This isn’t one I have to write much or even really think about much in a regular season.
In Northeast Indiana, there really is a basketball reality of the “haves” and the “have nots.” Sure, there are always shades of gray, but the alignment is pretty solid. There are programs that are just going to win and there are programs that are just going to lose. All in all, it makes picking games at the beginning of the week a lot easier most of the time.
But not this year. Not the 2024-2025 season.
We can mark it back to December 4. That is the day that Wayne went to Leo to open their season and came up on the wrong end of the scoreboard 50-43. The Generals were without Trey Dillard, but Leo lacked Jaiyre Sampson, so let’s call it even, shall we?
“But Bounce, this is Leo. They are no scrubs.”
Nope, they are not. But Wayne came into the season kings of the castle in Northeast Indiana. And Leo, they graduated their top player and their coach retired. So it’s likely that nobody outside of that program thought that Leo was picking up a win. And if we left it at that, it was an upset and we move on. But Leo followed it up with a loss to Heritage, who had just lost to Garrett…the Railroaders then shortly went on to lose themselves to Angola. Hard to establish a hierarchy in the area that way, am I right? Speaking of Garrett, last weekend they lost a lopsided NECC Tournament title game to Westview, a team who lost to East Noble on January 7, just a couple of weeks after Garrett had beaten East Noble.
Needless to say, the area has been like the Wild West far more often than we are used to. And trust me, those above examples are not the only ones. As of this writing, just 10 teams in the four main area conferences are more than three games above .500, just six have double digit wins; those six teams are 6 out of 7 who are more than five games above .500 this season.
That leaves a lot of teams who are solidly in the middle; teams with something to prove and teams that can make waves. So here are Bounce’s five teams to watch the remainder of the season, because its been wild so far, why wouldn’t it continue to be?
WOODLAN
The Warriors sit at 8-6 as of press times and winners of their last five, including the ACAC Tournament title game last Saturday. So at 8-6, that means that before this run they were 3-6. That was a pretty nonsensical record for a Woodlan team with high expectations preseason.
That said, they have turned things around in the best of ways. Trey Yoder had a 33 point game during his ACAC Tournament MVP run and Oliver Adams was dominant in the post in the championship game win over Heritage. The team got their tournament title and are still in the race for a conference regular season title, so those losses that mostly came to strong teams, don’t really mean much in the grand picture. Woodlan plays a big one TONIGHT (January 24) against a Heritage team they just beat that could help them further into the ACAC title picture.
SNIDER
The Panthers had some injuries to deal with this season, but no excuses into what went into losing three of their first four and have them at 8-7 right now. They have won 4 of their last 6 including a win this week over a Heritage team that had been rolling. Snider’s biggest success out of this season so far is how they’ve added, sometimes out of need, to their offensive depth.
Xavier Wilson is arguably the breakout player of Northeast Indiana so far this season. His number, as of late, have been monstrous. His 14.7 points per game leads the Panther lineup and he has three 20 or more point games in his last four, with double digit scoring in 11 of the team’s 15 games this season. Wilson scored just 41 total points last season, which is equivalent to how many he has scored in his past three games this season, as of press time.
NEW HAVEN
Things were going to take a bit at New Haven to level out. New coach, a lot of new faces and some familiar ones with a higher expectation since the team is still very young. They sit 3-0 (as of press time) in the NE8 and have control over the conference if they can keep winning. A three game stretch in December is New Haven’s only time winning more than a single game in a row, but they also have a win over Leo and competed well with Bishop Luers.
The sophomore group is always going to be one to watch for the Bulldogs. Tarvar Baskerville and Lavell Ledbetter are a great tandem, but so too are juniors Jadrien Ezell and DaMarcus Wright. This is a team that is looking to have a good year but also has the ability to build for the future together and those things have been gelling pretty solidly so far.
EAST NOBLE
Last Friday, All-Conference senior Ryker Quake made his season debut with seven points in a win at DeKalb. This came just a few months after an ACL tear that very well could have been the end of Quake’s high school career. But instead, he worked hard to rehab and got back on the court to help the Knights, who have now won five of their last six and sit at 6-6 overall, as of press time.
The Knights had a hard time getting in the win column early with a slew of injuries and a lineup that was never consistent. Yet, senior guard Nathan Bowker was able to cut up some defenses and senior post Kobe Ritchie has flirted with a double double averages. The Knights were making pushes even though they weren’t winning so having Quake back in the lineup, as well as Mason Treesh and Landon Swogger (who both missed time with football injuries), means that East Noble can get right back into the picture of one of the area’s better teams down the strech.
FAIRFIELD
The Falcons sit at 5-5 going into tonight’s big contest against recent NECC champion Westview and this one is important in the NECC regular season as both teams sit with one conference loss and the loser may be out of title contention. It has been a long stretch for the Falcons, who have not won more than a single game in a row to this point this season.
A major bright point is freshman Parker Smith. The 6-2 guard is has a knack for creating opportunities in the lane, is extremely athletic with a smooth game, and has high energy. He has the ability to change the game in a lot of different ways and has been a constant force on both ends of the court. Fairfield’s remaining schedule looks like they could make a nice run into the postseason.
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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