Let’s take a look at the NE8 boys basketball race as we are at the halfway through that conference’s season.
Back on December 16, East Noble (8-6) opened their season with a 59-56 win over Columbia City (11-6). Three weeks later, we witnessed one of the craziest 24 hours of NE8 hoops in the conference’s history. First off, the January 5 game at Huntington North resulted in the Vikings (4-11) coming away with a 58-43 win over East Noble. On the next night, both Columbia City and Norwell (8-6) came away with dramatic and somewhat surprising results.
The Eagles’ Nest witnessed an excellent game that needed a Bryce Drew play in 1.3 seconds to set up Aiden Denning’s game-winning 3 at the buzzer to beat Bellmont (12-3) 57-54. Not too long after, Norwell came back to win at the Castle 69-63 in two overtimes over Leo (7-6).
So you would think the madness ends there? Not even close. Just last week, Norwell went into the Teepee only to the see the Braves knock off their rivals 51-45. Plus, did I mention that a snowstorm moved the DeKalb-East Noble game to Feb. 17, which normally the conference season would have already been finished by now. That means if either team is still mathematically alive for an NE8 title, that game could have massive implications.
Saturday night (January 20), the wildness of the NE8 took it to a whole another level. East Noble, having played their first game in over two week, went into Leo and beat the Lions 69-54 led by Nathan Bowker’s 21 points and four triples.
Also this past weekend, Columbia City held on to beat DeKalb (5-7) in a defensive slugfest 35-31, while Norwell needed a 4-point play from Cohen Bailey with 1.9 seconds left to beat New Haven 50-49. Led by Jack Scheumann’s 25 points, Bellmont continued their winning ways with a 62-50 win at Huntington North.
So after this wild synopsis of the 2023-24 NE8 boys basketball season, how do I think the rest of the conference race shapes out? Well, for starters I think it’s worthy to note the 3 teams that now sit at 3-1: Bellmont, Columbia City and 2-time defending NE8 champ Norwell.
Out of these 3 teams, Bellmont has been the most consistent team despite not necessarily having the biggest names when it comes to talent. Truth be told, they’re simply a great team, and most teams great teams don’t always need flashy names.
Scheumann would perhaps be the closest to that, but nevertheless it’s been their defense and selfless basketball that have helped the Braves get to an excellent start. Bellmont has not won a conference boys basketball title since 2004-05 as a NHC school. Bellmont still has two games against Leo and East Noble, and a road trip to DeKalb.
Behind them, Columbia City in my opinion is the closest that we have seen up to this point that’s starting to round into championship form at maybe the best time. After an up-and-down start to the season, the Eagles have won 4 in a row, thanks in part to timely scoring from a talented roster led by Matthew Mulligan and Brady Hartman. Mulligan in particular is averaging over 20 points per game in his last 4 games and shooting 66% from 3 (12-18).
The Eagles can be a tough one to forecast just because of how their season has went, but this roster has all kinds of talent and defensive pressure to beat anyone. Getting past Beasley Ball and the DeKalb Barons was a big win for the Eagles. Much like what happened with Norwell, a home game against New Haven can be a trap card for Columbia City if they don’t play their best basketball because of the Dawgs athleticism and talent.
They still have a difficult road trip to Norwell, which as we know the Castle is one of the toughest places for road teams to win every year (boys and girls). And after going to Norwell, they end their conference slate with a home game against a talented Leo team, which may or may not decide a title.
Speaking of Leo, the Lions have had their own roller coaster rides, especially in their last 5 games. After a 6-2 start, Leo lost 3 straight games by less than 7 points, including the loss at Norwell. Obviously, this is a veteran team led by Jackson McGee who leads the conference in scoring at 19 points per game and the Hiteshew brothers (Trey and Nolan). After a rough performance against East Noble, I must ask this question. Can they close out games or better yet play consistent basketball? That’s been their bugaboo for the last two seasons.
They have an even tougher road trip to Bellmont (who beat them last season), Whitley they will host DeKalb, before ending the conference slate at Columbia City against another dangerous team. Leo has a tough road ahead.
Norwell is a team that has surprised quite a few people but when you look at this program McBride’s teams always reload and play tough nosed basketball. While their numbers don’t look very Norwell-like, this is a good team that’s tested. Ashton Federspiel might be the best true big man in the NE8 this season averaging 18.9 points per game, and he has a solid cast around him with Adam McBride, Cohen Bailey and Cade Shelton.
Norwell has the toughest road to earn their first 3-peat. Norwell avoided a valiant effort from New Haven last night. Now, Norwell will have to enter the Big Blue Pit in Kendallville to take on the East Noble Knights, followed by a home game a week after against Columbia City. They end their NE8 slate with a road trip to Huntington North, which that’s already not an easy game.
Where things can get tricky is what happens with East Noble and DeKalb. Since both teams have a conference game in hand, they could add another wrench to this race. As a matter of fact, EN has already accomplished part of that feat against Leo. Both teams have seen their share of wins and losses.
East Noble and DeKalb have had great moments as well as some disappointing outcomes. EN in particular probably has the best chance to do something again in the conference, but they will need to stay healthy and will need to continue to improve defensively to become a tougher team over the next several weeks.
Between those two, DeKalb has the best player on the floor, Caden Pettis. However, we have no idea what is going to happen with DeKalb moving forward. They could have an inspiring game today and a underwhelming performance the next. It also doesn’t help that the Barons still have to play Leo, and Bellmont. The good news however is the Barons are hosting Columbia City and Bellmont, which DeKalb usually brings a pretty rowdy atmosphere for visiting teams. DeKalb’s next conference game is on Saturday Jan. 27 when they host Huntington North.
In conclusion, here’s where I see the NE8 moving forward, and I could be way off.
- Columbia City 5-2
- Bellmont 5-2
- East Noble 5-2
- Norwell 4-3
- Leo 3-4
- DeKalb 3-4
- Huntington North 2-5
- New Haven 1-6
1 Trackback / Pingback