TOP 5: Things we've learned about high school basketball so far

Andy Amey, The Tribune-Star, Terre Haute, Ind.
·3 min read

Nov. 30—Remember those Top 5 columns we wrote here at the Tribune-Star during the pandemic? Well they're back, with high school basketball getting a little extra treatment this week.

And why not? Look at No. 1 on the list for a pretty good reason.

This is the Top 5 things we've learned from high school basketball so far.

5. Gobbler Games Shootout an artistic success — What many people hope is just the first of these events was a lot of fun on Saturday (and caused me to change my vote for No. 1 in the Class A poll from Barr-Reeve to Bloomfield).

The 12-player all-Shootout team as picked by the Tribune-Star consists of Landon Carr of Northview, DeShawn Clark of North Central, Ethan DeHart of Northview, Baylin Graf of Bloomfield, Mark Hankins of Terre Haute North, Blake Herdes of Evansville Central, Ethan Kesler of West Vigo, Donnie ("I guess he's not on the JV team anymore," said an assistant coach) Miller of Barr-Reeve, Zeke Tanoos of West Vigo, Logan Webb of Linton, Jerome White of North Vermillion and Amariyae Wilson of Terre Haute South

4. Play it again — The draw for the First Financial Wabash Valley Classic is Tuesday. What are the odds that there will be a Shootout replay, with Parke Heritage facing Linton again (keep those scorebooks straight) or Cloverdale getting another shot at Bloomfield?

3. Title chases — Conference races are already underway in girls competition, with the usual suspects contending.

Linton isn't unbeaten overall, with fairly close losses to Edgewood and Washington, but the Miners still lead the SouthWestern Indiana Athletic Conference race, followed closely by Eastern Greene and Bloomfield. Don't count out North Central either.

Paris, 3-2 so far, begins its Little Illini Conference competition this week, and faces 6-1 Marshall next Monday.

And in the Western Indiana Conference, Northview is one of the three unbeaten teams in conference play (Edgewood and Indian Creek the others) while Sullivan and West Vigo each have just one loss.

2. Great start — The top girls team in the Wabash Valley right now, by virtue of winning the recent North American Lighting Thanksgiving Tournament, appears to be Terre Haute North. The 6-1 Patriots will be tested this week by Mooresville and Bloomington South, but wins so far over Avon and Paris are big ones.

1. Vigo County boys teams are unbeaten — Obviously the big story last week was Terre Haute South's victory over Barr-Reeve during the Gobbler Games Shootout in Hulman Center, coupled with an earlier win over Cloverdale. The Braves are playing hard and together, and so far they've allowed just 77 points in two games.

Terre Haute North might be one of the best teams in the state for three quarters or so, although coach Todd Woelfle probably wouldn't mind if the Patriots' fourth quarters were a little less stressful. The wins over Mooresville and Evansville Central both could have been a little more decisive than their final scores made them appear.

And West Vigo has played just once, but got a victory with practically a brand-new roster. The Vikings may have to sort out a few things as the season goes along, but they seem to have an excellent backcourt in Zeke Tanoos and Ethan Kesler (and a suspenseful dunker in Whyatt Easton).