The new greatest day of the basketball season is upon us. It was always the Regional round, but now that the semi state is a two game affair, it has to take the place of honor.
Three area teams across three different classes will attempt to advance to next weekend’s state finals at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. Can Northeast Indiana have another representative?
CLASS 4A AT LAPORTE
Can Homestead win this semi state?
Homestead has two semi state titles, in 2015 and 2017. Both of those teams were built differently than this one, including their 2017 state title team led by Miss Basketball Karissa McLaughlin. Those teams were significantly more senior led while this Spartan team is very young in comparison, headed mostly by sophomore star players. But that doesn’t mean that they aren’t experienced because the rigors that Gabby Helsom, Myah Epps, Whitney Ankenbruck, and others have gone through as underclassmen have been a lot more than many upperclassmen.
So can Homestead win this thing? Of course they can. Their depth has been an important part through this entire season and crucial during a postseason run through a tricky Sectional and through a dominating effort last week. They can go down their bench in the event of foul trouble or just off play and at the top, they have a variety of players who could go off on any given night. That allows for others to have off days or off games and there is still someone else of a very high level to step up. The return of senior Emma Reust has just made this team more dangerous across the board. Those four alone are better than the top 4 of almost any roster in the state.
They did not get the best draw of the semi state with Lake Central in the morning, but far from the worst one as well. This Homestead team is one of momentum. When they have an edge, mentally or otherwise early on, they are a team that can really string together a lot with momentum. When they are up, they rarely lose, with the Snider regular season game being a really rare example to the contrary. To get a convincing win early on against Lake Central could generate a lot of positive momentum for a potential and kind of expected rematch with Noblesville.
Projected winner: Noblesville
This Noblesville team is one that has incredible resiliency and we saw that on full display last week in a win over Snider, if those in Northeast Indiana were not familiar with it yet.
As mentioned above, a Homestead rematch in the semi state title game, which is basically the expectation, would be fantastic. The Spartans with so much momentum from a run to a semi state title game would be a tough one to compete against, yet Noblesville constantly answers the call too. If you were to seed this semi state, you’d actually seed it like this with Noblesville as a 1-seed and morning opponent Valparaiso at the number four spot. So the Millers get to open with the 19-7 Vikings who they already have a winner over this season; Valpo also has a loss to another semi finalist in Lake Central.
The Millers have five semi state titles to their credit with the last being in just 2022. They obviously have never won a two-game in a day semi state, but does that really matter? Nah. Led by senior Reagen Wilson (16.3 points per game), Noblesville has been one of the top teams in the state regardless of class all season and right now are probably the slight favorites to win the Class 4A state title. The real problem for both Valpo and any possible night opponent should be Meredith Tippner, a tenacious junior wing who gave Snider headaches in last weekend’s Regional. Tippner leads Noblesville in rebounding with 10 a game and also averages 3.4 steals. Her biggest weakness may be her free throw shooting but down the stretch against Snider she hit a monster 3 of 4 to help close out the game.
PREDICTIONS
This one is a simple projection for me because there are two teams who seem far and ahead. I will take both Homestead and Noblesville to come out of the morning with the Millers edging Homestead 54-50 in the title game.
SCHEDULE
10 am CT | G1: Homestead (23-4) vs. Lake Central (24-4)
12 pm CT | G2: Noblesville (17-8) vs. Valparaiso (19-7)
7:30 pm CT | Championship: G1 winner vs. G2 winner
CLASS 3A AT HUNTINGTON NORTH
Is it silly to overlook Norwell?
Bounce took some hits already for projecting on Monday that the Knights would lose the morning game of the semi state. And look Norwell faithful, I get it. It doesn’t mean confidence wanes in the Norwell girls or coach Eric Thornton because it doesn’t. There is just an abundance of over confidence in who Hamilton Heights has been all season. But more on that below; this is about Norwell.
While Hamilton Heights is going to be a really tough matchup, it may be what Norwell ultimately wants. Former Garrett coach Bob Lapdot put something in my head recently about Sectional draws that could apply here even though it is a two game in one day situation: would you rather have the hardest game first? with more time to prepare for it? Norwell has spent their week with all three of these teams in their mind by Hamilton Heights has undoubtedly been at the forefront and that likely isn’t the case if they are aa potential night game opponent.
And as much as there is thought that Norwell may not want Hamilton Heights first, make no mistake that the Huskies didn’t want Norwell first either. The Knights are arguably the favorite to win the state title in Class 3A right now and John Harrell’s stat machine even has them listed as such. Few teams can boast such high end scorers as Kennedy Fuelling and Makenzie Fuess and the two of them have made arguably the toughest duo in the state of Indiana this season. When you look at the continued development of players like Vanessa Rosswurm, this team is as stout as they come. There is a reason they won the conference that contained the one time top team in the state.
When Norwell gets hot, they are always the favorite and they’ve been built up and coached that way. Their entire program is tough and Bounce’s pick from early in the week doesn’t take away from this fact at all: Norwell could very well win the state title because they are so good and the biggest hurdle I see at this point is the morning game on Saturday. No overlooking the Knights here, because they will bite you as it could come back to bite me.
Projected winner: Hamilton Heights
Hamilton Heights has lost one game to a Class 3A opponent all year; yes, keep in mind that Norwell has lost to zero Class 3A opponents this season. They have won 14 straight games and have not lost in two whole months at this point. Their scoring is kind of out of this world led by one of the state’s most prolific scorers regardless of class and regardless of gender, Camryn Runner who is averaging 27 points per game this season. Runner is a tough matchup for everyone who comes her way and she has scored on everyone in her path. That means that yes, she will score on every defensive strength that Norwell has. But can the Knights slow her in the vital moments? And if they can’t early, does Bremen or NorthWood have a chance to do so in a night game?
Fellow senior Ella Hickok and junior Katie Brown are also really good scorers and those three plus senior Hadleigh Cherry combine to average 11.1 steals per game, one of the best defensive fronts in Class 3A. They have shown the ability to confront even the best of offensive backcourts. Whether it is Norwell’s Kennedy Fuelling, NorthWood’s Joselyn Edwards or Bremen’s Kila Foster, there is a good chance that Hamilton Heights could have an energetic defensive answer.
PREDICTIONS
I’ve already taken Hamilton Heights in the morning opposite Norwell, so I won’t go against that now but will clearly say that a win for Norwell wouldn’t shock me at all. In fact, I am going to go as far as to say that I think the winner of that 10 am game is the 3A state champion. NorthWood wins the other semi state semi final and then Hamilton Heights wins a 62-45 night game over the Panthers.
SCHEDULE
10 am ET | G1: Hamilton Heights (24-2) vs. Norwell (21-4)
12 pm ET | G2: Bremen (15-11) vs. NorthWood (20-6)
8 pm ET | Championship: G1 winner vs. G2 winner
CLASS 2A AT LOGANSPORT
This is what the SAC builds you for
Lapel, the morning opponent of Bishop Luers, may be the best equipped to give the Knights a run compared to the schedule that they play in just during the regular season. Every year, we talk about if the SAC is actually the best Northeast Indiana conference and while top to bottom the NE8 may have an argument against that this year, there is no doubting that the top of the SAC is very hard. Ask Bishop Luers, who had a heck of a time against those top teams but doesn’t iron really sharpen iron?
Lapel’s Laniah Wills (19 points, 12.8 rebounds per game) is the most SAC like player opponent on this Saturday for the Knights. The 6-foot sophomore is going to be a difficult challenge for Addie Shank on the interior in the morning game but is she better than some of the bigs that Shank has had to deal with all season? The Tia Phinezy’s and Destini Craig’s of the world really put you through the ringer and those type of players have made Shank so strong on the interior.
The same goes all around the board. There is no off night in the SAC often and the Knights have been strengthened by this. They were tough all year and it shows in close games like beating Columbia City in overtime or even their last three games against Bluffton, Whitko and Lafayette Central Catholic.
Projected winner: Bishop Luers
It is a common thread when you see what I am saying about the three area teams: depth…overall depth and depth at the very top. That is something that is rare to have at the very top and its probably why these are the three teams still playing from Northeast Indiana this weekend.
Last weekend, it was Miley Wareing who stepped up. Often it is Addie Shank at the top of the pile. Annika Davis has done it too, as has Reese Rhodehamel. And don’t ever count out Maggie Parent from making a quality impact. The Knights have girls who can flat out score with those first three mentioned all above double digits on average. Meanwhile, a below .500 Andrean team averages under 35 points per game and Lapel sees a major drop off after their two top scorers. Lewis Cass, who may have the next closest flex of depth has only one double digit on average scorer in Aftin Griffin. Experience matters too. Of the five double digit scorers per game on teams not named Bishop Luers, only one is a senior compared to two out of three for the Knights with Shank and Davis.
Luers will be looking for their 10th ever semi state title and their first since 2012.
PREDICTIONS
Another spot where the 10 am game could very well be the best because of the interior matchup. Luers edges Lapel early on while Lewis Cass is the team to end Andrean’s Cinderella run. In the night cap, it is again all Knights as they top Lewis Cass 43-36.
SCHEDULE
10 am ET | G1: Fort Wayne Bishop Luers (17-6) vs. Lapel (23-4)
12 pm ET | G2: Andrean (13-14) vs. Lewis Cass (22-3)
8 pm ET | Championship: G1 winner vs. G2 winner
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