The Hall of Fame Classic tournament is widley considered the most prestigious in-season tournament in the state with the girls tournament running for 39 years.
Played each December, the four-team event has been hosted at the New Castle High School Fieldhouse since 1990. The girls’ tournament has included nineteen teams that went on to win a state championship that season, including twelve state champions and eight state runner-up teams in the past twenty years alone.
SCHEDULE
Monday, December 22 at New Castle Fieldhouse
11 a.m., Warsaw vs Evansville Central
To follow, Norwell vs Plainfield
6 p.m., Consolation Game
To follow, Championship Game
WARSAW
Locally, everyone should know the story of the Tigers with two of the top three scorers in the history of their program leading the way. Senior Joslyn Bricker is tracking down the all-time scoring lead set by Jaclyn Leininger, something she is more than likely to overtake this season. Sharpshooter Brooke Zartman is now third all-time in Warsaw scoring.
The Tigers come into the Hall of Fame Classic 11-1 on the season, wrapping up their pre-tournament duties with another convincing win last Tuesday as they topped Columbia City. Warsaw has scored 70 or more points in five straight games and come into the Classic averaging 68.9 points per game, 34.1 points per game more than their opponent average. That gives Warsaw the second best scoring average in the state and the third best point differential of any girls teams.
Bricker has been sensational as she averages 22.3 points per game to go with 6.9 rebounds, 5 assists and 3.1 steals. She is a constant threat on both sides of the ball and has put her name in the early runnings for Miss Basketball. She has not scored less than 17 points in a game, hitting 53 percent of her shots. Zartman, who is averaging 18.8 points per game has knocked down 48-of-134 three pointers this season for a 36% clip as she adds on to her records as the best long range shooter in program history; she has seven games his season where she has hit five or more and now has 307 makes from three in her career. Alexis Neely‘s scoring average is up to 9.1 points per game as a consistent third option for Warsaw and junior Reagan Huss is averaging 6.3 points per game.
EVANSVILLE CENTRAL
Sitting at 6-7 this season, Evansville Central comes in with by far the worst record in the field. Prior to their game last Wednesday against Evansville Reitz, the Bears were actually even in offensive/defensive average at 54.1 points per game.
At the top of their lineup sits senior Madalynn Shirley, averaging a tournament best 24.7 points and 11.7 rebounds. The 6-foot-1 forward has shined throughout the season, being held out of the 20s or 30s in scoring just once in Evansville Central’s opening game. She shoots 50 percent from the field and has had five games with double digit makes already this season. In a win over Evansville Harrison, she 26 points/20 rebounds and has also had games of six steals and four blocks. She may be the biggest all around threat in this tournament with her size after missing four games with a foot injury. In her return game against Jasper on November 29, Shirley hit the game winner.
Next to her is fellow senior Olivya Hile, who is averaging 12.5 points, 7.7 rebounds and a team best 1.6 steals per game. Junior Maddie Glaser is averaging nine points and a team high five assists per game but has not played since November 19 and is out for the season according to Evansville news reports.
NORWELL
The Knights are the only team in the Hall of Fame Classic to rank in the top 25 in the state in offensive average, defensive average and margin of victory. Norwell’s 64.42 points per game is 32 per game ahead of the 32.42 that teams are scoring opposite of them. The Knights come into the tournament as winners of 10 straight, surpassing 70 points on four occasions. They last loss was November 8 at Warsaw, a potential finals or consolation opponent in this tournament.
Macie Saalfrank comes in off a 26 points effort last Tuesday in a win over Woodlan where she went 7-of-7 from three point range. She came in the game shooting 30-of-81 from deep but does lead the program in three pointers. Her 4.1 steals per game also leads a team who is as good defensively as any team in the area and perhaps the state. Norwell averages 18 steals per game with Vanessa Rosswurm adding 3.3, Addison Norris with 2.5 and Ashley Waldman with 2.3 per game.
Rosswurm has been every bit of the clutch scorer that she was a season ago, leading the Knights at 21.8 points per game as one of the best in the area. Saalfrank adds in 16.3 points per game. The rebounding for Norwell is by committee with Rosswurm’s 4.8 leading the way, but Alivia Green had 10 in Norwell’s last game and is now averaging 4.2 rebounds per game.
PLAINFIELD
Plainfield is the 13th best scoring team in the state at 63.82 points per game and are beating opponents by just under 30 points per game. Two of their losses have come to teams who are among the best in the state in Homestead and Center Grove. The Homestead game is obviously of note as Plainfield dropped that one by 22 points and Norwell has a win over the Spartans. The Quakers also dropped a questionable one by 12 points to Ben Davis.
There is balance in Plainfield’s top 6 players, all averaging five or more points per game headed up by junior Hannah Menser‘s 16.9 points and 2.5 steals per game, both team highs. The 5-foot-8 junior has five games of 20 or more points and just one in single digits. She scored 24 points on 9 of 12 shooting in a win over Danville, where she was 6-of-9 from three point land. She had 7 steals against Perry Meridian and 6 blocks against Greenwood.
Berkeley Williams is averaging 12.6 points and a team best 2.7 assists per contest and is shooting 41 percent though she is just 11-of-34 in their losses. Abrielle Dugan is averaging 9.2 points per game for the Quakers.
BOUNCE’S PREDICTIONS
Evansville Central’s struggles this season, including with staying healthy really throws a wrench into this event for the Bears. Warsaw, on the other hand, clicks on all cylinders basically every day and this should be no different. In the other first round game, it is more of a balanced meeting but Norwell’s defense is always going to stand out. Plainfield turns the ball over 12.5 times per game and expect the Knights to take advantage.
That brings me to the title game, where Bounce expects a Norwell and Warsaw rematch. It happens at the perfect time with these two considered the two best in the state regardless of class. Warsaw took the first outing 69-55 and it was a bit of a shocker, but Norwell has answered every single question since. So is it fair to erase that game from the conversation? Could be. The morning games can tell a lot to about each of these teams, even if I do expect them to both make the title game.
BOUNCE’S PREDICTION: Norwell wins the Hall of Fame Classic over Warsaw
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