BENNETT'S MINUTES: Recapping girls’ sectionals, WIC playoffs

South Putnam emerged as the only girls’ sectional winner among the 11 teams in the Western Indiana Conference.

The maximum number of sectional titles that WIC teams could have won was five, since the three Class 2A Putnam County teams were all in the Cloverdale Sectional and five WIC teams (Brown County, Northview, West Vigo, Owen Valley and Edgewood) were all in the Owen Valley Sectional.

Here is a recap of the other sectionals involving WIC teams (besides Putnam County teams):

• Princeton — Sullivan beat the host team 63-61 in the semifinals, and lost 61-30 in the finals to Washington (21-3).

• Owen Valley — In the top part of the bracket, South Vermillion beat the hosts 56-49 in the first round. West Vigo (the last-place team in the WIC) then pulled off an upset, nipping SV 45-44 in two OT.

WIC champion Brown County had the bad fortune to draw powerhouse Brownstown Central in the first round of the bottom bracket, losing 59-52.

Edgewood then beat Northview 52-33 before losing 48-28 to Brownstown in the semifinals.

In likely one of the biggest mismatches in the state, Brownstown beat West Vigo 66-34 in the finals.

• Indianapolis Washington — Indian Creek was the only WIC team in this field, beating Indianapolis Herron 81-26 in the first round and Beech Grove 47-42 in the semifinals. Cardinal Ritter then beat Indian Creek 67-55 in the finals.

Odds and ends

• Danville (which won its own sectional over Greencastle), Brownstown Central and Cardinal Ritter will all play on Saturday in the Greencastle Regional along with Heritage Christian — which beat the host team 53-46 in four overtimes in the finals of the Indianapolis Chatard Sectional.

Saturday’s Greencastle Regional schedule is:

10 a.m. — Cardinal Ritter (16-9) vs. Brownstown Central (24-3)

Noon — Danville (20-5) vs. Heritage Christian (18-7)

8 p.m. — Championship

• Other opponents of Putnam County teams who won sectionals include Benton Central in Class 3A and North Vermillion and North Central (Farmersburg) in Class 1A.

• The final version of WIC crossovers played last month were one-sided in opposite directions.

In the girls’ crossovers, the East Division won four of the five games. Greencastle’s win over Owen Valley was the only win for the West Division.

In boys’ crossovers, the West Division dominated by winning all five games by a margin of at least 11 points.

• The final Putnam County Cup points of the winter season will be awarded this week at the boys’ basketball county tournament.

North Putnam is in first place with 23 points, followed by Cloverdale with 17, South Putnam with 14 and Greencastle with 13.

• Two lectures involving prominent sports people will take place in West Central Indiana in the next few weeks.

On Feb. 24, former Pittsburgh Steelers’ standout Rocky Bleier will speak at Indiana State University’s Tilson Hall to share a message on “Leadership Through Teamwork, Perseverance and Hope.”

Bleier played collegiately at Notre Dame, and served in Vietnam before being drafted by the Steelers.

He was seriously injured in the war, but overcame his injuries to help the Steelers win four Super Bowls.

On March 9, DePauw grad Brad Stevens will speak at his alma mater as part of the Ubben Lecture series.

Stevens coached Butler to two appearances in the NCAA Final Four, and now coaches the NBA’s Boston Celtics.

Both events start at 7 p.m. and are free to the public.

• Several spring sports coaching hirings have also been made.

Amy Coons will be coaching softball at Greencastle this year, while Mark Hamilton will be coaching softball at South Putnam.

Chris Geeser will be the head baseball coach at North Putnam.

Tony Meyer of Greencastle will be the head baseball coach this year at Guerin Catholic. He last coached at Cloverdale in 2017.

At Crawfordsville, Hall of Fame baseball coach John Froedge will retire after this season.

Brett Motz, a 1995 CHS graduate, will be an assistant with the Athenians this year and then take over as head coach next year.

He was an assistant coach at North Putnam in 2004 and was head coach in 2005 and 2006.

• The only football coaching change thus far in the WIC is at Indian Creek, where Brett Cooper left after three years to take over at Perry Meridian.

Cooper was 21-12 with the Braves, including winning the WIC title this year. He faces a tough rebuild at Perry, which has gone 2-28 the past three years.