The Amey Awards for girls high school basketball this year will include a lot of familiar names, because a lot of great players have reached the ends of the high school careers.
And while I was fortunate enough to see a lot of teams play this year, there were a few that I didn’t experience. One team that won’t be represented at all, because it was so young this season that I’ve probably seen just one or two of its players, is Sullivan. I’ll make it a point, for a couple of reasons, to check out the Golden Arrows next winter. Otherwise, here we go.
The Clutch Team has as its captains two college-bound players who led their teams to various levels of success the past four years — Meghan Doss of Turkey Run, who was hinted about a few weeks ago in this space, and Dragana Grbic of Terre Haute South, named the Wabash Valley Player of the Year earlier this week.
Their teammates include Katie Brown of North Central; Marki Collins and Casey Fougerousse of Shakamak; Stephanie Fougerousse of White River Valley; Chelsea Francis and Chelsea Newnum of Turkey Run; Siera Fuller of Bloomfield; Hillary Lively of North Vermillion; Sarah Maggert and Erin Waggoner of Paris; Savannah Mason of Linton; Kieran McMullen of Rockville; Allie Milam of South Vermillion; Makaylee Pirtle of Union; Spring Raines of Northview; and Keisha Sweitzer of Marshall.
Familar names lead the Competitors Team too: how can you go wrong with Kelly Meggs of Terre Haute North and Krista Smith of South.
Other battlers include Kelsey Anderson, Danielle Gardner, Ashley Hamilton and Taylor Kail of White River Valley; Derryn Axtell and Emily Yoho of North Vermillion; Jocelynn Boyll and Laura Woodsmall of North Central; Izzy Carpenter of Linton; Shelby Colson and Emily Phillips of Northview; Brielle Drelick, Kelly McCullough and Sloan Miller of Clay City; Adrianne Francis of Turkey Run; Jill Frisz and Mattie Milbourn of Paris; Jade Gambill of Shakamak; Heather and Nickole Gonser of Owen Valley; Lindsey Greene and Beth Mahurin of Rockville; Makenzie Haltom of Riverton Parke; Lindy Jones and Francesca McCarthy of North; Bailey Lycan of Marshall; Brittany Marrs, Marianne Umphries and Brooklyn Waters of West Vigo; Mikayla Metheny and Lizzy Vollrath of South; Cassie Parr of Union; and Elyse Weddle of Bloomfield.
Three of my favorite captains lead the Unsung Team. One of them, Megan Gambill of Union, is in this role as the best player on a team with a great scorer, while the other two — Shelby Davies of Turkey Run and Stormi Raines of Northview — probably sacrificed some offense for gritty defensive play.
Others who need more recognition are Claire Bailey and Tessa Johnson of South; Karen Beal, Brittany Edmondson and Sarah Klotz of West Vigo; Jalen Brower of South Vermillion; Hannah Byers and Whitney Mathas of Riverton Parke; Sam Cooper, Adrian Gillaspy and Kaitlin Sweatman of Owen Valley; Mary Kate Etling of North; Kali Fuqua and Allie McCrocklin of Paris; Britney Glass of Clay City; Samantha Goodman, Ashley Graves and Alicia Tally of White River Valley; Alise Harper of Rockville; Gabrielle Kuhn of Marshall; Jazmine Martin of Shakamak; Hannah Randolph of North Central; Ali Sharton and Lauren Webster of Northview; Gabby Smith of Union; and Kylee West of North Vermillion.
The Unselfish Team is led by a pair of teammates from South — Randa Rector, always willing to let her teammates get the offensive glory (and for whom the phrase “to a fault” sometimes accompanied her adjective), and Bridgit Goss, a nice example of how being a member of a team can be rewarding regardless of the chances for personal glory.
Other selfless individuals were Cassandra Colon and Michaela Shelton of Union; Logan Cox, Tiffany Marshall and Amy Newnum of Turkey Run; Kalen Eastham, LeAnn Spesard and Megan Whitacre of Paris; Brittany Evans, Brittney Gilman, Ashley Reed and Lauren Samuelson of South Vermillion; Victoria Goetz and Kayla Irwin of North Central; Brittney Hall of West Vigo; Cassandra Holdaway of Shakamak; Sara Julian of Riverton Parke; Erica Lee of Northview; and Micah York of Owen Valley.
Lots of potential captains are on the Most Promising Team, so I’ll go with the one I saw who was farthest along in her first varsity season — Carmela Roeschlein of Clay City.
Others with bright futures are Jenny Barnhill of North; Erin Barton, Jorden Brown and Cassidy Carlson of West Vigo; Mikayla Crane of Shakamak; Elizabeth Dickey and Sheldan Falls of Riverton Parke; Abby Garner and Casey West of North Vermillion; Cheyenne Goodman of Union; Ariel Hester and Megan Stone of North Central; Holly Hopkins and Kirsten Weaver of Turkey Run; Hannah Lee of South; Abby Reed of Clay City; Chelsey Sampson of Northview; and Hilary Woodard of Rockville.
Captains of the Most Improved Team stepped into tough situations for top-10 teams and proved to be standouts, not fill-ins: Haley Seibert of South all season long, and Jordan Hunt of Turkey Run in tournament play.
Others who came on strong were Megan Barnes of LInton; Carlee Bell, Kirstin Kimball and Kelsey Searing of Northview; Devyn Bridgewater and Allie Miller of Clay City; Morgan Burgess and Hilary Vukovits of Rockville; Chelsea Dailey, Rosa Gossett and Andrea Jenkinson of Riverton Parke; Nasya Dietz and Kayla Ennen of South; Maria Drake and Amber Kemp of North Central; Jordan English and Adrienne Strohm of Marshall; Mack Evans of Owen Valley; Meghan Francis of Turkey Run; Danielle Ketner of North; Sherry Link and Desiree Thomas of South Vermillion; Breanna Marrs of West Vigo; Madison Martin of Paris; Shayna Nicol and Ashli Scott of Union; and Kristi Pearson of Shakamak.
My Left-handed Team is a little young this year. Its captain is a senior, Megan Whitacre of Paris, but Sheldan Falls of Riverton Parke, Lindy Jones of North, Shayna Nicol of Union and Mikaela Silcock of West Vigo will be complemented by some younger players I’ve seen recently: Tasia Brewer and Emma Sappington of Woodrow Wilson, Cami Lee of Honey Creek and Baylee Waters of West Vigo Middle School.
• • •
Other stuff:
• Dedication — The Wabash Valley Football Coaches Association (which is a pretty good example of dedication itself, if you want to know the truth) will dedicate its Hall of Fame at its new permanent location, the Springhill location of First Financial Bank, at 2 p.m. April 2.
• Referees working — Semistate referees last week from the Wabash Valley Officials Association were Greg Hayes and Michael Stoffers at Winchester vs. Brownstown Central; Rick Gentry at Franklin Central vs. Bloomington South; P.J. Pitts at Jac-Cen-Del vs. North Daviess; and Mark Hopper at Greensburg vs. Princeton.
Kudos to Mike Stoffers and P.J. Pitts, who will be working at the state finals on Saturday. P.J. gets two pats on the back, because he also worked the girls state finals last month.
Andy Amey can be reached after 4 p.m. for comments or news items at (812) 231-4277 or at 1-800-783-8742; 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: Familiar Valley names highlight girls Amey Awards
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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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