Recapping last week's area hoops, plus a look ahead

Last week's area basketball slate produced few, if any surprises.

Bloomfield is 4-0 after weekend wins at Shakamak and Washington Catholic.

I have not seen Bloomfield in action yet. I can only assume the Cardinals looked very impressive in dismantling the Lakers 84-50.

Brandon Van Sant played in front of his future coaches from the University of Illinois at Springfield for the first time in a high school game.

And the 6-7 big man failed to disappoint, scoring 30 points and grabbing 10 rebounds in dominating the Lakers.

He'll be a handful for area teams this winter.

Bloomfield placed five scorers in double fighures against Shakamak.

The Cards had an easier time of it Saturday, blowing out the other Cardinals from Washington Catholic 80-27.

Bloomfield is at Clay City Friday. The Cards host Edgewood Saturday with a chance to go 6-0.

Bloomfield is ranked second in Class A in this week' Associated Press poll.

As expected, Linton-Stockton easily handled Clay City 75-48 moving to 3-0 on the season.

Eel coach Vance Edmondson has an inexperienced squad, losing six of its top seven players from last season's semistate team.

The lone Clay City returnee with varsity experience, Noah Denker put up 18 points.

The Miners' pressure defense forced 24 Eel turnovers and led to easy baskets in transition.

Linton-Stockton will be tested Friday when they travel to Barr-Reeve. The defending 1A state champ Vikings are ranked second in Class 2A in this week's AP poll after moving up this year due to the IHSAA Tournament Success Factor.

The Miners moved up to fourth from seventh in the same poll.

I can't imagine Barr-Reeve is quite the same team without Addison Wagler and Seth Swartzentruber. But given the history of Barr-Reeve's program, I'm sure they've found replacements.

Friday's game will be another early sectional preview game - as will Eastern Greene's Saturday showdown with visiting North Knox.

South Knox coach Mark Rohrer tweeted, "Once again, I believe sectional 47 will most likely be the toughest 2A sectional in Southern Indiana."

Speaking of turnovers, the Thunderbirds had a few of those Saturday at Mitchell.

In a game that was a little too similar to last year's Mitchell game for coach Jon Neill's satisfaction, the T-Birds eked out a 50-48 win over the Bluejackets.

Like last year, Eastern Greene held a commanding lead, 20-8 after the first quarter. And like last year, they nearly let it slip away.

But the Thunderbirds survived - and they're 4-0.

Eastern Greene can shoot it, as evidenced by 6 of 7 shooting from beyond the arc in the first quarter at Mitchell. So the T-Birds will be a dangerous opponent.

Before they take on North Knox, Eastern Greene entertains Washington Friday night. The Hatchets are 1-1, losing to Barr-Reeve 62-55 in their opener and beating North Daviess 62-27. Washington is receiving votes in this weeks Class 3A poll.

J.T. Yoho was in the house Saturday at Mitchell. J.T. took advantage of a rare Saturday off to come home and watch younger brother Trevor play for the Thunderbirds.

The Wright State senior forward finished his high school career as the second-leading scorer in Eastern Greene history. His 1.504 career total trials only Levi Carmichael's 1,603.

Yoho has started 7 of 8 games this season averaging 10.0 points per game and 4.8 rebounds per outing. Yoho was enjoying a breakout season his junior year averaging 15.6 points and 6.4 rebounds before a knee injury sidelined him. He has started on and off since his freshman season.

WQTY's Darren Clayton interviewed J.T. live before Saturday's game. Stay tuned for the Greene County Daily World's interview with J.T. in an upcoming issue.

I've also not seen Shahamak or White River Valley play.

After opening with a win at South Vermillion, the Lakers suffered a pair of weekend losses. They lost 79-64 at Sullivan Saturday.

The Lakers did place four scorers in double figures against the Arrows led by Cameron West's 16.

Shakamak is home for both its games this weekend. The Lakers will have a winnable game Friday against North Knox. If nothing else, they should get back on the winning track Saturday against Washington Catholic.

WRV is off to an 0-3 start losing to North and South Knox and North Central.

Against North Central, the Wolverines took a 17-10 lead behind Hunter Cornelius' 10 first-quarter points.

North Central finished the game on a 17-4 run to win 54-39.

The Thunderbirds lost three starters from a year ago - guards Austin Jewell and Andrew Nikirk and big man Mitchell Peterson. They did return two starters though and they're good ones - guard gavin Stanifer and forward Neal Greene.

White River Valley has a good chance to notch its first win of the season Friday at Eminence.

The Wolverine eighth graders beat Sullivan 42-36 last year. So it looks like, as Mike Davis used to say, "Help is on the way."

It should be an exciting week for Greene County high school basketball.

Terry Schwinghammer is a sports writer for the Greene County Daily World. He can be reached by telephone at (812) 847-4487, ext. 27. He can also be reached via email at tschwing32@yahoo.com.

Terry's weekly rankings

1. Bloomfield (4-0)

2. Linton-Stockton (3-0)

3. Eastern Greene (4-0)

4. Shakamak (1-2)

5. White River Valley (0-3)