With the weather still wreaking havoc around central Indiana, news in the high school sports world seems a bit trivial. But should you need an escape, or a reason to get your mind elsewhere, here’s a look at a busy weekend and what lies ahead as spring sports come to a close.

BASEBALL
What a story the Decatur Central baseball team has become the past couple weeks, as the Hawks have thrilled and survived to now find themselves playing for the 4A state title this Saturday. The squad came into sectionals ranked No. 9 and was certainly under the radar on most accounts, but Saturday’s 7-6 comeback win over Evansville Harrison put the radar detectors into overdrive.

Nick Stoia, who made an error in the top of the seventh that allowed Harrison to take a 6-4 lead, got some serious redemption in the bottom half of the inning when he hit a two-run double off the left field wall. That shot off his bat tied the game at 6, and then the next batter, Adam Kirk, drove in Stoia and the celebration ensued.

Decatur Central, now sporting a 28-7 record, will play Saturday evening at Victory Field against the winner of today’s game between Crown Point and FW Homestead.

Elsewhere around the diamond, the area’s top teams in 3A have fallen during regionals and the title game is set with Crawfordsville and Mishawaka Marian. Crawfordsville is one of the hottest teams around, having taken out the likes of Brebeuf and Greensburg to reach the title game. In Class 2A, the northern half of the bracket is complete and FW Luers will be playing for the title. The southern half of the semistate bracket plays today at Mooresville with Elwood taking on Austin and South Ripley playing Eastern Greene.

Finally, in Class 1A, Bethesda Christian hopes to continue its unexpected run today as it is scheduled to face Shakamak in one semistate semifinal. Should Bethesda win, it will play the winner between Tecumseh and Jac-Cen-Del at 8:00 this evening at Perry Meridian.

GOLF
Starting tomorrow (Tuesday) at The Legends in Franklin, the boys golf state finals will get underway and two local teams have set themselves apart from the others. Avon, ranked No. 1 in the final poll, is probably considered the favorite after consistently posting low scores with serious depth on the roster. The Orioles beat Cathedral, the other frontrunner, at last Thursday’s regional by 10 strokes and have yet to lose one dual meet or invitational this season.

Senior Ronnie Harris posted a 67 at sectionals and 77 at regionals, while freshman Patrick Rodgers (my boy) won the individual regional title with a 69 at Hickory Stick. Center Grove claimed the final team spot out of that regional, finishing third by edging Brebreuf by one shot. Advancing individually were Perry Meridian’s Aaron Monson, Zionsville’s Graham Singer, Roncalli’s David Holmes and Greenwood’s Corbin Mitchell.

In other regional action, Lebanon was sent up north and came away with a berth in the state finals after Andrew Frandsen led the way with a 75. And at the Muncie Central Regional, Hamilton SE won the team crown and advanced along with second-place Noblesville. Carmel suffered a tough one as a tiebreaker put them one spot out of qualification.

GIRLS TENNIS
One week after Park Tudor claimed the team state championship, individual titles were on the line this past weekend. In a central Indiana showdown for the doubles crown, North Central’s senior pair of Maggie Ashby and Alena Perez-Majul came back to defeat Park Tudor seniors Heather Rogers and Elizabeth Emhardt by the score of 1-6, 6-2, 6-4. Ashby and Perez-Majul completed a perfect season (23-0) and became the sixth doubles team in school history to claim the top spot.

In singles action, Carmel freshman Courtney Wild made an impressive run to the championship match before falling to Columbus North sophomore Caroline Hedrick (3-6, 6-4, 6-1). With the win, Hedrick posted a 25-0 record this season. In the consolation match, Avon junior Christina Riley fell to Munster junior Mary Hill to finish fourth overall.

THIS WEEK
The softball state championships, after being postponed on Saturday due to the weather, will be settled this evening at 7:00 at various locations around the area. Click here to view the schedule.

As mentioned, the boys golf state championships are set to be played Tuesday and Wednesday at The Legends in Franklin.

Friday, the Indiana-Kentucky All-Star Games will be played at Conseco Fieldhouse starting at 6:00 p.m. and will feature several local hoops stars. Tickets are available through Ticketmaster.

Finally, the baseball state championships are scheduled to be claimed this Friday and Saturday at Victory Field. Teams are still to be determined, so check back on our homepage tomorrow for the full list of games.

Here we are, winding down another sports season.

Girls tennis is complete, and we recapped Park Tudor's historic run for a fourth consecutive team title.

Softball state semifinals get underway Friday, with three local teams vying for a shot a state titles on Saturday (Franklin Central, New Palestine and Lutheran). Find out how they made it to this point here.

Boys and girls track teams ended their seasons last weekend down on the campus of Indiana University in Bloomington. Many titles were won by local teams and student-athletes, so check out the boys results here and the girls here.

Friday, the Hoosiers Reunion All-Star Game will take place at the historic gym in Knightstown.

Needless to say, the recent storms have been reeking havoc on high school sports state tournaments. Last night's baseball regionals were postponed and we'll have to see how well the area golf courses dry out before Thursday's regional action.

Yet it's important to note how little some canceled events matter in the grand scheme of things. Many people have had their lives affected by the recent severe weather, and here at HSSTM we'd like to let them know our thoughts are with them.

Well, folks, here we are, just a few days/weeks (depending on your school locale) from the end of the academic and athletic year.

 There is always a gradual feeling of finality to late May and early June here in Central Indiana. High school seniors are moving on, spring sports state tournaments are winding down and even our favorite television programs are signing off until September.

Summer break is bearing down on us like a freight train. But there's no "real break" as well all know. Parents, coaches and administrators will keep working, preparing for the fall. Student-athletes will be busy busting their tails to get ready for the coming sports seasons.

Here at HSSTM, we're no different. In fact, we're busy working on some really cool stuff for our magazine and Web site that I just can't talk about right now (Yes, that's a tease.) But keep checking back online here, as well as in the magazine - as we have huge things planned for June, July, August and September. (All this hype will be worth it, trust me).

On with the news...

• Heritage Christian athletic director Jeff Hester will be taking over the same position at Columbus North. Though Columbus is slightly out of our coverage area, we wish Jeff the best and hope to keep in touch with him - perhaps we'll expand our coverage areas in the future and Columbus North and Columbus East will fall under that umbrella (ella, ella, ella).

Softball Sectionals

• Strong performance from Center Grove junior pitcher Emily Gwaltney in the Class 4A No. 1Trojans 2-1 victory against Whiteland at the Franklin Central softball sectional last night. Gwaltney (featured on the cover story from our April 2008 issue) struck out eight and went 2-for-4 at the plate in guiding Center Grove to an opening round win.

• Class 4A No. 5 Avon dominated Tech 18-0 in five innings at Decatur Central behind winning pitcher Jenny Esparza's two-run triple.

• Decatur Central topped Pike, 5-1, behind Farrah Mitchell's nine-strikeouts. Micah Docherty knocked in three runs to help the Hawks. Avon and Decatur Central will meet for the title on Saturday.

• Beech Grove got a strong performance from Beth Lewis, who hit a three-run homer and struck out eight on the mound, in a 14-3 victory against Northwest in five innings.

• Ty Bremer pitched a no-hitter, complete with 12 strikeouts, to lead Class 2A No. 1 Scecina to a 18-0 victory against Park Tudor.

• Another no hitter in Class 2A came from Indian Creek, in combined effort from Lindsey Richards and reliever Shino Kato in a five inning, 13-0 victory against Triton Central.

• Class A No. 2 Lutheran topped Morristown 12-0 courtesy of Morgan Lewis' two home runs.

Baseball

• In Brownsburg's 10-0, five-inning victory against Fishers yesterday, senior Mark Conover threw a no-hitter. Conover struck out seven and walked just three in this impressive performance. You may remember Mark's fascinating story in our April 2007 inaugural issue, which you can read again here.

Yeah, guess I’ve been off the old blog for a while now. It’s Friday, and as they say, I’m due.

Needless to say, HSSTM, both locally and nationally, has been quite busy this spring. We had an e-mailer yesterday notice that we are a bit behind on some of our Web content, like the rankings. This gentleman was quite friendly about the whole thing, expressing sympathy for trying to maintain every little piece while focusing on the magazine itself (with a staff of five). Most of the time this would fall into the “angry e-mailer” category, so I’d just like to thank this man for not going that direction. I digress.

Folks, all I can really say is sit tight, we’re working on some big (and very cool) changes. We take pride in trying to provide some timely key information on the Web, so it irks us, too, that there are currently a couple ‘bugs’ that have resulted in, mainly, rankings that are three weeks old. Please keep visiting, as our Showcase stories and blogs will keep rolling along. Pretty soon you’ll understand why I’m saying all of this.

Now on to your regularly scheduled blogging.

BOYS TRACK SECTIONALS

At the risk of not repeating too much information that you can find elsewhere, I’d like to mention a few things from the boys track sectionals last night. There were dozens and dozens of notable performances throughout Central Indiana, but there two specific groups of teammates that have the chance to do something really special this spring.

Those two groups would be the Ben Davis sprinters and the Lawrence North field event fellas. It appears as though Giants sprinters Matthew Terrell, Lavarus Williams, Rapheal Williams, Anthony Kimmons, Brandon Newbern, Colin Hester and Robert Rose all have a shot at competing in the state meet – Terrell and the two Williams’ for sure (knock on wood, of course). That’s a ridiculous group simply in numbers, and 95 percent of coaches around the state would love to have just one of them. See all of their times and finishes here.

Then last night at the North Central Sectional, the LN field athletes were just as impressive as the BD sprinters. Tra Wilson, Jordan Conley (Mike's brother) and Tarus Blackburn finished 1-2-3 in the long jump and all were separated by about nine inches total. Couple the long jumpers with the 1-2 finish in the shot put by Brandon Pounds and Ryan Smith, and you’ve got yourself quite a cast. Pounds has the longest throw in the state this season, while Wilson matched his win in the long jump with sprinting wins in the 100, 200 and 400 relay. Eesh.

BASEBALL SECTIONAL DRAW

We’ve put up a rundown of every local baseball sectional on the homepage, but I thought I’d just make a few comments about the interesting match-ups.

This discussion has to start in 4A Sectional 8, where No. 3 Carmel (19-4) has drawn Noblesville (18-6) in each team’s sectional opener, which will be a semifinal in that bracket. Carmel has to be considered one of the teams with the most depth, top to bottom, while the Millers are quite an interesting story themselves. After a surprise run to semistate last year, Noblesville returned a large handful of starters and it was the coaches’ choice for the preseason No. 1 team in 4A. Then the Millers started the season 6-5 and quickly dropped from the rankings, but have since gone 12-1 and have to be considered a frontrunner with experience. Without a doubt, one really good team will have its season cut short after this one.

Elsewhere, 4A Sectional 12 at Avon has some interesting potential if the bracket stays chalk. In the opening game, No. 5 Brownsburg (18-3) takes on rival Avon (17-7) in what will be an intense chess match. The Bulldogs have beaten their Hendricks County foe three times this season, but can they make it four? If so Pike will be waiting in the semis with a possible championship game looming against one of the bigger surprises of the season, No. 9 Decatur Central (17-6). The Hawks have a first round game scheduled against Ben Davis and would face the winner of Manual vs. Tech in the semis before a showdown with Brownsburg could happen.

In 3A, Sectional 26 at Brebeuf could have a semifinal game for the books. Host and No. 5 Brebeuf (17-4) plays Beech Grove in the opener while No. 2 Chatard (21-3) takes on Howe. If both teams win, they would square off in the semis…keep an eye on that one.

Lastly, in 2A, Sectional 43 at Park Tudor looks to be highly competitive. Don’t sleep on Triton Central, who is just outside the top-10 in the rankings and won this sectional last year. They have drawn Washington in their opener and would possibly have to face solid teams such as Heritage Christian and Park Tudor in later rounds. 

Before we delve into the high school sports news from around the area, I thought I would pass along a little advice to all those between the ages of 18-25.

When you drive down the street, be it in a souped-up car or a pickup truck or a squeaky clean SUV, you've probably passed a minivan or two in your time behind the wheel. And more than likely, many of you have thought, "I will never own a minivan, it just won't happen. I'll put my kids in three cars before I buy one of those."

Everyone thinks this and truly believes it. Well, I've got news for ya: you will buy a minivan. Oh yes, you will.

And here's why: because invariably, everyone buys a minivan at some point in life. My wife and I, who are expecting a third child next month, always said we would never drive a minivan. I had a sweet truck with a 6-inch bodylift, chrome wheels, dual exhausts, leather seats, I'm telling you, the works.

But life started, the bills and babies came and before you know it, I found myself eyeballing a Chrysler Town & Country and thinking, "That one looks really good, it has the safety latches to strap the kids in and low mileage."

You don't believe me now...but it will happen to you too. Trust me.

On with the high school sports news from around Central Indiana:

• Got a nice note from New Palestine softball coach Ed Marcum yesterday, talking all about junior pitcher Sara Evans (pictured right) unbelievable performance on the mound last Friday. Evans, in the Dragons 10-0, 5-inning win over Connersville, struck out all 15 hitters she faced for a truly perfect game. "It was something I had not seen before and it was very exciting," Marcum said.

• Triton Central has revived the annual Tiger Scramble, a golf event to raise funds to help student-athletes achieve their very best. The school is hoping to raise enough money to provide scholarships for skill development camps and other opportunities for athletes who may not be able to go on their own. The scramble is on Sunday, June 8 at 2 p.m. at The Links Golf Course in New Palestine. Contact Tigers athletic director Bobby Thompson at (317) 835-3000 or bthompson@nwshelby.k12.in.us.

• Congrats to Cathedral, the 2008 City Tournament champions. Tyler Koors pitched a three-hitter for the Class 4A No. 4 Irish in a 11-1 five inning victory over Class 3A No. 2 Chatard.

• We've been tracking boys volleyball, a growing club sport here in Central Indiana, and have a nice look at the season so far and the upcoming state tournament here.

• Noticed that Ellie McCardwell of Pendleton Heights shattered the girls pole vault record at sectionals the other day. The original mark was 10 feet, 10 inches, but McCardwell cleared 12-2 in the finals. HSSTM will keep tracking her progress to state and so should you.
  

• The 2008 baseball pairings were announced this morning, beginning at 8 a.m. We'll have a breakdown of all the local teams in action in a showcase story on hsstm.com tomorrow or Monday at the latest. For a look at the softball pairings, which begin Monday, click here.

What is it parents always say, that patience is a virtue? As many can attest to, sometimes it's easier said than done.

But Beech Grove basketball player John Hart heeded his father's advice and remained patient while trying to determine his future plans.

Just a month ago, Hart was considering junior colleges. Today, he's committed to attending and playing hoops at Purdue and Boilers head coach Matt Painter, who loved Hart's athleticism.

The Marion County Player of the Year, who averaged 18.7 points and 4.7 rebounds for the Hornets, led Beech Grove to it's first sectional title in 16 years.

Congratulations to John and his family, for waiting for the right opportunity - Hart should be a good fit for the Boilermakers.

Other news and notes:

• After a bit of controversy, the Hamilton County boys track meet officially has a winner. Carmel protested the final score, which saw Noblesville win the meet 139-138, because Dan Porter's fourth-place finish in the 1,600 was not scored. After officials reviewed the score, they found Porter's four points were not counted and awarded the meet to Carmel, 142-139.

• If you've been outside of your home (or even just looked out the window) you're well aware it's been quite, uh, wet outside these past few days. It's certainly affected Central Indiana high school sports, including boys and girls track, boys golf, girls tennis, baseball and softball. Here's a look at some of the changes to the schedule:

• The Marion County boys track meet has been rescheduled for tonight at North Central, beginning at 5 p.m.

• The Marion County baseball tournament - as well as the City tourney - were to play at Victory Field this week, but with the weather and the Indianapolis Indians beginning a long stretch of home games, those have been moved to other locations.

• Class 3A No. 2 Chatard (20-2) plays 4A No. 6 Cathedral (16-3) at 5 p.m. on Monday for the City title at Butler, while Southport (9-9) faces Decatur Central (14-4) at 6 p.m. Monday at Franklin Central for the County title.

• The girls tennis City tournament will still take place tonight at Riverside Park, with preliminary round action beginning at 4 p.m. The quarterfinals and semifinals are scheduled for a 9.m. start Saturday at the Indianapolis Tennis Center, while the championships begin at 4 p.m. Monday at the Tennis Center.

• However, the Marion County girls tennis tournament was postponed due to rain for the second straight day. County matches will begin tonight at 4:30 p.m. and continue Saturday at 10 a.m. All matches are at Park Tudor High School.

Finally, be sure to tune in to 1260 AM today around 4:30 p.m., where I will be a guest on "The Drive with JMV." I'll talk high school sports and more with John Michael Vincent. You can listen live at http://wnde.com.

Enjoy the weekend - and I must wish a Happy Mother's Day out there to all moms, including my beautiful wife and my own mom. Enjoy your special day, I'll try to change all the diapers I can, whilst preparing a feast of epic proportions.

Not to go all Michael Jordan, circa 1995 or anything, but let me just state, "I'm back."

After a week in beautiful Orlando (where the the temperature never dropped below 85 and it rained for five minutes one day), I'm back in the office.

My wife (who's 32 weeks pregnant with our third and had to ride a scooter all week) and two kids had an amazing time with Mickey, Pluto, Goofy and of course, a Moore household favorite, Nemo. For proof, see the picture at left.

I even snuck our 6-year old son, Cole, on a water slide at Blizzard Beach and the kid went on the Tower of Terror and Splash Mountain (twice).

It's always invigorating to see your children in a mode of such pure joy. And I was quite the kid myself.

It's amazing how you can get lost in the Wonderful World of Disney. For one week, I couldn't access e-mail and had no idea what was the latest and greatest from the world of Central Indiana high school sports.

I went through a period of withdraw, but it's been nice to catch up today on all that's going on. (It was neat to hear there was a no-hitter from Fishers baseball and apparently four local teams will be the first to play on the field of the new Lucas Oil Stadium in late August.)

Anyway, I'm back. And I've brought a couple of aspirin for Dave McConnell, who so eloquently held the fort down in my absence. The M&M boys are at full strength, be on the look out.

When I entered the HSSTM office today for the last time, Brian and Dave started singing the old Chicago tune:

If you leave me now, you'll take away the biggest part of me
No baby please don't go
If you leave me now, you'll take away the very heart of me
No baby please don't go

That actually didn't happen, but it would have been the highlight of my internship to hear those two belt out notes as high as Peter Gabriel.

As it is, though, today is my last day at my home away from home away from home (the Butler newspaper is my home away from home, but this place gave it a run for its money).

When I stepped into the office for my first day of work nearly four months ago, I was that stereotypical, glossy-eyed, "Boy oh boy, boss, what can I do for ya??" intern nerd. I had just finished a different internship from the previous semester, so I was still on a "professional environment" adrenaline rush. HSSTM Central Indiana was fresh and new, both for me and somewhat for the people who worked here. Things looked great, and the magazine wasn't even a year old yet.

And you know, thing look even better now. I mean, I have my own desk now. For the first part of this internship, I was the hobo of the office, traveling from desk to desk, computer to computer. "But they took my stapler and never brought it back and then they moved my desk to storage room B and there was garbage on it..." (That's a movie reference, Dave.)

This magazine is on the upswing and is on track to be something huge. And I wish there was some way I could explain just how much I learned at this place. Here's a quick range of the numerous things I was able to gather:

• Waldron's girls cross country and track and field teams flourished in 1998, winning two sectionals
• Dave's middle name is William. (David William McConnell? That sounds like English royalty right there.)
• In the 1995 FIFA Women's World Cup, Norway dominated Germany in the championship game, as Norway had done to every other opponent prior to that.
• Northwest's mascot is the Space Pioneers.
• Brian grows a mean five o'clock shadow.
• Franklin's Brad Hook can absolutely CRANK out the long ball. (That sweet swing gives me chills.)
• Pike's basketball team was ranked second in the country in 2003, one spot behind LeBron James and his St. Mary-St. Vincent team.

I could go on and on about the wide array of facts I've come across, each unique and fun to know in its own way.

It's this kind of stuff that makes this magazine so great. It's the stories that tell the unique perspectives and interesting facts about a person or team in the area. It's the photos that capture the emotion and physicality of any high school sport. This magazine encapsulates the good in the high school athletes, coaches and staff, and this magazine shows how a strong commitment and unwavering persistence pay off in the end, both in sports and in real life.

I'd like to thank Phil and Jennifer Temple for giving me the opportunity to work here.

I'd like to commend Grant Glas for the hard work he's done graphically for the magazine.

Finally, I'd like to commend and thank Dave McConnell and Brian Moore for everything they've taught me and for allowing me to do so much with the magazine.

It has truly been a fun time here, a place where a mascot really fits in nicely. To all those who actually read this blog, a big thanks to you as well. This is Bobabooey, Bob from Accounting, Bab, the person with the best March Madness bracket in the office, signing off.

There's so much going on here in Central Indiana high school sports, it feels like the earth is moving sometimes.

Obviously, that was a terrible joke - considering the earth really did move last Friday, with a 5.4 quake that shook the area (and has continued to in the 18 aftershocks since). Thankfully, no one was injured and no considerable damage was done.

There are, however, some who are doing considerable sports damage on the local high school sports scene - some movers and shakers, if you will - like Jordan Shepherd of Carmel.

• Shepherd, who led the Greyhounds baseball team in hits a season ago, is back at it again in 2008. The senior has 15 hits in 26 at-bats for a .576 average at the plate, which includes four doubles, a triple, a home-run and 12 RBI. Shepherd, the Hounds third baseman, leads Class 4A No. 1-ranked Carmel (8-0) against Richmond and Lawrence Central this week.

• Sticking with baseball, A.J. Zapp's first-year as head baseball coach at Franklin has anything but boring. The Grizzly Cubs started out 0-3, but reeled off six straight wins before Greenwood defeated the Cubs 7-5 in the second game of a double-header Saturday.  Franklin (6-3) squares off against a tough Mt. Vernon squad today. (Franklin's Brad Hook - pictured right - may have a prominent role in our May issue).
  

• The second-annual Flashes' Showcase track meet produced plenty of drama Friday night. The event features four showcase track events, two-mile races, the boys 1,600 meter relay and the girls 3,200 meter relay and included formal introductions of the runners.

            Noblesville junior Blake Dircksen was one of five runners to run the mile in under             4 minutes and 20 seconds. Dircksen placed fifth with a time of 4:19.7.

            Westfield freshman phenom Waverly Neer placed third in the girls track mile run             to Culver's all-everything Alex Banfich, who's won six state cross country and track             titles during her prep career and is headed to Princeton in the fall. Neer clocked in             at 5:07.2. Neer led the race until the final lap, when Banfich passed her and began             to pull away.

• Carmel boys basketball point guard Daniel Moore has turned down a scholarship  offer from Boston University in order to walk on at Indiana University. The 5-foot-10 Moore has always dreamed of playing for the Hoosiers and will be a part of the rebuilding process for Tom Crean.

• Speaking of Carmel, junior Morgan Newton, who guided the Greyhounds football team to the Class 5A title last fall, has become one of the most sought after players in the 2009 class. Newton has spoken with Tennessee, South Carolina, Florida, Clemson, N.C. State, Virginia and Kentucky.

Newton has already received scholarship offers from Indiana, Purdue, Illinois, Kentucky, Iowa, Minnesota, Penn State, Clemson, Louisville, South Carolina, Virginia, Louisville, Nebraska and Cincinnati.

Last season Newton completed 124-of-213 passes for 1,883 with 25 touchdowns and seven interceptions, including 750 rushing yards and 11 touchdowns.

Be sure to check out HSSTM.com today for a Weekend Recap, the Weekly W2W4 and more!

This past Tuesday, the 15^th, myself and cohort Brian Moore were fortunate and honored to attend the 2008 Thomas A. Brady Sports Achievement Awards at the Indiana Roof Ballroom – presented by the Methodist Sports Medicine Research and Education Foundation and the IHSAA.

It might not seem like that big of deal, especially for folks not in attendance, but part of the nice aspect about not growing up in this area kind of allows me to see things from an “outsider’s perspective”. This can be a great thing and a not-so-great thing, depending on the situation of course. It also applies to my job every day here at the magazine.

As we sat down to dinner, I took a look at the program to see what was on tap. We knew some people that were going to be honored before arrival, but as I looked around the room, it was sort of a who’s-who of Indiana sports figures – both past and present.

It started with a live auction, with none other than the outspoken and truly entertaining Ron Hunter on the microphone. The men’s basketball coach at IUPUI, Hunter, who does a wide variety of community service efforts himself, was a perfect choice to bat leadoff for the show. With his charming personality, he helped raise tens of thousands of dollars with the auction and even agreed to caddy for a group who successfully bid on a golf package at Crooked Stick.

After the auction, the list of honorees included one of Indiana’s finest athletic role models in George McGinnis and a truly legendary coach, Jerry Yeagley. That duo each was presented with Lifetime Achievement Awards.

This is where that whole “outsider’s perspective” comes into play. Had I heard of George McGinnis? Did I know a little bit about him? Sure, on both accounts. But to hear him speak, to see the attention and respect he had from the crowd, told me a little bit more about how people here in the Hoosier State still admire his accomplishments.

The likeliness of McGinnis’ story recurring these days is slim to none. A true high school hoops legend, wins the state title with the Washington Continentals, takes home the Mr. Basketball honor, goes to play at the biggest in-state power at IU, and then continues his professional career in the same place with the Pacers of the ABA and NBA. Geez, just think about that. The only thing that could even come close, and I don’t think it’s that close, is if Eric Gordon is about to be drafted by the Pacers and goes on to have an incredibly successful NBA career here locally.

And that brings us to Jerry Yeagley, the soccer coach who took IU’s program from insignificance on the club level to a national powerhouse. Yeagley was a true gentleman accepting his award, talking about playing for the pride of the front of the jersey. After his experiences, leading IU to six national championships and several National Coach of the Year honors personally, that seems like a perfect message for Yeagley to send. Even before the huge high school soccer explosion in the ‘90s, there was Yeagley and his program at IU that set the bar so high.

I was familiar with Yeagley, and that started when I was as student at Butler. I had a group of five very close friends that played soccer for the Butler program – including local North Central product Cory Edgington – and every year when IU was next on the schedule, it was almost like the next coming of something higher up. The way my buddies spoke of IU and Yeagley in particular, buddies that truly understood college soccer, made me quickly realize what he meant to the game.

Most people in the crowd probably didn’t even flinch when they saw other prominent faces in attendance, including Dallas Clark, IU athletic director Rick Greenspan, Clark Kellogg, former Pacer Scot Pollard and many others. For me, not that I get star struck by any means, it was just cool to see that events like this can bring together figures from all different areas within sports – and all local flavor. Hoosiers should be proud.

OTHER NEWS AND NOTES:

• One of HSSTM's December covergirls, Hamtilon SE diver Sarah Clay, has signed a letter of intent to join Michigan State University's swim and dive program next year.
• I have a correction from the magazine I would like to share. On page 11 of the current April issue, we have a photo and caption of Arsenal Tech girls tennis player Kelly Fritz. This spring, however, Kelly has decided to forego her high school tennis season and has joined the high school crew team with the Indianapolis Rowing Center. Best of luck to Miss Fritz, and apologies for any confusion.
• I also have some tragic and extremely difficult news to share, for those outside Boone County who may not have heard. Natalie Duke, a sophomore at Western Boone and the September issue Shelbourne Clinic Comeback Athlete of the Month, was killed in a car accident early this week. HSSTM sends our sincere condolences to the Duke family, and you can read the news story from The Boone Sun by clicking here. May this be a lesson and reminder to our young drivers, in part so that Natalie's memory will live on.

Let me do my best impression of a wrestling ring announcer here.

(Clearing throat)...

The winner - and neeeeeeeewwwwwwwww - champion of the inaugural Mudsock Trophy is...Hamilton Southeastern.

The Royals defeated school district partner and Hamilton County rival Fishers for the traveling trophy on Tueday, when the HSE baseball team came back from an eight run deficit in the fourth inning to top Fishers, 14-11.

The Mudsock Trophy, a foot-tall muddy bronze sock, is in homage to the somewhat derisive term for towns that sat in bogs. "It all had to do with any time we'd get a lot of ran, your socks would get covered in mud because the ground would get soaked," Larry Reynolds told HSSTM writer Tom Hayes last fall.

Reynolds, who later created a hound dog cartoon character he coined "Mudsocks," gave his blessing on the creation of the trophy.

Hamilton Southeastern athletic director Jim Self said last fall that this was meant to be more about the community than it is about the kids. "We want this to be a positive rivalry," Self said.

The reason for gearing the Mudsocks trophy around the community was simple. When Fishers opened three years ago, the students of HSE were split, so most of the students at the schools have grown up together, playing sports together and attending class together.

It was only natural that a rivalry would be born.

"These are kids and families who have grown up together and have played in the same youth leagues," said Self. "This is a tremendous positive for this community."

Fishers athletic director Jon Miles agreed. "It's not very often that a community gets split up into two schools," he said, pointing to the rivalry that emerged between Lawrence North and Lawrence Central over 30 years ago when the Lawrence township school split in two.

The idea, brought to Miles by legendary Fishers residents Dub and Jeanne Clark, was to do something along the line of the Old Oaken bucket, shared by Purdue University and Indiana University each year in football, but to do it in all sports at the high school level.

Individual trophies are awarded to the winner the first time the schools square off in each of the 19 sports played.

The Mudsock's first year was a good one. HSE won 10 of the 19 events - it all came down to the aforementioned baseball game on Tuesday. Ironically, Fishers would defeat HSE on Wednesday night, the final game of a home and home series this year.

"We are doing this to help bring the community together and to give the community a sense of pride that two schools can compete hard against each other, but at the end of the day, we can root for each other and be happy with each other's successes," said Self.

In year one, it was mission accomplished.

We’ve been talking about spring and keeping our eye on spring sports for a few weeks now, but it just hasn’t felt right.

Finally, it feels like spring.

Amazing what the sun can do. Even though it’s still a little crisp outside, that big yellow thing just makes a huge difference. You know what else makes a difference? Spring sports are starting to get in the swing of things.

• Don’t know if you saw it (or voted on it), but I thought the poll question on our homepage last week was pretty interesting. Especially the results. The question was: Which team do you think is most likely to repeat as state champs this spring? In what I thought was a shocker, Scecina softball took 34.4 percent of the votes to lead the way – even after losing one of the best players in the state, Emily Wethington. Second place, which I thought would have easily been first, was Park Tudor girls tennis with 30 percent. After that it was a big drop off: Hamilton SE softball (11%), Warren girls track (10%), Cathedral baseball (7.8%) and Warren boys track (6.7%). Anyone care to share their thoughts on that? It’s a decent debate this time of year, early in the season.
• We put up a little story on the Class 3A No. 2 New Pal softball squad on the homepage yesterday, so if you care to read, here it is. The Dragons, led by the Marcum sisters and senior Jessica Huey, have quite a week ahead. Games include a Thursday date with heated rival Mt. Vernon, followed by hosting Class A No. 1 Lutheran on Friday and 4A No. 1 Pendleton Heights on Monday. I guess New Pal will find out how good it is. I love when good teams schedule big games during the regular season, especially when it’s out of conference and voluntary. New Pal also just added 2A No. 1 Scecina to its schedule for May 2.
  
• A few more news-y things to pass along, if you haven’t heard. Beech Grove boys basketball coach Randy Males, fresh off a thrilling sectional title on the Hornets’ home floor, has resigned from the sidelines. Males coached 11 seasons for the Hornets and will continue teaching at the school. Also, Greg Schellhase has left as athletic director at Guerin and will take the same position at Zionsville.
• Just some players that have gotten off to great starts, in other words, players you might want to go see this spring: Heritage Christian lacrosse All-American David James; Franklin Central softball pitcher Chanda Bell; Avon softball pitcher Jenny Esparza; Cathedral golfer Corey Ziedonis; Mt. Vernon baseball pitcher/hitter Tyler Calder; Ben Davis boys track sprinters (Matthew Terrell, etc.); Lawrence North boys track jumper Tra Wilson and thrower Brandon Pounds…and many, many more.
• Time to get outside this week…lots of great games going on. In baseball, the Carmel vs. North Central rivalry is renewed in a Thursday-Friday home-and-home. The Greyhounds are currently No. 1 in 4A while the Panthers cracked the rankings at No. 10 this week. Also on the diamond, 4A No. 2 Brownsburg travels to Noblesville tomorrow (Wednesday), just after the preseason No.1  Millers dropped out of the top 10. In track, Decatur Central hosts the Hawk Invite this Friday, featuring Decatur discus stud Bob Belden. Belden recently broke two-time defending state champ Josh Greenwald’s school record. Congrats kid!

You say the title to this blog too many times early on a Monday and you'll start to sound like Porky Pig. (At least, I felt like I was hearing the Looney Tunes staple in my head.)

It's always a good idea to look back on the weekend that was in and around high school sports. And aside from Spring Breakers coming back to frigid temps, there were a few headline makers over the weekend...

• North Central boys basketball coach Dough Mitchell coached the USA basketball team at the 11th Nike Hoop Summit in Portland, Ore. over the weekend. The U.S. team featured many of the top senior high school players in the country. USA won 98-78 over the World Select Team.

• Sticking with hoops for a moment, one of Central Indiana's own is coming home. Robert Glenn, a 6-foot-7 forward and 2006 Ben Davis graduate, made an oral commitment over the weekend to play basketball at IUPUI. Glenn played the last two seasons at Wabash Valley College and received Division-I All-America honorable mention at the junior college level, leading WVC with 19.3 points and 6.2 rebounds per game.

• The Indiana School for the Deaf boys basketball team received the distinguished honor of National Deaf Interscholastic Athletics Council Co-Team of the Year, and award the school will share with Alabama Deaf.

• Swimming season may be over, but that's not stopping Hamilton Southeastern senior Lindsay Rogers from pursuing a dream. Rogers won the Ohio State Grand Prix in the 100-yard backstroke with a time of 1 minute, 10.23 seconds. That time puts Rogers among the world 50 fastest swimmers for the 100. The grand prix series, organized by USA Swimming in order to prepare for the Olympic Trials, is a step for Rogers towards her dream of competing in the Beijing, China Olympics this summer. Rogers had already qualified for the trials, to be held June 29 in Omaha, Neb., and is now just 2.5 seconds below the qualifying time. She is ranked 19th in the United States.

That's all, folks. For more information, be sure to check out HSSTM.com this week for news and updates.

The team here at HSSTM has been efficiently cramming this week, putting together the May issue on the heels of spring break. That might not sound like a big deal, but with the way Central Indiana migrates for spring break these days, it put us a little bit behind.

Basically what I'm trying to say is that we're very thankful for Mother Nature this week, because without her kindness, we wouldn't have had any photos for the next issue. And that would be a bad thing.

• Let's start with Billy Packer, that's always fun. It's been a while since I've blogged so I know I'm a little late on the NCAA title game comments, but Packer's color analysis tends to stick around for a while. My favorite Packer-ism of the Monday night Kansas win? Not even two minutes into the game, two minutes, CBS flashes the graphic showing how close the two team's statistics are for the season...points per game, field goal percentage, points allowed, etc...and here's what Packer says, roughly speaking: "We're on pace for a game in the low 80s." Really? It was 4-1 at that point. 4-1. Let's use your head, Billy.
• Next Tuesday, the 15th, myself and colleague Brian Moore have been fortunate to be invited to the third annual Thomas A. Brady Sports Achievement Awards, hosted by my bud Anthony Calhoun from WISH-TV. It's a night full of big names from around the state, which you can read more about by clicking here, but the night is really about celebrating some of the finest true student-athletes we have here in Indiana.
• This will be posted on our hompage at some point today, but thought I would give you guys the link to a YouTube video of Franklin baseball standout Brad Hook at the 2008 Power Showcase Home Run Derbyheld in Florida. Hook will be featured in our upcoming May issue. Stay tuned.
• Had a chat over the phone last evening with Lutheran softball coach Don Peitz, who's really one of the good guys as far as coaches go. Great guy to just have a conversation with. Anyway, Peitz is about as happy as a pig in mud these days as the young talent just keeps rolling in for the Class A No. 1 Saints. Now-sophomores Brandi Lawson, Morgan Lewis, Amanda Korb and Molly Birk played a huge roll in last year's state title, and this season there's even more freshmen making an impact. Pitcher Erin Moeller got the win last Saturday over Triton Central, for starters. And yet another freshman expected of big things is Chaunsey Bell, younger sister of Franklin Central star pitcher Chanda Bell. Look for the Saints to keep rolling through Class A again this season.

With Kansas' 75-68 victory over Memphis in the NCAA men's basketball tournament championship last night, basketball season has officially ended (except for the three-month long NBA playoffs, which are just getting underway).

For many, when the screen goes blank at the end of CBS' "One Shining Moment," our sports world gets a little gloomy. Sure, there's baseball, the NFL Draft, the Masters (which, I've heard, is a tradition unlike any other) and the like, but those three weeks of madness always leave a void.

They build us up to break us down.

It's quite the abrupt conclusion - much like the collegiate career of North Central grad and now former Indiana University guard Eric Gordon, who yesterday declared for the 2008 NBA Draft.

The Big Ten scoring leader this past season, Gordon will join recent Indiana talents such as Greg Oden, Mike Conley and Josh McRoberts in "The League." Currently, Gordon is projected as a Top 10 pick in June's draft.

"I am doing this to compete at the highest level, not for fame," Gordon said at his press conference yesterday, held at the Jewish Community Center in Indianapolis. "I'm just glad to go on to the next level."

Here at HSSTM, we wish our inaugural cover subject all the best for a very bright future.

Speaking of former graduates or athletes we've previously covered here at HSSTM, let's catch up on some local athletes "In The News":

• Levon Bates, Jr., who was featured in our September 2007 issue for racing, was recently chosen by NASCAR's 'Drive For Diversity" program. Bates will be a part of the first partnership between the World Karting Association and the Drive for Diversity program.

• 2007 Miss Softball and Hamilton Southeastern graduate Morgan Melloh is one of the top pitchers in college softball. Melloh, a freshman at Fresno State, had a 23-3 record with a 0.98 ERA and 12 shutouts through last Friday. Fresno State had a 34-5 record and was ranked No.10 in the nation through that same date.
  

• The other HSSTM June 2007 cover subject, Drew Storen of Brownsburg, was 1-1 with two saves and a 3.18 ERA for 13th-ranked Stanford through the end of last week.

I was debating whether I should start this blog out with a connection between Chelsea Clinton’s recent trip to Butler, which I partially attended, and something relating to high school sports, but I realized that there aren’t many common denominators between the two. A comparison of Chelsea’s reaction to the Monica Lewinsky question with, say, the Brownsburg’s state-winning boys basketball team just doesn’t make a lick of sense. Plus, CNN and other media are beating (and overdramatizing) the story to death.

So instead, since I’m an avid baseball nutcase, I figured I would focus on that wonderful sport that had the entire world shouting “Konnichiwa!” as the Boston Red Sox and Oakland Athletics faced off in Japan yesterday.

I was able to catch the eighth and ninth innings yesterday morning, nearly wetting myself out of sheer excitement, and I got to wondering this somewhat arbitrary question: How many former Central Indiana high school ballplayers are floating around Major League Baseball?

Well, the answer was many more than I thought. Carmel and Brownsburg are known for producing high caliber players, and many have bounced back and forth between the minors. But here’s a look at two players, one from the American League and one from the National League, who are young and give hope to the current high school players who want to take a shot at the Majors.

Also, feel free to leave some comments on other Central Indiana high school baseball players, past or present, who epitomize America’s pastime.

Adam Lind, left fielder, Toronto Blue Jays

Lind graduated from Anderson Highland in 2002 as Indiana’s Mr. Baseball, and upon graduation, he was drafted by the Minnesota Twins in the eighth round. He took the more prudent (and more intelligent) route by attending South Alabama (the same South Alabama that got trumped by 20 against Butler this past Friday…I had to toss that out there) instead of signing right out of high school.

He was later drafted by the Toronto Blue Jays in the fourth round after two years at USA. The former Highlander was ranked as the fifth best prospect within the Jays’ farm system, and he’s already played in the Majors for two years. Last year, he sported an unsightly .238 average, but he still managed 11 home runs and 46 RBI in 89 games.

I must also mention that Lind is still only 24 years old. He’s only six years removed from Anderson Highland, and he’s already making major league strides. He’s starting the year at Triple-A, but he most certainly should get the call back up. If you’re a Central Indiana fan, keep an eye out for him.

Jake Fox, right fielder, Chicago Cubs

The Beech Grove native graduated from Cathedral back in 2000 and later played for the University of Michigan. 

In the Cubs’ March 1 spring game against the Angels, Fox belted out a two-run homer, the only runs for the Cubs that game. His status on the Cubs Major League roster is uncertain, especially with the addition of Kosuke Fukudome, but it’s not like Matt Murton or Felix Pie have satisfied Cubs fans lately.

While at Cathedral, Fox led the team to two Indianapolis City championships. During his senior season, he hit a robust .586 and had 16 home runs to lead all Indiana players. Although those high school numbers aren’t directly indicative of Major League numbers, Fox is certainly not washed up. He’s not even 26 years old, for gosh sakes.

We've been talking Central Indiana high school sports, the upcoming boys basketball state finals and the onset of spring sports around the blogs lately.

I'd like to interrupt your regularly scheduled high school sports blogging and talk a little about the NCAA men's basketball tournament, which begins in less than a few hours.

For some (and I would be included in this category), today and tomorrow are better than Christmas.

The anticipation of what might take place over the next 12 hours in today's first round games reminds me of lying in bed during my formative years, watching the clock and waiting until I thought the time was appropriate to wake my parents on Christmas morning.

I'm giddy over the possibilities. Upsets! Buzzer beaters! A soon to be outdated, contempo-pop version of "One Shining Moment" playing softly in the background of my mind...it's almost too much.

I think most of why this particular tournament is so special is because we're emotionally invested in the outcome of every game. We fill out our brackets (for fun, of course) and thereby we've got a rooting interest in every game.

For example, I can't even tell you what St. Mary's mascot is, but I picked them to upset Miami (Fla). in the first round, so they're in some ways as important to me as my favorite team, Arizona.

Add in the lengths we'll go to watch the games (I once brought a pocket radio to school and slipped the wire up through my sweatshirt sleeve so I could listen to games in class - bad idea, by the way: you'll only lose your radio) and this is truly a once a year event.

There's "boss buttons" and bracket busters, games that don't get over until midnight, Gus Johnson games and future stars (like HSSTM April 2007 cover subject Eric Gordon of Indiana).

There are lots of local kids playing in this tournament, and no doubt you'll be hearing about their hometowns during broadcasts - just another reason to watch.

Plus, you know you'll have your fill of Dick Vitale and his abuse of the word "baby" by around 10:30 p.m. tonight.

Around the HSSTM office, we're counting down the minutes until that first tip off. (Hey, it will help pass the time until the boys basketball state finals on Saturday and the lag in spring sports events.)

I say, let the madness begin.

Welcome back friends, it's time to do another mailbag...where discussion can get interesting and sometimes off topic. Mostly just to tell me how wrong or stupid I am because I enjoy that so much. And just for clarification, I have full rights to edit grammar and spelling...which isn't a strong suit for some. That's part of what it get paid to do, so it's cool. Not that we're perfect here by any stretch of the imagination.

Here we go, this edition's opening tip:

Posted by "Gregory" on the March 3 blog: "Walter Matthau? You've got to be kidding me. What are you, 65? How about something from Apocalypse Now like: 'I love the smell of napalm in the morning'."

The Mind: Hmmm...where to start. A line about napalm? Really? I'm going to guess that you might fairly new to The Mind, and that's a great thing but would mean that you missed the banter about how I'm just terrible with movies in so many ways. Just not my thing. But nor is napalm. Also, yes, I'm 65 and Walter is my homeboy.

Posted by "Kyle Travis" on March 3: "Wow...are you the interviewer of the stars? (Tony) Dungy, (Cal) Ripken, Bill Lynch...who's next, the President?"

The Mind: George W? Somehow that just doesn't seem to go together with "High School Sports - The Magazine." I'm not sure if you were being sarcastic or not, but I appreciate the kudos nonetheless...really just doing my job. Always trying to add some flavor to what is seen everywhere else. Most of the time I feel like we do a good job of that, other times we haven't. I'll get an interview with the prez when I'm the prez and get back with you.

Posted by "The Bruce is Loose" on March 3: "Let's hope (North Central boys hoops coach) Doug Mitchell isn't as dirty off the court as Bruce Pearl. And I don't mean because of his massive amount of flop sweat each game."

The Mind: That's really just unneccesary to speculate on such a thing when Mitchell happens to be a great guy and a class act as a person, ever since I've talked to him. We have this whole "comment approval" system here on the blog and I'm actually a little disappointed I didn't deny this one from being posted, just because that's not what we're about here. And besides, what has ever been proven against Pearl, other than hearsay?

Posted by "Neil James" on the March 10 blogregarding Brownsburg boys hoops: "New Albany awaits...end-o-season, Brownsburg, but thanks for playing."

The Mind: Neil is entitled to his opionion, of course, and he might be correct when it's all said and done. But...I don't know how you can sleep on a team with two standout D-I recruits that have combined for 81 points and 60 rebounds as a pair for both games on Regional saturday. The level of competition that Brownsburg has beaten, just look at the list of teams through sectionals and regionals: Pike, Decatur Central, North Central and Carmel. North Central was one of the hottest teams in 4A in the tournament and Carmel was in the top 5 since the third or fourth week of the season. New Albany, undefeated at 26-0, has beaten Bedford North Lawrence (8-13), Jeffersonville (11-12), East Central (16-8) and Evansville Reitz (17-8) to get to this point. Not sure how much that is going to mean come gametime, but Brownsburg's confidence must be soaring after last Saturday. It's just a matter of whether or not they stay hungry. I have not seen New Albany play, which makes this somewhat tough to analyze, but I've heard different things about them. Some people say "look out, nobobdy knows about these guys around here" and other say they can be beaten with size and smarts. All I know for sure is that it has the makings of a great one.

I headed out the door yesterday morning to go grab some breakfast, only to think that I was Walter Matthau in the opening scene of "Grumpy Old Men." Everybody now, hit that tune...

"We're having a heat wave, a tropical heat wave..."

Ah yes. And one of the first sure-fire signs of spring around my neighborhood? The traffic jam on the Monon Trail for a good 12 hours yesterday. Another sure-fire sign of spring? Well, it's March, and we've got hoops galore to discuss.

BOYS SECTIONALS

I went out to Warren Central for Sectional 10 semis on Friday night. Classic Hoosier Hysteria. What a second half between Cathedral and Lawrence North, although both programs ended their seasons this weekend. The crowd was great, but the action on the floor made this one suspenseful. Cathedral's full-court press put them within striking distance in the last minute, but LN was poised in icing the game on the foul line. But this sectional was all about North Central, who surprised many with its performance in Saturday night's title game. Fantastic coaching job by Doug Mitchell to do his best impersonation of Bruce Pearl and Tennessee, having his players remain relentless from baseline to baseline throughout all 32 minutes and finally wore down the Wildcats in the end.

How 'bout that finish at Beech Grove? The host Hornets did it the hard way last week by winning possibly the toughest three-game stretch out of anyone in the state. Eric Weathers' buzzer-beater against Northwest in the title game gave Beech Grove their first sectional title in 15 years, and that was after an 8-point win against Roncalli and another 2-point win against Chatard in the semis.

Another fantastic finish came out of 2A Sectional 46 hosted by South Putnam, where Tri West finally got over the hump with a sectional title. After heartbreak the past two seasons as favorites in that sectional, the Bruins earned the crown with a 50-49 win against Covenant Christian. Andrew Keck made the two most important shots of his life when he sunk two free throws with four seconds remaining to take the lead. And his arms were probably feeling like Jello at that point.

Keep an eye out this week on the blog and homepage for a look at upcoming regionals. There's still a few delayed sectional title games tonight as well, one at Carmel where the Greyhounds will take on Noblesville and one at Triton Central where Heritage Christian will be battling with Ritter.

GIRLS STATE FINALS

And the reason that the Carmel boys sectional game is being played tonight? Well, there was another pretty important game being played for the school on Saturday night at Conseco. The ladies were led by Chrissy Steffen's 31 points in capping off quite a memorable tournament for her individually. And for the school, the girls hoops program's first ever state championship resulted in No. 100 overall. The Greyhounds were on a mission throughout the tourney and made that clear by adapting their style of play to their opponents, including their best offensive effort on Saturday against a high octane SB Washington team.

"Three" was the magic number for Heritage Christian in the 2A title game, as the Eagles notched No. 3 in a row with a controlling 53-31 win against previously undefeated Oak Hill. A third quarter run sealed it for the Eagles, but it was the defensive effort that really set the tone in pulling away. Will this be a rematch of next year's 2A title game? Both teams return just about everybody.

And, although they didn't come out of Conseco with state titles, University and Chatard need to be commended for fine seasons on the hardwood. In 3A, Chatard fell in a nail-biter to Plymouth, 47-46, while University couldn't seem to get its offense rolling in a 36-32 loss to FW Canterbury. When you make it this far, it surely has been a fun ride despite the disappointment.

To wrap things up for today, I'd just like to say thanks to all of the players and fans that make this time of year so memorable for everyone...win or lose. As all of you can attest, it is the players on the floor who lay it all out on the line and show us what high school athletics is all about. Cheers.

Everyone's watching, to see what you will do
Everyone's looking at you, oh
Everyone's wondering, will you come out tonight
Everyone's trying to get it right, get it right
Everybody's working for the weekend
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I know...I know...I just led off my blog with lyrics from the '80s band "Loverboy" and the song "Working for the Weekend."

But in my defense, there's no better theme song for this weekend's high school sports action. This could be one of the most anticipated weekend's of the year: boys basketball sectionals tonight and tomorrow night, girls basketball state finals tomorrow - and don't forget about gymnastics sectionals tomorrow as well.

HSSTM will be there...will you? Look for magazines tonight at Class 4A Sectional 10 (Warren Central) and 4A Sectional 9 (Carmel). We'll also have the new March issue (which is available online for free as well) at girls basketball state finals - outside Conseco Fieldhouse.

But we've all been working for the weekend this week. We've all been waiting to see who's sectional dreams will be realized and who's dreams will be dashed. Here's a look at some of the more intriguing matchups tonight:

As you will find out in our March issue, the Pendleton Heights boys basketball team is a senior-laden group. This evening, the Arabians (13-9) will face Anderson (16-6) in Class 4A Sectional 8 at New Castle in game one. Pendleton Heights already knocked off Muncie Central (13-8), 66-57, on Tuesday.

Carmel vs. Hamilton Southeastern. Again. Seems like these two schools are rivals in just about every sport. The two will collide again tonight at Carmel in a Sectional 9 semifinal. Carmel (19-2) is ranked No. 5, but struggled a little bit against Zionsville on Tuesday before pulling out a 56-49 victory. HSE (14-7) took it to Westfield, 80-48 on Tuesday night and have played some tight games against outstanding teams this season. However, the previous meeting between the Greyhounds and Royals this season, on Jan. 26, yielded an 87-57 Carmel blowout. I would expect a much closer game tonight.

Sectional 10 - No. 4 Cathedral vs. Lawrence North. The Irish (21-2) have already survived a 67-66 shootout with Warren Central (Joshua Jones nearly hit a desperation heave at the buzzer to win it for the Warriors) and now, they square off against the height of Lawrence North. LN has struggled a little bit lately, going 3-3 down the stretch - but as they say, it's all about getting hot at the right time.

Sectional 11 - Wow. Lots of local teams with a chance here. To me, this is one of the more unpredictable (and therefore exciting) sectionals in the area. Perry Meridian vs. Southport at 6 p.m. and Franklin vs. Franklin Central following shortly after Game 1. Get there early and check out the play of Southport senior Corey Wickware, a fantastic player.

We could be headed for a Plainfield vs. Mooresville sectional championship in Sectional 13 at Martinsville, two outstanding teams that played an overtime game (won by Plainfield, 74-72) on Jan. 19.

In Class 3A, the two bigger sectionals are Sectional 26 at Beech Grove and Sectional 27 at Shelbyville. Chatard will face the host Hornets in Sectional 26, Game 1 tonight (should be a dandy), while Shelbyville and Rushville renew their rivalry (Shelbyville won a 76-75 thriller on Dec. 27) in Game 2 at Shelbyville tonight.

For a complete breakdown of sectional games, click here.

And continue to check back to HSSTM.com for updates and news. We'll take a look at the winners and who survived the weekend that everybody's been waiting for next week.

Enjoy! And good luck getting that song out of your head..."Everybody's working for the weekend..."