Menu
BENNETT'S MINUTES: New South court good to go for county; game schedule switched
Installation of a new basketball playing floor at South Putnam took a little longer than expected, but is now complete and ready for this weekend’s girls’ county tournament.
Fans should take note that while the first-round pairings are unchanged, the original order of the games has been switched to allow the Eagles to play in the first game on their new court.
South plays Cloverdale in a rematch of the season-opening game for both teams, won 65-44 by the Clovers, while Greencastle and North Putnam will play the second game.
Other notes from here and there:
• Former South Putnam football coach Troy Burgess is now two games away from a state title, as his Evansville Central Bears defeated defending Class 4A state champion East Central 28-24 on Saturday.
The 12-1 Bears will host undefeated Marion on Saturday afternoon for a trip to the state finals at Lucas Oil Stadium the following weekend.
Columbus East’s Bob Gaddis, who was head coach at South Putnam from 1982-84, also earned a regional title when his Olympians defeated Castle 20-13.
Brian Crabtree of North Vermillion, who coached one season at North Putnam, also won a regional when his Falcons topped North Central 34-14.
North Vermillion was aided by the first appearance of the season by junior running back Wyatt Reynolds. Reynolds transferred from Covington after the 2017 season, but the transfer was challenged (presumable determined to be for “athletic reasons”) so Reynolds had to sit out 365 calendar days before becoming eligible.
All Reynolds did was run for 238 yards and three touchdowns.
The Falcons will play at Indianapolis Lutheran, the team which eliminated South Putnam in the regional on Friday.
Western Boone, the team which eliminated North Putnam in the sectional finals, is also still alive and will host defending Class 2A state champion Southridge in the semistate.
• My story last week on South Putnam’s preparation for the football regional contained an embarrassing error.
When talking about the Eagles having played in the regional 17 years to the day of Friday’s game with Lutheran, I shortchanged the 2001 South Putnam squad.
The Eagles won their regional game that year by defeating Frankton 26-22, before losing 33-7 to Perry Central in the semistate.
My apologies to Nathan Aker and anyone else on that team.
• Host sites have been chosen for the basketball sectionals involving Putnam County teams.
The Class 3A girls’ tourney won by Benton Central last year at Crawfordsville will be played at Southmont this year.
South Putnam won the Class 2A sectional at Cascade last year. The Eagles and the remaining Putnam County teams will play with the same field at Cloverdale this year.
In the boys’ tourney, Greencastle will play in a seven-team event at Crawfordsville that was won by Lebanon last year.
The 2A sectional involving the other three county teams, won by Cloverdale at South Putnam last year, will again be played at South Putnam on its new court.
• Three winners of the Subway/IBCA girls’ basketball player of the week award are future opponents for Putnam County teams.
Western Boone’s Madison Jones won the District 2 award the first week of the season after scoring a school-record 49 points against West Lafayette.
Jones added four rebounds, two assists and seven steals as the Stars outlasted West Lafayette 72-62 in their season-opening contest. Jones sank 18-of-28 field goals, 4-of-8 3-pointers and 9-of-11 free throws en route to eclipsing the previous school best of 47 points by Courtney Nicley in 2001.
Jones also became Western Boone’s all-time scoring leader in the game. The Davenport University (Mich.) recruit moved her career scoring total to 1,412 points. That surpassed a 38-year-old mark of 1,395 points set by Cathy Beesley, a 1980 Indiana All-Star.
Also in the first week, Terre Haute South senior Amani Brown won the award for District 3.
Brown, who missed all of last season after an ACL injury, had a prolific season opener with a school-record 43 points in an 85-11 rout of Indianapolis Crispus Attucks.
The daughter of former Terre Haute South and West Vigo standout Tatu Brown, she hit 18-of-24 shots from the floor, including six 3-pointers, and also added nine rebounds, seven assists and four steals in the triumph. The previous school record was 40 points by Kristen Weddle.
This week, Tri-West senior Maggie Cora was honored for District 2.
The 5-6 Cora averaged 27.0 points over two games and recorded a triple-double in one in leading Tri-West to a 2-0 start. Cora opened by scoring 26 points with four rebounds and four steals in a 70-50 victory over Beech Grove. Cora followed by producing 28 points, 10 rebounds and a school-record 14 steals as the Bruins defeated Crawfordsville 64-35.
Her steals total bettered the previous mark of 10 by Lauren DeSutter. Over both games, Cora was 17-of-44 from the field, 5-of-14 on 3-pointers and 15-of-26 on free throws.
Jones and Western Boone will play at Greencastle on Jan. 19 and will also be in the Cloverdale Sectional along with the other three Putnam County teams.
Brown and the South Braves will play at Cloverdale on Tuesday in a girls/boys doubleheader, and will also host Greencastle on Jan. 2.
Greencastle is the only county team to play Tri-West, playing the Bruins at Lizton on Nov. 27.
Football semistate pairings
CLASS 6A
Carmel [10-2] at Valparaiso [10-2]
Center Grove [9-3] at Warren Central [12-0]
CLASS 5A
Decatur Central [11-1] at Columbus East [11-2]
Michigan City [10-2] at New Palestine [12-0]
CLASS 4A
Fort Wayne Dwenger [12-1] at Mishawaka [12-1]
Marion [13-0] at Evansville Central [12-1], Saturday
CLASS 3A
West Lafayette [13-0] at Fort Wayne Luers [9-4]
Indianapolis Chatard [11-2] at Evansville Memorial [13-0]
CLASS 2A
Bremen [11-2] at Eastbrook [12-1]
Southridge [10-3] at Western Boone [13-0]
CLASS 1A
Adams Central [13-0] at Pioneer [13-0]
North Vermillion [12-1] at Indianapolis Lutheran [10-3]