December 16, will be the seventh annual Champions of Character Classic, held at Grace College. All five games on the day will feature Outside the Huddle Area teams, seven teams in total over those games.
Something fun that the Classic does each year is select a ‘Champion of Character’ award winner to help promote sportsmanship. Below are quick looks into each of the six games on the schedule with Bounce’s picks included.
You can follow along with the Champions of Character Classic by following them on Twitter at @COCClassic
EAST NOBLE VS. CONCORD, 1 P.M.
PLAYERS TO WATCH: For East Noble, this could be a great breakout opportunity for Ryker Quake. The junior has had a quiet start to his season but coming off a big offseason where we saw his true game, expectations remain high. Quake has a fast trigger and his knockdown shooting is a massive equalizer. Braeden Messenger scored 15 of Concord’s 38 points in a win over Penn last week; he is great at utilizing coach Derrick DeShone‘s quiet attack offense. The 6-foot-3 guard is a steady handed shooter but he has no issue finishing through contact either.
KEYS TO THE GAME: The teams have one common opponent, who they both beat, in West Noble. East Noble’s win was the more impressive of the two, but Concord’s recent win over Penn is worth discussing. The Minutemen’s defense has been stout, including giving up just 35 points to a Penn team averaging 62 (who Carroll lost to and gave up 72 points in the process). Concord is going to give the Knights a lot of pressure and East Noble can’t afford to make many mistakes because there shouldn’t be a lot of second chance opportunities. That means Quake, Landon Swogger, Mason Treesh and other East Noble ball handlers have to make great decisions all afternoon long.
BOUNCE’S PICK: Concord
LEO VS. SNIDER, 2:30 P.M.
PLAYERS TO WATCH: Nolan Hiteshew missed a couple of games for Leo and is getting sea legs back so to speak, returning for the Woodlan game. He does a little big of everything and forces a chaotic pace. Landon Ruoff too could be impactful against Snider’s lack of size; he had a couple of hammering blocks in the win over Woodlan. For Snider, it is almost too difficult to talk about who will be the impact player because of how well they have diversified themselves so far this season. Ke’ron Billingsley will need to run a tight ship against an always improving Leo defense, but the freshman Trell Hogue has been fantastic early, catching teams off guard and showing next level athleticism. Hogue could be a real difference maker in this game.
KEYS TO THE GAME: Leo is going to need to control the chaos here as their last two games have been kind of night and day in that area. Forced shots and passes helped doom them against Bishop Luers last week, but they cleaned it up very well in a win over Woodlan with crisp ball movement and strong attacks to the basket. The Panthers are going to need to score in bunches in this one as Leo is perfect when holding opponents to 46 or less points; Snider averaged 58 a game coming into the week. Snider too needs to just maintain course, spread the ball out and make Leo guard a diversity of scoring options and opportunities. In the Panthers can play fast and loose, this could be their ball game for the taking.
BOUNCE’S PICK: Leo
CONCORDIA VS. SOUTH BEND ST. JOE, 4 P.M.
PLAYERS TO WATCH: Chase Konieczny is the name you need to know for St. Joe and its likely you remember his brother JR from a couple years ago when he gave Leo fits at semi state. Konieczny averaged 19 points per game as a sophomore last season and has started this season off on a torrid pace, scoring from all over the court. Cole Hayworth is the obvious guy to watch for Concordia, but they need to keep building on depth. Guys like Will Schlegel and Avery Cook can help space out the floor and give Hayworth room to work.
KEYS TO THE GAME: South Bend St. Joe is a strong shooting team who will look to eliminate Concordia early by turning their solid defense into instant offense with a bevy of guys who can get out on the break and throw it down. They can go quick at times and they have an entire lineup of guys who can hit the triple, including Chase Konieczny and Nick Shresberry. Concordia will need to slow the game down and value possessions. They want to keep the ball out of St. Joe’s hands as much as possible and really run their offensive sets solidly, not letting St. Joe to get into passing lanes.
BOUNCE’S PICK: South Bend St. Joe
WARSAW VS. SOUTH BEND WASHINGTON, 6 P.M.
PLAYERS TO WATCH: Luke Bricker has become one of the best and most interesting scorers in the area in this short season. He is coming off a 24 point game where he shot 10-of-16 in a tough loss to North Side after having back-to-back career bests the week before. He is a solid slasher who finds his way to the rim and works the right angles. Da’Kori Parker has been huge for South Bend Washington in their first five wins. The 5-foot-10 freshman is so quick off the dribble, he will be difficult for anyone on Warsaw to consistently stay in front of.
KEYS TO THE GAME: Warsaw has proven they can run, have proven they can slow it down, have proven they can shoot. Its not that the Tigers adapt to the style of their opponents as much as it seems that they can play a lot of different styles. Defense is critical for Warsaw in this one with Brandt Martin and Trai Davis being pillar for that recently including Davis’ four steals last weekend against a tough North Side lineup. Washington however is going to want to push the pace as fast as they can. The Panthers averaged 68.8 points per game coming into this week with sophomore Steven Reynolds and freshman Da’Kori Parker combining for 40.4 of those. They are both over 50 percent shooters with Parker doing a tremendous job of scoring around the rim and drawing contact to get to a free throw line where he is 20-of-24.
BOUNCE’S PICK: Warsaw
BLACKHAWK CHRISTIAN VS. MANCHESTER, 7:30 P.M.
PLAYERS TO WATCH: Perfect that this is the last game because the battle of its star players certainly is Main Event worthy. Most of our area has seen Kellen Pickett for BC, but have you seen Manchester’s Gavin Betten? This is the time to because watching these two go at it will be worth the price of admission for the entire day. Pickett has been as advertised for Blackhawk Christian, but has also backed off when other teammates have the hot hand. Will he be able to afford to do that in this game? Or will he have to more with Betten being by far the best matchup he has encountered so far this season? Pickett comes in with some big games, while Betten averages team highs 22.2 points, 11.6 rebounds, 4.8 assists and 3.2 blocks. Betten isn’t on as many radars “locally” as he should be, but Saturday night should change that rapidly.
KEYS TO THE GAME: With this being Blackhawk Christian’s third game of the week and both teams playing the night before, it is a matter of who can stretch out the gas in their tank. For example, the Braves have played only three total games this season so a three game week could be dangerous as they continue to develop a lineup behind Pickett and Isaac Smith. Smith is coming off a great game in a domination of Norwell and his shooting could be a major equalizer here while Manchester will have to patrol the perimeter. Ethan Hendrix and his 4.4 steals per game coming into this week could be a dangerous perimeter weapon for the Squires as they try to force less experienced Blackhawk Christian guards into mistakes.
BOUNCE’S PICK: Manchester
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