The Nancy Rehm Border Wars has long been one of the most fun events postseason in the area.
Yes, we get Indiana versus Kentucky All-Star games that are all the rage for the entire state. The junior All-Stars also get their stake in games and the recently added IBCA Futures Games finally have allowed for freshmen and sophomores who star around the state to get a big postseason platform to represent their schools.
But in Northeast Indiana, and Northwest Ohio for that matter, the Border Wars always provided a great end to the many high end players from the area that aren’t among the state’s elite having the opportunity to represent Indiana against Kentucky in the “big games.”
But Border Wars became less of an impactful event after years of being a marquee destination for players and fans. Some of the bigger players opted out on the Northeast Indiana side and even though the games and the day remained fun, there was certainly some watered down moments compared to the heyday of the contests. The Twitter page for the event has not been active since 2014, and for a variety of reasons, including COVID, the Nancy Rehm Border Wars took a four year hiatus before finally returning in 2023. Indiana won both games last season with Northrop’s Nevaeh Jackson and Norwell’s Luke McBride winning MVPs of the games.
Hosted at the Hutzell Athletic Center at the University of Saint Francis, the Border Wars are named in honor of the late Nancy Rehm, a former basketball player at Bishop Luers and Indiana Tech who was tragically killed in 1982.
The game again returns to USF this year, on Sunday, April 28 with a 2 p.m. tip time for the girls and 4 p.m. tip for the boys.
And the release of the rosters for Indiana for these two games should have any hoops fan in the area salivating.
It has been a long time since I feel like both the girls and boys rosters for Indiana in this game have been so loaded. The very best of the best in the senior class for Northeast Indiana are represented on these rosters. And that includes a couple Indiana All-Stars in Snider’s Jordyn Poole and Wayne’s Jevon Lewis. You don’t often get the crossover of players who battle Kentucky also stepping over to draw the line with Ohio. But here we are in the heart of it all and it is very exciting.
Joining Poole on the girls team will be Snider teammates Johnea Donahue and Ciara Sims, Class 2A state champion Bishop Luers’ Addie Shank and Annika Davis, Norwell’s Makenzie Fuess, Bellmont’s Hailey Cole, Columbia City’s Kyndra Sheets and Molly Baker, Northrop’s Lexi Castator, Homestead’s Emma Reust and Bishop Dwenger’s Giselle Eke.
On the boys side, Lewis will be flanked by Class 1A state champion Tucker Day (Canterbury), Jackson McGee (Leo), Jaxson Fugate and Eugene Young (North Side), Caleb Lehrman (Bishop Dwenger), Isaac Schultz (Adams Central), Cole Hayworth (Concordia), Nate Keil (Lakeland), Jaxon Pardon and Cannen Houser (Carroll) and Will Jamison (Homestead).
While the coaches haven’t been announced yet, it is fair to say that they will have their hands full just trying to break down lineup and substitution pattens. It is certainly a great credit to the people who put these teams together that there should be no real drop-off when any player comes or goes from the court. That isn’t easy to do and not only does it add to the chances of downing Ohio come April 28, but it will add to the excitement in the style of play that will take place.
Ohio, likewise, has no public announcement of their roster and while we trust that our mates to the east will come out with some fire power, these Indiana teams are so very loaded.
And it could make for a great resurgence of the Border Wars Sunday after the game reappeared last season. As a basketball fan, that is a great thing for the area as Border Wars was always a constant reminder that Fort Wayne and Northeast Indiana have some of the best basketball in the state no matter how much emphasis is put on Indianapolis and the 317 area. For many fans, that emphasis to central Indiana has been a sticking point so they should celebrate a Border Wars event that is reenergized and the rosters that Indiana is putting out this spring.
This spring’s event will be the 28th iteration of the Nancy Rehm Border Wars.
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Will the Border Wars games be televised or streamed?