TERRE HAUTE —
Some prep patter:
• One high school football team from the greater Wabash Valley will play for a state championship this week.
North Putnam is 14-0 and meets 13-1 Fort Wayne Luers at 7 p.m. Friday for the Indiana Class 2A championship.
Coach Greg Barrett’s Cougars gained the title tilt by defeating Evansville Mater Dei 6-0 — the score if not the outcome had to be surprising to lots of folks. Luers bested Rensselaer for its semistate championship.
In the other Friday game, 13-1 Fountain Central plays 14-0 Lafayette Central Catholic in a rematch of last year’s Class A finals.
Saturday, 10-4 Indianapolis Chatard faces 9-5 South Bend St. Joseph’s in 3A, 13-0 Fort Wayne Dwenger plays 11-3 Indianapolis Cathedral in 4A and 13-1 Lawrence Central takes on 13-1 Fishers in the 5A finale.
In Illinois, Casey-Westfield overcame an early 14-0 Maroa-Forsyth lead and had a chance to tie the count in the fourth frame before losing 20-12 in its 2A Final Four game.
The Warriors had another great season with coach Keith Sinclair at the helm. They will begin next season with a strong nucleus of experienced players and hope they don’t lose as many key players to injuries as they did this season.
• Terre Haute North senior John Mascari helped the Indiana team win the boys race in the Mid-East Championships for cross country teams.
Indiana took boys honors with 20 points followed by Ohio 55, Michigan 95 and Illinois 109. Austin Whitelaw of Michigan was first followed by Chris Walden of Carmel and Mascari, who ran the course in 15 minutes, 25 seconds.
Ohio was the girls team winner with 30 points followed by Indiana 53, Illinois 56 and Michigan 84.
Michelle Thomas of Ohio was the individual winner followed by Waverly Neer of Culver Academies and Nicole Lucas of Bloomington South.
• Sullivan’s boys basketball team will open the season against South Knox with one new player in the lineup and one regular on the sidelines.
Big man Rhett Smith broke two fingers in the soap game and is likely to miss about two months. Mason Gregory is a transfer from Scottsburg and scored 18 points for the Arrows in a scrimmage with Evansville North.
• In the first USA Today prep basketball poll, Indianapolis North Central was tabbed 12th. The Panthers are second in the Midwest figures with Merrillville eighth.
• Tom-Cattin’ It — Terre Haute South grad Tessa Johnson had a nice game in college basketball last week. She had 10 points and three rebounds for Marshall in a losing effort against SC Upstate.
• Illinois defeated Northwestern in college football action Saturday at Wrigley Field. Longtime Casey coach Gene Vidoni recalled seeing the Chicago Bears play there against San Francisco.
“Dick Butkus was a rookie and Gale Sayers scored six touchdowns,” noted Vidoni.
• Dan Callahan, who was the baseball coach at Southern Illinois and formerly coached at Eastern Illinois, died at the age of 52. He suffered from a form of cancer.
• Ryne Sandberg has taken complete leave of the Chicago Cubs. In case you missed it, he signed with Philadelphia to manage the Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs.
• Kara Repp of Casey has signed with Illinois State to play softball. She batted .533 last year and had a slugging percentage of .756.
n Owen Valley volleyball player Taylore Chestnut will play the sport in college at IU Southeast.
• Two 6-foot-6 high school sophomores have said they plan to play for Indiana University. They are Collin Hartman of Indianapolis Cathedral and Devin Davis Jr. of Warren Central. Hartman averaged 15.4 points as a freshman while Davis averaged 14 points and seven rebounds his freshman season.
• In college games, Purdue defeated DePaul to win the Preseason Women’s NIT, while Vanderbilt’s men bested North Carolina in the Puerto Rico Tip-Off Tournament. Tyler Zellers of Washington had 20 points and 10 boards for Carolina.
• Aaron Greve has been named the boys golf coach at North Central in Sullivan County. He has coached other sports but will be coaching golf for the first time. He takes the place of Ryan Kamman, who now is the athletic director.
• DePauw and Franklin did not fare well in NCAA Division III football playoff action but Marian and Saint Francis both won in NAIA postseason games.
Tom Reck may be contacted by telephone at (812) 232-3231, by email at tm_reck@yahoo.com or by mail at 4284 South 5th Street, Apt. 3, Terre Haute, IN 47802.
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