Basketball
GIRLS BASKETBALL
Yorktown knocked off Alexandria 51-38. Jenna Irelan had a team-high 15 points for the Tigers in the win and also pulled down 15 rebounds.
Burris lost to Centerville 47-29. Emma Meier led the Owls with eight points.
Blackford dropped a home game to Southern Wells 45-44 Tuesday. Faith Morris and Rachel Thomas both finished with 17 points for the Bruins.
Karter Bibbs goes up for a layup during practice at Yorktown High School Wednesday, Nov. 18, 2015.
YORKTOWN — Ben Conte, Karter Bibbs and Blaine Harvey spent their junior basketball seasons comprising the scout team. Sometimes they’d get into games, whenever Yorktown coach Greg Miller could find the right time.
But when is the right time when your top eight players are seniors?
Caleb Morey, Riley Miller, Riley Neal and the rest of last year’s senior class led the way to a 17-8 season, combining to account for 96.7 percent of the Tigers’ scoring. The season before, Yorktown went 17-5 with that group accounting for 95.2 percent of the scoring.
And now, they’re all gone. The only three players left to get into a varsity game are Conte, Bibbs and Harvey.
So what now?
“There’s so much to be said about that group,” Conte said. “They brought teamwork, they brought hustle. They pushed us, we pushed them. Every day we came into practice, and I’d guard Caleb or Riley (Miller), one of those dynamic guards we had. That’s really pushed me this year to push these guys now for the upcoming year. They brought so much, so much leadership.”
But, Conte was quick to add something else.
“We like to think we beat up on them (in practice),” he said.
Added Bibbs: “Some days, we gave them a run for their money.”
It’s a new era at Yorktown as the Tigers transition from that standout senior class to a less-experienced collection of players eager to step into the spotlight.
“They should be excited — real excited — because it’s a great opportunity,” Greg Miller said. “The door is literally wide open for the entire group.”
Yorktown basketball players run through drills during practice at Yorktown High School Wednesday, Nov. 18, 2015.
Miller said the Tigers spent the summer trying to “close the competitive gap,” which is only natural when considering their lack of experience. But they did close that gap a little bit, Miller said. And while he admitted there may be stretches — like an entire quarter — where the Tigers don’t score, he’s encouraging the Tigers to play through it.
“Right now, this group is really fun to practice with,” Miller said. “They’ve been energetic, they talk.”
Conte will handle the ball and likely be joined in the starting lineup by Bibbs, juniors Drake Tweedy and Jordan Coleman and sophomore Bobby Smith. Miller said he wouldn’t be surprised if Smith led the Tigers in scoring, though he’s expecting it to be even more balanced than it has been in the past.
Last year’s group was so familiar with one another, and this year’s squad has a ways to go in that regard, so Miller has tried to keep it fun. The players wore a shirt of their favorite team under their practice jerseys at a recent practice, with Conte rocking an Arsenal shirt and Bibbs sporting an Indiana Hoosiers one. They’re all getting green Nike shoes this year, too.
“Coach decided to come out bold this year,” Bibbs said.
Miller recognizes the challenges this year’s team will face, but he’s also cautiously optimistic that it’ll surprise a few people.
“Just because they didn’t give it to us in games (last season), doesn’t mean they didn’t help in practice,” Miller said. “That’s kind of the foundation of where we’re at right now with these guys. They’ve had their practice influence, now they need to get into games so they can carry the weight of responsibility on their shoulders and feel good about it.”
How long does that take?
“I don’t know,” Miller said after shaking his head and whistling. “Ask me in February.”
Contact sports features writer Ryan O’Gara at (765) 213-5829. Follow him on Twitter @RyanOGaraTSP.
Yorktown basketball players run through drills during practice at Yorktown High School Wednesday, Nov. 18, 2015.
Daleville’s Keaton Shipley
DALEVILLE — Nothing has been easy for the Daleville boys basketball team over the past five seasons.
Over that period, they’ve won 12 games. They suffered through a winless 2011-12 campaign. Coach Daniel Hanson took over the team two years ago, and it’s still in the rebuilding process.
Keaton Shipley knows that. One of the seniors on the team, he’s seen more of the struggles than anyone else.
And he makes no excuses, starting with himself.
“We took a lot of bad shots last season, and I was a part of that,” Shipley said. “Trying to rebuild the program, the hardest part is accepting defeat … but you’re never going to rebuild a program if you don’t keep your head up and try to make something happen.”
The Broncos have been young over the past few seasons. They graduated just two seniors in the offseason while a plethora of sophomores and juniors played significant minutes last year. The point guard, who averaged 10.1 points per game last season, said the offense will likely flow through TJ Price.
Price averaged a team-high 10.7 points per game while becoming the main offensive weapon as a sophomore.
“I’m a competitor and I hate losing,” Price said. “It’s been hard, but I know if you put in the work, it’ll pay off eventually.”
Part of Daleville’s struggles last season came on the offensive end. Shipley and Price have the ability to knock down outside shots and slash into the lane, but Daleville lacked inside threats to force teams to respect the paint. They averaged just 42 points per game, Shipley saying they pulled up for 3’s and long 2’s instead of moving the ball to the basket like they should have.
Hanson said Price has spent all summer working both on his shot and getting bigger in the weight room, sentiments echoed by Price. But to have success, they’ll need to find options outside of just Price and Shipley.
Daleville’s TJ Price
Hanson noted he’ll look to Jacob Knight to contribute at a third guard position along with Kory Buntin, two players who combined for just under six points per game last season. They’ll be expected to play more minutes and have larger contributions this year.
After pushing through injuries throughout his career, Elliott Jackson could play a key role now that he’s healthy. He averaged 8.6 points per game last season and provides much-needed offense for a team trying to figure out where its firepower will come from.
“The last couple of years, we played some really young guys who didn’t have experience,” Hanson said. “Now we return a backcourt that’s played together for a full year and got to be in the weight room together all offseason.”
For Shipley, taking the team to a new level starts by having a winning mentality. The results will only come if the Broncos believe they can win.
“We’re working hard and I think we can really do something this year,” Shipley said.
“We’re going to put Daleville back on the map.”
Contact prep sports reporter David Polaski at (765) 213-5848. Follow him on Twitter @DavidPolaskiTSP
Sports
GIRLS SWIMMING
Yorktown fell against Lawrence North 98-88. Emily Weiss won the 50-yard freestyle and 100 butterfly and was on the winning 200 free team while finishing second in the 200 medley.
Blackford fell to Norwell and Adams Central Tuesday night. For the Bruins, Dakota Mohler earned a first-place finish in the 50 freestyle, while Jennifer Tarr snagged third in the 100 butterfly.
Burris senior Ryan Morey unties his shoes after practice. Burris has early practices, usually starting at 5:45 a.m.
MUNCIE — Ball Gym is virtually silent as Tyce Rogers and Brendan Ottinger shuffle onto the court. Slowly. Very, very slowly.
It’s 5:20 a.m. on Friday. They are Burris boys basketball players, arriving for the team’s usual morning practice.
Rogers puts his bag on the ground and slumps, face first, onto the bleachers, clad in his University of North Carolina hoodie. It’s his favorite team.
“Go Tar Heels, baby,” he says, giving a weak, seemingly exhausted grin.
The Burris boys basketball team practices from 5:45 to 7:30 each morning, especially before the season starts. Once the season is underway, they’ll pepper in some afternoon or evening practices, but for the most part, the team is up well before dawn.
A few more players file in. Rogers starts putting himself together and looks up.
“Good morning, sunshines,” he calls out. Ottinger holds a switch and the basketball hoops from both sides of the gym descend.
Burris practices so early because Ball Gym is used for other events in the afternoon. The middle school uses it for practice so with nearly a dozen teams vying for time, getting in the gym early has its advantages.
“The seniors like having the fact that they get practice out of the way and have the afternoons to themselves,” Burris coach Joseph Anderson says. “We do drills to get the blood circulating, they’re used to it.”
It’s Anderson’s second year as head coach, and he has made getting up early a habit for the Owls. They’ll be practicing while their friends are still asleep under a mountain of covers in bed.
“Let’s go, fellas,” Anderson calls out at 5:28 as more players arrive and start stretching at center court. He turns on the scoreboard and sets the clock to 99 minutes. Players yawn as they walk around.
Burris boys basketball player Ryan Morey.
One of those players is Ryan Morey. He’s a senior who averaged 14.5 points per game last season, the top returning scorer. Anderson calls him the leader on the team, along with Rogers.
Morey says he’s a morning person and it shows. He’s got more energy than most of his teammates.
He tries to go to bed no later than 10 p.m. when he knows he has practice the next morning. He said he’d rather have practice in the morning because it leaves the entire afternoon open. This weekend, he’s traveling to Wisconsin to visit his sister in college, and would be missing practice if it was held in the afternoon.
Morey wakes up between 4:10 and 4:30 and grabs a breakfast burrito made with eggs and ham he put together the night before. He eats on his way to picking up Nick Baker and bringing him to practice. Morey and Rogers rotate picking up Baker, who’ll go to bed even earlier than Morey, at nine.
“It’s not too hard for me because I like being up early, but some of the guys drag,” Morey says. “It gets easier the more you do it.”
It’s 5:45. Warmups are finished and Burris begins running a three-man weave, a fast-paced drill that gets the body working, but isn’t physical and players don’t typically initiate contact with each other, so it isn’t hard on the body. Varsity players wear white jerseys while JV wears blue.
The two squads break off, each taking a half court as scrimmaging begins. At the start of one play, Rogers immediately steals the ball. He quickly knocks another pass away, then jumps a pass and intercepts the ball.
He’s awake.
He’s also one of the sharpshooters on the team. Last season, he posted 9.5 points per game, and Anderson says he’s one of the outside threats Burris brings this season.
Burris boys basketball player Nick Baker
Last year, Burris finished 7-16, losing a tough game 57-54 to Wapahani in the postseason. Baker, Morey and Rogers return as the seniors to try to make a deeper postseason run.
At one point, freshman James Roysdon sneaks down the baseline where Baker finds him for an easy layup. Burris is running a switch drill, where players have to be able to switch between offense and defense at a moment’s notice. This time, Roysdon’s defender lost him.
He may be young, but Anderson says he expects Roysdon and Jackson Adamowicz to contribute this season.
At 6:14, Anderson calls for a water break. Players hustle off the court. Morey and Rogers are the first back on the court and immediately begin practicing free throws. Baker follows. He brought 11.4 points and nearly four rebounds per game last season.
“What does that tell you about those guys?” Anderson says. “Those two and Nick, they’re like the three amigos. They do everything together.”
It’s just 6:23, and Burris begins running a full-court press drill. Students around Delaware County are just now waking up, but Burris has been going hard for nearly 45 minutes. The varsity defense gives up a layup, Anderson isn’t pleased. Twenty pushups.
“Talk, talk,” he yells to his team, clapping his hands. “If we aren’t playing defense, we aren’t playing at all.”
Moments later, a Burris defender dives on the floor for a loose ball. He quickly picks himself up and it leads to a transition basket for the varsity.
But more turnovers from the varsity ensue, leading to more buckets on the other side. Assistant coach Michael White shakes his head.
“Gotta take care of the basketball,” White says. “It’s gotta be your bible.”
With the drill winding down, the varsity picks up the intensity. They’re trapping and stealing the ball, Morey converting layup after layup as the players waiting on the sideline start cheering, the black night sky streams through the 16 windows in the gym.
With the energy increasing, Morey is playing faster than anyone else.
“Ryan really sets the tone,” Anderson says. “I have to tell him sometimes to pull back. He wants to get into the weight room whenever he can, he doesn’t know when to stop.”
Burris boys basketball coach Joseph Anderson talks to his team during practice. He runs light drills to open practice to help his players wake up.
The team takes a second water break, and Anderson begins an instructional drill. Soon, the team has split into both sides of the court and are running the drill. At 7:08, there’s no noise except for Anderson and White’s voices, and the squeaking of shoes on the court.
Anderson says he wants to develop a winning mentality at Burris. The program hasn’t had a winning season since 2011-12, but he plans on changing that.
“Truth is, we have to change the culture,” Anderson says. “We have to have something to play for.”
The time is 7:15 and Anderson decides to wrap up practice early. It’s a luxury, as there’s still four minutes left on the game clock. He talks to them for a few minutes at mid-court before they break the huddle and start untying their shoes.
Even after that, he’s still coaching, yelling out to players to put on their sweatpants so they don’t get sick in the cold. At the time practice ended, it was a chilly 34 degrees outside.
“I’ve been doing this since for a while, so you get used to it after a while,” Baker says. “The last two years have been like this.”
The players will go shower, then get to class for the next eight hours. Some head to the Student Center at Ball State to grab some food. Baker heads to Algebra II, his first class on Friday, where he says his brain doesn’t always want to function because of the early start to the day.
It’s 7:24. Practice is finished. For most students, the day hasn’t even begun, but for the players, it’s well underway. Rogers is the final player to leave the gym, wearing the same light blue hoodie.
The sun hasn’t risen yet.
Contact prep sports reporter David Polaski at (765) 213-5848. Follow him on Twitter @DavidPolaskiTSP.
Kiante Enis
FOOTBALL
Five Winchester players earned All-Tri-Eastern Conference honors, led by Player of the Year Kiante Enis. Elijah Chalfant, Titus Edwards, Dillon Williams and Elias Gates also made the squad. Austin Lawrence and Tyler Edwards were honorable mention for the Golden Falcons (10-3), who won a sectional title.
Israel Nash
ECI Boys Basketball: Team Capsules
Blue River Vikings
2014-15 record: 13-12
Coach: Brian Klein (10th season, 120-86; 13th season overall, 149-122)
Key returners: Senior F Eli Conwell; juniors F Jonah Madison (10 ppg), G Noah Brown, F Seth Webb; sophomore G Trey Klein
Key losses: Noah Madison (20 ppg)
Season outlook: A program that has had just one season below .500 since 1993-94 will have a change in style this year. Brian Klein has always been blessed with a stable of perimeter shooters, and aside from Brown, that doesn’t appear to be the case this season. The Vikings will be working inside-out this season. “We’re a work in progress,” he says. Madison has shown an ability to rebound and is looking to add a perimeter element to his game. Trey Klein was a reserve as a freshman and now is likely to take over at point guard, possibly in a committee with Brown. Conwell was the team’s third-leading rebounder off the bench last season while Webb is improving from the outside. “The big thing is going to be trying to find that offense,” Brian Klein says, which is only natural when a team loses a 20-point scorer like Noah Madison. That’s why he thinks Blue River needs to keep games in the low 40s, or even high 30s, to win. “We’re still trying to define our strengths,” he says.
Bearcats in different place this season
Jay County Patriots
2014-15 record: 18-7
Coach: Chris Krieg (first season)
Key returners: Seniors F Adam Dirksen (14.8 ppg), G Kyler Carvel, F Bowen Runyon; junior F Jay Houck (14.2 ppg), G Jason Schlosser
Key losses: Justin Dirksen, Zach Pryor, Nick Clemens
Season outlook: Krieg takes over for Craig Teagle, who went 250-137 in 17 seasons for the Patriots. Krieg has spent time as an assistant as well as the girls varsity coach. “It’s going well actually,” he says of the transition. “It’s been an interesting change, but a good change. Going from boys to girls, the speed of how the game is played is so much quicker. It’s interesting to see the difference between the two.” He has a good place to start in Dirksen and Houck. Carvel played a lot of minutes last season and will bring ball handling and defense. Sophomore Cole Stigleman will start at point guard, with Schlosser and Joey Spring coming off the bench in the backcourt. 6-3 Justin Crouch, along with Dirksen and Houck, gives the Patriots plenty of size. Teagle won a lot of games for Jay County, but Krieg is trying to put his own twist on the program. He’ll still emphasize defense, but the Patriots won’t walk the ball up the floor every possession and always be content to play a half-court game. “We’re trying to do some things different,” Krieg says. “It’s a work in progress for us. Their mindset is what they’ve done for 17 years, so we’re trying to change it a little as the season goes on. We’re trying to push it a bit more to get easy baskets. But we still want to be defensive-minded and let that dictate our offense.”
Early practice doesn’t slow down Burris
Monroe Central Golden Bears
2014-15 record: 12-12
Coach: Justin Ullom (second season, 12-12)
Key returners: Seniors G Beau Combs (11.1 ppg), F Jansen Blevins; junior C Dustin Brown (8.7 ppg, 4.6 rpg); sophomore G Israel Nash (11.4 ppg)
Key losses: G Cole Woolf (8 ppg, 7 rpg)
Season outlook: Ullom’s second season at the helm hasn’t exactly started out the way he envisioned with several minor injuries. “We’re trying to get the football guys healed up so it feels a little unorganized at the moment,” he says. “But I like what it could be.” That’s because Nash is only a sophomore and came on strong at the end of the season. He’ll handle point-guard duties – at least initially. The 5-foot-9 guard could play off the ball once Marcus Dukes, a transfer from Central, becomes eligible late January. Dukes should pair with Nash to form as talented a backcourt as any in the area once he’s eligible with about seven games left in the regular season. Those two will have plenty of options on the perimeter with Combs and Blevins spotting up. Ullom is excited to see what Combs can do from the outside after he missed his sophomore season with a broken wrist and never regained his shooting touch. “He’s shooting the ball a whole lot better this year, and that’ll be huge for us,” Ullom says. Brown is 6-6 and gained 20 pounds since the end of last season, and Ullom is preaching aggressiveness with him as he could lead the team in scoring on any given night. Logan Conklin, Isaac Smithson and 6-5 junior Darius Tegues – another Central transfer – will also compete for playing time. With Dukes, Ullom has at least a nine-man rotation. Most exciting to Ullom is of the six charges the team took the entire season, four came in the sectional. “We finally got through to them that this is the way we want to play, and it will work,” Ullom says. “So I’m optimistic. Our group has bought in, carried over what we did late last season, and I’m excited about it.”
Wes-Del benefits from longer summer
New Castle Trojans
2014-15 record: 9-13
Coach: Daniel Cox (third season, 18-25)
Key returners: Seniors G Andrew Garret (10.1 ppg), F/C Titen Bennett, G Spencer Ogle
Key losses: G/F Abe Haler (14.8 ppg, 4.3 rpg), G Kyle Bumbalough (13.6 ppg), F Joe Ellson, F/C Evan Vonderheide
Season outlook: Garrett is entering his third year starting and can spread the floor while Ogle spent the season being Bumbalough’s backup at the point, and now gets to step into a leadership role. The 6-foot-5 Bennett started half of last season. Cox is looking forward to seeing how a new crop of players performs at the varsity level. The Trojans won’t be young, but they will be relatively inexperienced after losing four seniors. The good thing, though, is that a junior-heavy group won 17 games on the junior varsity last season. “And a lot of those guys will be in key roles,” Cox says. That includes David Froedge, who averaged close to 20 points per game on the JV. Niah Williamson will play a key role as a sophomore, and 6-3 wing Octavian Pearson brings versatility. Cox is excited to see how 6-5 freshman Mason Gillis handles some varsity minutes. The list goes on and on, and Cox won’t have an issue finding a bench player ready to step in. “The more guys you have to play, the more you hopefully wear some teams down. For us, it has to start on the defensive end. I’m really excited about the potential of this group.”
Daleville looking for improvement
Union Rockets
2014-15 record: 3-19
Coach: Dan Carmony (second season, 3-19)
Key returners: Senior G/F Dylan Moore; juniors F Hunter Efiston, C Max Carballo
Key losses: Collin Jenkins (12.5 ppg), Steven Winningham (12.1), Salem Milick (14.6)
Season outlook: Union will be looking for its three returners in Moore, Efiston and Carballo to make major leaps this season after it graduated three double-digit scorers. The trio combined to average 12.5 points last season. “Those guys all have the potential to raise their scoring averages, or they better have. With that, I hope we get balanced scoring, we have to have that. Some nights someone may not score as well as others, hope someone picks it up.” Carmony says numbers are down in the program, as is its size. Sophomore Tristan Parrish is the team’s biggest player at 6-foot-2. “I’ve told kids up front, we have to play hard to overcome height disadvantage.” Freshman Colby Hall-Croyle will also be expected to contribute. After that, Carmony is waiting to see who emerges. “We’ll be a work in progress as most teams are this time of year. But we hope to blend everyone together, and that takes a few games,” he says. “Like every coach and every player, we’re optimistic and look forward to the season. I always tell kids, if you get the opportunity to play Indiana high school basketball on a Friday or Saturday night, you better be pretty pleased.”
Wapahani’s Estep, Castor ready to lead
Winchester Golden Falcons
2014-15 record: 14-10
Coach: Matt Fine (second season 14-10; 12th season overall, 172-90)
Key returners: Senior G/F Kiante Enis (23.3 ppg); juniors G Matt Georgi (8.5 ppg), G Elias Gates (7.9 ppg) and F Austin Lawrence
Key losses: G Jordan Yaryan (9.9 ppg), F/C Alan Brutchen (7.2 ppg)
Season outlook: After Winchester’s football team made a deep postseason run, winning a sectional title until finally bowing out in regional play last week, Fine decided to give the five football players coming over to the basketball team a break. So Kiante Enis, Gates, Lawrence, senior Cullen Hall, and sophomore Boo Enis got all of this past week off. Those five are all in Winchester’s top seven, so it may be a slow start. “I think it’s important to realize that the season is a marathon, not a sprint,” Fine says. “It’s important to let those kids have time off, be kids for a week, heal their bodies and minds and be fresh as they can when they come back.” Winchester is hoping to return to the levels of success it experienced from 2007-2011 when it won five sectionals and made two state finals. The Golden Falcons, who also will rely on Georgi to take the next step, believe the foundation was set in the fall. “From watching the football team, those guys did a tremendous job being disciplined and taking the program to the next level,” Fine says. “We hope there’s some carryover to the basketball season.”
Blackford Bruins
2014-15 record: 0-24
Coach: Scott Clamme (first season)
Key returners: Seniors G Joel Sharp (10.6 ppg), G Austin Felver
Key losses: Gavin Dyer (8.2 ppg), Jacob Tobey (7.5 ppg), Wyatt Maddox
Season outlook: Troy Burkhart went 0-24 in his first season taking over for Dave Marshall, but he was enthusiastic about the future, and the growth his players exhibited through some trying times. But Burkhart won’t finish what he started, as he accepted an assistant coaching job with Center Grove last month. Center Grove had an unexpected opening and since Burkhart was from the area, he saw a unique opportunity. Clamme takes over a group headlined by Joel Sharp, who missed the end of last season with a torn meniscus. A program which averaged 8.6 wins per season over the last five years currently has two freshmen and six sophomores on its 13-player roster.
Cowan’s next step is a big one
Contact sports features writer Ryan O’Gara at (765) 213-5829. Follow him on Twitter @RyanOGaraTSP.
Wapahani’s Hayden Castor, pictured in a win against Wes-Del, is part of a rebuilt Wapahani squad aiming for another county crown.
Hayden Castor
As the boys basketball season officially begins Monday, here are five ECI players to watch, in addition to Central’s Andre Jones.
Hayden Castor, Wapahani
Castor has made his name as an All-State baseball player, but his winters on the hardwood have been just as productive. “He’s a tremendous baseball player, but we think he’s a darn good basketball player, too. Due to his athleticism and intelligence, he’s made himself into a very good player,” Wapahani coach Matt Luce said. The 6-foot-3 forward is coming off a junior season in which he averaged 16.1 points and 7.1 rebounds per game, both of which led the Raiders. This season, Luce ventures that Castor might also lead in charges taken and assists. But with two sophomore starters, leading the team in another category is paramount. “More importantly, he’s going to lead us in leadership,” Luce says. “We’re going to need Hayden to help them understand the big picture and keep them focused. If we have success this year, it’ll be because of his leadership.”
Phillip Corthen
Phil Corthen, Central
Corthen scored out of necessity as a junior, and the 5-foot-11 guard did so at an impressive clip, averaging 17.4 per contest. A deadeye shooter, Corthen canned 72 of 155 3-point attempts (46 percent). But in the preseason, he talked about being more of a distributor in his senior campaign, balancing attacking with facilitating. “He is a point guard, but we needed him to score (last season),” says Central coach Jeff Holloway. “Now he’s more comfortable with some of his teammates. He’s not a selfish player, but if he thinks you’re not going to do anything with it, he’d rather take the shot. He’s just that confident in himself. But now that he has guys he can trust offensively, all offseason and preseason, he’s been unselfish.” Corthen averaged two assists last season, but with Andre Jones, Trenton Hatfield, Jamel Barnes, Donald Allen, Duane Clemens and Tyrek Vicks all capable of big scoring nights, that number should climb this season.
Adam Dirksen
Adam Dirksen, Jay County
The great mystery last season was the size of Jay County’s leading scorer. Rosters listed Dirksen at 6-foot-3, but he was actually several inches taller. This season, first-year coach Chris Krieg said the senior is up to 6-8. And in being 6-8, he’ll bring all the things that sort of size gives, like an ability to rebound and play above the rim. And he may also bring some of the things not typically expected of someone 6-8. “He can actually step out and shoot the 3 pretty decently. He’s been working on that in the offseason.” Coming off a junior season in which he averaged 14.8 points per game, Krieg estimates Dirksen can be in the 15-20 range this season. With 6-5 junior Jay Houck (14.2 ppg), the Patriots possess one of the top scoring duos in the area.
Kiante Enis
Kiante Enis, Winchester
Forgive Enis if he doesn’t pick up where he left off last season when he dropped 34 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists against Shenandoah in the sectional. The Michigan football commit spent the fall rushing for 2,393 and 35 touchdowns in the Golden Falcons’ run to a sectional championship. Now the 6-foot-2, 195-pound guard transitions to the hardwood, where he makes just as big of an impact. He averaged 23.3 points per game last season and if not for his boundless potential on the gridiron, he’d probably be preparing for a college basketball career. Switching him from the wing to handling the ball late last season produced big results, and he’ll assume a similar role this season. “We kind of held that in our pocket last year,” says coach Matt Fine. “We put the ball in his hands the last month of the season and he just made great decisions with the ball. He’s as explosive as any kid that I’ve had as far as being able to get ball one end of the floor to the other. He really started making really good decisions with the ball.”
Israel Nash
Israel Nash, Monroe Central
Just 12 seconds into Monroe Central’s scrimmage last week, Israel Nash turned his ankle, and he’s questionable for the season opener Tuesday. But if the 5-foot-9 sophomore point guard showed anything last year it was that it’s not about the start, but the finish. Nash began his freshman season playing around eight minutes a game, but by the end of the season emerged as the Golden Bears’ best player. He had five 20-point games in the second half of the season, including 32 in a sectional win over Southern Wells, and finished the season averaging 11.4 points per game. He’s making the most of his time on the sidelines now, too, helping coach the junior varsity. He’s not afraid to share his thoughts with the man in charge, either. “He’s given me a few ideas for us to get more energy at the beginning of practice, get guys going,” head coach Justin Ullom says. “He came to me with few ideas after practice. To see a sophomore doing that, you love it. I’m expecting a lot out of him this season.”
Contact sports features writer Ryan O’Gara at (765) 213-5829. Follow him on Twitter @RyanOGaraTSP.
Sports
GIRLS BASKETBALL
New Castle defeated Delta 51-25. Kortney Helm led the Eagles with 10 rebounds while Haille Workman led in scoring with seven points.
Wapahani took down Daleville 65-26. Leading the way for the Broncos was Kenzie Walker with six points, followed by Kristen Zimmers with five points.
GIRLS SWIMMING
Jay County placed third with 356 points, and Yorktown placed fourth at the Westfield Invitational with 332.5 points. The Patriots’ Anne Vormohr won the 100-yard backstroke with a time of 59.15 seconds, as well as the 50 freestyle (24.72).
WRESTLING
Central went 4-1 at the Taylor Invitational. The Bearcats’ Exuse Brown was named the event’s “Outstanding Wrestler” and was 5-0 for the day. Lorenzo Reyes also was undefeated for Central.
Monroe Central won the Daleville Duals. The Golden Bears had six wrestlers go undefeated, including Hunter Teinsman, Julian Franklin, Sheldon Stigelman, Gregg Ucknaeage, Kameron Armour and Josh Slone. Wapahani had two wrestlers go undefeated. Jaide Lowe and Brandon Kepner both went 5-0. Andrew Ingenito went 5-0 for Daleville while Blaine Tighe and Dylan Hicks finished 4-1.
Wes-Del competed at the Super Six Invitational in Bluffton. Its most successful wrestler of the day was James Harrold, who went 5-0.
Andre Jones dunks at the Muncie Fieldhouse Thursday, Nov. 19, 2015.
Muncie Central’s boys basketball team practices in the school’s gym on Monday as they prepare for the upcoming season.
Andre Jones dunks at the Muncie Fieldhouse Thursday, Nov. 19, 2015.
Andre Jones began the day that changed his life as if he would any other morning off from school. He showered and sat in his room, trying to pass the two hours until basketball practice. Jones normally walks the two blocks to Scecina High School in Indianapolis, where all of his best friends are. But on this December day in 2014, he wouldn’t be making that walk.
The phone rang that morning, and his father, Anthony Jones – already at his job as a quality engineer for Mursix Corporation for nearly five hours by this time – was on the other line. Andre had an idea this conversation was coming, but in that moment, he was speechless. About the decision his parents had just made and were about to inform him of, he would later say, “When it happened, it was just as much of a shock as it would have been if I moved to Alaska.”
For the past few weeks, Anthony and Andre’s mother, Amy Irwin, had been talking a lot. They always talked a lot, but now it was different. This was about what was at stake for Andre. They divorced when Andre was just three years old, and though Andre lived with his mom, dad remained a central figure in his son’s life, even 60-some miles away in Muncie.
Andre just listened as Anthony outlined what was going to happen. This was two adults making a decision for their child, and the 16-year-old was powerless. Anthony, by this time, had hopped in his car and on his way to Indianapolis to pick Andre up and head to practice, just as he had planned when he woke up and showered. But once there, he wasn’t going to be throwing down dunks and blocking shots.
ECI BOYS BASKETBALL PRESEASON COVERAGE
He was going to say goodbye.
The only non-senior starter on a Scecina team billed as a serious contender in Class 2A, the 6-foot-5 forward with the 42-inch vertical leap had been thriving – on the court. Liable to go off for a double-double on any given night, Andre was a legit college prospect on a legit team. This was what he had dreamed about since he could walk. To this day, he still has a video of himself dunking on a Little Tykes hoop when he was three years old.
Away from basketball, though, was another story. It wasn’t anything major and it didn’t have anything to do with Scecina, Anthony and Amy insist now, but they detected small signs in Andre’s behavior that set off alarms, like not addressing adults as ‘Yes, ma’am’ or ‘Yes, sir.’ The biggest problem was a lack of focus in the classroom, and that was a problem because Andre is a smart kid. Amy didn’t let him play basketball his freshman year because after nine weeks, he had a C and a D. “That broke his heart to not play – and mine too – but I’ve always felt education is most important thing,” she says. “That’s not just something you say, it’s the truth.”
So two years after Amy made that decision, the single parents made another decision: Andre needed a change. He needed his dad. And that meant bidding a tearful farewell to the teammates he had grown close to through AAU and the high school team.
Upon leaving Scecina, Jones stopped at his former home for two pairs of basketball shoes, his basketball and his PlayStation 3 and started the drive to Muncie, a new life ahead of him.
Andre Jones with his father at the Muncie Fieldhouse Thursday, Nov. 20, 2015.
Muncie-bound
Andre lived in Muncie until second grade before moving to Indianapolis, but because both parents had family in Muncie, he spent a lot of time in town during the summer. His dad would make him sausage and pancakes for breakfast, then they’d spend the day working out and shooting at Heekin Park or McCulloch Park. One of the rims at McCulloch was a little lower, the perfect training ground for Andre to practice his jump shot with proper form – and later to work on his dunking, which he did for the first time in eighth grade.
So when he got back to Muncie, Andre closed himself off from the outside world. He didn’t leave the house, unless it was to go to his aunt’s house or to work on his jump shot at the YMCA. Anthony actually insisted that they go to the YMCA in New Castle rather than in Muncie to avoid running into people who might speculate as to what was going on with their family. Because when people realized he wasn’t with Scecina at its Christmas tournament in Richmond, the rumors started to fly.
“It was a family decision and the reasons behind it wasn’t something that we were going to open up to other people,” Anthony says. “The reasons, we felt justified for the young man more than anything else.”
Rumors swirled on Twitter. Some figured he’d wind up at Central, a historic program in need of a big man. Others guessed that “Blake Griffin was coming to Yorktown,” a common nickname for Andre given their similar skin tone, curly hair and jumping ability. The connection most people made, though, was to Wapahani, where Anthony attended with the Raiders current coach, Matt Luce. Plus, Andre went to school in Selma for a year, so he was a little familiar with some of the people, including former star Grant Evans.
But what no one seemed to realize was that this wasn’t some grand plan centered around where Andre would play basketball. He already had a great situation at Scecina. If he were still there now, in fact, it’d be his team.
“Everyone said I was (moving) to play for a certain coach,” Andre says. “But at that point, I had been at Scecina for two years, I’d had a group of best friends that I still hang out with every time I go to Indy. If it was my choice, that’d be a pretty hard choice for me to leave the people I grew up with.”
Andre Jones dunks against Hamilton Heights in sectional play last season.
Welcome to Central
Jeff Holloway graduated from Central the same year that Anthony Jones graduated from Wapahani. The two didn’t play against each other in high school except on the playground, but Holloway knew Anthony’s reputation. “He was tough, hard-nosed – the ultimate teammate, the ultimate competitor,” he says. But the two didn’t have much of a relationship outside of that.
So when Holloway walked down the hall on the first day of class after winter vacation, he was excited to hear the rumors were true: Andre was enrolling at Central. It would be several games before Andre was cleared by the IHSAA (Commissioner Bobby Cox told the Indianapolis Star that Andre was eligible under Rule 19-6. 1b, which allows eligibility when a student moves between separated or divorced parents), but he endeared himself to his teammates even before he gained full eligibility.
“I remember first practice, the first thing he did,” teammate Trenton Hatfield recalls. “… He had his practice gear on for the first time and then, we’re all like, ‘Dre, dunk, dunk.’ Because we heard, that’s what he’s well-known for. So he goes and throws it off the board, windmill.
“Oh, OK,” Hatfield continues, shaking his head. “We’re all just speechless.
“Then we just went among practice like it was just another practice. He came in business-like, and that’s what we liked about him. He got things done.”
His first dunk came against Connersville when Casey Thompson tipped a ball and Hatfield picked it up and threw it ahead to him. “Some kid was trying to chase me down,” Andre says. “Hearing the crowd, it was a good feeling. It was almost like it was slow motion. That was the moment.”
From then on, he was a Bearcat. Holloway points out that it was clear to him early that Andre would have no trouble fitting in. He refused to speak to the media initially so as not to draw any extra attention to himself. His teammates, in turn, over-passed to try to get him involved. They took the time to pull him aside and point out specific things within Central’s offense that Andre had to learn.
Andre averaged 11.8 points and 7.8 rebounds in 12 games, and even he was surprised how quickly his teammates accepted him.
“It wasn’t as hard as people would think it would be,” the team’s leading scorer, Phillip Corthen, says.
For the Bearcats, no, it wasn’t. But 60 miles away in Indianapolis, it was every bit as hard.
Andre Jones, left, with Jaz, Kingsley and mother Amy Irwin.
Harsh new reality
After she got off the phone with Andre’s father that December day, Amy Irwin didn’t have time to think of what her decision meant. She needed to spring into action. The regional property manager in Indianapolis left work to get everything squared away with Andre.
This wasn’t an easy decision, partly because Irwin loved Scecina and all the opportunities there. The class sizes were small, about 10-12 students. The teachers were very involved. When any academic issue came up, she got a phone call. The faculty looked out for Andre.
But Irwin had been thinking about the possibility since early in the fall, and she prayed about it. When the time came, she didn’t process it right away as she had to handle all of the paperwork at the school since she was the one who registered him. Finally when she was sitting with a guidance counselor, she started crying. “I know it was my decision,” she says, “but it was so, so hard.”
Irwin knew she’d have to let Andre go the next year when he went off to college, but by then it might be too late. She needed to make sure Andre was ready to be a man, and to be a man on his own. For that, she felt like he needed a male influence.
“I’m the first to say I don’t know everything a dad knows. Being a 16-year old boy, he needed his dad,” she says. “It broke my heart like you can’t imagine, but I wanted to make the decision best for Andre.”
Andre Jones and his mother, Amy Irwin.
She pauses and lets that sinks in, before continuing.
“Ugh, it was terrible for me,” she says. “But, you always want what is best for your child in the long run.”
What was best for Andre wasn’t necessarily what was best for her. “That speaks to who she is,” Anthony says. “She made the choice that was in his best interest, not her best interest. That’s the truth. She was very unselfish.”
Her two children from another relationship, 10-year-old Jaz and 3-year-old Kingsley, looked up to Andre. “Andre was an integral part of our home,” she says. “… There’s not too many high school boys who would stay at home with their little brother and littler sister on a Friday night, but he would. Not because he has to, because he wants to.”
Irwin broke the news to Jaz and Kingsley. While Kingsley was only two at the time and didn’t understand what was going on, Jaz fully comprehended that his big brother was moving. Though Anthony treats Jaz as if he were his own son and always welcomes him into his home, Jaz was very upset.
One theory that floated around was that something had happened between Andre and Irwin, but he insists that couldn’t be further from the truth.
“There was nothing that she did wrong,” he says. “She raised me right, in everything that she did. And I know it was really hard for her to let me go, but as far as a responsibility of me helping myself… this is something a man has to take care of.
“At times, I know she felt like it was her fault that I had to leave, and that was one of the hardest conversations I had to have. Just getting her to understand that it wasn’t her. Even now, she still questions it. But I never argue with her, she’s great.”
Life is no different now, 11 months later. It’s still hard. Andre tries to see his mother every weekend, but sometimes it’s just not possible. She has every intention of not missing a game this season. She only missed one last season.
“If anything helped get me through it,” she says, “it was that we had Andre’s best interest at heart.”
Andre Jones dunks at the Muncie Fieldhouse Thursday, Nov. 19, 2015.
It’s home now
As he walked down the track in his blue suede sports coat, matching blue shoes and purple shirt, it was easy to mistake Andre Jones for a senior who had spent his entire life in Muncie. There he was in September, one of four male students chosen to be on Homecoming Court, waving to the crowd at halftime of Central’s football game against Richmond.
Life is much calmer now. In the fall, Andre accepted a scholarship offer from St. Francis in Fort Wayne to play in college. He’s gearing up for a senior season in which the Bearcats are expected to do more than just end a streak of three straight losing seasons. And Andre has crafted a reputation in his short time in Muncie.
“In the stands, teacher after teacher and parent after parent came up to me during games (last season), remarking how polite he is,” Irwin says. “For me, that’s all you can dream of and what you want to hear.”
The first official day of practice was Nov. 9, and 40 or so kids gathered in the high school gym for tryouts. There were so many that Holloway had to split them up into two groups. Andre was all smiles, even though he later admitted he was anxious to get out and run instead of going through the monotonous first-day drills every team goes through. But he looked comfortable, at peace. The only thing that seemed out of place was his green undershirt, which didn’t exactly match the purple practice gear.
Near the end of practice, Andre finally got a chance to stretch his wings. In a 3-on-3 drill meant to emphasize defensive rotations, Jamel Barnes drove right and then lofted a ball at the rim. Out of nowhere, Jones soared through the lane and flushed it home. The freshmen, perhaps seeing this up close for the first time, gasped.
Barnes flashed a quick grin, perhaps pleased with himself for delivering the perfect pass. But it quickly disappeared. Hatfield stood on the left wing and Corthen at the top of the key; neither so much as blinked. They’d seen Jones do this so many times in the 44 weeks they’d been teammates. These assaults on the rim don’t register on the Richter scale anymore, not like they did last January anyway.
“Now I have to do something crazy just to get a reaction out of them,” Andre says. “They’ve come a long way since the first practice.”
So has the man they call “Dre.”
He walked away from the rim he had just rocked, expressionless. The next play awaited. His senior year, free from drama and distraction, awaited.
Contact sports features writer Ryan O’Gara at (765) 213-5829. Follow him on Twitter @RyanOGaraTSP.
Andre Jones dunks at the Muncie Fieldhouse Thursday, Nov. 19, 2015.
Basketball
GIRLS BASKETBALL
Jay County led by 16 points at halftime and cruised to a 60-22 win over Winchester Saturday. Lyla Muhlenkamp led the Patriots with 17 points.
Cowan took a 56-46 win against International. Ashley Evans had a team-high 13 points for the Blackhawks, while Carli Skinner had 11.
Monroe Central’s Beau Combs shoots past the defense in a game last season.
PARKER CITY — When the lights on the gridiron powered down for the final time, it wasn’t lights out for Beau Combs.
The Monroe Central senior scored five touchdowns, made 85 tackles and intercepted four passes for the Golden Bears during football season. When his team fell to Adams Central in the sectional championship, they walked off the field in unison, the last time many of them would don a brown and gold uniform.
Combs wasn’t one of them.
Just days later, he was in the Monroe Central gym, running through basketball drills. For the multi-sport athlete, there’s no such thing as time off.
Not when a run at a Mid-Eastern Conference title is at hand.
Monroe Central finished 5-2 in the MEC last season, not far behind conference-winning Wapahani (7-0). In a matchup last season between the two teams that could have decided the winner of the conference, Combs went just 1 of 10 shooting, and Wapahani won 54-37.
Not again, not this season.
“We’re fast, athletic, we have size and now we can put it all together,” Combs said. “It’s going to be a good season.”
Combs didn’t pick up basketball until he was a freshman. He spent years watching his older brother play but was more focused on football to seriously considering switching out his cleats and shoulder pads for sneakers and shorts.
He said football is his first love, but basketball has grown on him and now he’s ready to be one of two seniors Monroe Central coach Justin Ullom says will lead the team this season. He and Jansen Blevins will take the reins and help guide the younger players.
“Both guys have played a lot of varsity basketball,” Ullom said. “We’re pretty strong, but we’ve also got a junior, Dustin Brown, who doesn’t let us get away with anything.”
Last season was Ullom’s first, and he said at this time last year, he was just trying to get to know all his players, including Combs. After a season of working together, both are more relaxed.
“It’s hard on everyone to get used to a new coach,” Combs said. “But we all know what his mindset is. He wants the best for us. We’re going to buy into his system and it’s going to produce results.”
Ullom said he wants the team to play through the 6-foot-4 junior Brown and open up space for his shooters on the outside.
One of the most promising players the Golden Bears return is the shifty Israel Nash, a sophomore who averaged 11 points per game last season and exploded in the first postseason game of his career, pouring in 32 points in a win over Southern Wells.
There should be no shortage of offense. The question Ullom posed was whether or not they’ll be strong enough on defense.
“We finally started playing defense at the level we wanted to in the last month of last season,” Ullom said. “It took a while to get there, but we started playing how we need to in order to compete for a conference championship and more.”
And that conference championship is now or never for Combs.
Contact prep sports reporter David Polaski at (765) 213-5848. Follow him on Twitter @DavidPolaskiTSP.
Phillip Corthen
BOYS BASKETBALL
Cowen fell in its season opener to Liberty Christian 73-47. Clayton Ciplinger had a team-high 15 points, while Shea Ingles dished out eight assists.
Despite leading after the first quarter, Central fell to Hamilton Southeastern 87-82. Phillip Corthen led the Bearcats with 21 points, including four 3-pointers, followed by Andre Jones with 15 points.
GIRLS BASKETBALL
Monroe Central picked up 17 assists in its 61-17 victory over Northeastern. The Golden Bears’ Abigail McGrath was the leading scorer with 16 points, followed by Mikaela McGrath with 12.
Yorktown defeated Delta in a Hoosier Heritage Conference matchup 50-40. Jenna Irelan led the Tigers in rebounds with 15 and points with 16, while Carlea Pettigrew and Madeline Aul each scored a 3-pointer. The Eagles’ Micaya Richardson put up 14 points and five rebounds.
GIRLS SWIMMING
Central opened its season with a 141-40 victory over Blackford. The Bearcats’ Sarah Tinder, Chloe Townsend and Kayla Beaty each placed first in two individual events. Tinder won the 100-yard butterfly with a time of 1 minute, 19.08 seconds and the 100 backstroke with a time of 1:15.55. Townsend took the 50 freestyle with a time of 28.42, as well as the 100 free with a time of 1:03.56. Beaty tapped the wall first in the 500 free, swimming a 6:05.71, and she finished first in the 200 free with a time of 2:14.82.
Jacob Gray, Delta
With the 2015-16 wrestling season underway, these are five ECI wrestlers to keep an eye on as they make their push to state, in addition to Yorktown’s Cael McCormick.
Exuse Brown, Central
Exuse Brown, Central
Brown’s first name is pronounced “Zeus”, same as the Greek God, a comparison any wrestler would love to have. A multi-sport athlete who also played football, he fell in his second match in the Fort Wayne Snider Semistate in an 8-6 decision last season, but returns as a senior for one final push to state. Competing in the 138-pound weight class, he says he hopes to face Delta’s Sage Coy in the postseason, saying it’ll be a good, fun matchup against one of the top wrestlers in the area. “Everyone wants to win state and my goal is nothing less than that,” Brown said. “I know I’ll have some good matchups in sectionals and regionals, me and Sage going back at it, I could see that.” He started off the season strong, going 5-0 for the Bearcats at the Taylor Super Eight Invitational last Saturday and was named “Outstanding Wrestler” for the event. Although he’s proud of all parts of his game, he said the quickness of his feet and keeping a high tempo helps keep his opponents off-guard and tries to teach younger wrestlers so they can continue building the program for the future.
Sage Coy, Delta
Sage Coy, Delta
Coy returns for his senior year after he barely missed bringing back the top prize last season. He took home third place in the 132-weight class at state as a junior, finishing with a 42-2 record, falling to Nick Lee who went on to win state. The other loss he suffered that season came at a weight that was higher than his usual weight class, according to coach Gary Schliessman. “Just when you think you might have him figured out, he is going to hit you with something you never saw coming,” he said. “He should be fun to watch this year.” Along with Folkstyle wrestling, Coy has also trained in Greco and Freestyle wrestling, giving him a well-rounded attack. “One of his greatest strength’s is his unbelievable natural athleticism and unpredictability,” Schliessman said. “We joke about how the kid could have been a great gymnast.” He said Coy is the heartbeat of Delta wrestling and younger wrestlers look up to him for guidence and he’s earned their respect.
Brad Laughlin, Yorktown
Brad Laughlin, Yorktown
Yorktown has a wealth of quality wrestlers this season, and Laughlin is just one of them. “I’ve been doing neutral work, getting to my offense and not the same traditional setups, moving more and being more physical,” Laughlin said about what he’s worked on over the summer. “It’s nice to get to work every day with my team here.” He had a successful junior campaign, he went to state and took home a 5th-place finish at 138, reaching his preseason goal of finishing in the top six. Yorktown coach Trent McCormick called him one of the Tigers’ leaders. While Laughlin has a shot to make it back into the top six again, finishing fifth isn’t what’s on his mind, using that finish as motivation coming into this season. “It showed that I can be one of the top competitors in the state,” he said. “It pushes me to work harder because I know I was just a few spots away from being at the very top of the state, and I want to be there.”
Jacob Gray, Delta
Jacob Gray, Delta
With two years of experience in high school wrestling under his belt, Gray returns as a junior ready to make another run at a state championship. He finished in sixth place at the state finals last season at 160 and even made noise as a freshman, falling in overtime at semistate. He’s wrestled in national tournaments over the summer and Schliessman said one of his best assets is his work ethic. “He’s a meat-and-potatoes-type of wrestler,” he said. “He doesn’t show off a lot of flashy moves when he competes, but wrestles like a relentless machine.” Schliessman said Gray is one of Delta’s hardest workers and it shows in the results he gets during the season. “It’s rare to find wrestlers that will do the extra, but the ones that do only build their confidence knowing they’ve worked harder than most of the opponents they’ll face,” Schliessman said.
Christian Hunt, Yorktown
Christian Hunt, Yorktown
He may not look like an intimidating force at first glance, but Hunt packs a wallop behind his small frame. He finished sixth at state last season at 106 as a freshman and is back to make a push for a championship. As the youngest area competitor to make it that far last season, the potential for more state-title runs is a strong possibility. He’s gained weight heading into the season and will be competing at 120 pounds. “I’ve been training in Indy and with the team throughout the summer,” Hunt said. “We did a lot of summer wrestling in Bloomington and other places.” Hunt’s proud of what he accomplished as just a freshman, but has high expectations and isn’t satisfied with how the season ended. He expects to be back at Bankers Life Fieldhouse next spring, and with a different result. “It was bittersweet. It was cool that I was able to get to state and place so high, but I wanted to win,” he said. “I want to win it all this season.”
Contact prep sports reporter David Polaski at (765) 213-5848. Follow him on Twitter @DavidPolaskiTSP.
Cael McCormick practices with another Yorktown wrestler at Yorktown High School. This season will be McCormick’s last for his high school career.
Cael McCormick practices with another Yorktown wrestler at Yorktown High School. This season will be McCormick’s last for his high school career.
Cael McCormick practices with another Yorktown wrestler at Yorktown High School. This season will be McCormick’s last for his high school career.
Cael McCormick practices with another Yorktown wrestler at Yorktown High School. This season will be McCormick’s last for his high school career.
Cael McCormick practices with another Yorktown wrestler at Yorktown High School. This season will be McCormick’s last for his high school career.
Cael McCormick practices with another Yorktown wrestler at Yorktown High School. This season will be McCormick’s last for his high school career.
YORKTOWN — Only three times was Yorktown’s Cael McCormick pinned last season.
One of them happened to be on the first day of the state wrestling championships.
He lost in a 4-3 decision to Alston Bane, who went on to place third in the 145-pound weight class. McCormick was sent packing, left to wonder what went wrong for the second-ranked wrestler in the state.
The sweet taste of victory is memorable, but for McCormick, that defeat stung even worse.
“That loss last year meant more than all of the wins I had,” McCormick said. “I looked back at my high school career and I see all of the wins, but those losses mean something to me too.”
It means he’ll have that state championship goal to shoot for this season, both as an individual and as a team. Last season, Yorktown finished 11th at state. The only other area team was Delta, finishing at 21st.
McCormick’s dad, Trent McCormick, has been coaching for 28 years. He said Cael started wrestling when he was just four years old.
That’s what happens when your dad is a wrestling coach.
“I’m not sure if he really had much of a choice,” Trent said, laughing.
Cael calls himself a “mat general”, a term he said is used at Yorktown to reference someone who reads his surroundings well and has strong awareness. He said it’s one of the strongest parts of his game.
“It’s something I really excel at, being cognizant on the mat,” Cael said.
He’ll be flanked with other successful Yorktown wrestlers throughout the season. Brad Laughlin placed fifth at 138 last season, and Christian Hunt fell in the match to decide fifth place at 108.
Trent called Cael and Laughlin two of the leaders on the team, and are also two of the four captains. Laughlin said the goal this season is to win state as a team, a real possibility with the returning talent Yorktown has.
And it appears Cael is the leader of that group.
“It’s perfect, you couldn’t ask for anything better,” Laughlin said. “He pushes you every day, he’s not going to stop trying to make everyone better.”
Cael will compete at 152 this season and is ranked 23rd in the country in that class, according to preseason polls from WIN magazine. He credits the progress he’s made in improving over the summer to the defeat he suffered at state last season.
It left a bitter taste in his mouth that can only be fixed with another run for a championship. As a senior, if he falls short of his goal this season, he’ll have much longer than a summer to think about it.
“You do something your entire life and suddenly you’re let down, there was no one to blame but myself,” Cael said. “I fixed what I needed to fix, and now I’m ready to get going again.”
Contact prep sports reporter David Polaski at dpolaski@muncie.gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter @DavidPolaskiTSP
Jayla Scaife
MUNCIE — It was hard for the Central Bearcats girls basketball team to describe the Jekyll and Hyde dynamic it had going on Saturday afternoon against visiting Richmond.
In the first quarter, the Bearcats could do no wrong. The second quarter, on the other hand, was a struggle. They saw just how good they could be with a 20-point first-quarter lead, and then they also saw just how vulnerable they are when they don’t rebound as Richmond nearly pulled off an impressive comeback.
Still, though, Central was far more Jekyll than Hyde as yet another monster game from Jayla Scaife was enough to catapult the Bearcats past Richmond 59-51 in a North Central Conference matchup at The Fieldhouse.
How do you explain a performance in which Central led 24-4 after one quarter, then seemed to be holding on for dear life as Richmond closed to within 33-30 midway through the third quarter?
“I just think we got ahead of ourselves a little bit, and we went a little bit faster than what we’re used to,” said Scaife, who finished with 29 points, 11 rebounds and nine steals. “We’re trying to keep the tempo up, so that was it.”
The tempo was certainly in the Bearcats’ favor early as they forced 11 first-quarter turnovers. They’re at their best when Ke’Chell Tate (nine points), Hadassah Harris (12 points), Jaylen Montgomery and Scaife are getting steals and quick baskets.
Ke’Chell Tate
It just wasn’t sustainable Saturday, however, as Central (4-2) seemed to run out of gas. After shooting 9 of 17 in the first quarter, it was only 1 of 14 in the second, going the first 6:19 without a point.
“It’s hard to maintain that amount of pressure, it really is,” Central coach Lisa Blalock said. “But we know that when we can put that kind of pressure on, it fuels our offense. That’s the goal, to be able to play with that intensity and effort at all times.”
Richmond (1-3), meanwhile, found its footing after the early hole behind Lexus Perkins, who scored six of her team-high 18 points during a 10-0 run to open the second quarter. Raya Fields added 12 points and eight rebounds for the Red Devils, who outrebounded the Bearcats 35-25.
“They had every reason to pack it in, and they didn’t,” Richmond coach Casey Pohlenz said. “We’re young, and we’re growing.
“For three quarters, we were pretty happy. We’re starting sophomores and juniors who haven’t played a lot. We’ll get there. If they fight like that, we’ll be just fine.”
Once Richmond pulled within three, Central reeled off a 10-1 run to close the third quarter, showing its ability to score in bunches.
“We’ve got to grow from this,” Blalock said. “No matter what happens, there are always things where you can point out what you did really well and where you have to grow. We just need to continue to work to get better.”
Scaife, a Dayton signee, scored 13 points in the fourth quarter, including a rebound and basket with 1:50 left to bump Central’s lead back to eight.
“I think I could’ve done better, like defensively and going for rebounds,” Scaife said. “But I think I did pretty good. There’s always room for improvement.”
Contact sports features writer Ryan O’Gara at (765) 213-5829. Follow him on Twitter @RyanOGaraTSP.
Central’s Jamel Barnes and Kolby Mallory (4) take possession from Yorktown during their game at Yorktown High School Saturday, Nov. 28, 2015.
Central’s Kolby Mallory fights for a shot past Yorktown during their game at Yorktown High School Saturday, Nov. 28, 2015.
Central’s Trenton Hatfield slips past Yorktown’s defense during their game at Yorktown High School Saturday, Nov. 28, 2015.
Central’s Donald Allen goes up for a shot against Yorktown during their game at Yorktown High School Saturday, Nov. 28, 2015.
Yorktown’s Nate Preston struggles to maintain possession against Central during their game at Yorktown High School Saturday, Nov. 28, 2015.
Central’s Andre Jones goes up for a shot against Yorktown during their game at Yorktown High School Saturday, Nov. 28, 2015.
Central’s Donald Allen goes up for a shot against Yorktown during their game at Yorktown High School Saturday, Nov. 28, 2015.
Central’s Phillip Corthen shoots past Yorktown during their game at Yorktown High School Saturday, Nov. 28, 2015.
YORKTOWN — The Central boys basketball team wasn’t off to the start coach Jeff Holloway was looking for.
Playing at Yorktown, Central pulled off a 72-49 win, but it was up just 27-17 at halftime.
And when his team headed into the locker room at intermission, he still wasn’t happy with the energy his defense was showing.
“I think that first group came out sluggish,” Holloway said. “We didn’t come out with the energy we needed when you’re on the road, but I found a group in the second half that was hungry and unselfish, and it changed things for us.”
Throughout the first half, Donald Allen, the Bearcats’ 6-foot-8 center, made life difficult for the Tigers on defense and was virtually impossible to block out on the boards.
The Bearcats offense didn’t appear to be predicated around getting their very big man the ball, despite him overpowering defenders when setting down underneath the basket and calling for the ball.
Instead, he cleaned up whatever shots didn’t find the basket, rebounding and putting them back, often with two players draped over him.
At times, it seemed like he couldn’t even tell they were there. But when the Tigers were on offense, he was forced to move around the perimeter, slowing down what Holloway wanted to be a frenetic defense. Players who are used to getting out and running, like Phillip Corthen III, didn’t seem to have the usual energy.
After starting the game just 1-for-13 shooting, Yorktown woke up in the second quarter. Brevin Smith and Bobby Smith combined for 12 points, helping to cut Central’s lead to just three before a plethora of turnovers helped Central take a 10-point lead into halftime. Bobby Smith led the Tigers with 15 points.
They weren’t playing fast enough for Holloway.
“We weren’t able to speed them up as much as we wanted to,” he said, “but we were looking for effort and energy, and we finally got it in that second half.”
Central outscored Yorktown 24-19 in the third quarter, with Corthen starting to find his rhythm. He finished the game with 16 points, eight of them coming in the fourth quarter as Central put its foot down and put Yorktown away.
The Bearcts started showcasing their athleticism, taking advantage of 30 Yorktown turnovers to create a fast break that Yorktown was unable to keep up with. At one point, Andre Jones leapt high and dunked in a missed basket, jumping over a Yorktown player in the process.
If Holloway wasn’t happy with the energy level in the first half, he had nothing to complain about in the second.
“A basketball game turned into a thoroughbred race,” Yorktown coach Greg Miller said. “We didn’t do a good job mentally in that race of keeping up.”
Central continued slashing into the lane, its depth wearing down a fairly inexperienced Yorktown team that lost eight seniors from last season.
It just took a while for them to get going.
“We were just going through the motions there at the beginning, but we turned it around pretty quick,” Corthen said.
Contact sports reporter David Polaski at (765) 213-5848. Follow him on Twitter @DavidPolaskiTSP.
Hayden Castor
BOYS BASKETBALL
Hayden Castor led Wapahani with 16 points to earn the 73-43 victory over Tri. The Raiders’ Cameron Hollingsworth was 5 for 8 from the floor, knocking down four 3-pointers. Drew Estep and Peyton West picked up five rebounds each.
Wes-Del took down Elwood 54-39. Leading the Warriors was Adam Routh with 14 points, followed by Payton Waters with 12.
Cowan fell to Hagerstown 68-48. Clayton Kiplinger led the Blackhawks with 15 points and five rebounds, followed by Shea Ingles with 14 points.
Burris defeated Christal House Academy 67-40, and then fell to Cambridge City Lincoln 63-51 at a tournament in Cambridge City. The Owls’ Nick Baker scored a combined 33 in both games. Ryan Morey was the Owls’ leading scorer against Cambridge City Lincoln with 22 points. Tyce Rogers scored five 3-pointers against Christal House Academy.
New Castle edged past Greenwood 96-92 in overtime Friday. Five players scored in double figues, including Mason Gillis, who scored a team-high 28 points for the Trojans and Andrew Garret who added 22 points.
FOOTBALL
The North Central Conference announced its all-conference team, and five Central players were named to the roster: Jamel Barnes, Trenton Hatfield, George Foley, Andre Wells and Joseph Scruggs.
GIRLS BASKETBALL
Jay County defeated Delta 47-35. Micaya Richardson put up 13 points for the Eagles, while Avery Lewman and Haille Workman tallied four rebounds each.
Jay County defeated Woodlan 54-24 Friday, taking the team to 6-0. Abby Wendel led the Patriots with 16 points, followed by Ava Kunkler with eight and Hanna Ault with seven.
WRESTLING
Yorktown bumped its record up to 9-0 with eight victories at the two-day Mount Vernon Invitational in Fortville. Six Tigers went 8-0 during the event: Brayden Curtis, Joshua Stephenson, Christian Hunt, Colt Rutter, Cael McCormick and Brad Laughlin.
Delta kicked off its season going 5-0 and winning the Triton Central Invitational. The Eagles’ Brock House, Noah Richardson, Sage Coy, Andrew Abbott, Jacob Gray, Scottie Evans and Ryan George all went undefeated for the day.
Wapahani went 1-3 at Shenandoah’s Raider Duals. Wapahani’s Jaide Lowe was undefeated for the day, going 4-0, while Jordan Meadows and Lance Finchum went 3-1.
Delta defeated Pendleton Heights at Delta High School Friday, Nov. 6, 2015.
There was no seminal moment for Grant Zgunda, no point in time when the Delta football coach arrived at his decision. Most people around the program knew this decision was coming at some point in the next year. But in the last few weeks, he decided it was time.
After 18 years and 167 wins, Zgunda is retiring from Delta.
“I feel blessed,” he said Tuesday. “It’s a word that’s overused, but I feel blessed. I couldn’t have asked for a better situation for me and my family.
“I was looking for a school like Delta all along – not too big, not too small,” he said of being hired in 1998 after five years at Madison-Grant. “It’s been great for my family, people here have been awesome. They love their football and have been real supportive – they have been my whole time here. It’s just a special place. I don’t know how many people can say that, that you got to coach for 18 years at one of those special places. But I’ve been fortunate.”
Zgunda’s resignation was accepted at a school board meeting Tuesday night.
“I think a lot of people have known,” Zgunda said, admitting that he nearly resigned after last season. “I don’t hide things too well. People knew it’d be this year or next year. But for my players’ sake, I wanted to keep the focus on them all year and not have any distractions.”
And Zgunda went out in style, capturing the last of his six sectional titles this past season. He went 204-61 in 23 years as a head coach. Along the way, he won 10 conference titles, six sectional crowns, two regional championships and one semistate title. He’s currently 24th all-time and eighth among active coaches in Indiana for career winning percentage (minimum 80 wins) at .770 and 59th all-time in total wins.
The list of accomplishments goes on and on, but it’s hardly the entire story for the Yorktown graduate.
“Anybody that can last as a head coach for 18 years at the same place and have the same positive impact in year 18 as in year 1, 2 or 10, it says a tremendous amount about that individual,” said Delta principal Chris Conley, a close friend of Zgunda’s for 25 years. “In any given year, you have about a dozen seniors and you multiply that by 18 years, that’s a heck of a lot of boys at Delta he’s had a real influence on. You can’t put a price on that.
“It’s a tremendous loss for us, but I’m proud he’s made this decision on his own. He gets to get out and spend time with his family.”
That’s the top priority right now for Zgunda. His daughter, Gabby, just finished her junior volleyball season and is committed to Mississippi State. He wants more time with his wife, Becky, and sons Garrett (23), Graham (21) and Grayson (14). He’s planning on enjoying a stress-free year of watching Gabby play volleyball, plus he’s going to take a few more classes at Ball State to go along with his master’s degree in educational administration that he needs for a license.
The support has come from everywhere, like his parents John and Beverly Zgunda, who were at all of his games. And his brother Gary, who drove from Indianapolis to do stats every Friday night, not missing a game in 23 years.
He’s a coaching lifer, with stops at assistant jobs at Muncie Southside and Wabash before taking the reins at Madison-Grant. At Delta, he had everything he ever wanted – from the administration, to the student body, to his assistants.
“This place gave me the autonomy to do it my own way,” Zgunda said. “I didn’t have to deal with the problems you deal with at other schools.
“I fell in love with the place. It’s just been a great thing.”
Contact sports features writer Ryan O’Gara at (765) 213-5829. Follow him on Twitter @RyanOGaraTSP.
Delta defeated Pendleton Heights at Delta High School Friday, Nov. 6, 2015.
Dustin Brown
BOYS BASKETBALL
Monroe Central knocked off Blackford 49-29. Dustin Brown led the charge for the Golden Bears with 26 points.
Yorktown fell to Alexandria 44-32. Blaine Harvey had nine points to lead the Tigers.
Union City defeated Wes-Del 53-45. Sam Smoot led the Warriors with 18 points.
Burris fell to South Adams 80-61. Tyce Rogers had five 3-pointers and led his team with 17 points. Nick Baker and Ryan Morey each added 16.
Heritage Hall defeated Colonial Christian 57-37. The Patriots’ Brayden Karnes scored 18 points, followed by Isaac McKee with 16.
GIRLS BASKETBALL
Wapahani took down Burris 88-28, taking the team to 6-0 for the season. Kambrey Jolley put up 22 points for the Raiders, followed by Kaci Mangus with 14. The Owls’ Emileigh Locke had two 3-pointers.
Monroe Central lost to Central 51-32. Abigail McGrath had a team-high nine points for the Golden Bears.
Cowan suffered a 64-42 loss to Union City. Carli Skinner led the Blackhawks with 24 points.
Heritage Hall fell to Colonial 56-22. Julia Keating led the way with 12 points.
Daleville lost to Alexandria Monday with a final score of 70-37. Leading the way for the Broncos was Kaylee Allen with 13 points.
Jay County pulled off a win against Fort Wayne South Side 58-38. Abby Wendel led the Patriots with a team-high 24 points.
BOYS SWIMMING
Central lost to Pendleton Heights in its opening meet 100-84. The Bearcats’ Alec Hale earned first-place finishes in the 200-yard free and 100 back.
Delta went 2-0 in a triangular meet against Yorktown and New Palestine. The Eagles’ Andrew Torres picked up wins in the 100 butterfly, 50 free, 200 free relay and 200 medley relay.
Jay County fell to Bluffton 185-129. Christian Phillips led the Patriots in diving, scoring 165.45 points and placing first.
GIRLS SWIMMING
Central fell to Pendleton Heights 101-82. The Bearcats’ Kayla Beaty earned a first-place finish in the 200 free with a time of 2 minutes, 12.97 seconds. Beaty, Maggie Connolly, Chloe Townsend and Sarah Tinder all placed first in the 200 free relay with a time of 1:26.51.
Yorktown, Delta and New Palestine competed in a triangular meet, where Yorktown went 2-0. The Tigers’ Meri Gray and Emily Weiss each picked up individual wins. Gray placed first in the 500 free with a time of 5:41.25, while Weiss took first in the 100 free with a time of 54.38.
Jay County defeated Bluffton 188.5-120.5. Elizabeth McDowell earned a first-place finish for the Patriots in the 100 free with a time of 43.91.
WRESTLING
Delta moved up to 6-0 for the season after a victory over Central 49-20. Brock House picked up a win for the Eagles, while Cory Cooper earned an individual win for the Bearcats.
Winchester defeated Wes-Del 60-24 in a dual meet. Will Swanson, Jake Redwine, Jesse Trent and James Harrold each picked up wins for the Warriors.
