The girls season is done. Well, not so much done but the regular season is over which means no more girls game picks weekly this season in the Picks from the Pond. We will check back in with the girls through postseason previews and yes, Bounce will be picking some games in the postseason outside of this weekly column.
But for now it is about the boys and a lot of conferences that are going to need some clarity soon, which means some important and big games are on the horizon.
Lets get into it.
LAST WEEK: 8-6 (4-1 Girls, 4-5 boys)
THIS SEASON: 130-60
BOYS GAMES
Homestead at Columbia City, Wednesday
For all of the interesting conference games this week for teams, this may be one of the best non-conference ones. A year ago, the Eagles shocked by dominating Homestead in this game. While the Spartans have been rolling in many ways, Columbia City has a load of momentum to carry into this week too. Expect this one to be very good. BOUNCE PICKS HOMESTEAD
Westview at West Noble, Thursday
First place in the NECC gets a look here as these two teams share the spot with Angola as of press time. One of them has to drop one here and conventional wisdom says Westview, who have won six straight since trading wins and losses to start the season. West Noble has been the conference’s surprise team and wins over DeKalb and Fairfield last week have them looking like a possible NECC challenger. BOUNCE PICKS WESTVIEW
Angola at Concordia, Thursday
Another non-conference game that has gotten increasingly more interesting with how Concordia has played. Will Schlegel has been piling up stats in literally every single category and it has opened up the conversation about how teams can guard him as one of the area’s biggest breakout players of the season. BOUNCE PICKS CONCORDIA
Westview at Blackhawk Christian, Saturday
You’ve got to like the scheduling for Westview this year, really testing themselves with out of conference opponents. It will be interesting to see sophomore Austin Schlabach in a number of potential guard matchups in this game. Blackhawk Christian has quietly established a 14-win start, tied with Homestead and Garrett for the most wins in the area, behind 15 each from Warsaw and Manchester. Westview is going to make this fun, but after beating Wayne last week, Blackhawk is clearly one of the top few teams in this area. BOUNCE PICKS WESTVIEW
Adams Central at Leo, Saturday
Adams Central has to be one of the oddest stories of the year. They dropped a tough one on Friday to Heritage with a bit of a wild ending in the Patriot come back. The next day, they dropped a quality Tipton team behind a 40 point outing from Trace Maller, the highest single scoring game in the area this season. Leo has to be careful to keep Maller out of the lane and off the free throw line if they want to take this one after a massive lost in the game last season between the two teams. BOUNCE PICKS LEO
Huntington North at New Haven, Saturday
Huntington North needs a win here to stay in the NE8 conversation, New Haven needs a win to keep leading the conversation. The Bulldogs have been very powerful, but certain styles have been able to slow them down enough to get things done cleanly against New Haven, including Columbia City just last week. The Vikings hit a skid with a pair of tough conference losses last week and they really can’t afford to do it again. BOUNCE PICKS NEW HAVEN
Bluffton at Heritage, Saturday
While Woodlan still controls things in the ACAC, the loser of this is really going to be on the far outside looking in with near no chance they will have a shot at the conference title. It is an interesting dynamic between these two teams with them both riding big closing minutes and moments wins last week to bolster their seasons. Home court may be the big thing here. BOUNCE PICKS HERITAGE
Woodlan at South Side, Saturday
No conference implications here, but a win for Woodlan would do wonders to show they are back moving fast even outside of the ACAC. Trey Yoder has faced a lot of tests this season, but an interior battle with Zachariah Belcher of South is one of the more anticipated ones. South Side has a lot deeper of a front line, but Yoder provides such a unique problem for them. This is going to a diamond in the rough this week. BOUNCE PICKS SOUTH SIDE
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