Week 10 News and Notes

After a bad weather weekend took out most of Week 9’s Saturday’s games, the ice and cold also postponed some of the games this week. It started off on Monday with a previously postponed Chesterton @ Crown Point game which is looking like it could be for the DAC crown up in the Region. Tuesday night up in Ft. Wayne there was a really good matchup between two teams looking to make a run @ semi state in their classes, Homestead and New Haven. Friday night I checked out a good ORVC battle with Southwestern visiting Milan and got to stream a few games later one. Although cold and snowing, Saturday night was a sneaky good game between Batesville @ Hauser. Quite possibly the upset of the season took place on Saturday night up in the Region with Gary 21st and Crown Point. And the sold out game @ Carmel against #1 Fishers was a big time matchup. It was a fun week 10 of hoops so let’s get to it.

Chesterton @ Crown Point- It was hard to find a better game to cover on paper than this one between my #2 Bulldogs and #15 Trojans. The winner of this one pretty much controls their own destiny in the DAC. The big names in this game coming in were Indiana All Star lock, Dikembe Shaw and All Star candidate, Mason Darrell for CP. On the Chesterton side it’s Sr. Logan Pokorney, who’s a Taylor commit and top 10 soph. prospect Brad Basila. The Dogs started the game off hot and never really cooled off. The Sr. Dikembe Shaw started giving out buckets from pretty much wherever he wanted all over the floor. The relentless defense from Crown Point was a huge factor in this game and to set the tone early. CP only allowed Chesterton 7 pts in the 1st quarter and it was 9 point lead after 1. The 2nd half Chesterton found a little bit more offense scoring 20 in the quarter but Crown Point certainly didn’t slow down. Shaw continued his big night and soph. MJ Wilson is making a real run at being a top 10 player in the state for the ’28 class himself finishing with 12 pts in the game. Wilson looks a legit 6’5 can play a guard or wing spot, is a versatile dog on defense, and glides to the rim athletically. Buy stock in Wilson because he is going to be a player in the Region for the next few years. At the half it was 43-27 with no sign of Crown Point slowing down. There was one real bright spot for Chesterton in the 2nd half and that was 14 pts from Jr. Malachi Ransom. Ramson really came to play tonight leading the Trojans in scoring. But the night and game belonged to Shaw on his way to a game- high 33 pts, 6 steals, 4 rbs, and 4 assists looking like a top 3 player in the class of ’26. Bulldog Sr. Kaiden Rhodes had himself a good overall game with 10 pts, 5 rbs, 3 steals and 2 assists. Sr. Mason Darrell added in 12 points while Sr. Bryce Peters put up 10 pts and 7 assists. Every one of Crown Point’s guys can guard and put pressure on you. I was obviously impressed with the game Shaw had but as a team their lockdown defense at times really stood out. The Dogs held Trojan stars Pokorney and Basila to a combined 12 pts. Crown Point got a statement win tonight making their case as the #1 team in all of Indiana with a 84-62 win.

East Chicago Central @ Gary Westside- One of the bigger rivalry games in The Region took place on Thursday night. The Cards are going through a reloading year after graduating Yamauree Wallace and EC all time leading scorer, Dominique Murphy. Westside is just now getting all of their pieces back together healthy with a strong senior class mixed with 2 of the state’s better freshmen (Prentiss Gates and Deshawn Clay Jr). The game got started off slow on the offensive end in the first quarter but both teams were playing hardcore defense. East Chicago has their own freshmen that are getting alot of time including starting point guard, Mekhi Gillis who put in 8 pts on the night along with some lockdown defense. The Cougars got some things going in the 2nd quarter including some blocks on the defensive end from their 6’8 freshman, Prentiss Gates (7 pts and 4 blocks) . A Westside spurt at the end of the half gave them a 23-15 lead but the big event came as the buzzer sounded as two players diving for the ball went out of bounds and pushing and shoving occurred when getting up. Some fans and players got involved and I’m not sure exactly who got the tech’s or how many but at least one fan was ejected. After seeing Cougar senior Trey Hinton and West play Kokomo in the summer I knew what he was capable of and up until the 2nd half he hadn’t shown it. Hinton really showed what he could do in that 3rd quarter at one point scoring 5 pts. in a span of about 10-15 seconds. His three point heat check from the volleyball line helped GW spread their lead up to 41-31 going into the 4th. Cardinal senior Joseph Watkins also came up big in the 2nd half for EC hitting mid range jumpers and getting to the basket for his team high 14 pts. In fact, with a little over 2 minutes left EC cut the deficit to one, 45-44 after a three from Sr. Jamarie Pollard. Once again when the game was in doubt the Cougars put the ball in Hinton’s hand and he brought the game home for GW. Trey finished the game with 25 pts in a 56-47 Cougar win. East Chicago had their chances finishing the game with 19 offensive rebounds but only shot 17/61 on FG attempts and 6/14 from the line. GW went 16/38 FGs and 19/25 from the line which helped seal the win.

Southwestern (Hanover) @ Milan- I figured this would be a good, close, and up-tempo style game. Milan came in featuring their 2nd leading scorer all time in school history, Sr. Micah Norman. The Rebels come in with a strong class of seniors (Caleb Goode, Brady Cook, and Braxton Lewis) and some pretty good underclassmen in the rotation as well. Lewis was listed out for the game but should be back ready to go by next weekend. Both teams started out cool on the offensive end and it took a little while for them to get adjusted to the flow of the game. The Rebels led by a slim 12-10 margin after 1. The offense started to get going more in the 2nd quarter as Indian seniors Micah Norman and Gabe Riehle got going. But so did Rebel sophomore Andrew Nussbaum who’s shots eventually started falling. Freshman Quinton Lewis also got some shots to fall in the first half on his way to 6 pts for the game. Lewis is one of numerous freshman in a strong southern Indiana c/o ’29 to be in the starting rotation for his team. An interesting play before the halftime buzzer sounded was Milan threw a full court heave as a shot @ the rim that hit the backboard and an Indian player put it in off the glass as the horn sounded cutting the deficit to 29-27 SW. In the 3rd SW got really good contributions from sophomore Luke Morrow who put in a big 12 pts. and 4 rbs for the night, including a couple 3s. Brady Cook also had an all around good game of 9 pts and 8 rbs. getting into the lane and finishing over defenders. Credit to the Indians and Coach Pickerill for battling and even cutting the lead back down to 2 or 3, but that was about as close as Milan could get eventually winning, 68-57. Milan’s two leading scorers, Micah Noman was held to 16 pts for the Indians while Riehle finished with 15 pts. Nussbaum had a game-high 24 pts for the Rebels and even left some points on the table along with 3 rbs and 2 assists. Southwestern will be a dangerous team in Sectional 45 along with South Ripley and Austin and especially when fully healthy. The Indians have a tough sectional with top 3 ranked Hauser and a solid Trinity Lutheran squad.

Batesville @ Hauser- This is one of those games I had scheduled to see from the beginning of the season. I went to the old Hauser gym back in their state title year in the 05-06 season but haven’t been to a game in their new gym, ‘the Hanger’. It’s certainly a nice gym and good atmosphere for a game. Batesville came into the game with only 1 loss by 2 pts to a solid Greenfield Central team. Hauser is a top 3 team in 1A and legit state title contender. There has been a real influx of talent in Hope, IN. the last few years with some good classes of kids. Seniors Stryker Gill, Gavin Keller, and Cameron Blair have done alot of winning in a Jet uniform. In the first quarter Gill just about outscored Batesville by himself putting in 9 or 10 pts early. The game was tied @ 13 apiece after 1 thanks to Bulldog Sr. Trenton Luers putting in a sidestep 3 in the last few seconds. The Bulldogs got a little breathing room in the 2nd quarter thanks to Luers and Jr. James Hughes. By the halftime break Batesville held onto a 26-22 lead. It was a quiet first half for Jet leading scorer, Gavin Keller. Both teams played some really tough defense against good cutting action on offense. In the 3rd is when Hughes really did his damage to the Jets on his way to a team- high 19 pts in the game. Hughes is an underrated lefty in the c/o ’27 that Batesville played their offense through tonight. By the start of the 4th quarter Batesville had a pretty good grasp on the game leading 40-33. It seemed like they had complete control; until Keller and Jets just refused to lose in the 4th. Keller simply couldn’t be stopped on the offensive end for Hauser and scored 10 or 11 of his 16 total pts in the final quarter. By the three minute mark the lead was gone and the Jets took a 1 pt. lead thanks to and inside basket from Blair. Combine that with Luers fouling out around the 2- 2:30 mark and it seemed like a Jets win was inevitable. Hauser hit their free throws and Batesville just couldn’t get much to fall in the last couple minutes. Usually a strong three point shooting team I had the Bulldogs with hitting only 2 for the game, and one came in the last couple seconds of the game by Sr. Brayden Maple. The Jets handed Batesville their 2nd loss of the season in a hard fought, 56-50 win. Luers put up 16 for the Dogs while Gill had a game-high 23 pts for Hauser. This matchup sounds like it will be good for years to come as the the Hauser 7th and 8th grade teams are a combined, 38-7 while Batesville’s 8th grade finished their season undefeated @ 21-0.

Fishers @ Carmel- I had to check this game out on stream when I got home on Saturday night. This was one of those big time games that the entire state has eyes on. It’s not often Carmel sells out their gym but when #1 Fishers visits, the fans showed up. The Greyhounds are a senior led team along with their Jr. starter, Cash Daniels who transferred in from Cathedral this season. Seniors Ben Bremer, Julian Vogt, Evan Harrell, Aiden Dickerson, and Jamichael Fountain have played alot of ball for the blue and gold and this game tonight would arguably be their biggest. Right off the first few dribbles Tigers Sr. Kai McGrew picked up his 1st foul which would lead him to foul trouble and sitting alot in the first half. Vogt capitalized for the Greyhounds hitting some good shots from the outside. What stood out early on was the intensity of the defense and the physicality on the inside. Tigers freshman Max Hopkins had to come in for McGrew in the 1st half and held his own for the most part, even while collecting 3 fouls. He’s a name to recognize for the Tigers, especially next year and beyond. A Cash Daniels basket at the end of the half cut the Fishers lead to 25-23. It seemed like every time Vogt or Daniels would hit a basket for the Hounds, Zachary and Fishers would answer right back. The Tigers got some separation in the 3rd quarter and a Zachary 3 pointer at the buzzer increased the Fishers lead to 47-36 going into the 4th. It felt like watching it Fishers took their foot off the gas a little early. An 11 point lead in this game was more like closer to 20 but it felt a little early to stop being aggressive offensively. Sr. Greyhound Evan Harrell got going some in the 4th with 5 pts in the quarter and 9 pts total for the game. Cash Daniels continued doing work and cut the lead down to 3 with two and a half minutes to go. A putback dunk that got the crowd going for went down for Fishers Jr. Levi Walker that kept the Tigers lead @ 3. Another really huge play for the Tigers was the offensive rebound McGrew got with about 30 seconds left that kept possession for Fishers. Although the Tigers went 1/4 from the line in the last 30 seconds Carmel couldn’t capitalize and got down too much in the 3rd quarter giving the #1 ranked Tigers a good run, but falling, 53-50. The Daniels (23 pts.) v. Zachary (16 pts) matchup was fun to watch. Both should have a solid case for being named Junior All Stars.

Other News and Notes from Around the State in Week 10

• Homestead Jr. Mack Welker put up 25 pts in a 58-54 W over New Haven. Bulldog Jr. Tarvar Baskerville scored 22 pts.
• Cathedral defeated Scecina in the County championship, 65-58. Sr. Keaton Aldridge with 20 pts and 7 rbs in the W.
• Attucks beat Indy Washington 74-69 in OT. Tiger Sr. Dezhon Hall put up 31 pts, 10 rbs, and 8 assists. On Friday Attucks defeated Cristel House 67-52. Hall with 21 in this one and Sr. Blessed Thomas with a team-high 22 pts.
• Franklin Central got a 54-24 W over Perry Meridian. Jr. Jacob Parham with 22 pts in the W.
• Paoli remained undefeated with a 79-45 win over Corydon. Sr. Kirk Hughes with 18 pts and Jr. Dakota Apple with 16 pts and 11 rbs.
• Bosse beat Evans. Memorial 75-41. Sr. Dorion Bowen put up 22 pts and 8 rbs.
• Kokomo defeated Lafayette Jeff 62-57 in OT. Sr. Korbyn Hammel led the Kats with 19 pts.
• Guerin Catholic held off Lebanon 55-53. Jr. Jake Grissom with 27 pts and 9 rbs.
• Penn beat SB Adams 66-52. Soph. Caleb Coolman with another big game of 20 pts and 7 rbs. On Saturday Penn also defeated Goshen, 57-33. Coolman with 22 pts in the W.
• Carroll (FW) defeats FW Snider, 69-63. Despite the loss Sr. Xavier Wilson with 23 pts. and Jr. Trell Hogue had 20 pts.
• New Albany beat Evans. North, 75-57. Soph. Noah Washington led the Bulldogs with 22 pts and 4 rbs.
• Austin defeated Salem, 53-41. Jr. Braxton Barger led the Eagles with 16 pts.
• HSE defeats Pendleton Heights, 76-72. Royals soph. Vashon Clark with 21 pts and 7 assists.
• Kokomo beat Lewis Cass, 75-40. Sr. Korbyn Hammel with 26 pts for the Kats.
• Ben Davis over Parke Heritage, 50-41. Giant Sr. Jashawn Ladd with 19 pts.
• Mater Dei defeated Castle, 71-41. Soph. Cole Breeden led the Wildcats with 18 pts.
• Princeton beat N. Posey, 77-39. Soph. Quintyn Voltz with 22 pts, 6 rbs, and 4 steals for the Tigers.
• Mt. Vernon beat Harrison, 76-56. Sr. Luke Ertel with 24 pts, 13 assists, and 9 rbs.
• Charlestown with the 65-36 W over Henryville. Pirate Sr. Anthony Fresh with 15 pts. Jr. Manon Gant with 13 pts for the Hornets.
• Gibson Southern over Washington, 53-46. Jr. Kolton Schmitt with 22 pts for the Titans.
• Corydon beat Brownstown, 66-37. Jr. Grant Lindemann with 16 pts for the Panthers.
• New Albany got the 70-49 W over Jasper. Soph. Noah Washington led the Dogs with 26 pts.
• Blackhawk beat FW Wayne, 67-64. Soph. Bryce Lacross with a career high 35 pts, 7 rbs, and 4 assists for the Braves.
• Oak Hill Jr. Jace Tonagel put up 16 pts, 6 assists, and 4 steals in a 81-28 W over Madison-Grant.
• Marion got a good 83-64 W over Anderson. Sr. Tim Jones scored 23 pts for the Giants.
• Heritage Hills defeated South Spencer, 84-55. Jr. Tait Wetzel scored 28 pts for the Pats.
• New Haven got a really good W v. Columbia City on Saturday, 70-67 in OT. Jr. Deuce Baskerville scored 22 pts and 4 steals for the Bulldogs. Eagle Sr. Landon Richmond scored 29 pts. and 10 rbs.
• Jay County defeated Blackford, 75-62. Sr. Gradin Swoveland put up 26 pts. for JC while soph. Amarian Leggett scored 42 pts for the Bruins.

5 Stars of Week 10

Terrence Hayes- Gary 21st Century. 24 pts, 9 rbs, 5 assists, 4 steals, and 3 blocks in a W v. Crown Point.

Cash Daniels- Carmel. 21 pts and the game winner v. Ben Davis. 25 pts, 4 rbs, and 2 steals v. Fishers.

Reggie ‘Trey’ Hinton- Gary Westside. 25 pts in a W v. East Chicago Central.

Cooper Zachary- Fishers. 36 pts on a school- record 10 three’s in a W v. Franklin Central. 16 pts, 4 rbs, 2 assists, and 2 steals in a W v. Carmel

Dakota Apple- Paoli. 16 pts and 11 rbs in a W v. Corydon. 27 pts and 8 rbs in a W v. Forest Park

Team of the Week- Paoli Rams. defeated Corydon 79-45 on Friday and Forest Park, 75-62 on Saturday tying a school record 15-0 start.

Upset of the Week- Gary 21st Century over Crown Point. Corydon over Brownstown, 66-37 the night after Brownstown beat Charlestown, 51-46.

Top Freshmen from Around the State in Week 10

Grayson Dease- Evansville Reitz. 20 pts in a W v. Evansville Central.

Ashton Brobston- Frankton. 13 pts, 5 assists, and 4 rbs in a W v. Elwood. 7 pts, 10 rbs, and 6 assists in a W v. Tri-Central.

Micah Mohler- Austin. 12 pts in a W v. Salem.

Karson Stoudemire- New Albany. 10 pts, 4 rbs, 3 assists, and 3 steals in a W v. Evansville North. 7 pts in a W v. Jasper on Saturday.

Will Tonagel- Oak Hill. 9 pts and 2 assists in a W v. Lapel.

Luke Keller- Guerin Catholic. 9 pts in a W v. Lebanon.

Mekhi Gillis- East Chicago Central. 8 pts v. Gary Westside.

Prentiss Gates- Gary West. 7 pts and 4 blocks in a W v. ECC.

Deshawn Clay Jr.- Gary West. 6 pts in a W v. ECC.

Games to see in Week 11

Wednesday- Madison @ Silver Creek/ Austin @ Brownstown

Thursday- South Ripley @ Southwestern (Hanover)/ Ben Davis @ Pike/ Lawrence North @ Carmel

Friday- Gary West @ Gary 21st Century

Saturday- Homestead @ Oak Hill/ Penn @ Chesterton