When South Vermillion and Sullivan meet Feb. 26 in the final regular-season boys high school basketball game for both teams, it could decide the Western Indiana Conference championship.
As could any of the other 20 games this winter between WIC teams. The league is that balanced, and having six of its seven teams in the same sectional appears to set up a pretty exciting postseason too.
The Wildcats and Golden Arrows are attacking the situation from opposite perspectives. Sullivan has what coach Jeff Moore calls “probably the youngest team since I’ve been here,” while South Vermillion unquestionably has the most experienced team Rodney Idlewine has been able to enjoy in his coaching tenure there.
n South Vermillion — Idlewine basically has six returning starters from a 7-15 team a year ago, and most of them have been regulars since he arrived as the school’s coach for the 2007-2008 season.
Patrick Harpenau, a 6-foot-3 senior, was the leading scorer for the Wildcats last winter and Andy Walsh, another 6-3 senior, led South Vermillion in scoring as a sophomore.
Other starters last season were 5-7 senior Logan Laswell, 6-0 senior Cody Mumaw and 5-9 junior Dylan Reyher, and 6-3 senior Jerret Hastings was a regular as a sophomore who missed almost all of last year with an injury.
The Wildcats haven’t gotten appreciably taller over the past three years, but they’ve gotten a lot stronger.
“We have some strong, medium-sized kids,” Idlewine agreed recently, “and we’ve got a lot of experience. Some of these seniors have played [varsity basketball] for four years, and all of them have played for at least three.”
South Vermillion has enjoyed just 13 wins over the last two seasons. That could be a starting point for this year’s team.
“We got a lot better last year,” Idlewine said. “We were 7-15, but we lost five games by two points and in two others we were ahead at the half.”
Adding to the mix this year are two more experienced and athletic reserves, 6-4 junior James Craigmyle and 6-2 junior Dion Scott. Two more juniors, 5-10 newcomer Scott Johansen and 5-9 Dylan Haltom, are also in the mix and three sophomores — 5-11 Brad Chambers, 6-3 Phillip Harpenau and 6-2 Josh Vaughan — may be able to help too.
“We’ve gotten a lot better defensively,” Idlewine said. “Our key this year is sharing the ball and making sacrifices. We don’t want anyone to feel they have to be trigger-happy.”
n Sullivan — Moore has a good pair of starting guards returning in 6-0 senior Dreyson Boyd and 5-11 junior David Bedwell. Trent Moody, a 6-0 junior, is playing basketball for the first time in several years.
The eight other Arrows are sophomores. That’s not necessarily bad news.
One of those sophomores, 6-7 Rhett Smith, is already one of the best players — and most highly recruited players — in the Wabash Valley. He averaged 12 points and 7.5 rebounds per game last year, led the Arrows in blocked shots and is basically an extra guard.
The rest — 6-1 Caleb Turner, 6-0 James Lisman, 5-10 Lance Ellett, 5-11 Caleb Pirtle, 5-5 Gavin Marx, 5-11 Ryan Vernelson and 6-0 Bryce Bement — should be an entertaining nucleus of the team for the next three seasons. All of them but Smith made up a 15-5 junior varsity team last winter.
“They’re very athletic, very talented, and they play hard,” Moore said of this edition of the Golden Arrows. “We may be able to play a little different style this year — the kind I like to play, to be honest.”
That’s probably an indication that Sullivan will get up and down the court a little faster this year.
“This sophomore group is used to winning,” Moore noted. “A lot of these kids haven’t been in [a varsity] situation yet, but they’ll adjust.”
Sullivan finished 11-12 last year, the second straight losing season for a team that had been on the plus side of the ledger every season prior to that since an 11-11 campaign in 1994-95. Moore thinks it’s about time that losing streak came to an end.
“By the end of the year we’ll be all right,” he predicted.
South Vermillion roster
Player Ht. Yr.
Patrick Harpenau 6-3 Sr.
Jerret Hastings 6-3 Sr.
Logan Laswell 5-7 Sr.
Cody Mumaw 6-0 Sr.
Andy Walsh 6-3 Sr.
James Craigmyle 6-4 Jr.
Dylan Haltom 5-9 Jr.
Scott Johansen 5-10 Jr.
Dylan Reyher 5-9 Jr.
Dion Scott 6-2 Jr.
Brad Chambers 5-11 So.
Phillip Harpenau 6-3 So.
Josh Vaughan 6-2 So.
South Vermillion
schedule
Today — Clay City, 6 p.m.
Dec. 4 — At West Vigo (WIC), 7:30 p.m.
Dec. 11 — Owen Valley (WIC), 8 p.m.
Dec. 19 — At Greencastle, 6 p.m.
Dec. 26 — Pizza Hut Wabash Valley Classic at Terre Haute North, TBA
Dec. 28-30 — Pizza Hut Wabash Valley Classic at Terre Haute North, TBA
Jan. 8 — Edgewood (WIC), 7:30 p.m.
Jan. 9 — At Seeger, 6 p.m.
Jan. 15 — At Fountain Central, 6:30 p.m.
Jan. 16 — Cascade, 6 p.m.
Jan. 22 — At Northview (WIC), 7:30 p.m.
Jan. 29 — At Turkey Run, 6 p.m.
Jan. 30 — Brown County (WIC), 7:30 p.m.
Feb. 5 — North Vermillion, 6 p.m.
Feb. 6 — North Putnam, 6 p.m.
Feb. 11 — Rockville, 6 p.m.
Feb. 16 — South Putnam, 6 p.m.
Feb. 19 — At Riverton Parke, 7:30 p.m.
Feb. 20 — At Covington, 6 p.m.
Feb. 26 — At Sullivan (WIC), 6 p.m.
WIC — denotes Western Indiana Conference game
Sullivan roster
Player Ht. Yr.
Dreyson Boyd 6-0 Sr.
David Bedwell 5-11 Jr.
Trent Moody 6-0 Jr.
Bryce Bement 6-0 So.
Lance Ellett 5-10 So.
James Lisman 6-0 So.
Gavin Marx 5-5 So.
Caleb Pirtle 5-11 So.
Rhett Smith 6-7 So.
Caleb Turner 6-1 So.
Ryan Vernelson 5-11 So.
Sullivan schedule
Today — At South Knox, 6 p.m.
Dec. 4 — At Brown County (WIC), 8 p.m.
Dec. 5 — Shakamak, 6 p.m.
Dec. 11 — Union (Dugger), 6 p.m.
Dec. 12 — Greencastle, 6 p.m.
Dec. 18 — North Central, 6 p.m.
Dec. 19 — Washington, 6 p.m.
Dec. 22 — At Edgewood (WIC), 6 p.m.
Dec. 26 — Pizza Hut Wabash Valley Classic at Terre Haute North, TBA
Dec. 28-30 — Pizza Hut Wabash Valley Classic at Terre Haute North, TBA
Jan. 8 — At Bloomfield, 6 p.m.
Jan. 9 — At North Knox, 6:30 p.m.
Jan. 16 — At Vincennes Lincoln, 6:30 p.m.
Jan. 22 — Clay City, 6 p.m.
Jan. 23 — White River Valley, 6 p.m.
Jan. 29 — Northview (WIC), 7:30 p.m.
Feb. 5 — At Owen Valley (WIC), 8 p.m.
Feb. 11 — West Vigo (WIC), 6 p.m.
Feb. 20 — At Linton, 6 p.m.
Feb. 26 — South Vermillion (WIC), 6 p.m.
WIC — denotes Western Indiana Conference game
High School
Western Indiana Conference a well-balanced league
- High School
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South’s Lough to wrestle for state title
The day didn’t start in a promising fashion for Wabash Valley high school wrestlers at the Evansville Semistate in Ford Center on Saturday — but it got better as it went along.
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TERRE HAUTE NORTH SECTIONAL: Mooresville tops South for fourth straight title
For Terre Haute South High School girls basketball fans, it might sound good that the Braves did not miss a shot in the first four minutes of their Class 4A Terre Haute North Sectional championship game Saturday.
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BLOOMFIELD SECTIONAL: Sullivan rebounds from tough start for title
It’s not how you start, it’s how you finish.
Sullivan struggled mightily in the first half, eerily reminiscent of its eventual elimination in the final seconds of overtime by Edgewood in last year’s Class 3A girls basketball sectional. -
CLAY CITY SECTIONAL: Eels take third straight sectional crown
Clay City stood up to the pressure and to the Shakamak Lakers on Saturday night to win a third straight Class A sectional championship in the Eel Dome.
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NORTH VERMILLION SECTIONAL: Twenty years in the waiting
The Super Bowl came to a new city. A presidential election was ongoing. And Riverton Parke won a girls basketball sectional.
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PREP ROUNDUP: Rox clinch WRC
Class A No. 8-ranked Rockville knocked off Attica 50-35 in boys high school basketball Saturday afternoon, clinching the Wabash River Conference championship in the process.
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THN SECTIONAL: Braves to play Mooresville for sectional title tonight
Terre Haute South continued to show what’s new and Terre Haute North unfortunately reverted back to what’s old in Class 4A high school girls basketball sectional action Friday night at North.
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OWEN VALLEY SECTIONAL: Eagles bring Vikes down to earth
Baby steps. A baby takes that first step and grins, then attempts the second step and tumbles. The West Vigo High School girls took their first step with a victory Tuesday night in the Class 3A basketball sectional at Owen Valley.
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BLOOMFIELD SECTIONAL: Sullivan jumps to early lead in sectional victory
Sullivan jumped out to a 9-0 lead and were never threatened in a dominant 48-25 win over Eastern Greene in a semifinal game of the Class 2A Bloomfield girls basketball sectional inside Glover Gymnasium on Friday.
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North Vermillion Sectional: Panthers, Falcons to meet for NV title
Outstanding defense and quality passing landed Riverton Parke in the championship game of the Class A North Vermillion Sectional. The Panthers will have to get through the host school tonight in order to secure the program’s first sectional crown since 1992.
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South swimmers don’t advance at Finals
Terre Haute South’s trip to the IHSAA girls swimming state finals at the Indiana University Natatorium was a short one Friday night.
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South runs into talented North Central team
Terre Haute South players and coaches knew when they got off the bus Saturday afternoon that they couldn’t run with the Class 4A No. 3-ranked Indianapolis North Central Panthers.
But they tried anyway. -
BASKETBALL ROUNDUP: Duncan’s OT free throws help Marshall down H-P
Jacob Duncan hit four free throws in overtime Friday night as visiting Marshall defeated Hutsonville-Palestine 51-49 in Little Illini Conference action.
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O'Leary pours in career-high 34 for Terre Haute North
Matt O’Leary poured in a career-high 34 points, 17 in each half, to lead Terre Haute North to a dominant 69-46 home victory over Center Grove in Metropolitan Interscholastic Conference boys high school basketball Saturday afternoon.
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Davis hits layup in double overtime to lift Terre Haute North at Bloomington North
Playing without their two leading scorers against a team that — most of the time — seemed more determined to win than they did, Terre Haute North's Patriots got a driving layup from Steven Davis with 2.8 seconds left in the second overtime to escape Bloomington North with a 54-52 win in high school basketball Thursday night.
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Sullivan stays on top of WIC for third straight year
Western Indiana Conference boys basketball teams have been trying to storm the Sullivan castle for three years now. The Golden Arrows have endured nearly every kind of strategy in the effort to breech their wall. West Vigo tried a few more on Thursday in a showdown for the WIC championship.
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South girls looking for solid performances at swimming state finals
One individual and one relay team, which includes that same individual, will represent Terre Haute South in the IHSAA girls swimming state finals today and possibly Saturday at the Indiana University Natatorium in Indianapolis.
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PREP ROUNDUP: Cesinger, Jones each score 24 in Clay City win
Blake Cesinger and Brylan Jones poured in 24 points apiece to lead visiting Clay City over North Central 67-53 in SouthWestern Indiana Athletic Conference boys high school basketball Thursday night.
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Teutopolis knocks off record-setting Marshall girls in regional championship
Marshall jumped ahead 4-0 only to watch Teutopolis score the next 11 points Thursday in the championship game of the Class 2A Teutopolis Regional.
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Sullivan wins battle in low post
Sullivan dominated the low block at both ends of the court Wednesday to defeat South Knox 43-30.
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State wrestling berths won't come easily
If high school wrestlers thought regional competition was tough last weekend, they can expect the competition, as Keegan Michael Key used to say on MADtv, taken to “a whole notha level” on Saturday.
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South pulls upset
Plainfield’s 16-5 record made the Quakers the team to beat in the Class 4A Terre Haute North Sectional.
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Vikings break long sectional drought
You’ll have to forgive West Vigo for celebrating just a wee bit prior to the postgame handshake with South Vermillion, but its first victory in a sectional game in 11 years was worthy of celebrating.
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PREP ROUNDUP: RP rolls past Attica
Riverton Parke jumped to a 20-point halftime lead and easily defeated Attica 59-34 in the Class A North Vermillion girls basketball sectional on Tuesday.
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They’re the pride of Marshall
With a 24-1 record, coach Kathy Miller’s Marshall team earned the top seed in the Class 2A Teutopolis Regional.
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Union season more fun with Talpas around
The Union boys basketball team has had its share of fun moments in the past, arguably the most fun being its Class A state runner-up in 2000.
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Injury bug follows girls into postseason
Who’s healthy is the question at least three of the four teams will be asking tonight when Class 4A girls high school basketball sectional play begins at Terre Haute North.
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Rockville needs late run to stop West Vigo
It was a game of fits and starts, but host Rockville finally overcame a stiff challenge from visiting West Vigo in a 53-46 victory in boys high basketball action on Saturday.
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Northview holds off Plainfield
Northview got its sixth victory in boys high school basketball action Saturday night, defeating Plainfield 59-56.
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PREP ROUNDUP: Cloverdale helps Rady to career win No. 714
Brandon Dorman and Joe Fidler combined for 37 points and six 3-pointers Saturday night as visiting Cloverdale defeated Turkey Run 63-45 in boys high school basketball.
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