2013-2014 'Magnificent 7' Renegade Girls Basketball  Week-6 Poll A USA-365.com Special Report by Mark Smith 01-15-2014

The eight largest schools in Northwest Indiana play in the Duneland Athletic Conference including undefeated LaPorte. (Photo by Mark Smith)

LaPORTE, IN (01-14-2013) Some serious cold slowed down the high school basketball season in the first full week of January due to the climate change that folks on cable TV insist isn't happening.

The wide-ranging Greater South Shore Conference probably was stressed the most. It's not easy to get from Michigan City to Newton County on summer nights, much less when it's 15 below zero, snowing in blizzard conditions or raining by the bucketfull.

LaPorte may not go undefeated this season, but after 13 consecutive wins they neared some surprising history. As far as I can tell, LaPorte girls basketball only began in 1991 so the Slicers have never won more than 14 games in any season, much less be undefeated.

I didn't have them in this poll, but John Glenn improved their record to 11-0 Saturday with a 54-40 win over Triton. It's not a total shock. Glenn, which is in the middle of nowhere in the southwest corner of St. Joseph's County in the LaPorte area, was 16-5 last season.

Glenn is a 3A school and, while they aren't favored to get by South Bend St. Joseph's, they could pull a 3A sectional 19 upset and win a sectional for the first time in 13 years.

Hanover Central makes its debut in the Greater South Shore Conferernce (GSSC) tournamnet next Tuesday night against Whiting. Meanwhile, Westville makes its debut in the Porter County Conference (PCC) tournamnet the same night against South Central at Morgan Township. Westville replaced Hanover in the PCC this season.

Greater South Shore Conference (GSSC) Tournament
Jan. 20-26. 2014...finals at Calumet

1-20 (M) Marquette (4-7) at Wheeler (4-8)
1-20 (Tu) Lake Station (7-4) at North Newton (2-7)
1-21 (Tu) River Forest (4-8) at Calumet (2-10)
1-21 (Tu) Hanover Central (6-6) at Whiting (9-4)
1-21 (Tu) Noll (11-2) at Wheeler or Marquette
1-23 (W) semifinals game one (home site)
1-23 (W) semifinal game two (home site)
1-26 (Sat) GSSC girls championship game - 5:30 p.m.


Porter County Conference (PCC)
Jan. 20-26. 2014...1st 2 rounds at Morgan Township
Championship game at Hebron

1-20 (M) LaCrosse (5-6) vs Kouts (7-4) 5:30
1-20 (M) Hebron (4-7) vs. Boone Grove (2-9)
1-21 (Tu) Washington Twsp (11-2) vs. Morgan Township (8-3) 5:30 p.m.
1-21 (Tu) South Central (6-6) vs. Westville (0-12)
1-24 (F) semifinal game one - 6 p.m.
1-24 (F) semifinal game two - 7:30 p.m.
1-25 (sat) PCC championship - 6 p.m.

1. (4A) LaPorte (13-0)
2013 (13-9), 2012 (13-9), 2011 (7-14), 2010 (1-20)

LaPORTE: LaPorte rallied from 13 points behind to take out Lake Central in a battle of the top two Duneland Athletic Conference (DAC) teams last Friday. LC led 31-18 in the second quarter and 32-24 at halftime But LaPorte's Katie Konieczny scored 25 as LaPorte rallied to win with the help of 18-of-20 shooting from the foul line. The Slicers play five of their final seven on the road, but the opportunity for 20-0 is there. Being undefeated heading into the state tournament is a mixed blessing. People start looking at you funny when you haven't lost all season.

2. (4A) Lake Central (13-2)
2013 (16-8), 2012 (13-10), 2011 (13-11), 2010 (15-7)

ST. JOHN: LC fell to 13-2 with the loss at LaPorte even though Tara Zlotkwoski scored 21. The Indians probably lost the game making just 10 of 20 foul shots. The bad news is that LaPorte can probably play a lot better than they did while LC has been at what looks like a peak all season. The good news: LaPorte isn't in LC's sectional. But Gary West Side (7-2) is and LC hosts the "side' Wednesday night, Jan. 15. Like LaPorte, LC didn't lose any dates to the weather and they simply don't have many games left to play on the 20-game regular season. They won't win the DAC, but they won't be tired for 4A Sectional 1.

3. (4A) Merrillville (9-5)
2013 (24-1), 2012 (21-1), 2011 (14-8), 2010 (25-2)

MERRILLVILLE: Merrillville lost a big time shootout 97-94 to powerful South Bend Washington (12-4) Saturday. The game they ’should have won’ against LC shows the Pirates seem to be improving but here comes Penn (11-1) on Jan. 4 and South Bend Washington (10-3) on Jan 11. Merrillville still has Penn (13-1) left on Jan. 29 and Northridge (10-4) comes to Merrillville on Feb. 1 so the final record may not be pretty. But I still think this team is capable of taking down the top two teams in this poll. Trouble is: They won't get a chance to do it until the state tournament. The Pirates didn't lose any games to weather either and they make a come back for a rematch at Crown Point (9-5) Saturday night.

4. (4A) Crown Point (9-5)
2013 (5-16), 2012 (14-9), 2011 (14-8), 2010 (10-11)

CROWN POINT: The Lady Bulldogs got double figure scoring from four players to down Michigan City 64-50 last Friday night after a week when school was out at least three days. The Lady Bulldogs have lost to LC (13-2) twice, LaPorte (13-0), Perry Meridian (7-7) and surprising Highland (9-5). CP, which has a makeup game with Morton (6-8) to squeeze in somewhere, hosts arch rival Merrillville Saturday night in a sectional preview. CP has lost five in a row to the Pirates and they need a win to show they have a chance in the upcoming 4A Sectional 2.

5. (1A) Oregon-Davis (10-1)
2013 (22-4), 2012 (21-5), 2011 (17-6), 2010 (22-5), 2009 (22-3), 2008 (24-1)

HAMLET: The Bobcats had 14 days off after the holiday tournament loss to South Bend Washington (12-4) and that doesn't help you late in the season. O-D's focus turns to neighbor John Glenn (11-0), a team they play Jan. 14 and probably in the finals of the Bi-County tournament next week. Oregon-Davis has to be looking ahead a bit at this point to 1A sectional 51 where they will be a big favorite, even over tiny Culver (10-2). No, I don't think O-D would beat Crown Point. But yes, I think they'd beat Gary West Side right now.

6. (4A) Gary West Side (7-2)
2013 (17-4), 2012 (17-5), 2011 (19-5), 2010 (17-5), 2009 (17-7), 2008 (18-5)

GARY: If you wondered how the 'Side' is doing, the truth is: they haven't been doing much. Due to two weather postponements, the Cougars didn't play for 11 days, creating a schedule logjam. The Cougars play at Lake Central (13-2) Wednesday, Jan. 15. But the back end of the schedule isn't really difficult. West Side has makeup games with Roosevelt and East Chicago, but they'll be favored in those as well. Right now, the Cougars haven't been playing enough to stay up in any poll and with 11 games left in four weeks, there's a lot of nights to work on things.

7. (2A) Bishop Noll (11-2)
2013 (21-3) 2012 (10-10), 2011 (8-15), 2010 (5-16)

HAMMOND: Here's another team that didn't lose much because they didn't play much. Noll had 19 days off after a Dec. 10 win over Hebron before they topped Marquette 73-17 in a no-contest last Friday. Noll has won six in a row, but they might be so bored due to inactivity that they may not care about that. Noll is the favorite in next week's GSSC tournament. But they play Hanover and Whiting (9-4) this week to get ready. Noll's going to get sick of seeing Whiting. Noll should play Whiting in the GSSC tourney and again in 2A Sectional 33 next month.


In the shadows...

(4A) Lowell (8-5)
2013 (18-4) 2012 (18-4), 2011 (13-8), 2010 (6-15), 2009 (1-19), 2008 (4-17)

LOWELL: Lowell broke a 5-game losing streak with a 54-49 win at Andrean last Friday. The Devils are struggling after a 7-0 start, but they are playing a much tougher schedule than they have the past two seasons when they were 18-4 both years. This Lowell team may be better prepared for playoff competition because they've played more than half of the DAC, including teams like Lake Central (13-2), a team that hosts the Devils on Jan. 21. But that theory would be supported by a win over Gary West Side (Jan. 14) or LC.

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Revised: January 19, 2014 .