Weekend prep hoop schedule features nine games

Eastern Greene's Tyler Igel (left) guards Bloomfield's Holden Hamm during a high school boys basketball game last week. Both teams will be in action again this weekend. (By B.J. Hargis/Greene County Daily World).

As the calendar changes to December, the Indiana high school boys basketball season swings into full gear.

Locally there will be nine games on the first full weekend of the 2009-10 campaign, featuring a handful of key conference contests and local rivalries.

Friday's docket features Bloomfield (1-1, 1-1) at Shakamak (0-0, 0-0); Eastern Greene (2-0) at Mitchell (1-1); Owen Valley (0-1) at Linton-Stockton (0-1); South Knox (0-2) at White River Valley (2-0); and Union (0-2, 0-1) at Clay City (0-1, 0-0).

On Saturday, Eminence (0-0, 0-0) will play at Union (0-2, 0-0); Linton-Stockton (0-1, 0-0) travels to Bloomfield (1-1, 1-1); Shakamak (0-0) will make the short trip to Sullivan (1-0); and White River Valley (2-0) will play a non-conference game at Mitchell (1-1).

All of the games are scheduled to begin with the junior varsity at 6 p.m. with the varsity to follow at approximately 7:30 p.m.

Eastern Greene is the only area that will just play once this weekend. The Thunderbirds will be playing their third consecutive road game, having defeated Owen Valley and Bloomfield in the first week of the season.

"We feel good about having started the season with two wins," said Eastern Greene Coach Andy Igel. "But we know that we still have a lot of things to work on and a long way to go.

"We have to do a much better job on the boards. We don't have a lot of size and have to improve on blocking people out."

Junior Davis Russell tops the Thunderbirds in scoring at 21.5 ppg. Sophomore guard JT Yoho is scoring 15.5 through the first two games.

Mitchell, whose weekend dance card includes both the Thunderbirds and WRV at their place, has started the season with a 53-45 loss to Paoli and a 48-37 victory at Springs Valley.

Coach Tim Haworth is in his sixth season in charge of the Bluejackets and has a 53-54 record, including a 63-46 victory over Eastern Greene last season. In the past 16 meetings, each team has won eight times.

First-year Bloomfield coach John Bucher and his Cardinals will not only play twice this weekend, but both contests will count in the Southwestern Indiana Athletic Conference standings.

The Cards will travel to Jasonville on Friday for a match-up with the Lakers, who due to a misunderstanding with North Vermillion did not have a game in the opening week of the season.

Bloomfield will then host the Miners on Saturday.

Friday's game will feature former player verses coach when Bucher, a 1995 BHS graduate, faces Shakamak boss Steve Brett, who coached Bucher during his last two seasons at Bloomfield.

"I have utmost respect for Coach Brett," said Bucher. "I have so much respect for him.

"He has a lot of players returning from last year's team."

Billy Newton, who already has scored 1,300-plus points in his career, returns for his senior season for the Lakers, who defeated Bloomfield 56-45 a year ago. The Cardinals have dominated the series, winning 17 of the past 21 meetings.

Bucher said they will have to be prepared to play a young Linton-Stockton squad. The Cardinals won 49-36 a year ago at Linton and have a 16-2 edge in the series in recent seasons, but the teams have split the last four meetings.

Senior forward Andy Cochrane paces the Cards in scoring at 21 points per game, as he hit for 21 in a win over Union and 21 in a 51-49 loss to Eastern Greene on Saturday.

Holden Hamm (8.5 ppg), Cory Slaven (8.0) and Ryan O'Neall (7.0) are the next leading scorers for Bloomfield.

The Miners lost their season opener -- 60-47 -- to North Knox as Chase Rhoten (10), Dess Fougerousse (10) and Tim Scott (nine) combined for 29 points. The game was tied at 27 at intermission.

"We did some good things and can take a lot of positives out of here," Linton-Stockton Coach Darren Clayton said after their first game. "We had a lot of kids play in their first varsity game and make some mistakes along the way.

"We did some good things too, along the way. We're going to try and build on what we did right and come back and work on what we did wrong to get ready for a couple of games this weekend."

The Miners will face an 0-1 Patriot team at home Friday. Owen Valley lost to Eastern Greene 65-58 despite 22 points from Cody Vest and 15 from Sean Hollows. Owen Valley has not lost to the Miners in the past 15 meetings, including a 86-40 win at Spencer a year ago.

Shakamak will play a Sullivan Golden Arrow team that defeated South Knox 56-48 in its first game of the season. Sullivan, who will play at Brown County on Friday, is coached by Jeff Moore. The Scottsburg native has compiled a 267-174 record at Sullivan. He is in his 20th season at SHS.

White River Valley has started the season with victories over Shoals and Vincennes Rivet despite missing 31 of 63 free throw attempts (.508).

The Wolverines, who are ranked No. 10 in the recent Class A poll by The Associated Press, are topped in scoring by senior southpaw Jared Shelton, who is tossing in 19.5 points per game.

David McNeal is scoring at a 12.5 clip and Billy Dove adds eight for new WRV Coach J.B. Neill, who said the Wolverines showed defensive improvement from game one to game two.

Mitchell has won the last five meetings with WRV, including a 48-46 victory a year ago.

South Knox, led by 6-8 IUPUI recruit Mitchell Patton, defeated the Wolverines 58-43 in 2008, giving them an 8-7 advantage in the last 15 games between the two schools. Patton averaged over 15 points and almost eight rebounds per game last season.

Union will be playing two conference games that will count as three games in the standings. It will play at Clay City on Friday in SWIAC game as well as a Tri-River Conference game.

On Saturday, the Eminence game at home is a TRC contest.

"We have a big weekend ahead -- a double conference weekend," Union Coach Clarence Johnson said after a loss to North Knox on Tuesday night. "We don't have any time to mope around.

"Although we always try to prepare for the opponents we are playing, right now it's more about preparing ourselves. We are so inexperienced that we have to focus on ourselves."

Senior Dustin Howard is averaging 11 points per game for the Bulldogs.

"I can't fault the kids effort so far," said Johnson. "It is just a situation where we have a team with very little varsity experience."

Clay City and Union split two meetings last season, with the Bulldogs winning in December and the Eels prevailing in the postseason on the way to winning the Class A WRV Sectional.

Clay City has won 13 and the Bulldogs 11 in the past 24 meetings on the hardwood.

Eminence, who will play its first game of the season Friday at North Central, had its opener with Monrovia postponed because of the run by the MHS football team to the Class 2A state championship game.

The Eels are being coached again by Todd Shupe, who has an 8-35 record in his first two seasons at Eminence, who drubbed the Bulldogs 86-57 a year ago. But Union has an 11-5 advantage in the series dating back to 1996.

BOYS BASKETBALL

Tri-River Conference

Wednesday, Nov. 25

Bloomfield 62, Union (Dugger) 26

South Vermillion 61, Clay City 46

Saturday, Nov. 28

North Knox 60, Linton-Stockton 47

Tuesday, Dec. 1

North Knox 46, Union (Dugger), 29

Friday, Dec. 4

Bloomfield at Shakamak, 6 p.m.

Eminence at North Central, 6 p.m.

Owen Valley at Linton-Stockton, 6 p.m.

Union (Dugger) at Clay City, 6 p.m.

Saturday, Dec. 5

Eminence at Union (Dugger), 6 p.m.

Hutsonville-Palestine (Ill.) at North Central, 6:30 p.m.

Linton-Stockton at Bloomfield, 6 p.m.

Shakamak at Sullivan, 6 p.m.

Southwestern Indiana Athletic Conf.

Tuesday, Nov. 24

Eastern Greene 65, Owen Valley, 58

Wednesday, Nov. 25

Bloomfield 62, Union (Dugger) 26

South Vermillion 61, Clay City 46

White River Valley 64, Shoals, 63 OT

Saturday, Nov. 28

Eastern Greene 51, Bloomfield, 49

North Knox 60, Linton-Stockton 47

WRV 51, Vincennes Rivet 45

Washington Cath 37, N Daviess 35

Tuesday, Dec. 1

North Knox 46, Union (Dugger) 29

Friday, Dec. 4

Bloomfield at Shakamak, 6 p.m.

Eastern Greene at Mitchell, 6 p.m.

Owen Valley at Linton-Stockton, 6 p.m.

Shoals at North Daviess, 6 p.m.

South Knox at White River Valley, 6 p.m.

Union (Dugger) at Clay City, 6 p.m.

Saturday, Dec. 5

Eminence at Union (Dugger), 6 p.m.

Linton-Stockton at Bloomfield, 6 p.m.

North Daviess at Washington, 6:30 p.m.

Shakamak at Sullivan, 6 p.m.

White River Valley at Mitchell, 6 p.m.

AREA STATISTICS

Games through 12-1-09

Scoring

Free throws

GIRLS BASKETBALL

WRV, Union (Dugger) playing varsity-only schedule

Tri-River Conference

Monday, Nov. 23

Clay City 40, Rockville 33

Tuesday, Nov. 24

Bloomfield 53, Shakamak 47

Linton-Stockton 48, South Knox 37

Monday, Nov. 30

Barr-Reeve 56, Shakamak 35

Clay City 51, White River Valley 29

South Knox 59, Union (Dugger) 20

Tuesday, Dec. 1

Edinburgh 51, Eminence 32

Thursday, Dec. 3

Eminence at Edgewood, 6 p.m.

Linton-Stockton at Eastern Greene, 6 p.m.

Riverton Parke at Clay City, 6 p.m.

Shakamak at North Central, 6 p.m.

White River Valley at Union (Dugger), 6 p.m.

Saturday, Dec. 5

North Central at Sullivan, 11 a.m.

Union (Dugger) at Bloomfield, 12 p.m.

Monday, Dec. 7

Eminence at Cloverdale, 6 p.m.

Shakamak at Riverton Parke, 6 p.m.

Vincennes Rivet at Clay City, 6 p.m.

Washington Catholic at Union (Dugger), 6 p.m.

Tuesday, Dec. 8

North Central (Farmersburg) at North Daviess, 6 p.m.

Thursday, Dec. 10

Linton-Stockton at Clay City, 6 p.m.

Friday, Dec. 11

White River Valley at Eminence, 6 p.m.

Saturday, Dec. 12

Linton-Stockton at Shoals, 11:30 a.m.

Southwestern Indiana Athletic Conf.

Monday, Nov. 23

Clay City 40, Rockville 33

Tuesday, Nov. 24

Bloomfield 53, Shakamak 47

Edgewood 63, White River Valley 22

Linton-Stockton 48, South Knox 37

Loogootee 40, North Daviess 36

Monday, Nov. 30

Barr-Reeve 56, Shakamak 35

Clay City 51, White River Valley 29

South Knox 59, Union (Dugger) 20

Tuesday, Dec. 1

Shoals 51, Eastern Greene 48

Thursday, Dec. 3

Linton at Eastern Greene, 6 p.m.

North Daviess at Washington, 6 p.m.

Riverton Parke at Clay City, 6 p.m.

Shakamak at North Central, 6 p.m.

Vincennes Rivet at Bloomfield, 6 p.m.

WRV at Union (Dugger), 6 p.m.

Saturday, Dec. 5

Union (Dugger) at Bloomfield, Noon.

Monday, Dec. 7

North Knox at White River Valley, 6:30 p.m.

Shakamak at Riverton Parke, 6 p.m.

Vincennes Rivet at Clay City, 6 p.m.

Washington Catholic at Union (Dugger), 6 p.m.

Tuesday, Dec. 8

Barr-Reeve at Bloomfield, 6 p.m.

Brown County at Eastern Greene, 6 p.m.

North Central (Farmersburg) at North Daviess, 6 p.m.

Thursday, Dec. 10

Barr-Reeve at North Daviess, 6 p.m.

Eastern Greene at Bloomfield, 6 p.m.

Linton-Stockton at Clay City, 6 p.m.

White River Valley at Bloomington North, 6 p.m.

Friday, Dec. 11

White River Valley at Eminence, 6 p.m.

Saturday, Dec. 12

Heritage Hills at Eastern Greene, 1 p.m.

Linton-Stockton at Shoals, 1 p.m.

AREA STATISTICS

Games through 12-2-09

Scoring

Free Throws