TERRE HAUTE —
OK, so Terre Haute South edged Terre Haute North 3-2 on Sept. 11 when junior Krishan Kumar pulled out a three-set victory for the Braves at No. 2 singles.
But four days later, North finished one position higher than South — fourth and fifth respectively — in the always-tough Metropolitan Interscholastic Conference (MIC) championships at Ben Davis.
Last Saturday, the Braves did knock off No. 5-ranked Brebeuf 3-2 (on the same day North lost to Brebeuf 3-2). And they sit at No. 23 in the state rankings (North is unranked), so that probably makes them a slight favorite to win the Terre Haute South Sectional for boys high school tennis, which starts today and ends Saturday.
But when South (11-3) and North (8-5) square off against each other, which is on the revised schedule for 9 a.m. Saturday, who really knows what will happen?
Actually, one thing is known — the survivor will advance to the sectional championship match, now slated for 2 p.m. Saturday.
The opponent very well could be North Central, which owns a 12-1 record and a pair of 5-0 regular-season triumphs over Sullivan, its first-round foe today at 5 p.m.
West Vigo, which lost to North Central 4-1 early in the season, will face the North Central-Sullivan winner at 9 a.m. Saturday for the right to compete in the final match.
“Obviously, one of the three smaller schools is going to be in the championship match,” North Central coach John Caton mentioned Tuesday. “In our situation, we’ve got a chance to win two matches before playing North or South.”
But playing North or South in boys tennis usually means the end of the road for the Wabash Valley’s smaller schools, so there will be plenty of attention focused on the Braves’ courts Saturday morning when the sectional title is likely to be determined by the two big schools.
“It should be a good [North-South] match,” predicted South coach Bill Blankenbaker, who has made a few lineup changes since the MIC championships. “I like our chances in a lot of the matches.”
Blankenbaker anticipates another strong showing from his No. 1 singles player, sophomore Nathan Bogle, who defeated North senior Tate Egan 6-1, 6-1 in their regular-season clash. Also worth noting, however, is that Egan defeated Brebeuf’s Mark Kite 6-2, 6-3 Saturday and Bogle lost to Kite 5-7, 6-2, 6-3.
“[Egan] beat a Brebeuf guy who’s pretty good,” North coach Bob Denny said, “so he’s feeling confident going in.”
Denny warned that the North-South final score from Sept. 11 is not guaranteed to be repeated.
“Ever since the South match, we’ve been playing better,” he pointed out. “But it’s going to be a dog fight.”
Denny is concerned about the health of senior Alex Farmer, whose knee buckled in practice last week. If Farmer is unable to join partner Sam Wolf at No. 1 doubles, senior Gabe Savigny will continue to fill his spot.
“Hopefully, we’ll get [Farmer] back for Saturday,” Denny added.
The Patriots’ coach noted that all five of his team’s losses have been to ranked opponents. North is coming off a 5-0 victory at Crawfordsville on Monday.
Meanwhile, South’s three winners against Brebeuf a few days ago were Kumar at No. 2 singles, senior Alex Barksdale at No. 3 singles (which North did not see during its regular-match with the Braves) and freshman Luke Yeagley and sophomore Trace Harruff at No. 2 doubles (also a new look for North).
But Blankenbaker won’t be changing a thing at No. 1 singles.
“I think Nathan’s been playing very well,” the Braves’ coach assessed. “He’s been playing a heckuva lot of good players lately. I like the way he’s playing right now.”
Other boys tennis sectionals involving Valley teams will take place this week at Northview, Crawfordsville and North Daviess.
High School
Related Photos
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Take that: Terre Haute North's Ethan Caldwell strokes a forehand to Krishan Kumar in their doubles match earlier this month. (Tribune-Star/Jim Avelis)
Discussion
North, South boys sectional meeting a tossup
Play starts today; Pats, Braves meet Saturday
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Softball sectionals up for grabs
All three Vigo County high schools and Northview appear to have a realistic chance of winning sectional championships in softball this week.
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West Vigo softball holds off nemesis Edgewood in softball sectional
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Terre Haute North looking strong going into girls track regional
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The Patriots are as well-rounded as they’ve ever been, and two relay teams are state contenders with times ranking No. 2 in Indiana among times recorded all spring.
Terre Haute South, Northview and Sullivan have athletes among the contenders in multiple events as well. -
Vikings win in extra innings at Rockville
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TH South beats Northview in Big Four makeup baseball game
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Olds pitches South to share of MIC baseball title
Friday night, winning the second game 5-0 and earning a share of the Metropolitan Interscholastic Conference high school baseball title.
Damon Olds was dominant on the mound for the Braves, striking out 14 and walking just one while pitching a three-hit shutout. -
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The second game, which started after Senior Night festivities between games, ended past the Tribune-Star deadline. -
PREP ROUNDUP: Calleja pitches West Vigo past South Vermillion
Brandon Calleja had 13 strikeouts to lead West Vigo to a 5-1 victory against South Vermillion in high school baseball Friday.
Brandon Behringer went 2 for 4 with two RBI for the Vikings, who secured second place in the Western Indiana Conference.
Kaden Lawson had double for South Vermillion (15-7), which finished 4-2 in the WIC. -
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His baseball equivalent might be Rick Sutcliffe of the 1984 Chicago Cubs.
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South switches up lineup to defeat North in tennis sectional
Terre Haute South coach Bill Blankenbaker said two weeks ago that he would change the Braves’ lineup after the 3-2 dual-meet loss to Terre Haute North.
The Patriots knew it was coming, but they couldn’t do anything to stop it. -
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PREP ROUNDUP: North and South to face off for tennis sectional title
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Terre Haute North gets 10 event victories to claim 12th straight sectional crown
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North, South to meet in first round of baseball sectional
The Indiana High School Athletic Association announced pairings for the baseball state tournament Tuesday and the draw offered up a Vigo County battle in the opening game.
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PREP ROUNDUP: West Vigo softball clinches share of WIC title
West Vigo clinched at least a share of the Western Indiana Conference softball title with a 6-4 victory over Edgewood on Tuesday.
Jacy McClain and Bailee Waters had RBI singles in the fourth inning to break the game open for the Vikings. -
Track sectional titles on the line
Expect one heck of a high school dual track meet Thursday night when Wabash Valley boys visit Terre Haute North for sectional action.
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Prep report: Patriots, Braves favored to advance from tennis sectional 1st round
Persons attending this week’s girls tennis sectional championship match at Terre Haute North might want to pack a lunch.
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Local ADs happy to see spring come to a close
Brian Mancuso is the most experienced of the high school athletic directors in Vigo County — and that’s a very relative term — but even he wasn’t quite ready for the headaches that have accompanied spring sports the last few weeks thanks to rain, rain and more rain.
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South baseball remains in first-place tie with Center Grove
Heading into Saturday’s Metropolitan Interscholastic Conference baseball doubleheader against Center Grove, coach Kyle Kraemer of Terre Haute South wasn’t completely optimistic.
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Kehrt Award goes to Emily Bell, Lee Davis
Emily Bell of Terre Haute South and Lee Davis of Terre Haute North are the 2013 recipients of the Willard M. Kehrt Mental Attitude Award.
Bell and Davis were nominated by their schools and chosen in a vote by the Kehrt Award panel. Both will be recognized at awards assemblies later in the month at the schools.
Bell played varsity basketball four years at South and is competing in track this season, running the 800 and two relays. “I wanted something to do my senior year,” Bell said.
She plans to attend DePauw University and play basketball. DePauw is the reigning NCAA Division III champ in women's basketball.
Bell tore an AÇL playing in a basketball tournament the summer after her sophomore season. She missed most of her junior season but came back to play her senior year and was second leading scorer and leading rebounder her final season.
Bell also was leading rebounder her sophomore year. -
South softball's power display earns Braves share of MIC
The fun that the Terre Haute South high school softball team had Saturday — including those five home runs — was all the result of the hard work the Braves had put in before the game, coach Dwayne Stout said after the game.
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Pirtle takes medalist, leads Sullivan to WIC title
Sullivan took team and individual honors in the Western Indiana Conference boys high school golf championships played Saturday at Idle Creek.
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Prep roundup: Patriots drop doubleheader to Carmel baseball
Host Terre Haute North saw its Metropolitan Interscholastic Conference baseball championship hopes suffer what was probably a fatal blow on Saturday as the Patriots lost a doubleheader to Carmel by scores of 8-7 and 11-8.
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Timely hits: After slow start, Terre Haute North rallies to beat Mooresville
No-hit through three innings, Terre Haute North’s bats came alive — especially Sam Wolf’s — just in time to rally for a 4-2 home victory over Mooresville in high school baseball Friday evening at Jennings Field.
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Linton’s Weber to coach at BNL
Bedford North Lawrence High School has announced that Steve Weber will be the Stars’ head coach for the 2013 season.
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Freshman group adds to Big Four teams' baseball tradition
The Terre Haute North-Terre Haute South high school baseball series wasn’t an inning old last week before T.J. Collett of the Patriots lashed a run-scoring single.
That hit helped the Patriots take a 2-0 lead, but in the top of the second inning a three-run double by Justin Jenkins sparked the visiting Braves to a four-run inning.
North tied the score in the bottom of the second inning, Collett driving in another run. And just before rain caused the game to be suspended, South called Logan Ames in from its bullpen for some solid pitching.
Not bad for a trio of freshmen. And the weekend hadn’t even started yet. -
Pairings drawn for high school softball sectionals
The IHSAA announced Thursday its pairings for the 2013 sectional softball tournament slated for May 20-25.
Regionals will take place May 28. -
North boys make it three consecutive Vigo County golf titles
Terre Haute North made it three in a row in Vigo County boys high school golf championship action Wednesday at Hulman Links.
The Patriots shot 161 to edge Terre Haute South with 165. West Vigo carded 222. -
PREP ROUNDUP: Wolf homers as North baseball wins 16th game
Terre Haute North erupted for seven runs in the third inning on its way to routing visiting White River Valley 14-1 in 41⁄2 innings of high school baseball Wednesday afternoon at Don Jennings Field.
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Northview's Carter strikes out 19 in 10-inning win against South Vermillion
Northview’s Taylor Carter and South Vermillion’s Daphne Dunegan locked into a 10-inning all-star softball pitching duel Tuesday night at Northview High School.
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