We’ve already talked about what a wonderful season of high school basketball we were blessed with recently, so while the Amey family is packing its bags for spring break — look for a recap of central Missouri in a couple of weeks — you can enjoy the Amey Awards.
One captain of the Clutch Team had already been selected by the end of December, for the many different things he accomplished and for the fact that he’d do all of them at the most crucial moments of the game. That Mike Conley-like performance was turned in by Jordan Pearson of West Vigo, whose co-captain — to no one’s surprise — is Jake Odum of Terre Haute South.
But as good a way as any to evaluate the recent season is to look at this list of clutch performers who weren’t captains: Donnie Abrams and Bobby Swaby of North Central; Austin Akers of Northview; Chase Brinkley of Paris; Colin Brown and Jake Weaver of Turkey Run; Tyler Collier and Randy Lientz of Owen Valley; Jacob Duncan and Lucas Eitel of Marshall; Jordan Hickam and Wade Huber of Greencastle; B.J. Howard of Union; Ben Jones and Meyers Leonard of Robinson; Zach Jumps and Jacob Rankin of North Vermillion; Will Kennedy and Kyler Rhodes of Clay City; R.J. Mahurin of Rockville; Billy Newton of Shakamak; and Josh Wilson of Riverton Parke. Those are some pretty good players.
He wasn’t the best player on his team, but he was the indispensable one. West Vigo can’t win 19 games unless somebody like Jeremy Lucas plays big around the basket, which is why he and another undersized but never outhustled inside player, Jarrid McLaughlin of Riverton Parke, are captains of the Competitors Team.
Other battlers were Thomas Anderson and Daniel Gabbard of Terre Haute North; Chris Babcock of Bloomfield; Justin Bartrum and Tyler Lewis of Greencastle; Jordan Borders, Jordan Langford, Ethan Stanifer and Jarred VanHorn of Shakamak; A.J. Boyll and Dylan Walker of North Central; Seth Brewer, Riley Scales, Kirk Shawver, Mitch Snyder and Chris Unzicker of Casey; Ryan Buchhaas, Jacob Harrison and Kody Lenhart of North Vermillion; Logan Chesterfield and Dustin Howard of Union; Keith Cunningham, Jordan Tharp and Jake Tibbett of Linton; Jordan Defore and Levi Seymour of Clay City; Taylor Duncan, Logan Eitel and Dalton Sanders of Marshall; Derek Hannahs of Robinson; Logan Henness and Avery Mason of Paris; Jeremy Hudson, Cody Meyer and Jake Montgomery of Tri-County; John Michael Jarvis and Chris Rose of South; Josh Karr of Turkey Run; Matt King and David Parsons of Rockville; Trent Lancaster and Hunter Robertson of Northview; Dustin Lawson and Kyle Yeargin of Riverton Parke; Cody Mumaw, Dylan Reyher and Andy Walsh of South Vermillion; Zach Roth of Owen Valley; Thad Thompson of Sullivan; and Tyler Wampler of West Vigo.
You wouldn’t think it would be easy — by definition — to pick a captain of the Unsung Team, but Rockville’s Josh Reed set the perfect example for role-players everywhere.
Others like him included Kaleb Barnhart, Kruz Kusterman and Clinton Scott of Casey; Billy Bettis, Tyler Bradburn and Aaron Bridge of Rockville; Tyler Bishop, Trey Brashear, Dustin Morey, Jake Tucker and Austin Wetnight of Marshall; Blane Boyd, Jacob Phegley, Tanner Reynolds and Michael Talpas of Union; Dreyson Boyd, Dalton Hiatt, Austin Nash and Jordan Turner of Sullivan; Ethan Clark and Scott Leigh of North Vermillion; Austin Cook and Jathan Davies of Turkey Run; Ryan Crowther and Brodey McCalister of West Vigo; Derrik Enstrom and Storm Lindsay of North Central; Andrew Gauer and Jordan Mauk of North; Ross Gentry, Chase Rhoten and Stefan Sparks of Linton; Dayton Gobert, Sean Hollows and Cody Vest of Owen Valley; Jarret Hastings of South Vermillion; Orry Heffner and Logan Higgins of Clay City; Graham Helms, Ricky Tally and Gavin Thompson of Bloomfield; Jeremy Helton of Riverton Parke; T.J. Hill of Shakamak; Jason Hollis of Paris; Stephen Jones, Brandon Shaw and Austin Siler of Robinson; Bobby McKenna and Ike Worrell of South; Patrick Miller and Curtis Washburn of Tri-County; Griffin Moore and Kyle Nobles of Greencastle; and Clint Reynolds of Northview.
Captains of the Unselfish Team are a pair of seniors who were team-first all the way, one of them — Jake Smith of Sullivan — for four years of varsity play. His co-captain is Zach Walls of Paris.
Other selfless players included Jacob Allen and Carter Morgan of North Vermillon; Jordan Allen, Jordan Keller and Brad Wilson of Northview; Jordan Arford and Mitch Hobson of Bloomfield; Adam Austin and Nate Housley of South; Ryan Cash and Logan Spung of Paris; Jordan Caylor of South Vermillion; Jared Clapp, Jimmy Clifton and Jacob Richardson of Tri-County; Phil Compton and Jarrod Wrightsman of Turkey Run; Ethan Delp of Marshall; J.D. Fish of Linton; Kyle Herbert, Brandt Warner and Woody Worland of Owen Valley; Keaton Langley and Jacob Wilkes of Union; Eric Lear of Rockville; Brett Livvix and Ryan Shull of Casey; Graham Shuee of Greencastle; Jacob Stevenson of Shakamak; Brett Taylor and Scott Weatherford of North; and Derek Watson of Robinson.
Most self-explanatory this season are the captains of the Most Improved Team, who merely stepped in as seniors with little varsity experience and played huge roles in teams that won 40 games — Ian McIntyre of South and Joel Modesitt of West Vigo.
Others who got better were David Bedwell of Sullivan; Jonathan Bradshaw, Jacob Musgrave and Trent Sims of Northview; Fred Brust of Union; Sean Burton, Lucas Mackey and Scott West of West Vigo; Lucas Clark of North Vermillion; Jordan Crowe, Tyler Richardson and John Smith of Shakamak; Spencer Davies, Seth Marshall and Jon Sowers of Turkey Run; John Dayton, Taylor Haddix and Zach Henn of Paris; Justin Gant, Zach Harrison, Chase Jones and Jerrel Thompson of North; Braxton Griffith and D.J. Newton of Clay City; Dylan Haltom, Patrick Harpenau and Logan Laswell of South Vermillion; Daniel Hardesty of Riverton Parke; Kyle Harlan and Ashton Marshall of Greencastle; Logan Hennecke, Corbin Rehmel and John Stefancik of North Central; Drew Kelley, Caleb McMullen and Sam Wake of Rockville; Evan Magni of Linton; Anthony McGill and Jacob Tanoos of South; Ian Mitchell and Eric Vaughn of Riverton Parke; Ross Rhoades of Tri-County; Kurt Schulte of Bloomfield; and Aaron White of Owen Valley.
I’d been looking forward to seeing this year’s captain of the Most Promising Team for a long time, and he was much better than I’d expected. That’s Rhett Smith of Sullivan, of course.
Others who could be great are Tommie Bolden, Jordan Marshall and Ross Sponsler of North; Logan Cannady and Jordan Grooms of Marshall; James Craigmyle and Kevin McMasters of South Vermillion; Trent Collins and Tyler Talpas of Union; Lance Elliott, James Lisman and Caleb Turner of Sullivan; Tyler Gilstrap of Owen Valley; Josh Griffin and Dalten Temples of Paris; Jacob Hayn of Turkey Run; Jordan Houser and Cody Thornton of West Vigo; Nick Hutcheson, Spencer Moore and Keegan Remsburg of Greencastle; Damon Hyatt, Caleb Mershon and Jordan VanHorn of Northview; Cody Jeffries and Clint White of Rockville; Gary Secuskie and Cody Vauters of Riverton Parke; Jermaine Smith and Lemuel Young of South; Caleb Stuppy of Linton; DeJohn Walden of Holy Cross; and Brandon Wilson of Tri-County.
And for captain of the Left-handed Team (remember, all of us can shoot) I’ll take the guy who hit one of the biggest shots in the big Marshall season, Taylor Duncan. He’ll team with Ryan Crowther and Cole Lydick of West Vigo; Zach Henn of Paris; Jordan Hickam of Greencastle; Jordan Keller of Northview; Seth Marshall and Jarrod Wrightsman of Turkey Run; Austin Nash and Caleb Turner of Sullivan; Cory Slaven of Bloomfield; Bobby Swaby of North Central; and Jarred VanHorn of Shakamak.
• Addition — Take the honorable-mention list from the all-Wabash Valley boys team that ran a week or so ago and add one more name to it. DeJohn Walden of Holy Cross finished as the state’s ninth-leading scorer at 24.8 points per game, had 5.6 rebounds a game, shot nearly 40 percent from 3-point range and was 78 percent at the foul line — as a freshman.
• Hate to mention this — Jordan Hulls of Bloomington South is the Gatorade Player of the Year (although Odum would’ve been my choice).
• Better news — Indiana State recruit Taylor Whitley of Geneva was fourth in the Illinois Miss Basketball balloting. The winner was a freshman, Morgan Tuck of Bolingbrook.
• Non-basketball item — In the first outdoor track meet of the 2009 season for Grand Valley State, Shakamak graduate Anthony Witt had a national-qualifying time of 30:44.51 in the 10,000-meter run.
• NFHS honorees — Soon to be inducted into the National Federation of High Schools Hall of Fame are legendary football coach Dick Dullaghan, most recently of Ben Davis, and four-time Illinois girls cross country champion Dana Miroballi. Other recognizable names are Bob Hurley, longtime basketball coach at St. Anthony in New Jersey, and former Houston Westchester pitcher David Clyde.
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
What team did you make on the Amey 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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