Tough tests ahead for Cardinals, Thunderbirds
The regular season is entering the home stretch for our area hoops teams. After this weekend's docket, each Greene County team will have either two or three regular season games remaining as they gear up for sectional play.
With girls basketball regionals taking place Saturday, two games originally scheduled for Saturday night have been rescheduled for Thursday. Linton-Stockton makes the trip north to take on North Vermillion and Eastern Greene hosts Bedford North Lawrence.
The area card features four Friday night games and one Saturday night tilt.
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Class A No. 1 ranked Bloomfield keeps rolling along since assuming the top spot in the rankings. The Cardinals took down 3A Northview 52-44 at Guy Glover Gymnasium Saturday afternoon.
"On paper" I thought the Northview Knights might present an interesting matchup for the Cards. With 6-6 Caleb Close and Jensen Kellett and 6-8 Drew Lumsdon I thought the Knights had the height to try to challenge the Cardinals inside.
But Northview didn't take that tack. Instead they dialed long distance. Northview's 9 of 21 beyond the arc wasn't enough as the Knights connected on just 4 of 23 two-pointers. Bloomfield went on a 9-1 run and then scored the last seven points of the first half to erase a 19-8 deficit.
The Cardinals face a tougher 3A opponent Friday, on the road. Bloomfield visits the Hatchet House in Washington to take on the 13-4 Hatchets.
Washington lost by a single point, 57-56 to 14-2 Pike Central and by two (35-33) at 13-5 Vincennes Lincoln.
Pike Central was ranked No.7 in Class 3A in this week's poll. The Hatches were rated 11th and the Vincennes Alices 14th.
Washington lost its season opener, 62-55 to Barr-Reeve. The Vikings assumed the No. 1 spot in this week's Class 2A poll, in Barr-Reeve's first season in 2A since moving up in class.
Bloomfield closes out the regular season February 26 at Barr-Reeve.
The Hatchets' other loss? That one came at the hands of none other than Eastern Greene, 52-41 December 11 at Little Cincinnati.
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What does all this talk of rankings mean? Very little, if anything.
Except to illustrate the point I'm about to make.
I've said before, in the big picture, I'm in favor of class sports. The landscape has changed and a 1A or 2A team generally isn't going to be competitive against the biggest and the best of 4A.
But with that being said, I've also noticed this - some years there doesn't seem to be a whole lot of difference between the best teams in Class A and most 3A programs. This is one of those years.
And I've seen the same thing in football.
"If I Was In Charge" - which I'll never be - I'd have no more than three classes. I'd have a Top 32 or Top 64 and let the biggies battle it out for supremacy. Then I'd put the next-largest 120 in another class and the rest in a third class.
Or maybe I'd just have two classes.
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Speaking of classes, Eastern Greene is stepping out of its class again this weekend. The Thunderbirds face back-to-back tough matchups at home.
Thursday Eastern Greene hosts 4A bedford North Lawrence in the game rescheduled from Saturday to accommodate the Lady Stars playing in the Columbus North Regional Saturday.
BNL enters with a 12-8 record. The Stars defeated Eastern's Friday opponent, 3A Edgewood 58-53 January 23 at Bedford.
Edgewood (13-7) has been puzzling. The Mustangs surrendered a 15-point second-quarter lead losing by 10 at Bloomfield in mid-December. Edgewood looked impressive in four games at the Wabash Valley Classic. Then the Mustangs turned around and laid an egg, losing by 15 at Brown County.
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North Vermillion represents a new addition to the Linton-Stockton schedule this season. The Miners trek two hours north to Cayuga Friday and take the well-established gridiron rivalry to the hardwood.
Are North Vermillion's Cody Wright and Jacob Earl as good on the basketball court as they are on the football field? We'll find out.
I'm still amazed by the Miners third-quarter shutout of South Knox last Thursday. Actually it was an 11 and a half minute scoring drought in total for the Spartans.
I've never witnessed a shutout quarter when both teams are at or near the same level. This wasn't Cannelton or Providence Cristo Rey the Miners were playing after all.
South Knox was rated 14th in Class 2A in this week's poll despite having lost to each of Greene County's top three teams this season.
And the Miners limited the Spartans' leading scorer Isiah Stafford to just three points. He entered Thursday's contest averaging nearly 17 points per game. Stafford went for 37 against the Miners in Linton-Stockton's 70-69 double-overtime win last February at South Knox.
But as Miner coach Joey Hart pointed out, "When he had 37 against us Joe Dieball was an assistant coach out with a knee injury. That made a difference."
With everything the Dieball brothers Joe and Josh bring to the court offensively - Josh as a primary scoring option and Joe as the Miners' floor general - it's easy to overlook their contributions on the defensive end.
Against Terre Haute South in the Wabash Valley Classic, the Miners trailed just 40-38 after the midway point of the third quarter.
Soon after, Joe Dieball was whistled for his fourth personal. South proceeded to close out the third period on a 14-2 run.
"They were giving us all we could handle," Terre Haute South coach Scott Ridge said. "If Dieball hadn't picked up that fourth foul it might have been a different outcome."
Hart concurred. "The game pretty much ended when Joe got his fourth foul."
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In other weekend action, White River Valley enjoys a two-game homestand, hosting a pair of Valleys - Springs on Friday night and Owen Saturday. Shakamak travels to Vincennes to take on the Rivet Patriots in Ralph Holscher Gymnasium. This should be a competitive game - and might turn into a high-scoring affair.
Terry's Weekly Rankings
1. (tie) Bloomfield (17-2, 7-0); Linton-Stockton (16-4, 5-1)
3. Eastern Greene (12-6, 3-2)
4. Shakamak (9-11, 2-4)
5. White River Valley (2-15, 0-6)
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.
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