High school basketball is officially in full swing, though it will take a couple of weeks to get into a full swing.
Some girls teams didn’t even play this week, others had their schedules disrupted by high school football Sectional finals, and the boys will tip off practice next week officially with their games starting the week of Thanksgiving.
But there were some games on the slate this past week so Bounce wanted to talk about a few early season items.
Each Sunday, you can find Bounce’s wrap up of some key moments in the week gone by.
OPENING NIGHT STATEMENTS
OTH’s #1 ranked team, Homestead, was of course one of the first teams to get going with a game on Tuesday. It was the first night of any area teams play so it makes sense that the Spartans were in action and perhaps even better, they opened conference season already after a trip to Wayne, 65-14. Myah Epps paced the Spartans with 16 points. Eva Scarbeary had a breakout performance as a steal and score ace for the Spartans.
Another top area team, Norwell, also opened things up smoothly on Tuesday with a 67-14 win over Tippecanoe Valley. The Knights tallied 17 steals in the win, headed up by five from Alivia Green and four from Haley Williamson, while Addison Norris had six assists. The usual suspects got involved heavily too as Vanessa Rosswurm scored a game best 22 points to go with four rebounds and four assists, while Macie Saalfrank scored 18. Norwell scored 22 unanswered points at one point during the contest and held the Vikings to just three made shots in the second half.
Angola stole the show a bit on opening night with their 54-47 win over Concord. That came, in part, from the shooting display of Kendall Vanderwal (19 points, three 3’s) and Stella Stockamp (16 points, three 3’s); it was the first game at Angola for Vanderwal, a transfer from Ohio. Kendall Holman anchored the middle for the Hornets, registering six blocks. It also marked the first win for new head coach Caela Walker.
Bishop Dwenger opened the coach Kyle Bond era with a 56-37 win at Churubusco. Maitlyn Johannsen led the way for the Saints with 14 points.
Fremont topped South Bend St. Joe, 66-62, to open their season behind 21 points each from Grace Scharlach and Mya Turner, while Hailey Heller added 13 points.
But lets bury the lead on opening night! Warsaw at Snider was the big game and one of the biggest of the week. The Panthers held the edge in a fun opening half, 25-21, topping the defending Class 4A state finalist in both of the first two quarters. Warsaw struck back in the second half, just enough, to win 51-47 on the road. Both teams struggled from the field in the opening game, but that had to do too with tough defenses. Joslyn Bricker lead Warsaw with 22 points, going 14-of-16 from the foul line; Reagan Huss added 11 for the Tigers.
Snider was paced by, who else, Janaya Cooper as she put on a fine display of her growth since we last saw her on a high school court in February. She finished with 20 points for the Panthers, including an eight point fourth quarter.
A NEW IDENTITY
A new year really means a new identity for a lot of teams that moved on from key players or made coaching changes.
Thursday brought us the first big game with teams who in search of that new identity facing off against each other when Columbia City battled Carroll. The first half was incredibly close as Carroll took a two point lead out of the first quarter, with the teams tied at 23 at the half. Columbia City came out swinging after that however, outscoring the Chargers 25-9 in the third to hold the lead for good and win 54-44. Anisa Tonkel stepped into the primary role for Columbia City in their opener with 15 points to lead seven different scorers. For Carroll, who lost Jersey Paul to graduation and Cala Haffner to volleyball, got a game high 20 points from Lily George.
Lakewood Park opened an era without all-time great Ava McGrade and with a new coach in Andrew Evertts with a win, 41-27 on Thursday against Churubusco. The balanced offensive effort saw Gracelyn Martin lead the way with 11 points while the Panthers got seven points each from Riah Johnson, Luca Bontrager and Hannah Jacquay. Bontrager picked right back up where she left off defensively in her freshman season with five steals to open her sophomore campaign. If Bontrager’s growth last season is any indication, a start like this means major things for the Panther underclassman. On Saturday, Martin scored a career best 22 points for the Panthers as they beat Randolph Southern at Hoosier Gym
Eastside is a team we know to be high up in the area and the NECC, but there were still questions on who will rise to the occasion to replace a lot lost to graduation. They got their first look at that on Thursday in a quality win over Concordia, where senior Adelaide Elden scored a game high 21 points. Seven different Blazers scored as Eastside raced out to a 15-9 first quarter lead and a 29-11 lead at the half. While we still expect the Blazers to see a variety of lead scorers, Elden inserting herself so loudly into the conversation early throws a lot of intrigue her way.
In another game of new identities being built, Garrett opened the coach Wade Hantz era on Wednesday and led Woodlan 22-17 at halftime, before ultimately falling to the Warriors 49-36. Sarah DePew had 17 points, 13 rebounds and three steals in the loss for the Railroaders. Woodlan countered with seven different scorers, which is one more player than Garrett even played in the game. The Warriors saw Alyssa Anderson post double double number one of her season with 13 points and 10 rebounds, while Savannah Scheumann added 10 points.
THE FIRST BIG GAME
For an opening week, there were a lot of fun games on the girls basketball side, but Saturday’s showdown with defending Class 3A champion Norwell and defending Class 4A runner up Warsaw was probably the top game in the state.
Warsaw jumped out to a 16-11 lead after the first quarter and never looked back, despite outscoring Norwell by just three in the second half of the 69-55 win. Things just clicked for the Tigers, who hit 47.3 percent of their shots, including going 15-of-30 in the first half. The Tigers were deadly from downtown in the game, hitting 13 three pointers, including 5 from sharpshooter Brooke Zartman and three each from Joslyn Bricker and Reagan Huss. Bricker led the Tigers with 25 points, 7 rebounds and 7 assists.
Norwell shot just 35.9 percent on the night and only managed five total three pointers as a team. Vanessa Rosswurm and Macie Saalfrank did continue their strong early scoring work with 28 and 15 respectively. Rosswurm averaged 24 points per game in three games over the first week of the season (22, 22, 28).
On December 22, the two teams could meet up again in the Hall of Fame Classic in either the championship or consolation game. Warsaw opens that day with Evansville Central, while Norwell plays Plainfield. Warsaw has now won the last two games in the series, with Norwell winning the two meetings prior to that.
QUICK HITS
Outside of the area, but of note on Tuesday, Lapel‘s Laniah Wills opened her season with a 44 point, 15 rebound game against Greenfield-Central….Fremont‘s Grace Scharlach averaged 20 points per game in the opening week of games with a co-team high 21 points against South Bend St. Joe and 19 points against Canterbury. In the South Bend St. Joe game, Mya Turner also had 21 points to go with 16 rebounds….Wabash outscored Taylor 33-5 in the second half of a 60-25 win on Wednesday….Norwell and Bluffton played their first game since 2013 on Friday. Vanessa Rosswurm‘s 22 points gave the Knights their 10th straight win in the county series….Snider split at the Lake Central Classic Saturday; Izzie Eke and Janaya Cooper had 16 points each in a 55-41 win over Hammond Central, then the Panthers fell in a close one to McCutcheon, 62-58 despite 15 each from Mackenzie Carter and Eke….Central Noble opened Saturday’s 45-25 win at Bishop Luers with a 20-3 lead to get their first ever win at Luers….Alivia Bolinger scored 30 points Saturday in a 79-42 win for Concordia over New Haven. It makes the highest scoring single game of opening week.
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