Long live the SWIAC triangle

Logan Webb going for a basket against North Daviess senior Brendan Stickles.

After watching Linton come back from 10 down to top North Daviess last Friday all the games this weekend feel like a letdown. What we saw a week ago when senior Joey Hart hit a shot to win the game in Elnora is a moment of the season that will never be overshadowed.

Before Hart hit his game winner against North Daviess, his teammate Logan Webb, had something to say to him.

“I looked at the Joey and I’m going to have censor this a little bit, ‘Hey man you’ve got to be a division one basketball player right here. If you get the ball in your hands, go be you.’ He got it, he delivered like he always does. After the game he went up to me and goes ‘You really believe in me don’t you.’ I was like, ‘I will always believe in you. That’s why you are where you are because you deliver every time.’”

At some point, you have to take a step back and look at the big picture. Linton (2A), North Daviess (3A) and Bloomfield (1A) were all ranked in the top three of their classes when these games went down. I am not a historian but it is safe to say that is the first time in the history of the SWIAC to have three teams ranked so high in three different classes. I know because this is the first year where three classes have been represented in SWIAC.

This is the pinnacle of the conference. SWIAC games have gone from regional rivalries to games that have the state’s attention.

Linton, Bloomfield and North Daviess can all have runs this March that leads to playing at the Fieldhouse at Indianapolis. All three of these teams won a share of the conference a year ago and North Daviess went on to win the 1A title. Now, all three teams have loaded senior classes. Bloomfield has senior Peter Combs who has controlled the paint against other 1A schools. North Daviess has the Wilson twins and Jaylen Mullen as these seniors will be missed greatly after this season.

Then there is Linton, where Hart and Webb, are down to a month of basketball before their final postseason. Their friendship, along with junior Braden Walters, fits in all the cliché categories of being a family in sports. Every team will tell you they are a family but this group of kids really are brothers at this point. It’s how they have handled every bit of adversity thrown at them this season from tough opponents, long road trips and even uncertain times in the coaching staff.

Hart and Webb’s freshman season was denied a run to the state title game because of COVID-19. The past two years, Linton was young and was not truly a brotherhood on the court like Hart, Walters and Webb are today. This trio needed time to mature and come into their own. Today it seems like there is nothing they can’t overcome.

After the game ended on missed 3-point try from Mullen, there was Webb meeting with his SWIAC counterpart before running to celebrate with his teammates. The two schools wanted to win badly but there was also a great deal respect for each other.

Don’t take the SWIAC triangle for granted. You never know how long the spotlight will last on this current hotbed for basketball. We have about two left months for sure but you never know what you have until it’s gone.

Nathan Pace is the Sports Editor of the Greene County Daily World and can be reached at npace@gcdailyworld.com. His “Low Budget Sports Show” airs weekly on Facebook Live.