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2015 Boys Basketball"Magnificent 7," Week-7 PollA USA-365.com Special Report by Mark Smith01-26-2015 |
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2015 Boys Basketball"Magnificent 7," Week-7 PollA USA-365.com Special Report by Mark Smith01-26-2015 |
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| The changing varsity basketball schedules of Duneland Athletic Conference (DAC) teams is highlighted by Crown Point, which played 11 of the Bulldogs' first 14 games on the road. CP finishes with six of their last nine at home. (Photo by Mark Smith) |
EAST
CHICAGO
(01-28-2015)
In the 'dog days' of the basketball season (late January) we get a little time
to look at what teams have done through 75% of the schedule. One trend keeps
coming up.
The top seven teams in this week's poll are 54-9 vs. Northwest Indiana teams and 19-17 against everyone else.
East Chicago (7-0, 3-3),Valpo (6-0, 5-3) Merrillville (9-0, 3-3), Chesterton (10-2, 2-2),CP (4-3, 4-3) Lake Central (7-3, 2-2) Griffith 11-1, 1-1).
Does it indicate that Northwest Indiana is a soft region in boys basketball this year? Probably, but not necessarily. You don't schedule weak programs 75 miles away from home so good local teams 'should' lose more often in holiday tournaments than they would overall. Locally, you are obligated to play some schools with losing records.
Also, you almost never play out of area teams
on Friday nights. Those are usually set aside for league games. When teams play
on Friday and Saturday, they usually put a lot more preparation into the league
game Friday than they do the non-league game they schedule for Saturday.
With all those pseudo-excuses stated, 54-9 against local teams and 19-17 against
non-local teams for the seven teams in this poll is an eye-opener.
High praise to Morgan Township (12-2) which won
the Porter County Conference tournament (the highlight of the local season) in
overtime. Did you know Morgan Township hosts Merrillville (12-3) on Feb. 24?
After last week's big match between 4A No. 15 East Chicago and 3A No. 5
Griffith, this week's 'Magnificent 7' is only in question concerning places
2-through-7.
1. (4A) East Chicago (10-3)
EAST CHICAGO: East Chicago lost a couple over the holidays, but when
they returned to Northwest Indiana play, they returned to the winner's circle.
EC topped Hammond 76-62 and Griffith 78-46 last week. They may not be Top 10 in
the state, but they're at the top of this poll. The Cards just dominated 3A No.
6 Griffith in the big showdown last Saturday. Damien Jefferson scored 26 and
grabbed 11 rebounds. EC travel to Crown Point (8-6) on Feb. 7 and Lake Central
on Feb. 10. EC's resume is a little odd: 2-0 vs. Illinois teams. East Chicago is
5-0 vs. Northwest Indiana teams.
3-3 vs. everybody else.
VALPO: Very quietly, Valparaiso is heading towards a Duneland Athletic Conference showdown with Merrillville (12-3) on Jan. 30. The Vikings topped Michigan City 51-44 and Lake Central 59-50. They led LC 20-4 at the quarter. They are led by 6-foot-7 junior center Conner TenHove (13.1 ppg.), 6-3 junior forward Drew Paul (11.0 ppg.) and 6-foot junior guard Scott Helm (10.3 ppg.). Valpo, which allows just 40 points a game, is one of those teams that, after they beat you, you still think you're the better team. You always think if you could just play them again, you'd beat them. That's how a 12-3 team isn't state ranked even though they are exactly 19 points away from being undefeated against a strong, big school schedule. The Vikings have four road games in a row, including Merrillville, Munster, Bishop Noll and Crown Point between now and Feb. 12.
MERRILLVILLE: The Pirates lost 57-50 at Noblesville (10-6) Saturday night, but they're still unbeaten in Duneland Athletic Conference (DAC) play. The Pirate's wins have been narrow at times. They have two one-point victories, one two-point victory and a 65-60 overtime win over Lake Central, which made Merrillville 4-0 in the DAC. The big game of last week was the 17-point victory over Portage (10-6) on Friday (Jan. 23). Merrillville takes on Valpo Friday night for the DAC lead, a Feb. 27 game at Penn (15-2), and that Feb. 24 game at Porter County Conference (PCC) champ Morgan Township (12-2).
4. (4A) Chesterton (12-4)
2014 (12-10), 2013 (13-9), 2012 (9-13)
CHESTERTON: The Trojans topped Andrean 62-55 and Crown Point 72-60 last week to stay one game back in the DAC. 6-foot-6 senior Chris Palombizio (24.4 ppg.) has 11 games of 20 points or more. Coaches preach balanced scoring, but it's nice to have a senior who scores 20 every night, too. Junior Guard Rhyss Lewis (12.4 ppg.) gets lost on the list of leading scorers, but he's 52 of 63 (82.5%) from the foul line. Chesterton has lost only to Merrillville (12-3), East Chicago (10-3), Noblesville (10-6) and Columbus East (7-7). The Trojans host Lake Central (10-5) on Jan. 30 and there's still that matchup with undefeated (Mishawaka) Marian (10-0) on Feb. 13.
5. (4A) Crown Point (8-6)
2014 (12-9), 2013 (5-16), 2012 (11-10)
CROWN POINT: The Bulldogs hit the skids over the weekend, losing at Chesterton 72-60 and 81-72 at Bowman Academy. Nick Jeffirs scored 26 and Sasha Stefanovic added 24 at Bowman, but the Bulldogs gave up a regulation season-high 81 points. CP allows 60 points a game and they've allowed 60 or more eight times in 14 games. The up-tempo pace they like to play at is a problem defensively against the more athletic teams like the Eagles. CP has a big weekend coming Feb. 6-7 when they travel to Portage (10-6) and host East Chicago (10-3). The Bulldogs are a test case this season. They played seven of their first 14 against non-Northwest Indiana schools and now they face the final nine against all 'region' teams. Let's see if it helps them.
6. (4A) Lake Central
(10-5)
2014 (22-4), 2013 (15-8), 2012 (21-3)
ST. JOHN:
I admit I have not rated Lake Central in the top seven and perhaps they deserved
to be there. LC losses are to Munster (8-8), Hamilton Southeastern (5-11),
Columbia City (11-4), Merrillville (12-3) and Valparaiso (12-3) and Columbia
City hasn't beaten much of any body else. But the Indians have four losses by 10
points or less and two overtime losses. Junior Skyler Smith (17.2 ppg.) and
senior Joe Banister (14.5 ppg.) have helped LC score 60 or more 10 times. Smith
has 50 three-point baskets. Defensively, allowing 53 per game is good
considering the opposition.
The trick is not to judge LC by last season when they went to the state finals.
They've heard 1,000 times they aren't as good as last year's team. But 10-5 is
very good any year.
7. (3A) Griffith (12-2)
2014 (16-7), 2013 (11-11), 2012 (3-18)
GRIFFITH: The Panthers took a big whipping 78-46 at East Chicago last week so they aren't too happy, even at 12-2. Other than the win over Class 1A No. 1 Covington (15-1) at the Highland Holiday Tournament, Griffith hasn't topped anyone of note. But the big games are still ahead and the starting lineup, with 6-foot-4 Anthony Harris and the 6-foot-5 Murphy twins, is still strong. A big doubleheader weekend is on tap Feb. 6-7 when the Panthers host Munster (9-7) and Hammond (8-4). I don't mind saying that I'm not comfortable with a boys basketball poll that does not include Munster. Are the Panthers really better than the Mustangs (9-7), who have played a vastly superior schedule? Can that possibly be? We get to see on Feb. 6.