GIRLS CONFERENCE TITLE RACES
One of the more intriguing races down the stretch this season became the NECC girls. It wasn’t one that super intense until Eastside knocked off Fairfield in the conference tournament final game on Monday. While it didn’t count toward the in season standings, it opened up many to the possibility that Fairfield wasn’t unbeatable. Central Noble took notice of that and sure made things interesting this week, taking Fairfield to overtime on Wednesday in a two point loss and pushed tournament champion Eastside on Friday before falling again.
As the week concluded, Fairfield sits at 9-0 with the guarantee of a share of the conference title and Eastside (8-1) is the only one that could grab a piece of that pie. The Falcons finish on January 26 at 11th place West Noble which means Eastside needs a prayer and win a night earlier opposite Westview. As intriguing as the week was, when things all come out, it is still Fairfield holding the edge.
Norwell clinched at least a share of the NE8 on Tuesday with a win at New Haven. They now also close January 26 at home against East Noble to lock up an outright title. If the Knights pull the upset that night, then Columbia City can share the title with a January 26 win at New Haven.
Snider clinched the SAC on Friday night by topping Concordia. Sure, it didn’t hold the grandeur of last Friday’s win at Homestead, but this game put the Panthers at 8-0 in conference with only Homestead or Northrop being able to match them still in record (if Snider were to lose to Carroll). However, that record won’t matter as the SAC is the only of the area’s four main conferences to break ties meaning that nobody can catch the Panthers after Friday’s win.
Jay County (6-0) will lock up an outright ACAC title if they can beat 6th place Heritage on January 25. Right now, Bluffton (6-1) could share the crown with a Jay County loss in that game, but it really looks like the Jay County girls are rolling towards another title.
Warsaw can lock up the NLC this week as they sit 6-0 with a game against sixth place Goshen. Northridge is fighting at the top of the conference but Warsaw holds their own fate and earned at least a share of the title Saturday with a win over Concord. In that game, Brooke Zartman hit five three pointers and is now at 69 made threes this season, breaking the program record for single season three pointers made. That record of 66 was set just last year…by Brooke Zartman.
In the Three Rivers Conference, Whitko sits in second with just a criminally underrated season at 7-1 versus the TRC. They need some help to capture a conference title though as Cass sits 7-0 with two conference games still remaining. Whitko would need to win out in conference to have a shot but a lot of the TRC comes down to what Cass does down the stretch. On Saturday, Whitko topped Northfield with 12 points from Kloe Krieg.
THE BATTLE OF THE BISHOPS DELIVERS
The best SAC double header in the area on Friday was certainly at Bishop Luers where the Knights won both in the basketball version of the ‘Battle of the Bishops.’
That said, it wasn’t without fight from Bishop Dwenger. Both of these matchups heavily favored Luers going in with their girls team, at their peak, being powerful all season. The Luers boys have been the most consistent team in Northeast Indiana so far this season and are in the co-favorite spot in the SAC as we close in on the home stretch of the boys season.
But for the Dwenger, the girls are 9-13 overall and have really been showing good strength with Izzie Eke really breaking out as of late, including a 27 point game on January 17 in a conference matchup with Wayne while sister Giselle Eke added 16 points.
The Bishop Dwenger boys are arguably the most underrated team in the SAC and possibly in the entire area. They sit at 5-7 and have lost three of their last four, but the Saints are pushing people in unique and controlled ways. That makes them a very dangerous team as the postseason looms and everyone should know about coach Matt Kostoff‘s postseason power at this point. Those three losses came to Central Noble, a two overtime loss this week to conference frontrunner Wayne and Friday’s eight point loss to other frontrunner Luers. The Saints boys are right there and while the SAC may be out of reach, they didn’t relent on Friday against a powerfully athletic Luers squad.
In the loss to Wayne, Caleb Lehrman had 17 points and nine rebounds and Aslan Nolan had 16 points. In Friday’s loss, Nolan had 14 points.
For Luers, the girls had a big week as they try to march towards the postseason. On Tuesday in a conference game against North Side, Miley Wareing posted a monster double double of 18 points and 14 rebounds. On Friday, it was Addie Shank taking center stage with a 21 point, five steal effort in the win over Dwenger. Everyone scored for the Knights on Saturday in a 75-19 win over Marian, but again the focus was on Shank as she surpassed 1,000 points for her career.
The Luers boys also started the week nicely with a win over Jay County, led by Dereon Truesdale‘s 20 points. On Friday in the win over Dwenger, the Knights were very balanced on both ends of the floor. Truesdale’s 15 again led the team but he was followed by great efforts from Drelyn Truesdale (9), Danny Kelly (8), Carmani Davis (7) and Cam Mitchell (7). Having everyone chip like that; Kelly also added nine rebounds.
FWGIT – A BIG HOMESCHOOL WEEKEND
If you noticed a heavy presence at OPS North this weekend, it was a full on invasion of some of the best homeschool teams in the Region and beyond. OPS and other sites were the host to the Fort Wayne Guard Invitational Tournament, which showcased homeschool basketball of a lot of age groups.
Homeschool basketball is something that Bounce has wrote about sporadically over the years but sitting in on a game Saturday afternoon reminded me again how much fun these games can be.
Does homeschool basketball get a bad rap? Not really. That said, it also doesn’t get enough love and attention for the high level that it can put out. We’ve had some really good basketball at the homeschool level the last decade in Northeast Indiana. We’ve seen a 3,000 point scorer in former Fort Wayne Hawk and Benton Buck Jake Lock and 3,000 points is never easy on any level. We’ve seen guys play homeschool and transition to in school varsity programs and find success like Caleb Wright heading to Fairfield after a huge career with the Benton Bucks. Current Blackhawk Christian sharpshooter Isaac Smith began his high school career as a Fort Wayne Hawk.
While there was a ton of good basketball over the weekend (including the Noble-Whitley Warriors, led by 17.7 point per game scorer Colt Kirkpatrick), Bounce focused in on the Fort Wayne Hawks, currently ranked sixth in the country for homeschool basketball as they head down the stretch of their season and towards the National tournament in Missouri.
Saturday afternoon at OPS, the Hawks took on fellow ranked Indiana team the Northwest Warriors (25th) in what is a bit of a rivalry game. The Warriors beat the Hawks last year in the state finals before the Hawks got a measure of revenge during the national tournament. This time however, it was all Hawks. Gavin Reynolds showcased a high end tempo and change of speed that kept the Warriors on their heels the entire game and finished with a game high of 15 points. Reynolds doesn’t miss a beat any trip up or down the court.
Leading scorer for the Hawks, senior Sam Newcomer had 12 points, eight rebounds and five steals. He changed the game many times, especially defensively as he is just pure grit. Trevon Maley hit a trio of three pointers and his ability to shoot off the catch either moving or stationary is a major asset. And sophomore Isaiah King was a physical presence around the rim but also showed his ability to shoot and score from all three levels. King’s insane vertical when attempting to block a corner three was on full display too and if you’ve ever seen him play before you know he can get up.
The Hawks beat the Warriors 53-31 and advanced to Saturday night’s championship game where the ultimately lost a great battle against the Northside Lions (ranked 8th nationally), 71-69.
Newcomer (22), King (19) and Reynolds (18) led the Hawks, who shot 53 percent from the field in the loss.
If nothing else, let this be my endorsement: the homeschool scene is alive and well in Northeast Indiana and is well worth your time to check out. These are mostly high level players who could compete on the varsity level anywhere in the OTH coverage area.
GAMES THAT WILL DETERMINE BOYS CONFERENCES
January 26 will see Wayne visit Bishop Luers. While Homestead‘s win Friday at North Side keeps them in the conference conversation with just one loss, this is the game that is on everyone’s radar. By this time next week, we won’t have a SAC champion but we sure will have a better idea.
On Saturday, in a win over Arthur Hill (Michigan), Wayne had three players post double doubles despite being led by Preston Comer’s 20 points and near double double with seven rebounds. Trey Dillard posted 18 points and 13 rebounds, Jevon Lewis had 18 points and 12 assists and Kharrington Terry had 12 points and 13 rebounds to go with six steals and three charges taken.
Also on January 26, Adams Central will go to Heritage for one of just two conference games remaining for them in the ACAC. Nobody really expects Adams Central to falter and their 74-43 win over Heritage just last week makes it seem like this game may be a layup for the Flying Jets. But it is the best bet of AC’s two remaining conference games for an opponent to make a crack.
Fairfield is just 4-0 in the NECC, so there are a lot of conference games left but getting by Westview again his week was massive. Angola on January 27 and Central Noble on February 23 stand out as two teams who are near the Falcons in the early standings. Can Fremont get any measure of revenge on February 9 for a NECC Tournament first half thrashing by Fairfield?
In a brief chance to talk about this here with the NECC, it was announced this week that Hamilton will leave the conference at year’s end. One of the charter members of the conference, Hamilton will head to the Hoosier Plains Conference beginning next school year.
Want to know what the NE8 could deliver down the stretch? East Noble‘s win over Leo on Saturday, while hitting nine three pointer could alter it. And after Columbia City beat Homestead by 19 in a non conference game earlier this week, their power may be at an all-time high. Check out Sam Frick’s newest column breaking down this crazy NE8 boys conference race.
OTHER GIRLS NOTES
On Tuesday, Macy Pries surpassed Lexi Dellinger as the all-time leading scorer in South Adams history with 25 points against Fort Recovery….On Wednesday, Southern Wells won their first conference game since the 2019-20 season, overcoming a 25-17 halftime deficit to beat Heritage behind Kenzie Paxson‘s 16 points and 11 rebounds….Eastside set a new program record this week, winning their 20th game of the season against Central Noble….On Friday, Makenzie Fuess became the 8th Norwell girls basketball player to hit 1,000 points for their career….Also this week, Norwell teammate Kennedy Fuelling became the 4th girls basketball player in Wells County history to reach 1,500 career points….Friday night, Khala Williams-Thomas of Northrop set a new high this season for any player (boys or girls) in single game scoring with 38 points in a win over Wayne….A massive win for the Snider girls on Saturday beating a 2-loss Northridge team behind 15 points from Tia Phinezy….Taylor Kneubuhler of Woodlan surpassed 1,000 career points on Saturday.
OTHER BOYS NOTES
Concordia overcame a 21-6 first quarter deficit and outscored New Haven 21-3 in the fourth quarter Tuesday to win 62-48….Canterbury went 3-0 in two days this weekend including picking up a pair of wins on Saturday….Northrop coach Shane Merryman got his first varsity head coaching win Saturday with a 60-41 upset of Central Noble, led by Jaxon Hughes‘ 21 points….A Cohen Bailey free throw was the difference for Norwell Saturday with 1.9 seconds left in a 50-49 win over New Haven….Isaac Smith of Blackhawk Christian joined the 1,000 point club with 26 points against Lakewood Park; his numbers include his scoring with the Braves and as a freshman with the Fort Wayne Hawks.
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