Collin's Blog

The Final Whistle

As you already know the high school basketball season has come to an end and it is now time to work on your individual game. This is the time that players are made and teams become better. During the off season coaches take their teams to camps which help develop chemistry within, and players become better players. The players spend most of their summer in the weight room and in the gym attempting to become bigger, faster, and stronger for the next season.

We had four well deserving champions this year in the state of Indiana. The 1a crown went to Bowman Academy, 2a crown went to Wheeler, the 3a crown went to Washington in dramatic fashion, and the 4a crwon went to North Central. Washington should have a really good chance of winning it again next year with Mr. Basketball favorite for next year Cody Zeller coming back much stronger.  Good luck to all the players attempting to get better this summer and good luck to all the teams next season.

Mr. Basketball 2010

Indiana named their most prestigious individual honor last weekend when handing out the title of Mr. Basketball for 2010. The winner was a very deserving individual and worked hard for everything he does. The 6 foot 7 220 pound Deshaun Thomas took the price. He went to Fort Wayne Bishop Leurs leading his team to very successful seasons all four years. He led his team to back to back state titles but lost this year in the regional semi finals. He averaged 32.5 points per game his senior year and finshed third all time on the Indiana High School Boys scoring chart. He was just one point behind second and trailed the leader Damon Bailey by about 116 points. He will be attending Ohio State University and will be playing for coach Thad Mata. Good Luck Deshaun hopefully you do well and succeed.

2010 State basketball Champions in Indiana

The 100 year anniversary of high school basketball in Indiana was played last saturday and four new state champions were crowned.  In the first game of the day the class 1 a championship was won by Bowman Academy. They defeated the Barr Reeve Vikings 74 to 52. The game was closer than that though Bowman just pulled away toward the end of the second half.

The second game of the day featured Wheeler and a game Park Tudor basketball team. Wheeler was able to come away with the 2a state championship with a 41 to 38 score.

The night session started off with a bang, and was perhaps the best game of the day. The Gary Wallace Hornets and the Washington Hatchets faught it out for the 3a state title. Regulation was not enough to finish this game as it went into overtime. The Hatchets were able to come away with the victory in overtime as a last second heave by Gary Wallace was off line. The hatchets won their third title in six years. The Hatchets won 65 to 62.

In the night cap for the 4a title North Central defeated a very tough and physical Warsaw team. This game was not even close from the very beginning, North Central was head and shoulders better than the Warsaw basketball team. North Central won 95 to 74.

100 Years of Indiana High School Basketball

Indiana is a huge basketball state, and im sure everyone already knew that. High school basketball in Indiana is a huge thing, and i got to recognize that first hand on Saturday. Saturday was the 100 year anniversay for Hoosier Hysteria in Indiana. Hoosier Hysteria is the Indiana boys state basketball ball tournament. It all came to an end Saturday with the state final games. They did something special between sessions this year. They had a parade that went through downtown Indy for all of the past state champions. I was a proud participant in this parade as i was part of the 2008 Washington Hatchet state championship team. I did not realize how much basketball meant to the state of Indiana until i rode through downtown Indy and seen all the people standing on the sides of the streets. The streets were packed with people standing shoulder to shoulder four or five people deep. It was a great experience and i got the opportunity to meet many Hoosier Legends. 100 years of Hoosier basketball is a great accomplishment and it will continue to get better as the years go on.

Championship Game for Class 3a

As i mentioned in my previous blog the championship game for class 3a will feature the Gary Wallace Hornets and the Washington Hatchets. This game will take place this Saturday March 27 at Conseco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis Indiana. This should be a great game with two contracting styles going up against each other. Gary Wallace likes to get out and run up and down the floor and do very little in the half court. They are a run and gun team and will usually not run any half court sets. On the other hand, the Hatchets like to run up and down the floor as well but they do not get out of control. They will also run a lot of half court sets to get thier people the ball where they need to get it at.

This is the opportunity every young basketball player dreams of getting when they were young. The opportunity to bring home a State Title to their school, friends, family, and community. I got this opportunity two years ago when i played for the Hatchets and we were fortinate enough to come away with the Title. This game will be a tremoundous game, and it expected to bring a great crowd to pack the Fieldhouse. I am going to be a little bit biased and root for the Hatchets, since that is where I graduated from. So come on Hatchets bring home another State Title which would be our sixth overall and the third in five years.

Semi State Champs for Class 3a

Lafayette Jefferson Semi State- Gary Wallace

Southport Semi State- Washington

So the championship game is set for class 3a it will be the Gary Wallace Hornets going up agianst the Washington Hatchets

Regional Champs for Class 3a

Chesterton Regional – Gary Wallace

Blackford Regional – Fort Wayne Elmhurst

Shelbyville Regional – Danville

Washington Regional – Washington

Sectional Champs for Class 3a

I picked to show you the champions of class 3a becasue that is the division i played for when i played at Washington High School.

Sectional 17- Gary Wallace

Sectional 18 – Andrean

Sectional 19 -  Plymouth

Sectional 20 – West Layfaette

Sectional 21 – Wawasee

Sectional 22 – Fort Wayne Elmhurst

Sectional 23 – Fort Wayne Bishop Dwenger

Sectional 24 – Yorktown

Sectional 25 – Danville

Sectional 26 – Brebeuf Jesuit

Sectional 27 – Mount Vernon (Fortville)

Sectional 28 – Greensburg

Secional 29 – Sullivan

Sectional 30- Corydon Central

Sectional 31- Washington

Sectional 32- Boonville

Tournament Time

Tournament Time for high school basketball in Indiana is a terrific time of the year. This is the time that no matter what kind of regular season you had the sleight is wiped clean and everyone gets another chance. The intensity reaches a new high when it comes to tournament basketball becasue you lose one game and your sent home for the rest of the season. The old saying is you either keep playing or your sent home to play baseball. There are many great sapects of the tournament that i could not possibly name them all. One aspect is that it is mostly a nutural site so everyone gets a fair chance. The Draw to see who plays each other is a completely blind draw which also gives everyone a fair shot. In the next few blogs i will be reporting the Sectional, Regional, Semi State, and State Champions.

Different Rules at Different Levels

We all know there are more then one level of basketball. There is the high school level, the collegiate level, and the professional level. There are many of the same rules that apply for all three of these levels; however, there are also a few different rules. For example, the three point line in each of the different levels gradually extends farther out as you move up in level. Another difference is that in high school and collegiate there is no three second violation while you are on defense. However, in the pros if you are in the lane to long with out guarding anyone there will be a technical foul called on you. This rule might just be a lack of the officails doing thier jobs, but in the professional leagues it seems to me that players are allowed to travel more then what players are allowed in the other two levels of basketball. Also, in high school there is no shot clock that limits the time you can have the basketball but in college basketball you only get thirty five seconds before you have to shoot the ball. Professional players have an ever shorter time to shoot the ball because they only get twenty four seconds.  These were only a few of the rule defferences and im sure i have failed to mention a few.