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, the girls went into the Regional round and the boys provided some really fun games both in and out of conference.
REGIONAL CHAMPS
In Class 2A, Eastside used a 13-2 second quarter to pull ahead and away from Andrean to win 39-27. The Blazers won just the second and fourth quarters, but the combined 23-7 in those quarters was the catalyst in their win. Lucy Kitchen led the low scoring affair with 11 points. Also in 2A, Whitko secured their first ever Regional title with a 53-44 win over Bremen. Jayma Stonebraker led the way with 16 points and added seven assists in the win; Reese Stonebraker had 14 points and seven rebounds while Ally Brown also had seven boards for Whitko.
In Class 3A, Norwell toppled conference foe East Noble 72-48 after outscoring them 29-2 in the opening quarter. The rest of the way, East Noble outscored Norwell 46-43 but the 14 three pointers made by Norwell were a lot to try and overcome; 10 of those triples came in the first half. Vanessa Rosswurm led Norwell with 30 points and five steals; Norwell had 18 steals as a team. Ashley Waldman scored 18 to assist Norwell; Addison Deming and Averi Amstutz each scored 11 to lead East Noble.
Elsewhere in 3A, Columbia City continued their dominance with a 73-29 win against Lowell. Addison Baxter had 25 points on 9-of-11 shooting and flirted with a triple double for Columbia City. Baxter added nine rebounds, eight steals and five assists in the win while Torah Holler followed her with nine points.
In Class 4A, Warsaw continues to set themselves apart as a state title contender. The Tigers saw Brooke Winchester hit 1,000 career points in the first quarter of their 53-43 win over a very good South Bend Washington team. Winchester (16 points, 10 rebounds) and Joslyn Bricker (19 points, 12 rebounds) reach registered double doubles for the Tigers in the win. It was Warsaw’s first Regional title since 2013.
While Northeast Indiana had a lot of Regional success on Saturday, some other teams fell short and ended their seasons. Homestead dropped a 65-48 game to unbeaten Hamilton Southeastern, who are now 26-0. Myah Epps led Homestead with 18 points. For Homestead, coach Rod Parker was looking for win #450 for his career in Saturday’s Regional title game, that will now have to wait until next season. Parker has now coached Homestead to postseason titles in 11 of the last 12 seasons and 12 times in the past 15 seasons.
Snider dropped a 45-41 game against a really good McCutcheon team. The Panthers’ season ended in part due to McCutheon’s 19-12 third quarter. Zy’ann Phinezy led the Panthers with 17 points in the loss and Janaya Cooper had a co-game high 11 rebounds. Fremont only hit one three pointer in the second half and went 3-of-19 from deep for the game as they fell 41-36 to Elkhart Christian. Mya Turner led the way with 12 points and Grace Scharlach scored eight in the loss.
SEMI STATE SCHEDULES
We have five area teams that will play Saturday with their sights set on getting to a state title game at Gainbridge Fieldhouse. The trek won’t be easy though as again this season, the semi state round is two games, with one in the morning and one at night if they can capture a win in the morning game.
In Class 4A at Frankfort, Warsaw is in the second game (noon) as they put their 24-1 record on the line opposite McCutcheon, who just ousted Snider this past weekend. In the other 4A morning game, 26-0 Hamilton Southeastern plays 19-7 Valparaiso.
In Class 3A, NE8 foes Norwell and Columbia City could meet for a title Saturday night at Huntington North. Norwell (20-6) will play Delta at 10 am while the Eagles (23-4) battle a 15-10 Highland team at noon. The championship game will be played at 8 pm.
In Class 2A, the area will have a team playing in the semi state title game at 8 pm at Logansport. Who will that be? Whitko and Eastside do battle at 10 am with the winner going to the night game to face the winner of Sheridan and Rensselaer Central.
A CASE FOR TIEBREAKERS
Heading into Friday night, four teams had the chance to share a part of the conference title. Yes, it was feasible for half of the teams in the NE8 to share the crown. New Haven played their part earlier in the week with a big win over Huntington North behind 19 points from Jamal Lawrence. It set up a scenario for 5-1 Columbia City to visit 4-2 Leo and 5-1 New Haven to visit 4-2 East Noble.
East Noble rode a hot streak of five straight wins into Friday night, including a win Tuesday at Bishop Dwenger where Ryker Quake hit seven three pointers on his way to 23 points, while Nathan Bowker added 18. But on Friday, it was all New Haven as Jadrien Ezell scored 21 points and was joined in double figures by Tarvar Baskerville (19), Jamal Lawrence (16) and DeMarcus Wright (14). New Haven shot 61 percent from the field in the win as they captured their first conference title since 2016.
Elsewhere in the NE8, Columbia City secured a big win at Leo with Landon Richmond scoring 25 points with 9 rebounds for the Eagles to capture a share of the title with New Haven, 66-61 over Leo. And while the day worked out that the NE8 split the title just two ways, the fact that it almost split it between half the programs in the conference seems like an issue.
The ACAC has a tiebreaker but one that wasn’t widely recognized correctly for years. But the conference is dialed in on it this season. Woodlan beat Southern Wells on Friday night to improve to 5-1 in the ACAC, a record that matched Bluffton’s final tally on the season. In previous seasons, there was a wide ranging thought that this meant the two teams shared the conference, but in fact the bylaws of the ACAC state that Woodlan is the sole champion based on their 56-40 head-to-head win over Bluffton on January 11. Therefore, Woodlan is the ACAC champion for the first time since 2017 and the 12th time overall.
The SAC has long used tiebreakers when applicable. In the case of the Wayne Generals, Friday’s win over South Side made sure that no tiebreaker mattered. South Side beat Bishop Luers in an upset earlier in the week (led by Demarcus Barr‘s 20 points) to make the path easier for Wayne. The Generals now sit at 8-0 in the SAC with Concordia still on the schedule, but no other team can catch them and Wayne is officially the SAC champions again. Outside of the win over South Side, Wayne also captured a big win against Homestead on Tuesday to help them to the crown. Preston Comer hits a three pointer with 5.2 seconds left on the road against Homestead to lift Wayne to a 63-60 win and push them towards that third straight conference title. They are the 4th three-peat winner of the SAC in the last 25 seasons.
In the NECC, there are no tiebreakers either. Westview is now 8-1 in conference after Friday’s win over Prairie Heights. Just Fremont sits in their way of a title and the Eagles are currently 1-7 in the NECC. Westview could still share the title with Angola, who is 6-1 in the NECC with Eastside (2/21), West Noble (2/22) and Lakeland (2/28) still up for the Hornets to play. In the event both teams ended up with a second conference loss, Lakeland and West Noble (both 6-2 in the NECC) could also still share a piece of the title.
OTHER BOYS NOTES
Solomon Richard beat the buzzer Tuesday as part of an 11 point night for the Leo senior to force overtime against Angola, but the Hornets came out on top 64-62 in the extra frame. Ryan Stuckey led the Hornets with 19 points and 10 rebounds while Angola tallied 18 offensive rebounds in the game, led by 6 from Stuckey and 4 from Tyler Ruple….New Haven got 15 second chance points in Tuesday’s win over Huntington North….Manchester‘s Gavin Betten scored 27 points Tuesday in a road win at Bluffton and on Friday he scored 29 to pass Kayleigh Hensley as the all-time leading scorer in Wabash County history, regardfless of gender….South Side used a buzzer beater to beat Huntington North Saturday despite 28 points from Viking Titus Schultz. Instead, South Side’s Zachariah Belcher led the way with 29 points on 12 of 15 shooting….Carter Coffman set a Garrett sophomore record with 34 points Friday in a win over Eastside; the victory gives Garrett 15 wins, their most in 21 seasons….Wayne‘s Trey Dillard surpassed 1,000 career points Friday….Warsaw captured a NLC conference title on Friday with a win over Plymouth….Angola went to overtime for the 6th time on Saturday with a 59-55 win over Bellmont; the Hornets are 4-2 in overtime this season.
OTHER GIRLS NOTES
Monday’s Sectional finals remaining led to some big single game performances. Homestead got 30 out of Gabby Helsom in their win, Fremont was led by Addy Parr (20), Grace Scharlach (18) and Mya Turner (14) as they beat Blackhawk Christian, and Snider saw Saniah Sandlin score 16 and Janaya Cooper add 13 as the Panthers won their fourth straight Sectional title….The Fort Wayne Hawks girls won a state title on Saturday. The homeschool team beat the Northside Lions 49-47.
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