BENNETT'S MINUTES: Calling all Bainbridge Pointers; meeting planned for Sept. 24

Bainbridge High School has been closed for many years, but the school is fondly remembered for its strong love of basketball that reached its height with back-to-back regional championships in the mid-1960s.

Several basketball fans and enthusiasts are trying to keep the memories alive forever by helping recruit Pointer fans from those glory days to share their memories.

Freelance writer Rob Hunter of Bloomington is working on an article, which will be published in the Banner Graphic and potentially other mediums, covering the Bainbridge community and its attraction to basketball.

A meeting is planned for 3 p.m. on Sept. 24 at the Bainbridge Community Center. All former players, coaches and interested fans are invited to attend the meeting and share their stories with Hunter. Fans are also invited to bring memorabilia which can be photographed to accompany the article.

“If you were a Pointer fan, you won’t want to miss this opportunity to talk about and hear and share basketball stories,” said Bobbi Canada, one of the organizers of the meeting.

IHSAA drawings to be online

Beginning this school year, all IHSAA state tournament pairings shows, including several new ones, will air exclusively on the Association’s video portal, IHSAAtv.org.

For 2017-18, the IHSAA will stream a total of nine sectional pairings shows. After successfully producing and streaming pairings shows in softball and baseball last May, the IHSAA will expand its schedule to include shows for boys’ and girls’ soccer (combined), boys tennis, volleyball, football, girls’ basketball, boys’ basketball, girls’ tennis, softball, and baseball.

The football, girls’ basketball and boys’ basketball pairings shows will no longer air on Fox Sports Indiana as they have in recent years, but instead will be replaced with tournament preview shows featuring highlights of the top teams and players as well as interviews with various coaches from around the state.

“We are excited to provide pairings shows for every sport that has a tournament draw,” says Heath Shanahan, Director of Broadcast Operations at the IHSAA. “This is another way for teams to get together, have a team bonding experience, create a tradition and learn their sectional matchup all at the same time. Thanks in part to our great partners at Indiana Farm Bureau Insurance, we now have the ability to do this on a state‐wide scale.”

Upcoming fall pairings shows are scheduled as follows:

Boys’ and girls’ soccer – Sept. 24 at 7 p.m.

Boys’ tennis – Sept. 25 at 7 p.m.

Football – Oct. 1 at noon (also simulcast on the IHSAA Champions Radio Network)

Volleyball – Oct. 2 at 7 p.m.

Barrett off to good start

Our good friend Greg Barrett is off to a great start in his new job at South Vermillion, leading the Wildcats to a 3-1 record while racking up an average of 38.5 points per game.

The Wildcats rank 44th in the state among all classes and seventh in Class 3A in scoring average.

The Wildcats lost a 42-21 game to perennial Wabash River Conference frontrunner North Vermillion, and have feasted on three other opponents (Covington, Riverton Parke and Turkey Run) which have combined to win only two of 12 games so far this season.

Barrett knows, however, that the meat of his team’s schedule lies ahead.

The Wildcats will make a trek down to Sullivan this week to meet the Western Indiana Conference’s West Division leaders. Sullivan is ranked No. 13 by the Indiana Football Coaches Association and 18th by the Associated Press.

That game will have to be more fun than Barrett’s trip to Sullivan last year, when his North Putnam squad lost 33-19 (after starting the season 3-0) in a marathon game extended by several lengthy lightning delays.

South Vermillion will play another winless team next week in Rockville, before a matchup in two weeks against an undefeated Fountain Central team that has only allowed 22 points this season.