Every other week, Outside the Huddle will break down the top 10 teams on the girls side. This will be the final power poll of the 2024-25 season as Sectional play begins next Tuesday.
#1 – HOMESTEAD (22-2)
The Spartans capped off their 7th SAC title in 10 years last Thursday with a dismantling of Northrop, which was their second closest conference game of the season. An 18-point win over Carroll was the closest game for Homestead in their perfect SAC season. Their only area loss came to Columbia City and of course that plays into what this season has been, but Homestead lost just once after that and have won 11 straight to end the regular season. They are beating their opponents by just under 25 points per game on average.
Why not higher?
Those tricky numbers, they don’t get better than 1.
#2 – WARSAW (21-1)
Warsaw has more games in the 90s or 100s scoring (3) than they have losses (1). Along the way to a 21 win season, the Tigers are winning by nearly 40 points per game on average and have been dominant with just one of their wins coming by single digits. On the flip side, Warsaw’s record season has seen them win games by 71, 79 and 84. And I don’t care who you are playing, that high scoring of an output is momenumental.
Why not higher?
Homestead beat them head to head.
#3 – BELLMONT (20-2)
The Braves closed out an outright NE8 title last Friday beating Leo in what was also their 20th win of the season. Bellmont last picked up 20 wins in 2018-2019 and coach Andy Heim now has at least 17 wins in each of his last nine seasons. Also on Friday, Emily Bleke joined Adams County’s historic list of 1,000 point scorers.
Why not higher?
They were beaten and badly by #1 Homestead. Sure that loss to Northrop looms a bit too.
#4 – EASTSIDE (23-1)
Eastside went unbeaten in the NECC for the first time ever and isn’t falling short of their title goals so far this season, winning both the conference tournament and regular season. The most impressive part of all of this has had to have been how they have done it with a deep roster of scorers and not a consistent one or even two people every game scoring big. They systematically pick opponents apart, finished the season on a nine game winning streak and their lone loss was by two points while their average margin over their opponents this season was around 27 points per game.
Why not higher?
There will always be the school of thought that their schedule was not as good as the three teams listed above them.
#5 – COLUMBIA CITY (19-4)
Finishing the season on their second five-game winning streak of the season, the Eagles have missed out on team titles so far this season, but it has been a banner year still, especially for Addison Baxter. The senior Butler commit is now Columbia City’s all-time leader in points and assists, meaning she has GREATLY contributed to the majority of the Eagles’ baskets in the past four seasons. They did pick up a banner win over Homestead this season and that is worth noting as they have won 19 or more games in each of the past four seasons.
Why not higher?
Four losses is four losses, with two of those coming to teams ranked above them here.
#6 – BLUFFTON (21-2)
At one point this season, Bluffton won 11 straight; they finished the season on a separate but similarly impressive eight game winning streak including closing out both the conference regular season and tournament titles. It has been an impressive showing for the Tigers, winning by an average of 36 points as they have dominated their way through this season. Coach Doug Curtis continues to prove he can win anywhere with this record season, marking the fourth time he has coached a team to 20 wins, doing so with three different programs.
Why not higher?
The ACAC was weaker than the SAC or NE8, plus the NE8 champs beat Bluffton. Also, their early season loss to East Noble is the worst loss for anyone in the top 6 on this list.
#7 – NORTHROP (15-8)
With win streaks of 8 and 6, there were plenty of times in this season where it looked like the Bruins were going to contend for being the best team in this area. In the middle of those streaks through they had three straight losses and they ended the season with losses to two teams ahead of them in this power poll. Northrop was a really strong defensive juggernaut with five times they held opponents to 32 or less points.
Why not higher?
8 losses is hard to ignore, even though they do have some impressive wins including over #3 Bellmont.
#8 – NORWELL (16-6)
Norwell never won more than four games in a row this season, but still were beating opponents by an average of 16 points per game. Vanessa Rosswurm popped off to be one of the best scorers and most diverse players in the area to lead the Knights. They had four losses against other teams in this area and they are all to teams higher on this list, but when Norwell was expected to show out, they certainly did getting to 80 points or more on four different occassions.
Why not higher?
Norwell was consistent all season, but couldn’t get over the hump in a lot of big games, including those higher on this list.
#9 – FAIRFIELD (17-6)
Nine wins in a row for the Falcons in the middle of the season were a big catalyst in pushing them throughout. They had a very good balance on this team, perhaps moreso than last season even. Eva Herbert was still really good, but Madison Jones’ uptick was one of the more interesting stories in the NECC this season. Despite falling short of actual titles, they were right in the picture for both the NECC regular season and tournament.
Why not higher?
The Falcon losses to Eastside are fine, but they had some other questionable losses including a late regular season loss to Westview.
#10 – WHITKO (17-4)
The Wildcats have won back-to-back TRC titles (or shared them anyway) and that is a long way from where they were before coach Justin Jordan took over in 2020-2021 when Whitko won just two games. Instead they have two straight 17 or more win seasons for just the second time in the last 25 years. Whitko won by 13 points per game on average and had no losses to teams with losing records; in fact one of their worst losses (85-60 to Northrop) was avenged a month and a half later with a five point win.
Why not higher?
Whitko’s only win against someone else on this power poll is over Northrop, a team that they also lost to this season.
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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