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2006-2007 Boys BasketballWeek-9, Top-10 PollA USA-365.com Special Report by Mark Smith(01-31-2007) |
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2006-2007 Boys BasketballWeek-9, Top-10 PollA USA-365.com Special Report by Mark Smith(01-31-2007) |
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VALPARAISO (01-31-2007) - I know it seems boring, but if a basketball poll is accurate, the top team should be the top team all year. It should not be hard to determine the No. 1 team. So, after we come down the stretch, the No. 1 team is the No. 1 team. Honestly, there isn't much way the Vikings are going to lose the ranking unless they actually meet No. 2 East Chicago, truthfully the only team that's close to them.
Forget Valpo's former No. 1 (state) ranking. They played very well at the start of the year when they were No. 2 and No. 3. Valparaiso got the top spot when North Central took two losses this month. Last year's champ Lawrence North is 7-5 with two losses to Franklin Central (16-1). It was hard to explain how Valparaiso (15-2) was No. 1 and Cathedral (16-1) is No. 2 when Cathedral defeated Valparaiso in December. Perhaps the voters are using what they believe to be judgment instead of raw results and they can see that Valpo is more talented. Like George Bush, they are the 'decider' and nobody can sway them with logic. With Valpo's loss, Cathedral is the new No. 1 and that's probably accurate.
Morgan Township edged Boone Grove 52-49 to win the Porter County Conference (PCC) title, but the surprise was at the Bi-County tournament when Oregon-Davis (16-1) lost to traditional 2A power John Glenn (10-3) 49-33 and coach Gordon Mosson (359-196), who has got to be the most unknown big winning coach in the northern part of the state.
The traditional power in north Lake County is back on the block. Gary Roosevelt (11-4), Gary West Side (10-4) and East Chicago (14-2) are all your father's powerful teams and all have had dominant moments this year. Throw in Valparaiso (15-2) and you have all of NW Indiana's 'old school' heavy hitters looking good. To revisit an old subject, this is the week when the Duneland Athletic Conference (DAC) could have it's league championship tournament. The PCC tournament is the final large (more than four teams) tournament in the state. Obviously, there can be no league championships once the girls playoffs begin. But if you had two eight-team single-elimination tournaments run on alternate days in the final week of January involving the eight DAC boys and girls teams, it would be an immediate hit. There is absolutely no reason not to do it. They could draw 10,000 fans in six days. We're slow. It's Indiana. It'll happen.
NUMBERS GAME: The IHSAA draw will take place at a Wendy's hamburger shop in Indianapolis at 12 noon on Sunday, Feb 18. Seriously. That's not a joke. Wendy's apparently is a sponsor of the pairings TV and radio show. Hopefully they'll do better than Monday's girls draw, which was a nightmare of technical difficulties and a laugh fest of stumbling. Wendy's. Really. That's so 'Indiana'.
Oregon-Davis is 40-5 the last two years and three of the losses have come to John Glenn. On the other hand, Oregon-Davis is 5-0 against 1A rival Argos in the last three seasons.
If anyone thinks they are going anywhere out of the north in Class 3A, they must know that Plymouth is 58-10 in the last three years. Only five of those losses have been at home. In case you don't know, Plymouth hosts the sectional and the regional in their area. 2A Jimtown (12-1) allows only 35.1 points per game, the lowest total in the state. Class 1A Lafayette Catholic (9-3) is 5-1 against Class 3A schools. Former Crown Point coach Tom Johnson is 9-5 in his second season at Lebanon. Lebanon hosts Merrillville on Feb. 3. Thursday night, Feb. 1 is the nationally televised visit of Wilmette Ill. power Loyola Academy (18-0) to Indianapolis superpower North Central (10-2). That's the Gordon-vs-Jordan game matching Class 4A No. 2 North Central and 6-foot-4 All-America guard Eric Gordon and his 6-foot-1 sophomore brother Evan Gordon against Illinois Class AA No. 2 Loyola and Marcus and Jeffrey Jordan, the Division I caliber sons of Chicago Bulls legend Michael Jordan. That's a nationally televised game on ESPN II at 7:00 p.m. (CST) from Butler University's Hinkle Field house.
And in the battle of 0-11 teams on Jan. 20, Whiting (1-12) beat North Newton (0-14) 59-45.
1.
(4A) Valparaiso (15-2)
2006 (21-3), 2005 (22-3), 2004 (22-3)
VALPARAISO - Crown Point's 59-55 win over Valparaiso was more a display of how hard it is to go undefeated in a 14-game league season. Valparaiso has won eight games by 20 points or more and they don't really have major problems other than the reality that, despite what the local papers says, they aren't guaranteed to reach the state finals. Scott Martin (23.2 ppg.) and Rob Hummel (15.5 ppg.) combined for 32 points as Valpo routed Calumet 70-44 last week. The Vikings clearly intimidated a Calumet team that had not lost by more than 10 points all year. The night before, Martin and Hummel banked 39 as Valpo squashed LaPorte 56-35. The loss to CP may give others hope to beat Valpo, but I didn't see any weaknesses (foot speed and the lack of a true point or center). I'd still like to see Valparaiso play East Chicago, but I don't think it'll happen this year. Still, I don't put a whole lot of stock in one game.
2. (4A) East Chicago
(14-2)
2006 (19-5), 2005 (13-8), 2004 (13-10)
EAST CHICAGO - The Cardinals blew up Crown Point 75-49 last weekend after a 72-63 win over tough Gary Roosevelt. The Cardinals won for the seventh straight game with a home win over Gary West Side Thursday (1-25-2007) night. EC is a very difficult team to defense with guard E'Twaun Moore (23 ppg.), 6-11 wing Angel Garcia and 6-4, 260-pound center Kewaan Short. Cardinal fans might want to know that the TF North team they beat on Jan. 2 at the Hammond Civic Center is now ranked seventh in Class AA in Illinois with a 15-2 record. Right now, there's still Valparaiso and East Chicago and then there's a gap to everybody else in NW Indiana. But after Thursday night, the EC schedule isn't what it should be for a sectional and regional contender.
3. (4A) Munster (14-3)
2006 (20-4), 2005 (16-8), 2004 (20-2)
MUNSTER - The Ponies blasted Clark 63-33 last week and then low-bridged Bishop Noll 91-59. Munster's 54-49 loss to Valparaiso was a positive. They stayed close to a top-10 team. Still, the Mustangs' game with West Side is much more important than the over-hyped game with Valpo. Munster closes the year with Gary schools West Side, Wirt and Lew Wallace. Some 'suburban' teams won't play in Gary, but Munster is obviously not one of those teams. If Gary West Side invited Munster to the Gary Holiday Tournament, I think they might accept. Why not ask instead of talking endlessly about how no one will play you?
4. (4A) Gary West Side
(10-4)
2006 (7-14), 2005 (19-5), 2004 (12-7)
GARY - Gary West Side had won seven in a row until an 11-point loss at East Chicago Thursday night. That's an improvement. EC beat West Side by 25 points back in November. West Side has lost to Warren Central (10-3), Lake Central (7-6) and East Chicago (13-2) twice. But the question is, can they win a third match with EC in March on East Chicago's home floor? This West Side team is a young group with a lot of capacity for improvement. The first meeting was a fluke and both EC-West Side games so far have been at EC. But then, so is the sectional. Gary West Side played Lowell Saturday night, but they kept the outcome very quiet. I assume they won, but no score that I know of has surfaced. That's so 'Gary'.
5. (3A) Gary Roosevelt (10-4)
2006 (11-12), 2005 (10-11), 2004 (11-13)
GARY - Roosevelt was upset by Wirt last week is a game that speaks to the level of competition in Gary. Roosevelt sank just 16 of 5 from the field and only 8-of-18 from the foul line. Could just be a bad night but it will be interesting to see if there's any bounce back Thursday against Gary West Side. Understand that this loss isn't all bad. Wirt is a sectional foe and it might do the Panthers good to have a 'target' to focus on at the sectional. The Panthers need to hope Wirt (6-5) is better than their record.
6. (4A) Chesterton (11-4)
2006 (14-9), 2005 (9-12), 2004 (13-8)
CHESTERTON - The Trojans got blasted by 18 points against up-and-coming Lake Central. This was similar to what happened to Valparaiso against Crown Point and what happened to favored Merrillville against Michigan City. It looks like a one-night thing as LC is not 18 points better than anybody in the DAC. But a losing streak will bring up questions as to whether injuries have hurt them. The Trojans travel to Valparaiso (15-2) Friday night and any good team that just got blown out is dangerous.
7. (4A) CROWN POINT (8-7)
2006 (9-13), 2005 (13-9), 2004 (6-16)
CROWN POINT: Crown Point's 59-55 win over 4A No. 1 Valparaiso was followed up with a 76-61 win at Boone Grove (9-6). Stephan Albrecht scored 31 against Valpo and Kyle Hanaway had 10 assists. Saturday night 6-3 center Zach Cecich scored 22 with 10 rebounds and three steals. The Bulldogs move up in the poll because Merrillville is having personnel problems. The Bulldogs shouldn't be upgraded by the win over Valparaiso any more than they were ash canned after the 27-point home court loss to East Chicago. The win over Boone started a four-game road trip that heads for Merrillville, LaPorte and Portage. Let's see what record they come home with. Again, don't put them in the penthouse now any more than you put them in the outhouse when they got burned by EC.
8. (4A) Lake Central (8-6)
2006 (7-14), 2005 (11-10), 2004 (17-6)
ST. JOHN - This team has won six of their last eight. Here's a good example of the DAC roller-coaster. The Indians lost to Crown Point by 17 and now they beat Chesterton by 18. CP and Chesterton went to overtime. The Indians are going to have to score more than 51 points a game to get anything down in the Gary West Side sectional. Here is a dangerous team with good size and some decent outside shooters. But it is worrisome that they go cold as a group.
9. (3A) Hammond (11-7)
2006 (9-11), 2005 (16-10), 2004 (13-10)
HAMMOND: Hammond is hard to judge. The Wildcats have lost twice to Gary Roosevelt (11-4), but they have swept two games from Clark (11-4). They've lost to Munster twice and they've split with Wheeler (11-3), but Wheeler is 2A. The Cats are led by big Chris Ware (6-5, 215), who averages 15 points per game, and Brannon Jones (6-6, 195) who are formidable inside. Last week's 55-50 win over Clark saw guard Marius Bailey score 16. I like the Wildcats' aggressive style and their size. They must limit turnovers and hit foul shots. But that's been said about Hammond high teams for 20 years. I like the schedule and they seem to be charging while Calumet and Clark are leveling off.
10. (4A) Merrillville
(7-6)
2006 (17-4), 2005 (18-4), 2004 (9-12)
MERRILLVILLE - The Pirates come off the board due to a personnel shake-up. Apparently they've lost two players, including starter Mario Stapleton for the season for academic reasons prior to a 66-58 loss to Michigan City. I don't believe there are nine better teams talent-wise, but the Pirates come out of the poll until we see what they are now. Merrillville hosts arch-rival Crown Point (8-7) Friday and they then get on the bus to go see former CP coach Tom Johnson and Lebanon (9-6). We'll know a lot more after this 'Dog flavored' weekend.
On the outside looking in...
(2A) Wheeler (11-3)
2006 (19-6), 2005 (16-5), 2004 (20-5)
UNION TOWNSHIP: The Bearcats have a good record again and that quest for the school's first-ever sectional title begins in earnest now. They average 65 points a game and 6-foot-8 Nate Kasper averages 24 points a game. But with the possible exception of the win over Hammond, they do not have a significant win. This team is like the Chicago Bears. They go a long way without beating anybody. Time for them to get 'Super'.
(1A) Morgan Township (10-5)
2006 (5-16), 2005 (10-14), 2004 (19-4)
MORGAN TOWNSHIP - Morgan had a tough weekend, losing 46-44 at Hanover and 49-36 to Oregon-Davis. This doesn't kill them. In fact, a little bump in the road late in the year can be helpful. Morgan shot very poorly from the foul line to lose at Hanover and Oregon-Davis is just a good team. Don't make a snap judgement here. Nobody said this was a great team. A lot of things have to go right for them to win consistently. It gets a lot tougher this weekend as Morgan hosts Boone Grove (9-6) and Wheeler (11-3) back to back.
(2A) Boone Grove (9-6)
2006 (18-6), 2005 (19-7), 2004 (13-9)
PORTER TOWNSHIP - Boone got stopped 76-61 by Crown Point Saturday, but that was supposed to happen. The Wolves still have Bryce Palleson (20 ppg.) scoring consistently and Joe Johnson (13 ppg.) is having a good senior year. The Wolves are not a big team inside and that hurt them against CP. But you want to play top teams and sometimes, it doesn't hurt to get beat. Boone plays a much tougher schedule than Wheeler and that's why they're here.
(1A) Oregon-Davis (16-1)
2006 (23-4), 2005 (11-10), 2004 (4-17)
HAMLET - O-D wins on the road at Morgan Township Saturday as 6-foot-3 Brandon Johnston (14.3 ppg.) went over the 1,000-point level. 6-2 Nate Ferch (10.4 ppg.) is 30-of-37 (81.1%) from the foul line. Clearly, they don't play the schedule the Lake and Porter County teams do, but this is a strong 1A team that gets another big challenge at Westville (12-2) Friday night. Westville did beat Calumet (10-6).