By Tom Reck
Chad Collins is in his second year on the PGA Tour and has done very well in the four events in which he has played.
The pro from Cloverdale recorded his best finish Sunday, tying for fourth in the Mayakoba Classic in Mexico. He shot a 12-under-par 272 and was three shots back of the winner.
He took home $135,720 for his efforts and has earned $346,676 so far in the four events, placing in the top 16 or better in three of the four.
Nice start for the young man from Putnam County.
• Down to the wire — Indiana high school boys basketball teams wind up the regular season this week while Illinois teams commenced postseason play Monday.
Final standings will be determined in some conferences in the final Indiana games.
One championship was decided last week when North Central defeated Linton and White River Valley and Shakamak lost to Eminence in Tri-River Conference games; the Thunderbirds and Lakers will share the final TRC championship.
Shakamak rebounded from the defeat at Eminence to best Eastern, while WRV bested North Daviess to create a virtual tie for first in the SouthWestern Indiana Athletic Conference.
WRV also defeated Union last week and the Wolverines and Lakers have concluded league play with 6-1 marks. North Daviess is 5-1 and plays Eastern this week.
Sullivan is the only team without a loss in the Western Indiana Conference and is alone in first with its 4-0 mark. Brown County is 4-1 and Edgewood and South Vermillion both are 3-2. Sullivan is at home for its final two WIC games, meeting West Vigo in a makeup game Wednesday and South Vermillion on Friday.
Brown County hosts Edgewood in its final league game Thursday.
Warren Central plays at Center Grove tonight in the deciding game in the Metropolitan Interscholastic Conference. Center Grove is first at 5-1 followed by North Central at 5-2, Warren Central 4-2 and Carmel 4-3. Terre Haute North and Lawrence North both are 3-3 in the MIC and meet Friday.
Center Grove knocked off North Central last week as coach Cliff Hawkins won his 400th game.
In last week’s USA Today boys poll, Bloomington South was ninth, third in the Midwest Region, with North Central seventh in the region. Bloomington South goes for its 46th straight victory this week against Decatur Central and that would be one better than the 45 won by Indianapolis Crispus Attucks in the 1950s. Lawrence North has the record of 50 and the Panthers could have a shot at that one this season.
In the girls poll, Ben Davis was second and Floyd Central 23rd. They will meet in the 4A semistate this week.
Heritage Christian lost to Winchester last week and will not go for five straight state championships in 2A. Winchester takes on Austin in the semistate. Austin ended Linton’s fine season.
• Tom-Cattin’ It — Dates have been set for the Indiana-Kentucky all-star games. The teams will play June 11 at Bellarmine University in Louisville and the next night at Conseco Fieldhouse.
• Southern Indiana lost its first game this month in men’s basketball, 86-68 to Kentucky Wesleyan.
• Vincennes University’s men’s team recently won the 500th in school history.
• Emily Maggert of Paris, Ill., had a career-high 28 points for Ball State against Bowling Green, which beat the Cardinals 80-76.
• Marshall, Ill., native Steve Bennett has another winner at New Castle, which is 15-3 going into the final week of the season. His son, a freshman, scored 18 in a recent big game against Anderson which enabled the Trojans to tie Kokomo for a share of the North Central Conference title.
• Steve Alford won his 300th game in NCAA Division I coaching last week. His overall college mark is 378-207, counting games at Manchester.
• Josh Selby of Maryland is considered one of the top recruits in the country at point guard and had Indiana on his list until last week.
• No teams from the area advanced past the second round of the Illinois girls tournament but Amanda Tiffin of Casey advanced in the 3-point competition.
• In Indiana, the Central Indiana Chapter of the National Football Foundation will honor players who have earned high school scholar-athlete honors this week. Two of the athletes who will be recognized are James Kent of Rockville and Andy Walsh of South Vermillion.
Tom Reck may be contacted by telephone at (812) 232-3231, by e-mail at tm_reck@yahoo.com or by mail at 4284 South 5th Street, Apt. 3, Terre Haute, IN 47802.
