Published: January 08, 2009 11:43 pm         

HOOPS: Boys basketball previews

Kokomo faces tough Peru squad; Taylor hosts MIC foe Heights

One week ago, Kokomo’s boys basketball team had lost four straight games — one in overtime and two others in the closing seconds.

Last weekend things evened out a bit. The Kats won in overtime against Frankfort and beat a good Noblesville team by seven points. Now third-year coach Brian McCauley is hoping that momentum will carry over to the rest of the season.

Tonight, the Kats travel to Peru for a matchup with the Class 3A, No 7 ranked Tigers (7-1), before returning home Saturday to deal with McCutcheon (5-3).

“We had played four very good teams in a row and didn’t play as well as we would have liked,” said McCauley. “We just didn’t seal the deal. Last weekend it was good to see us win close games and maybe turn the corner.”

McCauley said it was a combination of improvements that helped get the Kats back to 4-4 on the season. He mentioned significant bench contributions, players like Brock Barbary, Parker Salinas and D.J. Balentine who added “energy points.” He was particularly pleased with Cheyse Swain who had eight deflections in eight minutes against Noblesville.

Certainly in both games, Kokomo had major contributions all the way around and that’s something McCauley says is vital to his team’s improvement.

“We played better team basketball last weekend,” he said. “If we want to be successful the rest of this season, we have to play like a true team and make one another better.”

Alan Arnett, who came up big at the end of both wins last weekend, leads the Kats in scoring (13.3), assists (29) and blocked shots (12). Patrick Hopkins averages 10.7 points and a team-high 8.3 rebounds. Tyrone Brown and the team’s leading 3-point shooter Colton Summers (44 percent) each average just under 10 points a game. Guard T.J. Weir is scoring at 6.5 points and leads the squad in steals with 10.

Peru coach Eric Thompson, whose team is ranked in the top 10 for the first time in a decade, knows his Tigers will be challenged tonight in the 97th game in the series, dominated by the Kats 83-13.

“[Kokomo] can hurt you in a lot of ways,” Thompson said. “We have to be able to handle their defensive pressure and from our defensive standpoint, we must get out on their shooters and stop their penetration.”

Peru has surfaced in the poll perhaps a year sooner than some may have thought. Still a young team with just one senior starter, the Tigers have won seven games by an average of 20 points, losing only to Plymouth (54-53), a Final Four team from last season.

“All of our kids have been pleasant surprises this year,” Thompson said. “They’ve grown physically and mentally. They don’t care who scores for us and when someone on the other team scores, they look on it as our team’s fault — not one player’s [fault].”

The Tigers offer a balanced attack with 6-foot-3 Wes Zimmerman (13.4) and 6-1 Terry Smith (12.3) leading the scoring. Zimmerman is tops on the boards at 6.8.

Hamilton Heights (3-5, 1-1 MIC) at Taylor (5-2, 2-0 MIC)

The Titans will attempt to rebound from an overtime loss to Sheridan last week and maintain pace atop the Mid-Indiana Conference when they entertain the Huskies.

Taylor coach Jeff Fisher thinks Heights’ record is deceptive because of the level of competition the Huskies have played. Heights is led by Austin Weatherford’s 14.5 ppg. Nick Hartley adds 14.4 ppg and 6.5 rpg. T.J. Witham averages 12.9 ppg.

Fisher said that while the Huskies have struggled, “they’ve struggled against good teams. They’ve got the Hartley kid inside. I think [he] is definitely a force, just his size and he can come out and shoot the 3. Witham just drives the ball very, very well. They like to get up and down the floor. Transition D will be big and then us attacking their zone. How well we do that I think will be big for us.”

Guard Reomey Northington leads the Titans with 15.7 ppg. Inside players Drake Herr (10.9 ppg) and Tyler Simmons (10.6 ppg) give the Titans inside-outside balance. Fisher is heartened that the Titans are improving, but notes two glaring weaknesses.

“Sheridan’s not bad,” Fisher said of last Saturday’s game. “I know we had two overtime games maybe against teams we should win, or win by more [Cass and Sheridan], but I think we’re playing better each time we come out. I thought we attacked the zone better against Sheridan.

“We’ve just got to get better at not turning it over and rebounding. We’ve been outrebounded the last how many games? And we’ve been turning it over needlessly and carelessly.”

Taylor hosts Mississinewa on Saturday.

Eastern (4-3, 0-2 MIC) at Maconaquah (2-5, 0-0 MIC)

Eastern returns to action tonight following a three-week break for the holidays.

“It seems like it’s been forever since we’ve played,” coach Duane Keisling said. “Of course, we were in the gym quite a bit over vacation, but it’s been a long layoff and we know the teams we’re playing this weekend [Maconaquah and Carroll] played some ball over the holidays in tournaments.

“It’s always a concern when you’ve had a layoff, but that’s the way it is so we’ve had it in our minds that we have to be ready to play.”

Eastern visits Maconaquah tonight. The Braves will test the Comets’ perimeter defense with an attack that averages 23 3-point attempts per game.

“We’ll have our hands full,” Keisling said. “They live out there around the 3-point line and they have more than one or two kids who can knock them in. We have to be able to control that and stay out of that up-and-down game that I know they like to play.”

Eastern returns home Saturday to face Carroll, which is 7-0 after winning the Clinton Central Holiday Tournament last week.

“I saw them in their tourney and they looked good,” Keisling said, noting guard Riley Eller and inside players Adam Spesard and Carson Spesard give them a nice offensive balance. “I think they have a complete ballclub.”

Western (4-3) at Logansport (5-1)

Western will look to break a two-game losing streak tonight when it visits Logansport. Coach Andy Weaver knows the Berries present a formidable challenge for his squad.

“They’re off to a great start to their season. They’re 5-1 and they’ve won five in a row,” Weaver said. “They beat Frankfort on a shot that was almost three-quarters court to win by three and they won in three overtimes at McCutcheon, and we lost by three to Frankfort and by four to McCutcheon. So, they found a way to win those close games and we didn’t.”

Logansport averages 68.8 points per game and has topped 80 points in two games.

“Our defensive effort will be a big key,” Weaver said. “They have a balanced offense. Nathan Champion runs the point and scores from the point, his brother Jordan is a good 3-point shooter and [Joel] Gotshall is doing his work inside. It will be a big challenge for our defense.

“We hope our guys are ready to play,” Weaver added. “It’s Logansport — it’s a great gym to play in and it’s an NCC school. We put them on our schedule for a reason — to help us get better for some of our goals.”

Western visits Frankfort Sectional rival West Lafayette on Saturday. The Red Devils own a 5-2 record heading into the weekend with both of their losses coming to McCutcheon.

“We’ve always looked at it as a tough weekend, especially every other year when it’s road-road,” Weaver said of facing Logan and West Lafayette on consecutive nights. “West Lafayette has won five in a row too. The thing that jumps out is their defensive average is below 40. You have to really execute your offensive game plan against West Lafayette.”

Around the area

Class 2A No. 1-ranked Tipton (8-1) hosts West Lafayette (5-2) in a Hoosier Conference game tonight. The Blue Devils lead the league at 2-0 and the Red Devils are tied for second at 1-0. The Blue Devils are the defending league champs.

Also tonight, Northwestern (2-3) visits Delphi (1-6) and Tri-Central (0-8) visits Lewis Cass (1-5).

Tribune sportswriters Dave Kitchell, Bryan Gaskins and Pedro Velazco compiled this report.



Weekend schedule:<.b>

All games 6 p.m. JV starts unless otherwise noted

Tonight

Kokomo at Peru

Western at Logansport

Northwestern at Delphi

Hamilton Heights at Taylor

Eastern at Maconaquah

Tri-Central at Cass

6:30 p.m. — West Lafayette at Tipton

Saturday

1 p.m. — North Miami at Cass

McCutcheon at Kokomo

Clinton Central at Northwestern

Mississinewa at Taylor

Carroll at Eastern

Peru at Oak Hill

Western at West Lafayette

     

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