WEST TERRE HAUTE — The Hi-99 Terre Haute Savings Bank Classic was good to both Terre Haute South and Terre Haute North during Wednesday’s opening night of the 9th annual tournament.
But neither the Braves nor the Patriots had an easy night.
South was in control in its 63-44 victory over South Vermillion, but the Wildcats were within striking range for longer than the Braves would have liked. North forced 29 turnovers in its 50-36 win over Northview, but the Knights were within seven points of the Patriots late in the fourth quarter.
South (1-0) and North (2-0) will play each other in Saturday’s 10 a.m. semifinal. South Vermillion (0-1) and Northview (0-1) will play on Friday in the consolation round at either 6 p.m. or 7 p.m.
The game time in contingent on whether Fountain Central advances tonight against North Central as the Mustangs’ football team plays in a regional against Linton on Friday night.
If the Mustangs lose, their consolation round game will be played Saturday after the two morning semifinals. In that case, there will be one game on Friday at 7 p.m. If Fountain Central wins tonight, they would play Saturday and the pre-arranged schedule would remain unaltered.
Here’s a review of Wednesday’s two games:
n TH South 63, South Vermillion 44 — The Braves had radical roster turnover after they finished 18-2 in 2009. Haley Seibert is the only returning starter and none of the rest of the Braves have extensive varsity experience.
Given that, South coach Dave Cassell was happy with South’s debut in a game where the Braves enforced their will at times on South Vermillion, but also, let the Wildcats have momentum at times to keep themselves in the game.
“I like how hard they played. Sometimes they got out of position, sometimes they reached too much, but overall we did what we wanted to do defensively. Offensively, we got into scoring situations, a lot of times we just didn’t finish,” Cassell said. “We’ll be patient with them. They work hard and we’re just glad to have a group like that.”
Freshman Emily Bell made her debut and she played well. Along with Seibert, she co-led the Braves with 18 points as she made 4 of 8 from 3-point range. Tasia Brewer also made her high school debut and had four steals.
Hannah Lee, who spelled graduated Dragana Grbic last year in the middle, now anchors the middle for the Braves. She had 12 points and 13 rebounds. Seibert had seven assists.
South used its full-court pressure to force five Wildcat turnovers in the first quarter to build a 14-2 advantage. However, South Vermillion finished the quarter on a 9-3 run to slice South’s advantage to 17-11.
The Braves countered with a 14-4 run to start the second quarter to build a 31-15 lead, only to have the Wildcats regain composure to make it 37-24 at halftime.
“We didn’t quit and that was a key and that’s what is good about this group,” South Vermillion coach Tim Terry said.
The gap was maintained by South throughout the second half. The Braves ultimately forced 18 South Vermillion turnovers.
South Vermillion was led by Allie Milam, who gave up several inches to Lee inside, but still managed 11 points and a game-high 14 rebounds.
n TH North 50, Northview 36 — Turnovers were the dominant theme as the two teams combined to give the ball away 48 times. The Patriots prevailed because they forced 16 of Northview’s 29 turnovers in the second and third quarters, completely stifling the Knights’ offense. Northview scored just 11 points in the two quarters.
“We were able to force turnovers and score from them to get us a cushion. It really helped us in the end,” North coach Mike Allen said.
With a team that has just three seniors, Northview coach LuAnne Anderson expected a bit of a bumpy road, but not as rough as it was on Wednesday.
“Turnovers absolutely killed us. We expect a high turnover ratio with an inexperienced team in their first game of the season, but we don’t expect [29] turnovers,” Anderson said.
The Knights started well, making 50 percent from the field in the first quarter to take a 14-11 lead. However, North kept the defensive pressure up, forced turnovers, and Northview wilted. In addition to its turnover woes, the Knights made just 3 of 15 from the field in the second and third quarters.
North built its lead to 38-19 at one point during that span, but when Northview put full-court pressure on the Patriots in the second half, the worm turned. North had 12 of its 19 turnovers in the second half and also began to struggle from the field, making just 3 of 21 from the field after halftime, including no field goals in the fourth quarter.
Northview twice cut its deficit to seven — a Megan Seeley bucket with 2:23 left made it 43-36 — but the Knights couldn’t break through. North made 7 of 10 free throws in the final 1:47 to seal its victory.
North’s inside duo of Nicole Anderson and Mary Kate Etling paid big dividends for North. Anderson led the Patriots with 14 points and also had nine rebounds. Etling had 12 rebounds and three blocks. Between them, they outrebounded Northview’s individual rebounders combined.
“It’s nice to have two big girls, it’s a luxury we haven’t had since Molly Martin and Samantha Meissel played [both graduated in 2007]. We kind of challenged them today about rebounding. We thought Turkey Run hurt us on the boards [in North’s 40-38 win on Tuesday], they probably shouldn’t have. They took the challenge and stepped up,” Allen said.
Lauren Webster paced Northview with nine points. Emily Phillips had nine rebounds.
High School
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JOSEPH C. GARZA
Discussion
North, South girls basketball teams win
- High School
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Shining Knights: Northview tops both TH teams for title
A high school baseball game that had been tense all the way through reached angina-producing heights at the end Monday night, as Northview ended Terre Haute South’s sectional championship run by a single run and a fraction of an inch.
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Miners beat 2A newcomer for 3rd straight title
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South hangs on after scary moment in sectional semis
Terre Haute South’s bid for a sixth consecutive high school baseball sectional championship took a scary turn Monday afternoon.
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PREP/METRO ROUNDUP: Turkey Run rolls to title
Turkey Run routed North Vermillion 15-2 to capture the Class A Rockville Sectional championship for high school baseball Monday night.
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Eaton’s pair of long balls put Linton in title game
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It’s a rivalry-filled Memorial Day for sectional contenders
Longtime rivalries figure to determine high school baseball sectional champions throughout the Wabash Valley today, with semifinal and final games scheduled at four sites and a stand-alone championship game at a fifth.
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South tops Oldenburg to win tennis semistate
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New route leads to same place for South girls tennis
For so many years, the road to the IHSAA girls tennis state finals for local teams ran through Vincennes (regional) and Jasper (semistate). In other words, south and more south.
This year, their trip was re-routed through Greencastle (regional) and Center Grove (semistate). So it cnahged to east and more east. -
PREP ROUNDUP: Robinson tops Greenville in sectional semifinal
Robinson jumped to a 3-0 lead in the top of the first inning, then cruised to a convincing 12-3 victory over Greenville in a IHSA Class 2A Vandalia sectional semifinal game on Thursday.
Ashlyn Sullivan was 2 for 3 with a double, home run and three RBIs to lead the winning Maroons. -
West Vigo baseball falls in sectional to Owen Valley
West Vigo overcame the odds to win 20 high school baseball games this season with a lineup that often included four freshmen and few seniors.
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South Vermillion softball's late-season surge comes to end
A late-season surge by South Vermillion wasn’t quite enough to halt a high school softball sectional winning streak by the host team Thursday night, as Edgewood got on top early and held on for a 5-2 win in the championship game of the Class 3A Edgewood Sectional.
The loss was just the second in the last 12 games for the Wildcats. The Mustangs, however, haven’t lost a sectional softball game for eight years in a row. -
South takes second, North third at boys track regional
Terre Haute South finished second and Terre Haute North third on Thursday night at the boys track and field regional at Evansville Central, with 11 individuals and three relay teams qualifying for the state finals June 2.
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PREP ROUNDUP: White River Valley baseball holds off Eminence
Three Eminence errors in the top of the sixth inning finally enabled White River Valley to score in high school baseball Thursday night, and the Wolverines went on to a 5-0 win in Class A Shakamak Sectional action.
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Feeling cursed: South bitten in sectional final again
Terre Haute South softball is not even close to being as cursed as a certain northside baseball team in Chicago, but it might just seem like it.
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PREP ROUNDUP: Mundy, Porter, Knight individual regional winners
Chanli Mundy and Keirra Porter of Terre Haute North were among the individual winners in the IHSAA Evansville Central girls track and field regional that ended late Tuesday night.
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Thornton puts away South Vermillion
Cody Thornton’s three-run blast over the left-field fence was the finishing touch to West Vigo’s 10-3 victory over South Vermillion in the opening game of the Class 3A Greencastle Sectional on Wednesday.
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Lakers triumph, go home for regional
Shakamak took Class A Clay City Sectional honors in high school softball for the first time since 2009 Wednesday, defeating White River Valley 9-5 in the title tilt.
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North Vermillion avenges losses
North Vermillion avenged two high school softball losses during the regular season to win the Class A Riverton Parke Sectional championship Wednesday with a 3-2 triumph over the host Panthers.
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Pats, Knights will meet in sectional
Adler Ingalsbe pooh-poohed his lack of velocity Wednesday night, yet the Terre Haute North pitcher was throwing BBs in the first game compared to Mooresville’s Brandon Topie in the nightcap.
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South outbattles Northview to reach sectional final
Even the best of high school softball pitchers can’t keep all the batters in the middle of Terre Haute South’s lineup down.
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Panthers get 20th win in sectional
Riverton Parke will face North Vermillion in the Class A softball sectional championship at Riverton Parke today, with action commencing at 6 p.m.
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Plainfield Sectional all about parity
Considering Terre Haute South has won five consecutive Class 4A sectional titles in high school baseball, naming the Braves as favorites to capture the 2012 Class 4A Plainfield Sectional would not seem far-fetched.
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PREP ROUNDUP: North Vermillion in title game
Casey West had a triple and three runs scored to help North Vermillion softball advance to the championship game of the Class A Riverton Parke Sectional on Tuesday.
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North takes second in track regional
Terre Haute North finished second with 74 points, six behind team champion Evansville Reitz, during the Evansville Central girls track and field regional that ended late Tuesday night.
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Wildcats advance to sectional softball final; West Vigo falls
Patience, patience.
South Vermillion exhibited great patience, being very selective at the plate and it paid off royally in the fourth inning. -
South, Crawfordsville win in regional tennis semis
Terre Haute South outlasted Fountain Central 4-1 in the first round of the girls high school tennis regional Tuesday, advancing the Braves into today’s championship match against Crawfordsville.
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Braves, Knights open with wins
It was an excellent night for starting softball pitchers to help their own cause Monday night in the Class 4A Northview Sectional.
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Lough dreamt about McMillan
A two-time state finalist in wrestling and a two-time all-Metropolitan Interscholastic Conference football player and wrestler, Tsali Lough of Terre Haute South was named the male recipient of the 2012 McMillan Award on Monday night at South’s Senior Awards Night.
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PREP ROUNDUP: Panthers cruise in sectional opener
Sarah Burnham pitched a two-hit shutout with 10 strikeouts in high school softball Monday evening as host Riverton Parke defeated defending champion Rockville 10-0 in opening-round action at the Class A Riverton Parke Sectional.
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Notable tradition bodes well for Riverton Parke
Located practically in the shadow of a high school that sets one state standard in track and field, Riverton Parke has a tendency to be overlooked in that sport.
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