The girls are down to their final week of the season and the boys are down to their final week of the regular season.
Wow, time really does fly when you are having fun.
GIRLS SEMI STATE CHAMPIONS
Northeast Indiana will send three teams to Gainbridge Fieldhouse on Saturday for the state finals, equaling the amount of boys teams that the area has sent to the state finals in the past four years combined.
Norwell‘s 63-48 win over Crown Point and 59-42 victory over McCutcheon will send them to their third straight state finals, now doing so in Class 4A. Vanessa Rosswurm scored 20 points and Macie Saalfrank added 16 in the 63-48 win over Crown Point in Saturday’s semi final at semi state. Their win over McCutcheon in the night game was a historic 500th for coach Eric Thornton. Rosswurm scored 19 in the semi state title game with Saalfrank adding 17. Norwell had eleven made threes in the finale with five coming from Saalfrank, three from Rosswurm and a pair from Ashley Waldman; the Knights also forced 22 McCutcheon turnovers.
Bellmont kept people on their toes in Saturday’s semi state final, picking up a 57-46 win over Culver Academies. This is the first semi state win for Bellmont since 1979 and massive moment for the growth of the program under coach Andy Heim. Bellmont led the game by 18 in the third quarter, but Culver fought back to get as close to seven.
Fremont will seek out their first state title on Saturday after a pair of great performances last Saturday. Grace Scharlach scored 29 points in a morning win over Monroe Central with five made threes; Chloe Verdin added 16 points for Fremont in the morning game. The Eagles have been a member of the IHSAA since 1919 according to Around the Northeast Corner, yet this is their first state finals appearance in a team sport other than golf ever.
Whitko and Fairfield were the odd teams out in trips to the state finals. The Wildcats fought hard in a 66-58 loss to Oak Hill, but couldn’t climb out of the hole despite 18 points from Jayma Stonebraker and 16 from Jocelyn Luecke.
DOUBLE DOUBLE WEEK
This week seemed like the perfect time to work in a double double in the area.
On Tuesday alone, games were high on the list:
• Anthony Barnes posted 16 points and 15 rebounds in Northrop‘s loss to Canterbury.
• Ayden O’Neal (13 points, 10 rebounds) and Isaiah King (10 points, 11 rebounds) each returned from long standing injuries for Garrett with double doubles in a win over Churubuso.
• Joshua Aulbach picked up 10 points and 10 rebounds in a Southern Wells loss to Muncie Burris.
• Daniel Selking didn’t have his usual scoring in Bellmont‘s win over county rival South Adams, but still picked up 12 points and 12 rebounds.
• Ayle Taylor of Bishop Luers had 28 points and 11 rebounds (with 7 assists) in an overtime win against Huntington North.
• Braylend Reber had a 24 point, 19 rebound effort in Adams Central‘s win over Southwood.
• Central Noble‘s Nick Freeman had 21 points and 10 rebounds in a loss to Concord.
• Eastside‘s Nolan Baker scored 26 points and had a program record 22 rebounds in a 68-66 three overtime win against Woodlan.
And all of that was just Tuesday night!
On Friday, both Selking and King upheld their double double weeks. Selking had 20 points and 10 rebounds in the win over Bluffton, while King had 17 points and 14 rebounds in a loss to DeKalb.
Tytus Lehman of South Adams joined in on the party with 20 points and 11 rebounds in a win over Lakewood Park.
CONFERENCE RACES FOR THE BOYS
What is going on the SAC? Friday’s rivalry game with Homestead and Carroll was an important one.
The SAC had been won outright for each of the past five seasons. Wayne had won the last three, while Homestead was champion in the previous two seasons. South Side’s last SAC title was in 2003 when they shared it with Concordia and Snider. For the Panthers, their last crown came in 2020, sharing it with Carroll and Bishop Luers. Going into Friday night, both South and Snider had identical 7-2 records, a Homestead win would have made things more interesting.
Yet, with Carroll‘s win on Friday, put over the top by two late free throws from Dom Keferl, South Side will win the title outright since it holds wins over both Snider and Carroll. It is South Side’s first outright SAC title since 1997.
Just for fun, Blackhawk Christian is 6-2 against the SAC with a game against Northrop this week. The Braves could very realistically also finish 7-2 against the SAC and did pick up a win this past weekend over SAC champion South Side, where Bryce Lacross scored 23 points in the 67-52 win. Just as an added bonus to the chaos of the city this season.
The NECC is the conference that will technically head into the last week looking to crown a champion still. On Tuesday, first place 9-0 Westview travels to last place Fremont to clinch the conference crown. Fremont’s 10 point loss to Eastside was their closest conference game this season. Should Westview handle business on Tuesday, they will be outright champions for the second straight season. It will be the 12th NECC title for the Warriors since 2007.
The race in the ACAC was over a week ago as Jay County beat Heritage on February 13 to move to 6-0 in conference, edging out Bluffton at 5-1. The Patriots beat Bluffton by 9 on January 30. This is Jay County’s first ACAC title since 2022 and fifth overall title in the conference.
The NE8 was also over on February 13 when New Haven clinched an outright title with their win over East Noble and Huntington North’s subsequent loss to Norwell on that same night. Despite the fact that the Vikings had just beaten the Bulldogs, New Haven was the only team to finish 6-1 in the conference. New Haven shared the title last season and also was part of a three team share in 2016, the first season of the NE8. The Bulldogs are the first outright NE8 champion since Norwell in 2023.
BOYS QUICK NOTES
Leo‘s Jonah Lagrange had 15 points, 9 rebounds, 3 blocks Wednesday in a 60-47 win over Bishop Dwenger….Angola‘s 94 points against Eastside on Friday is their second 90 point game of the season; before this season the last 90 point game for the Hornets was on January 8, 2002; the game Friday was 37-31 in Angola’s favor during the third quarter….Angola’s Cru Weber hit seven threes on Friday in the win over Eastside, Angola as a team hit 13….Bishop Luers‘ Ayle Taylor scored 28 (vs. Huntington North) and 23 (vs. North Side) in a pair of wins last week….Lakeland‘s Keyan Arroyo scored a game winning, final seconds layup Friday in a 37-36 win over Prairie Heights.
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