TERRE HAUTE —
Scott Ridge has been looking forward to seeing the leaders from a Terre Haute South junior varsity high school boys basketball team that went 15-4 during the 2011-2012 season move up to the varsity squad he coaches.
Thanks to some unforeseen circumstances, he’ll be seeing them right now.
The Braves competed during the summer with a couple of football players in their lineup, but Logan Steward suffered an injury and Danny Etling graduated early to get a head start on his career as a college quarterback. Another football player, who had showed promise as a sophomore basketball player, flirted with returning to the sport but decided against that.
So South enters the season with just three experienced players from last year’s 8-15 team and six athletes moving up from last year’s JV; if Friday night’s jamboree — in which the Braves won both their quarters including the one against Terre Haute North — is any indication, everything might work out fine.
“We have good athletes and good shooters,” Ridge said.
Leading the way for South is one of the unique players in the state. Jeffrey Turner, a 6-foot-2 senior about to become a four-year regular, is coming off a season in which he averaged 18.9 points, 9.9 rebounds and 3.0 assists per game and is capable of playing any of the five positions offensively.
That’s almost where the 2011-2012 statistics end, however. The other returnees with varsity experience are 5-11 senior Kevaris Gregory, who has seen two years of part-time action as a 3-point shooting specialist, and 6-2 senior Preston Tofaute, whose specialties have been defense and hustle.
A fourth senior, 5-11 Shane Stanley, is one of the players moving up to varsity play, and the 6-0 Steward hopes to return to the court by mid-January.
The rest of the rotation could consist of five sophomores — 6-4 Timmy Herrin, 6-4 Greg Newton, 6-0 Conner Shipley, 6-0 Spence Tofaute and 5-10 Jared Wolfe. Two juniors, 6-2 Jerad Fuson and 6-1 Da’Shon Heyen, are expected to see most of their playing time on the junior varsity team, at least early in the season.
“It will be important for them to have the attitude of a varsity player when they get out there,” Ridge said of his newcomers. “We’ll have to transfer [that JV success] to the next level.”
The Braves obviously won’t scare anyone when they get off the bus, but that 15-4 JV team last year was dwarfed by several of the teams it played too.
“We know we’re going to be undersized,” Ridge said. “Shot selection will have to be one of our main strengths … these kids shoot well and pass well, so if we make good decisions, we’ll be OK.”
That decision-making capability is there, the coach said.
“This is a smart group,” Ridge noted. “They play smart, and they play together.”
And while shot selection is important, the Braves don’t plan to slow the game down either.
“We’d like to play a little faster,” Ridge said. “We have a little more speed than last year … and we’ll have to get out and guard people.”
South’s regular-season opener was Wednesday at Bloomington North.
Sports
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IndyCar driver Helio Castroneves, of Brazil, stands in his team pit box as he waits for the start of the final practice session for the Indianapolis 500 auto race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Indianapolis, Friday, May 24, 2013. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings)
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Top guns, again
For the sixth time in his Indy career Friday, three-time Indy 500 champion Helio Castroneves won the Pit Stop Challenge on Carb Day at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
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Sycamores bow out of MVC Tournament
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Freshman Hambrock, THS seek semistate tennis title
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Coach adds regional host to job description
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Prep roundup: South Vermillion reaches baseball sectional final
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Metro Sports: Chalk up No. 5 for Liz Evans
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Four Indiana State athletes advance to NCAA outdoor track and field championships
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West Vigo advances to sectional championship with walk-off win in ninth
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Wichita State shuts out ISU to force elimination-game rematch
Indiana State starting pitcher Greg Kuhlman did his best.
Actually, he did far better than he ever has previously in an ISU uniform, but while Kuhlman’s gutty pitching effort spoke volumes, ISU’s bats remained ominously silent. -
BOYS TRACK REGIONAL: North gets three winners, South two at Evansville
Terre Haute North had three winners, Terre Haute South two, and the Patriots and Braves finished second and third respectively at the Evansville Regional for boys track on Thursday at Evansville Central.
Hurdlers Cam Stewart and Cole Seward and discus thrower Lee Davis were the winners for North, enabling the Patriots to finish with 60 points to 59 for the Braves.
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Top guns, again
- Local Interest
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METRO ROUNDUP: Rose-Hulman's Evans honored as Great Lakes' top athlete
Rose-Hulman senior Liz Evans earned her fifth career NCAA Division III Great Lakes Region Field Athlete of the Year honor, according to results released Wednesday by the U.S. Cross Country and Track and Field Coaches Association.
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Terry enjoys strong year with Wildcats, and still enjoying suiting up to play
South Vermillion’s Tim Terry is the longest tenured coach in Wabash Valley high school baseball as his Wildcats are set to begin sectional play Thursday against Owen Valley.
But on the Yankees, a 35-and-over team in the Terre Haute Men’s Senior Baseball League, Terry is “just a youngster” if you ask Larry Roesch, his 68-year-old teammate on the Volkers Group Yankees. -
Softball sectionals up for grabs
All three Vigo County high schools and Northview appear to have a realistic chance of winning sectional championships in softball this week.
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Indiana State baseball series canceled
Heavy rain from Thursday through Saturday has forced Indiana State and Tennessee Martin to cancel their three-game weekend baseball series in northwest Tennessee.
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METRO ROUNDUP: Rose-Hulman baseball to play DePauw on Thursday after Tuesday's rain
The Rose-Hulman baseball team has rescheduled its non-conference game with DePauw to Thursday night.
The start time remains 7 p.m. for the single nine-inning game that was originally scheduled for today. Tuesday’s scheduled Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference game at Anderson was moved to Sunday because of rain.
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METRO ROUNDUP: Rose-Hulman's Evans honored as Great Lakes' top athlete
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Freshman Hambrock, THS seek semistate tennis title
Having already claimed Terre Haute North Sectional and Greencastle Regional championships in girls high school tennis, Terre Haute South will try to add a semistate title to its 2013 list of accomplishments today as the Braves battle No. 25-ranked Greenwood.
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- College
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Sycamores bow out of MVC Tournament
Indiana State’s baseball was out of pitching, and after a loss to Wichita State on Thursday, the Sycamores were out of second-chances too at the Missouri Valley Conference baseball tournament. What the Sycamores weren’t out of was heart, guts and clutch performances from some unlikely sources. But in the end, Friday’s elimination game rematch against the Shockers was a sampling of ISU’s season overall — the Sycamores were out of luck.
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Metro Sports: Chalk up No. 5 for Liz Evans
Senior Liz Evans capped the top career in Rose-Hulman athletics history with her fifth national championship and eighth All-American award at Wisconsin-La Crosse on Friday.
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Four Indiana State athletes advance to NCAA outdoor track and field championships
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Wichita State shuts out ISU to force elimination-game rematch
Indiana State starting pitcher Greg Kuhlman did his best.
Actually, he did far better than he ever has previously in an ISU uniform, but while Kuhlman’s gutty pitching effort spoke volumes, ISU’s bats remained ominously silent. -
Indiana State baseball now one win from MVC Championship
Indiana State’s Wednesday morning wish list probably read something like this: a dominant complete game effort from starting pitcher Devin Moore, near-immaculate defense to support him, and a steady diet of clutch situational hitting from lineup spots one to nine.
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Sycamores bow out of MVC Tournament
- Sports Columns
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RAMBLIN' RECK: Sunday promises to be big day in Indy
Sunday promises to be a super day in Indianapolis.
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RAMBLIN' RECK: Sunday promises to be big day in Indy
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Luck having fun with his first OTAs
A year ago, quarterback Andrew Luck was unable to attend the Indianapolis Colts’ organized team activity practices due to school commitments at Stanford.
Luck, though, went on to have a stellar year for the Colts despite the lack of summer work with the team. Still, in a sense, he is a rookie during this year’s OTA workouts.
“These are my first OTAs. I missed these last year, so I think it’s great. It’s great to get on the field with the defense and trouble-shoot some stuff. Obviously, some of us ran some of this stuff [offense] at Stanford [under new offensive coordinator Pep Hamilton]. But to get out there with the defense and trouble-shoot some stuff is good,” Luck said Wednesday as the team wrapped up its first week of on-field voluntary practice sessions. - Colts hoping for more high marks on draft picks
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Luck having fun with his first OTAs
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Consultation: Rex manager Brian Dorsett talks with his pitcher and players during a time-out Sunday, July 15, at Sycamore Field. (Tribune-Star file/Bob Poynter)
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2012 an up, down season for Rex
The Terre Haute Rex went through plenty of trials and tribulations during the summer of 2012.
The team got off to a sluggish start to settle for third place during the first half of the Prospect League race, but manager Brian Dorsett rallied the troops to a second-half title. - Metro Roundup: Dorsett, Rex players honored in Prospect League postseason awards
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2012 an up, down season for Rex
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Luck having fun with his first OTAs
A year ago, quarterback Andrew Luck was unable to attend the Indianapolis Colts’ organized team activity practices due to school commitments at Stanford.
Luck, though, went on to have a stellar year for the Colts despite the lack of summer work with the team. Still, in a sense, he is a rookie during this year’s OTA workouts.
“These are my first OTAs. I missed these last year, so I think it’s great. It’s great to get on the field with the defense and trouble-shoot some stuff. Obviously, some of us ran some of this stuff [offense] at Stanford [under new offensive coordinator Pep Hamilton]. But to get out there with the defense and trouble-shoot some stuff is good,” Luck said Wednesday as the team wrapped up its first week of on-field voluntary practice sessions. - Colts' coordinators enjoying getting rookies acclimated
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Luck having fun with his first OTAs
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IndyCar driver Helio Castroneves, of Brazil, stands in his team pit box as he waits for the start of the final practice session for the Indianapolis 500 auto race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Indianapolis, Friday, May 24, 2013. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings)
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Top guns, again
For the sixth time in his Indy career Friday, three-time Indy 500 champion Helio Castroneves won the Pit Stop Challenge on Carb Day at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
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Top guns, again
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