Friday’s Daily Dive: Northern Indiana News
Friday night had a mixed bag of results for some top teams in the state. Some upsets and some teams really making themselves known. We recap the day before the snow came with our daily dive. Crown Point Pulls Off…
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Continue ReadingFriday night had a mixed bag of results for some top teams in the state. Some upsets and some teams really making themselves known. We recap the day before the snow came with our daily dive.
Crown Point Pulls Off Another Big Win
One of the teams that is really surprised this season is that of Crown Point. The 4A team from the Region has a now 7-4 record but they have played the 30th toughest schedule this season so a record of 7-4 is solid for a team we weren’t so sure about heading into the year.
Sagarin has them as they 37th team in the state, 27th in 4A which makes some sense because they have been competitive against some really good teams. Last night, they pulled off another one as they beat Merrillville, 47-45 on a game-winning block by Sam Snodgrass. He, along with Elias Gerodemos and Sam Decker, have a three headed monster full of seniors also have picked up wins over Michigan City, Warsaw, Munster, and Bowman Academy. Their only losses, to Penn, New Albany, Chesterton, and Northridge. Not a bad group.
The question is now how far can they take this team because it looks like a group that could pull some upsets in March. They already hold two wins over Sectional opponents in Sectional 1 and the toughest team in there is Munster, whom they have already beaten. So, it wouldn’t really be shocking to see them sneak through to the second weekend where there would be some teams they have already played this year.
Where Does Elkhart Memorial Stand Now?
Looking a little deeper at some teams in the northern part of the state, one that has stood out in the first half of the season has been Elkhart Memorial. They started off the year 6-0 before taking three losses, Valparaiso, Plymouth, and South Bend Washington. Not bad losses by any stretch. They also have a win over Penn that they can sport.
But, they only average 59.6 points per game and give up 51.6. Not a big gap there. They also have one of the easier 4A schedules ranking 108 in the state. For them, the Penn win is great but they might need another one or two to make a bigger statement. They could easily win their Sectional, probably more likely than not with only Warsaw and Plymouth being the strongest contenders.
So, it seems like the end of the season will be their trial as they stand to take on South Bend Riley, Warsaw, Mishawaka Marian, and East Noble. If they can hold court against the lesser teams and maybe pick off Warsaw and one other team they might have a real shot to get through Sectionals and make some noise in Regionals.
South Bend Riley Makes Statement With Win
As we continue our deeper dive into Northern Indiana teams, South Bend Riley pulled off the biggest win of the season as they took down previously undefeated Mishawaka Marian. They are now 11-2 and have a better resume than those would think. They have the Marian win as well as Evansville Harrison, Merrillville, South Bend St. Joseph, and Plymouth.
This is a game that kind of cements how good this group is. It wasn’t like they just were medaling and then picked up a huge win. They have kind of been building toward this all year. They could be a very sneaky pick to get back to the second weekend and maybe beyond. Tough road ahead but one of the more convincing teams in 4A so far.
Quick Hitters:
- Alexandria is now 10-4 after picking up a win over Elwood. This team is very good even after losing Avery Paddock to a season-ending injury. During the Madison County Tournament, they beat Lapel and almost knocked off Frankton. Still, this team is a legit contender to make a run in 3A.
- Bloomington South won again last night, 64-53, over Columbus East. They have been rolling since dropping their first two games of the year to Edgewood and New Albany. They have now won 13 of their last 14 games and look as dominant as we thought they should be this season.
- Blue River Valley is a team to watch for in 1A this year. They are 8-4 after another win last night to Randolph Southern. Their only losses are to Shenandoah twice, Blackford, and Wapahani. They are undefeated against their Sectional and other 1A opponents with a fairly solid schedule. Should be the favorites in Sectional 56.
- Brownstown Central defeated Silver Creek last night, 41-40. A very low scoring game for Silver Creek who averages more than 70 points per game. Brownstown Central is now 9-2 and looks par for the course this year in 3A. This is their marquee win so far this year but the back half of their schedule looks difficult.
- We talked earlier in the year about Columbus North. They were headed into a tough stretch against Fishers, Columbus East, and Terre Haute South before the Holiday tournaments. Since that time, they are 6-3 and now 10-4 on the year as they dropped the Fishers and Columbus East games but have beaten Andrean, New Albany, and won 6 of their last 7.
- Covenant Christian is a little bit of an enigma this year. They are 6-5 after beating Guerin Catholic last night. However, they have dropped games against Greenwood Christian, Tipton, Chatard, and Heritage Christian, all reasonable games where they could have won. They look on paper like they have what it takes to make hay in 2A Sectional but need to get on a hot streak here.
- Covington is now 10-3 after beating Parke Heritage last night. Had they not dropped games against Attica and Western Boone, this would be team we would be talking about as a top team in 2A.
- The five game stretch for Fort Wayne Concordia has kind of shown some flaws as they have dropped four of those games to Snider, Blackhawk, Huntington North, and Fort Wayne South. Have to play Snider one more time and then the schedule eases up.
- Greencastle is now 10-1 after another win over North Putnam. They have moved in position to jump into the rankings. Their whole body of work isn’t great as their strength of schedule is low but they haven’t slipped up too much and have Edgewood coming up. Get through them and that changes everything.
- Homestead might be the team of the week after already taking down Blackhawk Christian and now beating up Snider by 19 points. With their next game against East Noble postponed, they will head into next week 11-1 with 8 straight wins.
- Cardinal Ritter is now 6-5 after a big win over University. They have now won 4 games in a row including games over Monrovia and University. With the City Tournament coming up next week, they could make some headway and momentum towards Sectionals.
- Jeffersonville can now lay claim to the best team in the Kentuckiana area as they knocked off Floyd Central on a buzzer beater last night by Darin Starks. They also have beaten New Albany earlier this year. They are now 8-3 on the year.
- Kokomo got a win over Harrison last night and have now won 5 of their last 7 games after starting off the season 1-6.
- Chesterton dropped their third game of the year last night to LaPorte. They also have losses to Andrean and Lawrence Central. Tough to tell just how good this team is or how far they will make it with a few questionable results. Their Sectional is contains five teams with records above .500.
- Linton-Stockton is one of the best teams in 2A as they continue to rack up wins. They just got done beating Bloomfield for the second time in a week. Their only losses are to 4A teams and they already have wins over Paoli and Barr-Reeve, two of the top teams in 2A.
- Northwestern pulled off another big win as they took down Tipton, 49-43. Northwestern is now 11-0 and has wins over Central Catholic and Hamilton Heights. They looks like a legit contender in 3A North.
- The Marion County Tournament Semifinals are now complete as Warren Central and Lawrence Central won in blowouts and will face each other on Monday night in the finals.
- The Johnson County Tournament was close in both games with Center Grove and Greenwood going to double overtime before the Trojans won. Franklin also had a close game with Whiteland but pulled it out as well. Franklin will play Center Grove in the finals on Monday.