Saturday’s Daily Dive: Cathedral, Riley Get Late Test
The season is winding down but there are still some big impact games on the schedule this weekend. We recap the biggest and the best from this Saturday of games. Cathedral Takes Down South Bend Riley, Gets Late Season Test…
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Continue ReadingThe season is winding down but there are still some big impact games on the schedule this weekend. We recap the biggest and the best from this Saturday of games.
Cathedral Takes Down South Bend Riley, Gets Late Season Test
The end of the season is right here and one of the best tests the last two years for some top 4A teams was the home-and-home series for Cathedral and Riley. They have been able to get outside of their area and play a really high-end team right before things get going in March.
This year, Cathedral got the win, 69-61. It was a game that was probably more spread out than the score looks but still, it was a confidence boost for Cathedral and a reality check of sorts for Riley. Riley has played some tough teams this year like Merrillville, Evansville Harrison, Mishawaka Marian, and Penn. In those games and including the Cathedral game tonight, they went 3-2.
For Cathedral, they now move to 16-4 and have had a much tougher schedule but there is a clear line of teams that they can beat at this point. They have struggled against Warren Central and Carmel, two of the best teams in the state. If they are going to extend their season beyond the first weekend of the tournament, they need to use this Riley win and finish out the season strong because they might need to take their game to another level to get out of their brutal Sectional.
Quick Hitters:
- Andrean moves to 12-7 now after a win over Lowell. They have been a little up and down this year but they are 2-0 against Sectional opponents and have a very reasonable Sectional to win and they will get a test at the end of the season with Gary West, Munster, and Hammond to end the year.
- Fort Wayne Concordia has now lost three in a row after a loss to Angola on Saturday night. They are now 10-9 on the season and have been as streaky a team as you could find. They have quality wins but also some befuddling losses. If they can flip it and get on a hot streak, this would be a good time as they have just 3 games left.
- Christian Academy might be a team to watch for come Sectionals. They just picked up a win over Clarksville and are now 14-7 on the season. They are also in the middle of a 6-game winning streak. They are 5-0 against their Sectional and 9-0 against 1A opponents. Remember the name.
- Floyd Central continues to dominate this year and looks like a legit contender out of 4A South. They are now 16-2 after a blowout win of Evansville Harrison, 77-44. They have some big wins this season and are equipped to take down some top teams in the state come March.
- Westfield got a huge win over Lafayette Jeff on Saturday night, 66-63. Westfield has struggled a ton lately, dropping 6 of their last 9 games before tonight. They are now 10-8 on the season but will have to find a way to pull off some more upsets in Sectional 8.
- Munster picked up back-to-back losses to Gary West and Chesterton. Non are considered bad losses but this week has to be a bit of a momentum killer. They didn’t get blown out and should still be a sleeper in this region of the state but a tough week.
- Connersville had a tough stretch of games right after the new year as they dropped 5 of 6. But now, after last night, they have won five straight and against some really good teams like North Central, Lawrence North, East Central, and New Palestine. They are a well coached team and have winnable games going into Sectionals that they could be on a 9-game winning streak if things work out.
- Culver Academies dismantled Crispus Attucks last night in a matchup of two top 3A teams, 64-35. Such an odd score based on the resume of the two teams. Not that Culver couldn’t or shouldn’t have won but a 29-point difference seems odd. It is likely these two teams could face off again in the State Championship so we will see what it looks like then.
- Southridge got a 55-44 win over North Daviess last night. They are now 15-5 on the year and have been stellar since right after Christmas going 12-1 in that stretch. With only three games remaining, they should be able to breath a little bit as their schedule is a bit easier and get ready for a stretch run as their Sectional is pretty difficult this year with Princeton, Washington, Sullivan and themselves all into double-digit wins.
- Warsaw has been sneakily having a good season. Now 13-4 after a win over a solid Merrillville team, they are 8-4 against 4A teams but 5-0 against Sectional opponents. Their Sectional is tougher than normal with Elkhart Memorial, Northridge, and Plymouth having big years but they could still be considered the favorites heading in. They do play Elkhart Memorial on Feb. 19th so pay attention to that result.