It’s another big week for sports in the area.
High school and college basketball teams begin the season while Indiana State plays its final football game of the season.
And three high school football teams still are alive in the postseason in Indiana and Illinois.
Fountain Central is at Linton for a Class A regional game in Indiana while Casey and Marshall vie in a Class 2A quarterfinal contest in Illinois.
The 9-3 Miners have beaten two teams that defeated them during the season and now will try to hand Fountain Central its first defeat and gain a spot in the semistate.
Casey and Marshall began the season against each other, with the Warriors winning, and the season will end for one of the Clark County teams this week.
Coaches and players were thinking about the possible matchup last week but focused on tough second-round games and came up with some impressive victories. The undefeated Warriors thumped Red Bud 42-7 and Marshall shut out Williamsville 16-0.
You can bet the stands and sidelines will be filled with fans from both schools for Saturday’s game that begins at 1:30 p.m CST in Casey. It should be a good one.
North Putnam almost gained the Class 2A regionals but lost 7-6 to undefeated Monrovia. Coach Greg Barrett and his Cougars have had another super season.
Three Metropolitan Interscholastic Conference teams are in the Class 4A Elite Eight. This week, Carmel is at Fort Wayne Snider, Warren Central at Brownsburg and Center Grove at home against Floyd Central.
In a 4A sectional championship game, Evansville Reitz was an impressive 42-6 winner over Jasper, which was undefeated going into the game and had not allowed a point in the tournament.
In Illinois, Robinson again finished in the top 10 in cross country competition. Congrats.
• • •
• Titles decided — Volleyball titles were decided in Indiana prep action last week and will be decided this week in Illinois.
Recapping Indiana finals:
• 4A — Muncie Central defeated Center Grove 25-22, 25-21, 27-25, and bested Elkhart Memorial 25-19, 25-23, 25-16, in the championship to finish 35-4 for the season. Center Grove lost in three games for the first time this season.
• 3A — Brebeuf defeated Yorktown 25-21, 14-25, 25-15, 25-21, for the title.
• 2A — Muncie Burris defeated Southwood 25-9, 25-8, 25-16, for a 40-0 record and its 13th consecutive title.
• 1A — Michigan City Marquette defeated Barr-Reeve 22-25, 25-15, 25-20, 25-6, and then defeated Wes-Del 25-18, 25-10, 23-25, 25-19 for its sixth consecutive title.
In Illinois, Cumberland has reached the finals in Class 1A while Effingham St. Anthony lost to Carlinville in the Super Sectional.
• • •
• Tom-Cattin’ It — Two North Central of Sullivan County athletes say they will compete at the collegiate level at Indiana State.
Senior Shelby Higginbottom will compete in track and cross country while junior Megan Stone will compete in softball. Stone also plays basketball and volleyball at North Central but was sidelined by injury in volleyball this year.
• “When The Game Was Ours” is a book written by Jackie McMullen and features the careers of Larry Bird and Magic Johnson.
Both were interviewed by Conan O’Brien last week. Johnson was in the studios and Bird spoke by a hookup from Indianapolis.
In the course of the discussion, LB again said he felt bad about not winning the NCAA championship for Indiana State and Terre Haute, noting it probably was the only time the school and city would have a team in the Final Four.
• Former Indiana State cager Marico Stinson was a key player in Kentucky Wesleyan’s 55-52 victory over Evansville in men’s basketball exhibition play.
He had a game-high 19 points for the Panthers and scored eight straight points in the second half to erase the Aces’ only two leads.
• And congrats to Steve Englehart and Rose-Hulman football for another winning season.
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.
Ramblin' Reck
Ramblin' Reck: Prep, college basketball starts to take over as football season comes to an end
- Ramblin' Reck
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RAMBLIN' RECK: Castroneves a safe bet at Indy 500
The field is full for the Indianapolis 500 and the race should be another good one.
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RAMBLIN’ RECK: A good week to be a Sycamore
This week is a big one for sports fans and is off to a good start, particularly for Indiana State fans.
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RAMBLIN’ RECK: Clauson, 22, to make rare jump from USAC to Indy 500
Bryan Clauson will be a busy young man this month.
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RAMBLIN’ RECK: May means it’s time for some thoroughbred horse racing
It’s May, it’s May, the wonderful month of May as the words sort of go in a famous musical.
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RAMBLIN’ RECK: Following the changing Illinois coaching scene
Catching up on some coaching changes and some other business:
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RAMBLIN' RECK: Golf battle at Rea Park
The high school sports schedules are busy again this week, with local boys golf teams playing two matches at Rea Park.
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RAMBLIN' RECK: Here’s to hoping for more Hoosier magic
Another NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship is history and fans already are talking about next season.
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RAMBLIN' RECK: Retiring Casey football coaches Sinclair, Vidoni will be missed
An era ended in Casey last week when Keith Sinclair and Gene Vidoni announced they are retiring as football coaches at Casey-Westfield High School.
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RAMBLIN' RECK: NCAA Final Four down to UK & everyone else
The Kentucky Invitational, officially known as the NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship, is down to The Final Four.
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RAMBLIN' RECK: One man’s vote for public schools in the IHSAA tournament
The basketball season has ended for most high school and college teams, but fans in the Wabash Valley still have teams to root for this weekend.
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RAMBLIN' RECK: Terre Haute great to be inducted into college Hall of Fame
One of Terre Haute’s all-time greats will be honored again later in the year when Clyde Lovellette will be inducted into the National College Basketball Hall of Fame in Kansas City.
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RAMBLIN' RECK: Big Ten tourney wide open
Selection Sunday is coming and action in some of the conference basketball tournaments could play big roles in determining the field for the NCAA’s Big Dance.
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RAMBLIN' RECK: Big week for preps, ISU, Rose-Hulman
Monday began one of the biggest weeks ever in basketball in the Wabash Valley or at least one of the biggest.
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RAMBLIN' RECK: No guaranteed wins in difficult Class 2A Casey regional
Let’s talk high school basketball.
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RAMBLIN' RECK: Assessing the NCAA tournament jumble
The college men’s basketball schedule is in its final month with Selection Sunday less than four weeks away.
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RAMBLIN' RECK: And now, on to the next beloved winter sport
The final football game finally has been played, meaning folks in the Valley can concentrate on basketball this week.
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RAMBLIN' RECK: Indianapolis is looking mighty good this week
It’s Super Bowl XLVI week … in Indiana for the first time.
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RAMBLIN' RECK: Fox gives TH punter kudos
The stage is set. It’ll be the New York Giants against the New England Patriots in the Super Bowl that will be played for the first time in Indianapolis.
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RAMBLIN' RECK: Big Ten shaken up last week
It was a very interesting week in men’s college basketball, especially in the Big Ten.
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RAMBLIN' RECK: A fresh round of predictions as the NFL dwindles to 8
More National Foootball League playoff games are slated this weekend, with the number of postseason teams down to eight following an interesting weekend of wild-card action.
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RAMBLIN' RECK: Hile inducted into Hall
Indiana State grad Amy Lynn Hile will take her place in another Hall of Fame this year.
Inducted into the ISU Athletics Hall of Fame in 2005, the former Sycamore standout has been named as one of the 2011 inductees into the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame.
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RAMBLIN' RECK: It’s time now for some intraleague hoops rivalries
It’s the final week of 2011 but it is the first week of conference basketball games for most colleges, particularly those in Indiana and Illinois.
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RAMBLIN' RECK: A long distance relationship
Indiana State’s trip out West to play basketball at Boise State brought back memories of one of the trips I made to that city.
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RAMBLIN' RECK: Indiana Mr. Football still has big decision to make
Some awards in high school and college football were announced last week.
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RAMBLIN' RECK: No dearth of good basketball
Based on early games, the college basketball season is going to be very interesting for coaches, players and fans, particularly in the Big Ten and Missouri Valley.
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RAMBLIN' RECK: Big Ten-ACC challenge gets under way tonight
Conference championship football games and challenge action in basketball will make for a busy week for college teams.
Wisconsin and Michigan State will meet in the very first Big Ten football championship Saturday at Indianapolis. Kickoff is 8 p.m. and the action will be carried by Fox.
Michigan State nipped the Badgers in the regular-season contest at East Lansing. We like Wisconsin to win and earn a trip to the Rose Bowl.
Other games and picks:
SEC — LSU over Georgia on Saturday
Mid-American — Northern Illinois over Ohio U. on Friday
Pac-12 — Oregon over UCLA on Friday
ACC — Virginia Tech over Clemson on Saturday
Conference USA — Houston over Southern Mississippi on Saturday
Western Kentucky will not play for a championship but the Hilltoppers won seven of their last eight games to finish with a winning mark. That’s the same team that lost to Indiana State, you will recall.
Meanwhile, the hiring and firing already has begun with Urban Meyer coming out of retirement to accept the job at Ohio State. That was a no-brainer.
Illinois is bowl-eligible but Ron Zook is out. Ditto for Turner Gill at Kansas and apparently Dennis Erickson at Arizona State.
In basketball, the first games in the Big Ten-ACC Challenge will be played tonight. The biggie tonight is Duke at Ohio State. Miami of Florida is at Purdue and Illinois plays at Maryland.
On Wednesday, Indiana is at North Carolina State, Wisconsin is at North Carolina and Michigan State goes to Florida State.
Indiana State is at Boise State on Saturday for a Missouri Valley-Mountain West Challenge game,
It was fun and gratifying to be able to watch the Sycamores on national television as they took third in the Old Spice Classic. The team got tons of favorable publicity and comments from the three games.
And what a game for Jake Odum and his triple-double. Wow.
I I I
n White honored — Taylor White of Casey has earned academic all-state honors in Illlinois football.
White was one of the top players at linebacker and fullback and was one of the captains on the team but did not play as the Warriors lost to Morrison in the Class 2A title tilt.
He was sidelined by injury in the game against Marshall and underwent surgery.
The Warriors gave Morrison all it wanted in the final game, concluding another banner season for coach Keith Sinclair and the team.
Nice work, Warriors.
I I I
n Tom-Cattin’ It — Carmel was the only public school to win a prep football championship in Indiana and was impressive in its 54-0 victory over Penn in the 5A finale.
Other winners — all private schools — were Lafayette Central Catholic in A, Fort Wayne Luers in 2A, Indianapolis Chatard in 3A, and Indianapolis Cathedral in 4A.
n Sullivan puts its undefeated girls basketball record on the line tonight at West Vigo. Its victory over Terre Haute South last week was its first over the Braves since 1992.
n Terre Haute North grad Steve Weatherford, now punting for the New York Giants, was featured in a nice story in The New York Times on Monday.
He was singled out for his conditioning program and called the strongest player pound for pound — at 210 pounds — on the team that met the New Orleans Saints on Monday Night Football.
n Jim Rathman died last week at 83.
He won the Indianapolis 500 in 1960, edging Rodger Ward in a race in which there were a record 29 lead changes.
Rathman also was runner-up in the race in 1952, 1957 and 1959.
n Flora has been tabbed by one newspaper as the preseason pick to win the Little Illini Conference boys basketball championship and to make it to the Final Four.
The Wolves play Marshall, off to a 3-1 start, next week.
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. -
RAMBLIN' RECK: Sinclair: ‘Never underestimate the heart of a Warrior’
Casey’s high school football team will have one more week of practice, including a workout early Thanksgiving Day, but the players don’t mind it.
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RAMBLIN' RECK: MVC’s quick start brings hope
Missouri Valley Conference men’s basketball teams and others are off to a good start.
Valley teams were 9-2 in games played through Sunday. Two teams picked up some very nice victories.
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RAMBLIN' RECK: ISU’s ranking solid heading into basketball season
The college football season still has a few weeks to run for most teams, but the basketball season starts for real for a lot of teams this week; a few still have some exhibition contests left on the schedule.
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RAMBLIN' RECK: Terre Haute native had memorable career at Red Hill
When Red Hill played its final football game of the season last month in Illinois, it marked the end of an era for a friend of mine and for the high school.
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