TERRE HAUTE — I’ve heard some of the older Terre Haute South High School basketball fans — sorry, Mark — question coach Mike Saylor’s sectional comment about the 2007-2008 Braves having perhaps the best season in the school’s history.
And I’m willing to admit — maybe Mike is too — that this year’s Braves have no Mike Joyners or Brian Evanses, or even many players like some of the great right-handers from South history like Kevin Thompson, Will Uzzell, Cam Cameron, Richard Wilson or David Conrady to name just a few.
Mike’s points, though, were that this year’s team played a tougher schedule than those earlier teams did (although for the first time in at least six years the Metropolitan Interscholastic Conference didn’t have an NBA lottery pick) and that this year’s team never got blown out of a game during the regular season — four losses by a total of 15 points.
Others can argue those points ad infinitum. My purpose today is to celebrate my being an idiot.
I’m the one who didn’t see these Braves coming. I’m the one who figured the depleted North Patriots were toast in postseason play. I’m the one who, four months ago or so, was afraid the boys basketball season wasn’t going to be any fun.
But if my many college years taught me anything (besides how to card a door), it’s this: being stupid can occasionally be pretty enjoyable. With that, the Amey boys awards.
In keeping with the theme of the entire season, my favorite part of the awards this winter is the Most Improved Team and its quad-captains.
First there was Terre Haute North’s Thomas Anderson, turning himself from promising project to climb-on-my-back-boys team leader; then there was South’s Christian Barnett, going from the guy who was cut three times in middle school to the one celebrated for new-found swagger (see Evansville Central game tapes); still later came Northview’s Austin Akers, a combination of the previous two in moving from promising player to one with a little swagger of his own; and finally there’s North’s Cory Hemmings, who packed a trip from team scapegoat to team leader into one too-short varsity season. That’s four heart-warming, inspirational reasons why this season was so good right there.
Others who came on strong were Jacob Birch and Adam Capehart of White River Valley; Logan Boyd of Casey; Larry Burks, David Parsons and Josh Taylor of Rockville; Logan Chesterfield of Union; Andy Cochrane of Bloomfield; Justin Dugan and Jacob Willis of Sullivan; Logan Eitel and Alan Wolter of Marshall; Jake Fender and Evan Magni of Linton; Daniel Gabbard and Justin Gant of North; Braxton Griffith, Logan Higgins and Will Kennedy of Clay City; Patrick Harpenau, Logan Laswell and Andy Walsh of South Vermillion; Mitch Hennecke, Storm Lindsay and Jared Ross of North Central; Wade Huber and Kyle Nobles of Greencastle; John Michael Jarvis and Austin Weaver of South; Josh Karr and Jarrod Wrightsman of Turkey Run; Avery Mason and Dustyn Umberger of Paris; Evan Miller, Jordan Pearson and Steven Scank of West Vigo; Brandon Moon of Cloverdale; Clint Reynolds of Northview; Tyler Richardson of Shakamak; Mitch Stahl of Owen Valley; and Eric Vaughn of Riverton Parke.
Plenty of candidates are available to lead maybe the deepest Clutch Team in a long time. I chose a couple of guys who can get to the rim and make up their own shot along the way as co-captains: Jake Odum of South and Tyler Wampler of West Vigo.
Other chips-are-down specialists include Craig Blair of Cloverdale; Aaron Bridge, Matt King and R.J. Mahurin of Rockville; Chase Brinkley of Paris; Brennan Burks of Greencastle; Mitchell Crum of Turkey Run; Jordan Defore of Clay City; Lucas Eitel of Marshall; Zach Harrison of North; Derrick Held of Bloomfield; Dalton Hiatt of Sullivan; Cody Mumaw of South Vermillion; Billy Newton and Ethan Stanifer of Shakamak; Jayton Powell of Linton; Jared Shelton of WRV; Mitch Snyder of Casey; Bobby Swaby of North Central; and Josh Wilson of Riverton Parke.
Competitors? Plenty of these too, but my Competitors Team captains are Drew Aff of West Vigo and Zach Odum of South.
Other hard-nosed players were Justin Bartrum, Drew Evens and Kendall Faust of Greencastle; Taylor Biggs and Aaron Rhoads of Casey; A.J. Boyll, Dylan Walker and Michael Woodsmall of North Central; Tyler Coltharp and Caleb Whitman of Northview; Justin Cox of Shakamak; Keith Cunningham and Jordan Tharp of Linton; John Garvin and Chris O’Leary of North; Mike Griffin, Logan Henness and Zach Walls of Paris; Orry Heffner of Clay City; Levi Hostetter of WRV; B.J. Howard of Union; Travis Johnson of Marshall; Grant Mitchell of Riverton Parke; Ryan Roberts of Hutsonville-Palestine; and Thad Thompson of Sullivan.
Captains of the Unsung Team are Adam Austin of South, who had to be seen to be appreciated; Alex Bullock of Marshall, who seemed to have a knack for big plays that didn’t involve scoring; and Jered Timm of Northview, who could do it all: score, pass, rebound, handle the ball and his specialty, guarding you and making you miserable.
Others who could have received more credit are Donnie Abrams, Jordan Bean and Derrik Enstrom of North Central; Alex Barrett and Skylar Walls of Paris; Vance Bedwell, Austin Nash, Jesse Orr and Jordan Turner of Sullivan; Colin Brown and Jathan Davies of Turkey Run; Fred Brust and Eric Medley of Union; Sean Burton, Cameron Fagg, Drew Heyen and Aaron Welch of West Vigo; Cameron Coleman, Ross Gentry, Stefan Sparks and Jacob Tibbett of Linton; Reuven Davis and Tyler Zimmerly of WRV; David Frink and Jarrid McLaughlin of Riverton Parke; Andrew Gauer of North; Ryan Hoggatt and Adam Stevens of South Vermillion; Kruz Kusterman and Kirk Shawver of Casey; Ashton Marshall, Austin Miller and Bo Walker of Greencastle; Jaret May and Jon Smith of Shakamak; Caleb McMullen and Josh Reed of Rockville; Kaleb Mumma, Kurt Schulte, Ricky Tally and Gavin Thompson of Bloomfield; Kyler Rhodes and Levi Seymour of Clay City; and Bryn Schwartz and Ike Worrell of South.
The Unselfish Team has as its role models Spencer Harlan of South and Nick Lancaster of Northview. They are joined by Ty Boyd, Jordan Cramer, Kenny Wagner and Luc Yates of Casey; Kyle Burnam, Ethan Delp and Steven O’Rourke of Marshall; Trevor Byram and Phillip Wiseman of South Vermillion; Chad Campbell of Bloomfield; Josh Davidson and Michael Talpas of Union; Spencer Davies and Brad Henderson of Turkey Run; Daniel Hardesty, T.J. Harrison and Adam Lehman of Riverton Parke; Taylor Harper of Rockville; Zach Kirby and Keaton Robertson of Northview; Jeremy Lucas, Joel Modesitt, Fred Powers and Ridgley Smith of West Vigo; D.J. Shouse of South; and Jake Smith and Ethan Wright of Sullivan.
My Most Promising Team captains dazzled me early and continued to make good impressions: Taylor Duncan of Marshall, Jeremy Helton of Riverton Parke, Dylan Reyher of South Vermillion and Jake Weaver of Turkey Run. Others I look forward to seeing more of include Kaleb Barnhart, Clinton Scott, Riley Scales and Chris Unzicker of Casey; David Bedwell, Dreyson Boyd and Connor Wright of Sullivan; Jonathon Bradshaw and Trent Lancaster of Northview; Austin Cook and Seth Marshall of Turkey Run; Jerrett Hastings of South Vermillion; Chase Jones, Jerrel Thompson and Scott Weatherford of North; Drew Kelley of Rockville; Dustin Morey of Marshall; Chase Rhoten of Linton; Chris Rose and Jacob Tanoos of South; and Scott West of West Vigo.
My Left-handed Team captains, Tyler Coltharp of Northview and Aaron Rhoads of Casey, are tough enough that our team including Blair of Cloverdale; Burnam and Duncan of Marshall; Shane Campbell of Owen Valley; Fender of Linton; Marshall and Wrightsman of Turkey Run; Austin Miller of Greencastle; Nash of Sullivan; and Swaby of North Central won’t need much outside help. We might find a spot for Corey Gray of Center Grove, however.
• • •
• Good news from Rockville — According to an e-mail I received last week, Rockville’s Aaron Bridge suffered a torn medial collateral ligament — but not a torn anterior cruciate ligament — in the waning seconds of the Rox’ loss to Lafayette Central Catholic at the Class A Frankfort Regional.
In non-medical terms, that means he could be ready for summer basketball; a torn ACL could have caused him to miss that and possibly some of the football season next fall as well.
• Good referees — The Wabash Valley Officials Association was beaming about the fact that six of the 24 referees involved in high school boys semistate games last weekend were from the WVOA — Rick Gentry, Mark Hopper, P.J. Pitts, Tom Rohr, Jay Slater and Mike Stoffers.
Rohr and Slater will also be working this week’s state finals, and Pitts is an alternate.
• Like I’ve told you, remember this name — Gatorade’s Indiana Girls Basketball Player of the Year is Skylar Diggins of South Bend Washington.
Andy Amey can be reached after 4 p.m. for comments or news items at 1-800-783-8742 or at (812) 231-4277; by e-mail at andy.amey@tribstar.com; by mail at P.O. Box 149, Terre Haute, IN, 47808; or by fax at (812) 231-4321.
Amey Takes Aim
Amey Takes AIm: With no further ado, here are Amey’s winter boys awards
- Amey Takes Aim
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Amey Takes Aim: NHL playoffs to put TVs to good use
If Jenny had known, she probably wouldn’t have bought that TV.
But four or five years ago, my Fathers Day present — for those unfamiliar with Amey family traditions, the Fathers Day one is “let’s get something we all really want and pretend it’s a gift for Dad” — was a 42-inch Vizio. It’s been used even more than the cell phone I never would have bought for myself, or the TomTom that disappeared since Jenny’s smartphone arrived.
And it came with high-def.
I’m not going to insult you by telling you how great high-def is, because to do so would be to imply that you are even farther behind the technological curve than I am. I’m guessing, however, that not all of you have yet discovered what it does for hockey. -
Amey Takes Aim: Can’t bottle the joy of Amey vacations
The first bad sign was the Gatorade bottle.
In the Bataan-Death-March drive to Orlando that got the Amey family spring break vacation off to a bad start, seeing it between lanes of I-24 — as we zipped along at a 100-miles-in-five-hours clip — filled with an ominous yellow liquid was a little bit scary. And although we didn't stop to check for sure, I'm fairly certain I knew about its contents.
And the person stuck in the same traffic jam with us, the one with the existential license plate YMIHR4, couldn’t have asked a more pertinent question.
But, after seeing a lot more of Oak Grove, Ky., than we’d planned, and after enduring more traffic slowdowns in Nashville, we were on our way. Even some rain in the dark in the Smokies didn’t slow us down much, so you would think our first-day troubles were over.
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ANDY AMEY: Farewell to basketball
I believe you’ve heard me say before — just about a year ago, perhaps — that a boys high school basketball season that ends with the Tribune-Star in Bankers Life Fieldhouse can’t be considered a bad one, which is why we have a little celebrating to do thanks to the Linton Miners.
Lover of irony that I am, I’ve also got to point out that this season was another branch sprouting from the Wabash Valley’s most legendary coaching tree, that of Joe Hart.
Joe never got much credit for his work at Dugger, but he took Brody Boyd, Clark Golish and the Bulldogs to a state championship game in 2000, and since then three of his former players — Joe Pigg, Clint Swan and now Joey Hart, his son — also have coached teams in the final game of the season.
Joe probably wishes he could take credit for Doc Nash, another down-home type who gave a banjo lesson earlier Saturday in leading Borden past a bigger, more athletic Triton team (banjo lesson is a Howard Sharpism, for you younger readers), but his lineage is still the best I can think of around here. -
AMEY TAKES AIM: Maroons, Rox final a true Classic
I don’t make predictions nearly as often as I used to, but I had one several months ago that was proven correct last week.
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AMEY TAKES AIM: Nitpicking aside, West Vigo Hall of Fame selections spot on
I can’t imagine a better first class of inductees into the West Vigo High School Athletics Hall of Fame than the one that was feted Saturday night in the Jim Mann Green Dome.
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Tough bunch of people
I’m getting my warm clothes ready for a trip to Linton this week, and if a few thrills from the Miners, Casey or North Vermillion happen the next couple of weeks, I hope I get to see them.
But high school football is over in Vigo County for the season — as coach Chris Barrett of Terre Haute North said, prematurely — and I’m sadder to see it go than usual.
Walking the sidelines and doing midweek or postgame interviews enables me to meet quite a few of the guys whose names you are about to read, and haven’t been more impressed than I was this fall. What outstanding groups of young men. What a tough, tough bunch of people.
Many know that one of my favorite athletic adjectives appeared consecutively in the previous sentence. -
AMEY TAKES AIM: A weekend to remember with ISU’s ’72 football team
They’re all still pretty hale and hearty, the boys of the fall of 1972 who returned to campus over the weekend to honor their former football coach.
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AMEY TAKES AIM: ISU reunion raises more questions than answers
One of the wrestlers I used to hang out with occasionally claimed to be a pretty good second-story man — although he may have just been talking, since I never saw any of the goods — and it was with him in mind that I was able to get access to the Indiana State Wrestling Alumni Reunion late Saturday night.
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AMEY TAKES AIM: Deciding not to ‘vacate’ during ‘vacation’ – & other ventures
Flaunting the law, setting a bad example for the kids in other ways, grooming and acquiring dogs … not a typical Amey family vacation, but an appreciated one just the same.
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AMEY TAKES AIM: Huntsville’s Stars, Havoc take back seat to GGS
The second-best thing about the Amey family’s spring-break trip to Huntsville, Ala., is that we left a lot of things on the table to do the next time we’re down there.
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AMEY TAKES AIM: Rox well represented on Amey teams
If having the state finals in town makes it a successful girls high school basketball season, then certainly having a team to follow at the state finals makes it a very successful boys high school basketball season . . .
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AMEY TAKES AIM: A feeling of pride, not disappointment, comes from watching Rox play
It’s not going to come as a startling admission that I — once the rest of the local opposition has been eliminated from consideration — am an unabashed fan of whatever team the Wabash Valley sends onward in postseason high school sports competition.
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AMEY TAKES AIM: This private school plays basketball the right way
Any girls high school basketball season that ends with state championship games in Hulman Center is a pretty good one — even though I wished I’d seen Riverton Parke and Seeger knock off a couple of private schools the week before to even the public school-private school battle a little bit.
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AMEY TAKES AIM: Even 2 of state’s best once had doubts
Look at them now.
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AMEY TAKES AIM: Getting ready for the dance
Terre Haute North got the good news Sunday night — or did it?
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AMEY TAKES AIM: Harrowing path for state hopefuls
The bad news is that the winner of Class 4A Sectional 13 in boys basketball heads northeast instead of southeast for regional play in March — to Hinkle Fieldhouse instead of Seymour as a result of Indiana High School Athletic Association’s changes.
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AMEY TAKES AIM: A superior all-star arrangement
I don’t work on Wednesdays, so I wasn’t able to attend the first Wabash Valley Football Coaches Association draft last week to set up the annual all-star game that will be June 23 this year.
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AMEY TAKES AIM: The biggest & baddest of a holiday classic
There are more things to love about the Pizza Hut Wabash Valley Classic than could fit in this newspaper, but one of this year’s best things was that for an hour or so on Wednesday, it was Justin Paddock’s world and we were just living in it.
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AMEY TAKES AIM: Taking note of ISU’s latest football win
The biggest difference I’ve noticed, as I transition from the high school football beat to quasi-official status as the Indiana State football beat writer for a few weeks, is the length of the games.
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AMEY TAKES AIM: IHSAA playoff draw not as bad as it could have been
First reaction to the Indiana sectional football pairings drawn late Sunday by the Indiana High School Athletic Association? It could have been a lot worse.
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ANDY AMEY: Between the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame & a hard place
Just in case any of you noticed — with some anticipation — the recent lack of my bylines, I can tell you that your wish (and mine) did come true. It was vacation week for the Amey family.
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Amey Takes Aim: UFC fighter’s bloodines traced back to ISU brothers
As a mild-mannered reporter from a great metropolitan newspaper — or thereabouts — I admit I haven’t paid much attention to the burgeoning mixed martial arts scene.
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AMEY TAKES AIM: Predators’ win is music to new fan’s ears
For many, many years, the number of live games televised on WGN has been cited as perhaps the main reason for the popularity of the Chicago Cubs (it’s got to be something besides masochism, right?).
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AMEY TAKES AIM: You’ll be having a good ol’ time on vacation with the Ameys
When one of the first people you meet is Tammy Wynette’s stepdaughter, when you’ve stepped on the feet of people you haven’t met while trying to navigate Ernest Tubbs’ old Silver Eagle tour bus, and when the activities director of your resort is, well, Elvis, you might be vacationing in Nashville.
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AMEY TAKES AIM: The Annual All-Amey basketball teams close out the prep season
The most encouraging boys high school basketball event I’ve attended so far in 2011 has been the Lafayette Semistate a couple of weeks ago.
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AMEY TAKES AIM: Family remembers Cheryl Weatherman as caring grandmother
As far as Riley and Keely Davis are concerned, Cheryl Weatherman was simply their grandmother, and a pretty darn good one at that.
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AMEY TAKES AIM: Honor to see Turkey Run girls close out memorable career
I don’t know if anyone in this part of the state could actually say they enjoy going to Fort Wayne and back, but I was glad to see the Turkey Run Warriors play one last time during the girls basketball state finals Saturday.
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So many matches, so many favorites
Go ahead, ask me anything about the 224 wrestlers who competed last week at the Indiana state finals — or at least about the 112 wrestlers who survived Saturday’s first round.
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ANDY TAKES AIM: A sportwriters’s lament: Oh, the games we missed
I was already tired of winter by the time that first bitterly cold snap passed through in mid-December, so it’s safe to say the season hasn’t grown on me.
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AMEY TAKES AIM: Time of the season for teams to tough it out
In the last month or so I figure I’ve seen at least four boys high school basketball teams with legitimate state-championship dreams as the season heads into its dog days.
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Lotto Fever Sweeps the Country
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