Championship Week Has Hopes High
Sectional buzz is abound in the state of Indiana and many are focusing their girls basketball attention to next week’s tournament. Why not, it is Indiana! But unfinished business is still on the docket for dozens of teams in the conference portions of their schedules, including a trio of local teams hoping to check off a huge goal from its season checklists.
Hoosier North Athletic Conference
Triton’s turnaround in the regular season has been remarkable, but not totally unexpected. After starting November 1-7, the Lady Trojans were limping into conference play both figuratively and literally, but won its four December HNAC games to get the cart heading in the right direction.
Initially, Triton dealt with a volleyball tournament transition that had four of its top six players transition immediately from a volleyball regional run right into the basketball season. Also top players Jaela Meister dealt with a knee injury and Hannah Wanemacher missed time due to mono. As the group came together, Triton rallied and beat Winamac in the key conference showdown earlier this month, and only have North Judson in the way of a perfect 8-0 HNAC finish.
The showdown Friday at North Judson (11-8, 6-1 HNAC) will decide the fate of the inaugural conference trophy. A win by Triton (9-12, 7-0 HNAC) will give the Lady Trojans the title outright. A Blue Jays win and the title will be split. Triton clinched at least a share of the title in its lopsided win at Culver.
Said Triton head coach Adam Heckaman, “They are well aware of North Judson’s place in the conference and that Friday’s game could come down to champs or co-champs. The girls are very motivated and focused on preparing for our final game and whatever the sectional has to offer.”
Three Rivers Conference
Tippecanoe Valley is in total command of its path to win the TRC. The Lady Vikings are 8-0 with one game left this Thursday at Manchester. A win gives Valley its second straight conference crown and a punctuation mark on what would be the finest season – record-wise – in school history.
“We’re excited about the opportunity on Thursday night to try and close out
a second straight undefeated season in the conference,” said Tippecanoe Valley head coach Chris Kindig. “The TRC has been really tough the past two years with some very good teams. I’m real happy with how we have played in conference games. We’ve played pretty well in those.”
Rochester is still alive in the TRC hunt, but would only be able to share a title with Valley. Rochester won Monday night at Peru to move to 7-1 in conference play, but the one blemish was a 10-point home loss to Valley Jan. 16. The Lady Zebras, ranked No. 2 in Class 2-A, are 19-1 overall heading into its final game Thursday at Northfield (10-11, 5-3 TRC).
Northern Lakes Conference
The Northern Lakes Conference was a four-horse race that is now down to two.
Northridge (19-3, 6-0 NLC) is still in firm command of clinching the title outright, already securing at least a share with a big win Friday at Elkhart Memorial. The Lady Raiders can finish off a perfect NLC slate Thursday at home against Plymouth (9-12, 1-5 NLC) to claim its second NLC title in three years.
Warsaw is on the outside looking in, but can still sneak in and take a share of the title. The Lady Tigers (8-13, 5-1 NLC), need to beat NorthWood (13-10, 4-2 NLC) at home Thursday and have Northridge lose to split the title. Warsaw hasn’t held a conference title since the 2012-13 season.
“I believe we have gained tremendous confidence over the last few games especially after the loss to Northridge and not playing well in the second half,” said Warsaw head coach Michelle Harter. “Getting a big win against Memorial, Concord, and coming from behind at Goshen was big for us. You always want your team peaking toward the end of the season and going into the tournament and we are seeing that from the girls over the last few games. There defensive intensity has picked up which has lead to some easy offense for us.”
Harter’s team has been on quite a roller coaster, starting the year 1-10, but have won three of its last four. That one loss, however, was a 21-point loss at home to Northridge. To date, Warsaw has played the second-toughest schedule in the state per opponent win/loss record, including seven ranked teams in the latest ICGSA poll, six of those in a row.