Each Sunday, yours truly will take a look at some of the bigger stories and important notes of the week with a wrap up column.
This week, there were a lot of big games that mattered for area conferences, and at the same time, the ACAC and NECC teams were gearing up for their own conference tournaments this coming week – and stay tuned for previews of both of those tournaments.
So what did we miss? What do we need to recap for you of most importance?
GAINED AND LOST TOURNAMENT MOMENTUM
With the NECC and ACAC Tournaments both taking place next week, this was a big week to figure out momentum going into those events. Whether it was gaining momentum, finding momentum or maintaining momentum, each boys and girls team in those conferences were looking for something this week.
The Westview boys’ momentum hit a speed bump Tuesday at East Noble. The surging Knights were a problem for the Warriors, who struggled to get a lot of scoring depth against an East Noble defense that is steadily improving and peaking at the right time in games. Just four guys scored for Westview, but Kaden Grau did put up 24 of the team’s 53 points Tuesday. In East Noble’s first win over the Warriors since 2022, Kobe Ritchie scored 18 and Nathan Bowker added 17. NECC frontrunner Lakeland picked up an eight point win at West Noble on Friday.
At Garrett, the Railroader boys played their first two games of the new year, and while Hamilton on Tuesday wasn’t going to be much of a game of note, the battle between the Railroaders and Central Noble on Friday was important on the back end of a girl-boy double header. Garrett used a massive second half to pick up a 19 point win with 12 points each from Parker Reed, Kohen Smith and Carter Coffman. It sets up a really intriguing rematch Tuesday in the tournament with Angola. The Hornets are one of just two teams to beat Garrett this season and have won three straight after two straight losses, including Friday’s 17 point win over Prairie Heights. Freshman Niles Knox is leading the Hornets charge right now with 15.6 points and 7.6 rebounds per game.
While the Eastside girls may not have needed momentum per say, it was important for them to bounce back from their first loss of the season strong and they did so Wednesday. Paige Traxler scored 22 points while Sydnee Kessler and Lily Kreischer each added 16 in a 62-48 win over county rival DeKalb. Perhaps their top challenge in the NECC Tournament, Fairfield, picked up a 53-38 win over Garrett to start the week with Mykayla Mast scoring 17. Saturday in their rescheduled game from Friday’s snow cancellation, it was Eastside who overcame an early deficit to topple Fairfield in the afternoon behind 13 points from Taylor Mack and 13 out of Kessler. Mack, who has been a nice piece for the Eastside girls, looked sensational all game on both ends of the court and her scrappiness was on full display heading into the conference tournament. Eastside is now 16-1 and 7-0 in the NECC.
Central Noble‘s run to beat the Garrett girls Friday can help their momentum too. After trailing by 15 points, the Cougars rallied behind 12 points from Abby Pliett to close out a win in front of a solid road crowd.
In the ACAC girls realm, Jay County lost to Concordia on Tuesday and again to Bluffton on Friday, hurting their momentum in trying to defend their title next week. Woodlan met that energy a little bit, also falling on Tuesday, 51-41, to Lakewood Park but bounced back in a major way on Thursday with a 73-49 win over Blackhawk Christian.
The regular season in the ACAC also doesn’t matter anymore as Bluffton locked up their first ACAC title in program history with Friday’s win over Jay County. Konley Ault scored 15 points and gave out 11 assists while Isabella Stout scored 23 points. The win ends Jay County’s run of four straight ACAC regular season titles.
On the boys side of the ACAC, it was Jay County and Woodlan making things more interesting with wins Saturday. The Patriots beat Adams Central 62-49 despite 27 points from Trace Maller; instead it was Eli Petro with 16 and Gradin Swoverland with 14 that paced Jay County to what you could call and upset. With up and down Woodlan picking up a win over Bluffton, it leaves Heritage in first in the conference alone after their win over Southern Wells.
ADDISON BAXTER DOES IT ALL
On Tuesday, Addison Baxter threw a skip pass from the wing to the opposite corner, hit Columbia City teammate Laney Ziliak with a great set up pass, allowing Ziliak to knock down a three pointer. It looked like just a simple play in the Eagles’ domination of Carroll. But what it was happened to be the 441st assist of Baxter’s high school career, something that made her the program’s all-time leader in the category.
The previous record of 440 was held by 1998 graduate Marissa Cook.
Baxter finished the game with 10 assists (to go with 23 points) and moved her career mark to 447 assists by the end of Tuesday’s win. With as much scoring as Baxter does and with how incredibly her defense stands out – she had 6 steals in that same game – it can get lost on how intelligent and effective that Baxter’s passing prowess is. As she sets her sights on big things for the remainder of her senior season, a record like this is huge.
The assist record is even bigger when you realize this: her 23 points on Tuesday moved her closer to Eagles legend Connie Myers for having the most career points in the program. On Friday in a loss to Bellmont, Baxter scored 26 to get her within 14 of the record. Baxter is inching closer to that and likely this coming week, she will have that record too. Holding the points and assists career records both is not easy, but Baxter just keeps proving she can do literally anything and everything on the court for Columbia City.
And yes, I know Columbia City lost to Bellmont this week, but this isn’t about that game, now is it?
SUDDENLY, WHITKO IS IN THE CONVERSATION
We don’t pay a ton of attention to the Three Rivers Conference at OTH, but we do have a couple “coverage area” teams in the conference and two of them battled it out on Tuesday with Whitko beating Wabash 74-53 and putting themselves in the TRC driver’s seat after sharing the conference title with Lewis Cass last season.
The Wildcats have been #10 in the last two OTH Girls Basketball Polls for the area, but it may be time to delve a bit deeper into what this group is capable of. We expected this one to be a barn burner for the top of the TRC and even though Brookelynn Buzzard and Kaitlynn Honeycutt got their buckets against Whitko, the Wildcats are too deep and too strong for the TRC right now.
Adriyanna Phillips scored 21 in the win to lead three Wildcats in double figures with 14 of her points coming in the opening half against Wabash. Jayma Stonebraker added 19 points and Reese Stonebraker had 16 points in the win. Whitko hit 10 triples in the game and really set things on fire, beating Wabash in each of the four quarters. Whitko plays just one senior of note in Phillips and will have a lot back next year to continue this growth that coach Justin Jordan has instilled.
On Saturday, Whitko outscored Rochester 12-2 in the final four minutes of the game to win 49-35 and move to 6-0 in the TRC with three conference games left.
It makes Bounce feel like I wish we could see Whitko against some of the area elites in the NECC, ACAC, NE8 and SAC.
BEST OF THE NE8?
Who is the best boys team in the NE8 right now? It is hard to tell. New Haven and Columbia City each sit at 2-0 in conference play including a big win for the Bulldogs Saturday at DeKalb. That puts the Barons and Bellmont both at 0-2 while Norwell and Leo are both 1-1 after the Lions upended Norwell on Saturday behind a 19 point outing from Solomon Richard.
But it leaves two and a big two. Huntington North at East Noble was postponed Friday night and it stopped them from a second conference game each. The Vikings sit at 5-5 and haven’t put a consistent run of wins together yet, but have looked good when they do win behind the lead of Ethan Zahn and Titus Schultz. East Noble has struggled early with football injuries lingering but have turned a 1-5 start into a four game winning streak and they now too sit at 5-5.
But as much as Bounce would have loved to see them play Friday for some conference clarity, the matchup between seniors Ethan Zahn and Nathan Bowker could very well help establish the best player in the conference right now. Both are confident and make plays on both end of the court, but who has a bigger level of competitor in them?
Zahn threw more credibility to his game Saturday as the Vikings beat Southwood behind Zahn’s program record 42 points, done on 15 of 23 shooting. Zahn is a diverse guard with such a high scoring upside.
Meanwhile, the Knights – even with Mason Treesh and Landon Swogger back in the lineup – have used Bowker’s high scoring output to get four straight wins. Bowker is also so well rounded as a player but as the Knights have needed an offensive boost, he has been the one to put the ball in the basket at a high rate, nearly averaging 20 points per game in the process.
We don’t know who the best team in the NE8 is yet, but I’ll be the one to say it, we need East Noble versus Huntington North to establish who the best player is.
MORE GIRLS NOTES
Norwell‘s Vanessa Rosswurm continued her tear scoring with 28 points on Tuesday in a 10-point win over Carroll; she added 11 rebounds and 6 steals….On Tuesday, Concordia picked up a nice 53-49 win over Jay County Tuesday despite Alivia Bolinger still out injured for an unknown amount of time. Sydney Blackwell led the Cadets with 16 points….In Wednesday’s win over Carroll, Columbia City saw Addison Baxter record 6 steals, while Anisa Tonkel added 5….Lakeland‘s win on Tuesday night was their first over a team with a winning record since February 3, 2023’s Sectional semi-final….Ava McGrade scored 50 points over two games Tuesday and Thursday, with 26 in Tuesday’s Lakewood Park win over Woodlan and 24 on Thursday in a win over Bethany Christian….Bellmont held Columbia City without a single made three pointer Friday; the Braves’ Ashley Bleke scored 25 points in the win….Reese Rhodehamel hit a buzzer beater Friday for Bishop Luers to top Concordia; she finished with 17 points.
MORE BOYS NOTES
With his performance on Saturday, January 4, Manchester’s Gavin Betten is now the highest scoring boys’ basketball player in Wabash County history as he reached 1,696 points that night. He’s 2nd overall (boys and girls) behind Wabash Apache legend Kayleigh Hensley….Leo‘s Landon Ruoff posted a career best six blocks Tuesday in a win over Canterbury….On Tuesday, Garrett tied program record with 13 scorers in their win over Hamilton; that mark matches the previous record from January 5, 2021….Bishop Luers freshman Jayden Moore had a career high 13 points to lead the Knights in a win Tuesday over Churubusco; the Knights had 23 steals, led by 4 from Keyon Crowe….Snider overcame a 15 point first half deficit Tuesday to beat New Haven behind 18 points each from Ketron Paschall and Qualyn Clopton….Warsaw ended Friday’s win over Northridge on a 14-2 run to win 64-59. The Raiders were the #3 ranked team in Class 3A coming into the game. Warsaw’s Brandt Martin scored a career high 27 points in the win….In two games this weekend (Friday/Saturday), Snider‘s Xavier Wilson scored 45 points combined….Ethan Hendrix of Manchester scored a career high 31 points Saturday in a 72-30 win over Cass.
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
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