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Seven boys basketball games on weekend schedule
Bloomfield and Eastern Greene will be the only area boys basketball teams facing a double weekend as part of seven games on the local schedule.
Union and Shakamak will each play one game while Linton-Stockton will travel to Switz City to face White River Valley Saturday in the only game for the Miners (0-3, 0-1 in the Southwestern Indiana Athletic Conference) and Wolverines (1-3, 0-0).
Linton-Stockton coach Darren Clayton said his team is young and still learning how to win. The Miners are coming off of a 55-53 loss at Bloomfield Saturday.
Clayton said he likes the effort his squad has put forth, but they have to improve their foul shooting. They missed 12 of 20 freebies in a setback to the Cardinals.
White River Valley has dropped games to Vincennes Rivet, South Knox and Mitchell after beginning the season with an easy victory at Shoals.
"I think we have improved a little bit since the first game of the season," said WRV coach Gene Hall. "I think the Shoals game maybe gave the kids a false perspective about where the team is at right.
"We did not play well against Rivet and let that game slip away. We had a better week of practice, but did not start out very well against South Knox. We had one rebound in the first half and you are not going to win a game if you don't check out and get after people. I thought we played relatively well on Saturday against Mitchell. We gave up 13 or 14 offensive rebounds, but we were down four or six in the second half. To the kids' credit, they have found a way to hang around."
Hall said they have not played well in the fourth quarters so far.
"We are averaging giving up 19 points in the fourth quarter," he said. "We have not done a good job of trying to put teams away in the fourth quarter.
"Part of that is depth. We just are not very deep yet. Plus we have not been as aggressive as we need to be. That is not a good recipe for success."
Sophomore guard Jared Shelton paces WRV in scoring at 17 per game. Adam Capehart is scoring at an 11.8 clip.
Jake Fender, who hit two key 3-pointers in the Miners' comeback effort at Bloomfield, tops Linton-Stockton in scoring at 12 per game.
Union (1-3) will plays its annual county rivalry game at Sullivan Friday night. The Golden Arrows have started the season with losses to South Knox, Brown County and Shakamak.
In their last game, the Bulldogs defeated Eminence by one point on a last-second shot by Bubbi Lucas.
"It was good for the kids' confidence to get our first win," said Union coach Clarence Johnson. "We got behind in the second half, but kept our composure and made some big plays when we needed them.
"It could be an interesting game against Sullivan. I am sure they will be hungry coming into the game looking for their first win. We need to focus on taking better care of the basketball. We need to make sure that we value each possession. We are not big and powerful so we have to check out and emphasize rebounding every night. Friday night at Sullivan will be no different."
Junior B.J. Howard, who averaged less than seven points per game a year ago, leads the Bulldogs in scoring at 14.5 ppg. Logan Chesterfield also hits for double figures as he averages 14.0.
Eric Medley, who had a career-high 20 points in the 62-61 win over Eminence Saturday, scores 11.3 points per game.
Bloomfield is the lone undefeated team in the area. The Cardinals have beaten Union, Shakamak and Linton-Stockton to start 3-0 overall and in the SWIAC.
The Cardinals will play a fourth consecutive conference game at Clay City (2-0, 1-0) Friday. They will then travel to Ellettsville to play Class 3A No. 1 Edgewood (2-0) on Saturday.
"We are beginning a stretch where we play four straight and seven of our next eight on the road," said Bloomfield coach Ron McBride. "Clay City is physically strong inside with the Kennedy boy. They hung one on Dugger pretty good and I still believe Dugger is going to be a pretty good team.
"Edgewood is a top 10 team, and not just in class. They have been ranked as high as seventh or eighth overall in the state. "They have an All-State candidate (Garrett Butcher) who just scored 29 against Bloomington North. We will have another competitive weekend, which is what we want."
Sophomore Andy Cochrane has hit for 16 points per game for the Cardinals, including the game-winning 3-pointer against the Miners. Rick Tally averages 12.3 while guard Derrick Held score 10.3 ppg.
"We had three players in double figures and I am happy about that," McBride said after the win against Linton-Stockton. "People think that we are have a lot of experience, but we lost three of our top seven from last year.
"(Gavin) Thompson is playing and new position and (Kaleb) Mumma has a new role. Cochrane has played three varsity games. We have a lot of kids playing extended minutes for the first time."
Eastern Greene has started the year with road losses to Owen Valley and Mitchell.
They will entertain 2-2 Brown County Friday and host sectional foe North Knox (3-1) Saturday.
The Thunderbirds are only scoring 39.5 points where game while allowing over 66. Cody Sparks tops the Thunderbirds in scoring at just 7.5 ppg.
"After two games, we still don't know who are scorers are," said EGHS coach Andy Igel. "We haven't had anybody score in double figures yet.
"We knew that we would have a lot of question marks early in the season because we only have two guys with any varsity experience. We have kids that have never put on a varsity uniform before. We have kids making the adjustment from JV to varsity and a couple making the adjustment from junior high to varsity."
The T-Birds shot 9 of 41 in a 53-28 loss at Mitchell Friday.
"We could not put it in the ocean," said Igel. "The frustrating part was that we got a lot of good looks, but just couldn't knock them down.
"I didn't think this was going to be a great shooting team, but I didn't think we were going to be a bad shooting team either. It is just going to take some time and I have to show patience. Other than being frustrated with losses, I am very happy working with this group of kids. They are working hard to learn what it takes to play on this level. I couldn't be happier with their effort."
Shakamak, who is 2-1 including a four-point setback last Friday at home against Bloomfield, will entertain undefeated (3-0) South Knox Saturday night at Jasonville. The Spartans are ranked No. 5 in Class 2A, having defeated Sullivan, White River Valley and North Knox Tuesday night.
The Lakers led by the sophomore duo of Billy Newton and Ethan Stanifer. Newton tops the area in scoring at 17.3 ppg. Stanifer, one of best free throw shooters in the area (14 of 16), is scoring at the 16.3 clip.
Jaret May scored 31 points last weekend to raise his average to 11.3. Tyler Richardson gives the Lakers four players in double figures (10.3 ppg).
The Lakers are outscoring opponents by almost nine points per game, limiting the opposition to 54 points.