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.
And while the frigid…and I MEAN FRIGID…weather slowed some things and kept some games from happening at all, or at least delayed, there was a lot of really good basketball this week as the girls season is now down to just one more regular season week.
WORTH THE HYPE
Tuesday’s game between Homestead and Warsaw girls was one of the most hyped up games in recent memory and for good reason with the two teams coming in a combined 36-2 and neither of those losses belonging to Warsaw. A good battle of two state ranked teams? I’ll take it.
And as close as the game was, Homestead’s ability to get out front early was a major difference. The Spartans jumped up 23-14 after one and there were times in that quarter and early in the second that, as an onlooker, you expected things could go south. But Warsaw was too good for that and although they ultimately couldn’t chip away enough and Homestead won 67-55, the Tigers were full spirited throughout the game. Gabby Helsom pulled within seven points of the 1,000 mark for her career with a game high 25 and Myah Epps added 19 for Homestead. On the flip side, Brooke Winchester went wild with 24 points and 21 rebounds, including eight on the offensive end to help keep Warsaw ticking.
Warsaw’s inability to knock down the three haunted them, both early and then as they were trying to get back into the game. The sharpshooting team went just 3-of-17 from deep and while Homestead didn’t make a much bigger mark from downtown (4-of-19), it is an area that Warsaw leans on alot. Considering Homestead’s first two baskets were threes from Helsom and Whitney Ankenbruck, that put a little more pressure on the Tigers to hit. Back to back early baskets from Helsom and Delaney Noll put Homestead up 17-10 and they never really looked back even as Warsaw kept the chase alive. The Tigers cut it to 29-25 but the Homestead transition offense pulled them back away to close the half with Brooke Zartman and Joslyn Bricker held scoreless for Warsaw in the opening half.
That Homestead defense continued to frustrate in the second half and there just wasn’t a comfort zone for Warsaw, who only got as close as three points in the second half.
WRAPPING UP TITLES
On the girls side, it being the last week before the Sectional draw, it meant that championship races either came to a conclusion or got us down to the important last details.
Homestead will play Northrop on January 30 with the SAC title on the line. The Spartans are 8-0 in conference while the Bruins are 7-1. It is as simple as this: a Homestead win gives them a perfect conference season while a Northrop win would have the teams with the same conference mark, but the Bruins would then win the tiebreaker and have the title to themselves. The SAC comes down to the final game of the regular season.
Bellmont had a defensive battle Friday night to beat Huntington North 32-28 and clinch at least a share of the NE8 behind Gwen Laurent‘s two free throws to clinch the game with 10.3 seconds left. It is the first time that Bellmont has had part of the conference title since 2019. On January 31, Bellmont will host Leo and a win will give them the conference outright. Columbia City still has a shot, but needs Bellmont to lose that game and get a win over their own that same night against New Haven. So the NE8 comes down to the bitter end in the final week of the regular season.
In the NECC, that meant that Tuesday was critical when Fairfield handed Central Noble their first conference regular season loss, 55-48, after jumping out early with a 14-9 first quarter. The Falcons were led by 21 points from Eva Herbert, who shot 7-of-9 from the field in the win, while adding seven rebounds and four assists; Madison Jones and Mykayla Mast added 15 points each. Senior Kierra Bolen led the Cougars with 17 points while hitting five three pointers. More importantly, the Fairfield win put Eastside in the driver’s seat for the conference title. Eastside did their work Wednesday with a 68-32 win over West Noble, led by 24 points from Lily Kreischer to set up Friday’s game with Central Noble, where Eastside jumped up 29-6 at halftime before taking home the win behind 16 points from Kreischer. With Fairfield’s upset loss to Westview on Friday, the Blazers are the outright NECC Conference Champions; this is the first time in Eastside history they have won the NECC Conference and the Conference Tournament in the same year and it is their first NECC regular season title since 1992.
Bluffton girls locked up an outright ACAC title on Saturday with an 86-22 win over Heritage. The win was led by Isabella Stout‘s 24 points.
In the NLC, the Warsaw girls wrapped up their 4th straight NLC title with Saturday’s 79-27 win over Concord. The win was also Warsaw’s 29th straight NLC win. Brooke Winchester had 22 points and 10 rebounds, marking her third double double of the week. Winchester averaged 24.3 points and 15.3 rebounds during the week with 24/21 in a loss to Homestead and 27/15 in a win over Eastbrook.
In the TRC, Wabash‘s win Saturday over Northwestern was led by 19 points from Brookelyne Buzzard. Despite falling in overtime to Northfield on Saturday, Whitko will share the TRC title with Wabash.
THE WARSAW WAY
Yours truly took in some Warsaw boys basketball in person on Saturday and I will tell you, I was smitten.
We all know the Tigers are good, that is something that isn’t even in question. But while North Side was able to find ways to challenge the Warsaw defense, the game wasn’t in much question for most of the way. Once it was double digits, it never got close again even if there was an ebb and flow between a 10 and 20 point lead.
Luke Bricker was fantastic shooting the basketball, hitting five of seven three pointers and keeping North Side off guard with his range. Brandt Martin proved the most incredible in ways because he just seemed to do a bit of everything and be a bit of everywhere. Martin finished with 22 points and five rebounds. While Warsaw shot 53.1 percent from the field, that lead scoring duo shot 17-of-26 combined for just over 65 percent.
Watching the Warsaw offense was fascinating. Everything was done with purpose and the precision of the play, no matter who was on the court was a lot of fun to watch. Carson Gould (11 assists) did a tremendous job at getting the offense flowing with everyone from Bricker and Martin to Robbie Finlinson, Mydin Burgher and Sam Lara following suit.
Warsaw is now 14-3 and on an eight game winning streak ahead of a big showdown with NorthWood later this week.
A HOMESCHOOL CHECK IN
With the season winding down, it is always important for Bounce to check in on the homeschool circuit in the area. With their win Thursday against Mishawaka, the Fort Wayne Hawks have improved to 19-6 on their season. The Hawks have now won eight of their last nine games and their win over Mishawaka was led by Trevon Maley‘s 32 points and eight rebounds, while shooting 70 percent from three in the contest. Maley’s prior two games were both double double performances. He is averaging an 18.9 point, 10.2 rebound double double on the season and has just four games where he has hit less than two three pointers and four games where he has hit five or more.
The Hawks are also getting 17.3 points per game from fellow senior Gavin Reynolds and a third senior, Isaiah Krawczyk, is averaging 12.5 points per game.
On the girls side of the homeschool world, the Fort Wayne Guardians topped South Adams Thursday, 42-38, in a rare homeschool against IHSAA game. The Guardians beat out the Starfires 16-3 in the second quarter and 7-3 in the final quarter after South Adams tied it at the end of three.
MORE GIRLS NOTES
Wednesday’s game between Bluffton and DeKalb was the first time the two teams met since the 1988-89 season, when the two were part of the now-defunct NEIAC. Bluffton’s 58-39 win on Wednesday gave them their first ever win over DeKalb (1-10)….Bellmont‘s Kaitlyn Barton had a career high 17 points Wednesday in a win over Garrett….Carroll‘s Jersey Paul scored 28 points in Friday’s win over South Side to join the program’s 1000 point scorer club, becoming the 5th Charger girl to ever do so….On Friday, DeKalb‘s Abbie Harris hit her 39th three pointer of the season, the most ever for a Baron sophomore….On Friday, Lakeland‘s Cara Schackow broke the program’s single season blocks record….Homestead‘s Gabby Helsom hit 1,000 career points Friday….Lakewood Park’s Ava McGrade scored 30 Saturday to move into the Top 10 in DeKalb County scoring all time; she is 4th amongst girls players….Addy Parr joined the Fremont 1,000 point scorer club on Saturday….On Saturday, Addison Baxter tied the Columbia City single game assist record with 13 in a win over DeKalb….Bluffton‘s Isabella Stout reached 1,000 career points Saturday, the 6th player to do so in program history; she had 31 points in the game.
MORE BOYS NOTES
Leo‘s Sol Richard scored a season high 27 points Saturday in a big conference win over East Noble….Angola boys played their fourth overtime game of the season Friday, losing to DeKalb 71-67 behind 21 points from Zeke Penrod; Angola is 2-2 in overtime with a triple overtime win over Woodlan and a double OT victory on Fremont, with single overtime losses to Garret and the Barons….Central Noble‘s Colt Kirkpatrick took his 15th charge of the season Friday in a win over Eastside….Bishop Luers‘ Danny Kelly had 5 blocked shots in Friday’s win over Bishop Dwenger….Former Northrop standout Jalen Jackson scored 28 points for PFW Saturday, the 3rd most points scored in the college’s Division 1 history.
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