One tournament down, one to go

The 16th annual Wabash Valley Classic is in the books.

First Financial assumed sponsorship of this year's tournament after Pizza Hut sponsored the first 15 Classics.

Two area teams competed in the Wabash Calley Classic, hosted by Terre Haute North.

Linton-Stockton wrapped up its tournament with a disappointing 44-38 loss to West Vigo in the fifth place game Wednesday night.

The Miners led 20-13 at the half but were outscored by the Vikings 31-18 in the second half.

Shakamak concluded its Classic Tuesday morning with a huge 57-55 win over Sullivan in the consolation bracket.

I've said all year I expected the Lakers to be much improved this season. They certainly looked like it in the three games at Terre Haute.

Shakamak overcame 13 first-half turnovers with a furious second half rally while the Arrows seemingly self-destructed.

Shakamak reversed a 79-64 loss at Sullivan in early December.

In the previous game against Marshall the Lions scored 7 unanswered to close out the first quarter and never looked back.

"I was pleased with the second half. I thought we did a better job the second half. In the first half we let their athleticism bother us and they pushed us around a little bit," coach J.B. Neill said.

The Lakers opened tournament play Saturday morning against Cloverdale. Shakamak squandered an 11-point lead, 37-26 2:32 into the third stanza.

A double-digit lead can disappear in a hurry when Cooper Neese is on the other team. There's a reason Neese is a Butler University recruit.

He might just be the heir apparent to Kellen Dunham at Butler.

The old turnover bugaboo continues to plague the Lakers. Shakamak had 23 turnovers in the Cloverdale game and 19 against Marshall.

Yet they've been competitive despite all the empty possessions.

As Neill said, "Our guys battle and keep after it. That's the reason we've been in all our games. We shouldn't be to be honest with you. We have way too many turnovers and get off to bad starts it seems like."

If they can solve the turnover problem, Shakamak will start winning some games it should be winning.

If anyone falls asleep on the Lakers in the Greene County Invitational, look out.

Linton-Stockton struggled in a pair of home games with Shakamak and Sullivan the weekend before the tournament.

Struggled, but won.

The Miners responded with a 46-34 win over the rival Arrows to kick off the Classic.

Wednesday Linton-Stockton beat Cloverdale by 16 (67-51) despite Neese's 30 points.

It was the best I'd seen the Miners look so far this season. They were patient offensively, sharing the basketball to the tune of 15 assists. Yet they still got out in transition for easy buckets.

"They have a lot of bodies. They're skilled at what they do, they play great defense and have great spacing on offense," Cloverdale coach Patrick Rady said.

All I can say about the Terre Haute South game is Linton - as did Bloomfield a week earlier at Bloomington South - saw what high-level 4A basketball looks like.

The Miners were right where they wanted to be, trailing just 38-40 midway through the third stanza.

"Through 20 minutes we were right there," Miners coach Joey Hart said. "We turned it over a little too much and it just became a 3-point barrage."

Joe Dieball was whistled for his fourth personal with three minutes left in the third. From that point, South's press and 3-point shooting proved to be too much to overcome.

The Braves closed out the quarter on a 12-2 run and kicked off the final stanza with 12 unanswered.

And she was all over but the final tally.

Similarly the other South enjoyed a 29-2 stretch against the Cardinals from the first quarter into the third.

I would expect Bloomfield to put this one behind them as the Miners seemed to do in their bounce-back game with Cloverdale.

Some nostalgic fans around the state long for a return to the days of the single-class tournament. After witnessing Bloomfield and Linton against the two Souths I'm not sure that's a good idea.

Next week's Greene County Invitational gets underway Tuesday, January 5 with three area teams in action. Linton-Stockton drew North Central in the tournament opener at 6 p.m. Shakamak and Eastern Greene square off in Game 2 at 7:30.

Wednesday at 7:30 White River Valley faces Bloomfield for the second time.

This year's tournament is seeded for the first time in the history of the GCI.

The Cardinals earned the top seed. The Miners are seeded second with the Thunderbirds third.

The Lakers (No. 6) and Wolverines (8th) round out the eight-team field.

Linton-Stockton's Pierce Jackson will be available for the GCI after serving a brief suspension. Jackson will add depth to the Miners' rotation.

Eastern Greene should be tournament-ready after being tested in two tough games before the holiday break.

The Thunderbirds lost a 43-42 heartbreaker on a buzzer-beater at Barr Reeve. The next night they fell by 10 to 4A 7-0 Martinsville.

Bloomfield has not played since its loss at Bloomington South December 22. The Cardinals resume play Saturday at 3A 6-3 Brown County.

Congratulations to White River Valley for is 45-37 win over Washington Catholic Tuesday night. It's nice to see the Wolverines close out a winnable game in what has been a tough season so far.

With Bloomfield and Eastern Greene both idle this week there is no change in the weekly rankings.

But there may be a shakeup in the rankings after the Greene County Invitational.

Terry's Weekly Rankings

1. Bloomfield (7-1)

2. Eastern Greene (6-2)

3. Linton-Stockton (7-3)

4. Shakamak (4-6)

5. White River Valley (1-6)

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.