By Andy Amey
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
