After the opening week of boys basketball in the Region, a few question marks have been cleared up already, and many remain, to be sorted out over the next 13 weeks and the postseason. Here’s a quick look at the first week, conference-by-conference.
DUNELAND ATHLETIC CONFERENCE
Chesterton (0-1)
With a 62-35 loss to Mishawaka, it looks like Chesterton isn’t going to be a whole lot better than last year, when the Trojans went dead last in the DAC.
Crown Point (0-0)
The Bulldogs’ opener against South Bend Washington was postponed due to Washington’s football team reaching the Class 4A state finals.
Lake Central (1-1)
The Indians had an impressive 72-47 win over Gary West Side, then fell 79-64 at one of the top teams in the state, Hamilton Southeastern. While the road loss should be no surprise, the margin demonstrates that LC is not yet a contender at that level.
LaPorte (1-1)
The Slicers had a nice win over South Bend Riley before following up with a disappointing loss to South Bend Clay. On the whole, going 1-1 against those two is not a terrible result, but not a great one either.
Merrillville (0-1)
It may take some time for the Pirates to adjust to a new coach for the first time in decades, and let’s face it, Merrillville is young and inexperienced. The Pirates fell to a Homestead team they handled easily a year ago. Looks like a rebuilding year may be in store.
Michigan City (0-1)
The Wolves led most of the way before host East Chicago came back to scrap out a 55-52 win. Losing at EC is no embarrassment, but the Wolves would like to have that one back against a very young Cardinals’ squad.
Portage (0-1)
We knew Portage would be young this year, and a 66-44 loss at Highland was not unexpected. Still, for a DAC team to go down by 22 against an NCC team is a troubling sign for the Indians.
Valparaiso (2-0)
Many Region fans are looking forward to next year, when the DAC goes back to a seven-game conference schedule and Valpo can actually add some decent teams (besides Munster) to its nonconference slate. Blowout wins over Boone Grove and Hobart tell us nothing about the Vikings.
GREAT LAKES ATHLETIC CONFERENCE
Hammond (1-0)
Hammond routed freshmen-laden Gary Lighthouse 95-13 in the Turkey Shootout at East Chicago. Actually, that game was more like a turkey shoot than a shootout. We won’t get any real insights about the Wildcats from that game.
Hammond Clark (1-1)
The Pioneers opened with an impressive rally to win at Hanover Central, then came home and got handled by arch-rival Whiting. Does this tell us more about Clark, Whiting or Hanover?
Hammond Gavit (0-2)
After opening with a 50-point loss at Munster last year, the Gladiators cut that deficit to 12 this year, then lost by 13 to Lowell. I suspect this tells us more about Munster, and what it lost, than it does about Gavit.
Hammond Morton (0-1)
The Governors played well against Hammond Noll last year and came within nine this year. With the rest of this league looking perhaps a little weaker this season, this might be the year for the steadily improving Govs to make a move.
GREATER SOUTH SHORE CONFERENCE
Calumet (0-0)
The Warriors haven’t played yet. They are young and would be ahead of schedule if they finish in the middle of the league.
Hammond Noll (1-0)
A nine-point win over Morton is no cause for concern. The Warriors barely beat the Governors last year.
Lake Station (0-0)
The Eagles don’t open until this week, but they expect to be very good this year — perhaps even better than last year’s 16-6 team.
Marquette Catholic (0-1)
We heard at the start of the year that the Blazers had brought in three players with Division I talent. Listen, a team with three Division I players doesn’t lose to Hobart, one of the Region’s worst basketball programs in recent years (2-19 last year). Was Marquette overrated? Without a doubt.
North Newton (0-0)
The Spartans open this week, and nobody is expecting much from a team that went 1-20 last year and doesn’t return a ton of firepower.
River Forest (1-0)
If the Ingots were going to do anything this season, a win at home over a young LaCrosse team was a must. RF got it, 54-42. Let’s see how many more the Ingots can get.
Wheeler (0-0)
It’s hard to say how Wheeler will do this year, but the Bearcat program has been good for a long time. Then again, so had Boone Grove, and we see what’s happened to the Wolves since 2009. One doesn’t expect a similar fall from Wheeler.
Whiting (2-0)
The Oilers were the surprise team of the Region last year, after many years of lousy basketball. They may be even better this year, after holding Washington Township to 23 points and then beating arch-rival Hammond Clark decisively at Clark.
NORTHWEST CROSSROADS CONFERENCE
Andrean (1-0)
It looked like Andrean was loaded this season, and the 59ers didn’t disappoint in their 70-55 win at Gary Roosevelt. Could this be the team that dethrones Munster? It sure looks like it, albeit only after one game from each team.
Griffith (0-0)
It’s hard to see how a young Panther team avoids the cellar in what appears to be an improving NCC.
Highland (1-0)
We know Portage isn’t likely to be very good this year, but a 66-44 opening win over any DAC team bodes well for any NCC team. Still, as much as this league appears to have improved, the Trojans will have a hard time finishing higher than third or fourth.
Hobart (1-1)
The Brickies dispatched an obviously overrated Marquette Catholic team before getting served up for their traditional post-Thanksgiving drubbing at Valparaiso. Nothing to see here.
Kankakee Valley (0-2)
Tri-County is usually pretty decent, but when you are the largest Class 3A school in the state, it’s a bad sign to lose by 11 to a Class A school. The home opener, a four-point loss to 3A Twin Lakes, is a little less troubling, but not exactly comforting, either.
Lowell (2-0)
The Red Devils lost Austin Richie after last year’s bounce-back 12-9 campaign, but returned just about everyone else. Sometimes a team that loses its star but returns everyone else does even better the next year, and after double-digit road wins at Hanover Central and Hammond Gavit, that may be true for Lowell. Hey, it was Tee Martin, not Peyton Manning, who quarterbacked Tennessee to a national championship.
Munster (1-0)
These aren’t the Mustangs of old. Munster beat Hammond Gavit 58-46, and that says a lot more about the Mustangs than the Gladiators. This could be the year the Mustangs finally lose an NCC game.
NORTHWESTERN CONFERENCE
Gary Roosevelt (0-1)
It’s always a bad sign to lose your opener at home by 15 points, but that Andrean team is solid. Roosevelt might still be the best team in this truncated league — but if that’s true, oh how the mighty have fallen.
Gary Wallace (0-0)
Wallace was scheduled to play Gary Lighthouse last week, but I never could find a score. Considering what Hammond did to Lighthouse, if the game actually did take place, the Hornets might have won by 100 points.
Gary West Side (0-2)
Yes, we know Lake Central is good, but a 25-point loss? It hasn’t taken the Cougars long to slip into mediocrity, has it?
PORTER COUNTY CONFERENCE
Boone Grove (0-1)
How did the Boone program fall so hard so fast? Yes, that 20-5 sectional championship team from two years ago lost everything, but don’t they play basketball at the lower levels in the Porter Township schools? It’s no surprise for Boone to lose to Valparaiso, but 75-27? Against a very young Valpo team?
Hanover Central (0-2)
Aside from Marquette, the Wildcats at this point look like the Region’s most overrated team. They lost at home to Hammond Clark, 67-62, a few days before Clark got drubbed at home by Whiting, then gave up 82 points — also at home — in a 10-point loss to Lowell.
Hebron (1-1)
Hebron had high hopes with a lot of players returning from a team that closed strong last year, but apparently, only two of them showed up in a 53-41 loss at Kouts. A win over Covenant Christian doesn’t count for much.
Kouts (2-0)
With a 78-48 win over West Central and a solid 53-41 victory over Hebron, the Mustangs look like they might be the top team in the PCC right now.
LaCrosse (0-1)
We knew coming in that LaCrosse was young. Apparently, the Tigers are also not very good, judging by their 54-42 loss at River Forest, a 3-18 team last year that LaCrosse defeated.
Morgan Township (1-0)
Morgan opened with a 44-40 win over Knox. You know what North Judson did to Knox? The Bluejays won 80-24. The Cherokees have a long way to go to be a top-level small-school team this year.
South Central (0-0)
The Satellites open this week against Morgan Township, so we will get an early look at whether they can be an upper-division team in the PCC this year.
Washington Township (1-1)
After managing only 23 points in a loss to Whiting, it looks like the Senators may be one of the worst teams in the Region. They did beat Covenant Christian, but they might not beat anybody else.
INDEPENDENTS
Bowman Academy (0-1)
A nine-point loss to Chicago Farragut, typically a very competitive team in Chicago’s uber-talented Public League, is no embarrassment for a 2A school. With Bowman’s schedule, by far the Region’s toughest, a 10-10 season would be a great success.
East Chicago (2-0)
The young Cardinals made an impressive comeback against Michigan City, then came away with an expected 85-34 rout of Chicago Ace Tech.
Gary 21st Century (1-0)
21st Century Charter won 70-67 at Indianapolis Marshall, reopened this year as a high school after many years as a middle school. There isn’t much to take from that one.
Gary Lighthouse (0-1)
Lighthouse had a game scheduled Tuesday against Gary Wallace, but I couldn’t find a score. Judging by freshman-laden Lighthouse’s 95-13 loss to Hammond, that’s probably just as well.
TOP 10
1. Lake Central (1-1)
2. Bowman Academy (0-1)
3. Andrean (1-0)
4. Hammond Noll (1-0)
5. East Chicago (2-0)
6. Michigan City (0-1)
7. Merrillville (0-1)
8. Lowell (2-0)
9. Munster (1-0)
10. Highland (1-0)
HONORABLE MENTION
11. Valparaiso (2-0)
12. LaPorte (1-1)
13. Crown Point (0-0)
14. Gary Roosevelt (0-1)
15. Hammond (1-0)
TOP FIVE SMALL SCHOOLS (2A or smaller)
1. Bowman Academy (0-1)
2. Hammond Noll (1-0)
3. Lake Station (0-0)
4. Kouts (2-0)
5. Whiting (2-0)
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