"DA" Andy Blog
2012 Girls Basketball Sectional Blog Feb. 2012
At MAB we have done more Live Regular Season Broadcasted Girls Basketball games than
any other entity in the Calumet Region. And we have done this the last 3 years at MAB with
the help of AD’S, Coaches, and Broadcasters like Bob Potosky, JT Hoyo, Bernie Goin, Brandon
Vickrey, and Rich Sapper. Great Job MAB Team!!! ‘THE HEART OF AMATEUR SPORTS”
Now for the Calumet Region Girls Basketball Picks
4A Sect 1
WEST SIDE OVER MORTON
LOWELL OVER HIGHLAND
LC OVER MUNSTER
EC OVER WEST SIDE
LOWELL OVER LC
LOWELL OVER EC CENTRAL IN THE FINAL
LOWELL POUNDED EC IN THE REGULAR SEASON, EC HAS ALREADY BEATEN WEST SIDE, LC
AND MUNSTER COULD BE WILD CARDS HERE, BUT THERE BIGS HAVE TO BE READY TO SHINE.
AND KATIE BOBOS IS READY TO LEAD THE DEVILS TO THE REGIONAL. AT MUNSTER TEAMS
HAVE STRUGGLED WITH THE SHOOTING BACKGROUND FOR YEARS, THOSE TEAMS THAT HAVE
PLAYED THERE HAVE AN ADVANTAGE.
4A Sect 2
CP OVER PORTAGE
LAPORTE OVER CHESTERTON
MICH CITY OVER HOBART
MERRILLVILLE OVER VALPO
LAPORTE OVER CP
MERRILLVILLE OVER MICH CITY
MERRILLVILLE OVER LAPORTE
THE 20-0 PIRATES ARE THE HEAD OF THIS CLASS HERE, 2 VICTORIES OVER MCITY. THEY WILL
SOLVE THE PATTERNS OF SKEETER HEATH AND THEY HAVE A GAME OF DESTINY COMING
WITH VAUNTED PENN. CP HAS LOST TO LAPORTE THIS YEAR,.EQUIHUA’S DOGS COULD BE A
BIGGER CHALLENGE TO MERRILLVILLE, IF THEY START HITTING THERE 3’S AND INGRAM IS
READY FOR PRIME TIME, AT THE POINT .THEY MAY MAKE THE FINAL. RAVEEN MURRAY IS AN
INDIANA AL L -STAR AND HER COUSIN VICTORIA GAINES, MAY BE THE BEST FROSH PLAYER IN
THE STATE AND IS STARTING TO HEAR FROM DIVISION 1 SCHOOLS ALREADY, AJ DOWNS MAY
BE THE BEST ON THE BALL DEFENDER IN THE REGION TOO, COOPER FOR MC MAY BE OUT
FOR THE SECTIONAL DUE TO A COACH’S DECSION. MCITY NEEDS TIKA MURPHY TO LEAD THEM
ALL 4 QTS VS MERRILLVILE NOT JUST IN SPOTS.
3A Sect 17
HAMMOND OVER WALLACE
GRIFFITH OVER GAVIT
HAMMOND OVER CLARK
GRIFFITH OVER VELT
GRIFFITH OVER HAMMOND
IF GRIFFITH BEATS VELT THEY WIN HERE, COACH TOM GOLUMBACK CAN FLAT OUT COACH
DEFENSE. EVEN THOUGH HE DOESN’T HAVE A GIRL OVER 5’7 TO START THE SEASON, HE WINS
IN PLAYOFF TIME AT HOME.
3A Sect 18
KNOX OVER ANDREAN
KV OVER RENSSELAER
KNOX OVER CALUMET
HC OVER KV
HCENTRAL OVER KNOX
WHOMEVER WINS BETWEEN KV AND HC, WINS HERE! BLAYR POSTON AND KRISTEN ROPER
GET THERE REVENGE FROM THE REGULAR SEASON ,FOR COACH NELSON. POSTON IS ONE OF
THE BEST PLAYERS IN THE REGION PERIOD, AND SHE WILL HAVE A SHOT TO BE SEEN MORE
AT THE REGIONAL.
2A Sect 33
WHEELER OVER NOLL
BOWMAN OVER RF
WHEELER OVER EDISON
WHITING OVER BOWMAN
WHITING OVER WHEELER
WHITING WILL HAVE WHEELER’S NUMBER HERE, LED BY BLACKWELL, BUT GERMAN AND THE
EAGLES ARE THE DARKHORSE HERE. WILL WE SEE THE EAGLES BLOWN OUT BY CHESTERTON
AND GOSHEN OR THE ONE THAT BEAT BOONE SOUNDLY AT BOWMAN?
2A Sect 34
WINAMAC OVER NJSP
BOONE OVER ROCHESTER
WINAMAC OVER NN
BOONE OVER HEBRON
WINAMAC OVER BOONE
WINAMAC HAS BOONE’S NUMBER AND THE WOLVES WILL NEED STRONG POST PLAY TO MOVE
ON. CAN CANDY’S CREW BRING THE PRESS, TO LEAD THEM TO THE REGIONAL? WITH THE
ROUND ROBIN GONE IN THE DAC AND THE SOUTH COUNTY GONE, I BELIEVE BOONE NEEDS TO
CONTINUE TO TOUGHEN THE REGULAR SEASON TRAIL.
1A Sect 49
MTWP OVER 21ST
CC OVER WASH TWP
MTWP OVER LACROSSE
KOUTS OVER CC
KOUTS OVER MORGAN
LEXI SIPPEL AND KOUTS SHOULD ROLL HERE.
1A Sect 51
ARGOS OVER SC
OD OVER CULVER
WESTVILLE OVER MARQUETTE
TRITON OVER ARGOS
OD OVER WESTVILLE
OD OVER TRITON
JT HOYO SAYS OD WILL BEAT TRITON. OD HAS MULTIPLE PLAYERS THAT CAN SCORE AT
ANYTIME IN THE OFFENSE OR ON THE SECONDARY BREAK. I BELIEVE THE ROAD WARRIOR JT
HERE. HE IS THE ONLY PERSON I KNOW OF TO SEE BARR- REEVE, CANTERBURY, AND OD. HE
KNOWS 1A BASKETBALL AND I WOULDN’T WANT HIS GAS CARD BILL.
THOSE ARE MY PICKS . AND NOW THE BAD NEWS, NO REGION TEAMS TO THE SEMISTATE THIS
YEAR. TEAMS LIKE PENN AND BENTON CENTRAL STAND IN THE WAY. FOR EXAMPLE PENN HAS
BLOWN OUT MANY REGION TEAMS AND BC BLEW OUT WEST SIDE WHO GRIFFITH BARELY
BEAT RECENTLY. YES THE PIRATES ARE 20-0, BUT CAN THEY BEAT PENN????
IT’S BEEN A GREAT YEAR, INTERACT WITH US ON FACEBOOK AS MID AMERICA BROADCASTING
LLC or on TWITTER AS mabsports!!!!
Well it has been awhile and I have been busy writing articles for MAB Monthly too.
Well here are some thoughts from my view as a fan of HS, College, and Pro Sports.
December 27, 2011
1. Why did it take 4 years for the Bears to figure out Caleb Hanie can’t play?
2. Did Jerry Angelo really draft Michael Haynes ahead of the Ravens Terrell Suggs?
3. Why do the Bears keep drafting OL that keep getting hurt?
4. If Richard Hamilton was a problem in Detroit, now all of a sudden he isn’t with the Bulls?
5. Does not having class basketball really solve the Charter School issue?
6. Why do you get a voucher to go to a parochial school only if you attended a public
school the previous year, if isn’t meant to hurt Public Schools?
7. In Football, Wheeler trailed RF at the Half, and beat Andrean, yet the media still takes
shots at the GSSC?
8. Key players within the last 2 years transferred to many of the top schools in the area.
This in basketball with better overall team records? Does that mean that we no longer
mention it or should they always be considered a player from where they graduated only?
9. Is it me or I don’t remember Mitch McGary being a possible 1st round NBA Draft pick at
Chesterton. He was a good player so I guess Prep Schools made him great?
10. Bonzi Wells got cut this week but there are still 16 Indiana HS Players in the NBA.
Maybe the Pacers can change their name to the Marion County All Stars,
11. Is it me or would Eric Gordon be a great fit with DRose and the Bulls, thanks Hank for
that idea.
12. Some HS coaches need to realize that it’s ok to admit, that there are other good
players than yours.
13. It’s ok to be on the Hawks Bandwagon, at whatever age you started to like Hockey.
14. When you choose to play NFL Football, don’t you take the risk of concussions by
playing?
15. I actually stump Bob Potosky on Indiana HS Football Trivia. But only once in a while.
16. How many miles does the Region Sports Desk’s JT Hoyo put on his car on his trips to
Hamlet?
17. Rich Sapper really is a Kurt Warner fan and thinks he is a Hall of Famer. Just kidding
Rich,he is a Hall of Famer though.
18. How much tax money per Colts win this year paid for that Lucas Oil Stadium. But we
can’t get a Cline Ave.bridge to nowhere fixed?
19. Why did the Bears not build a Retractable Dome if they could have had a Super Bowl?
20. George McCaskey used to work for Ted Phillips, now Virginia he is his boss?
21. What do all these bankruptcies mean in the newspaper world? I guess internet media
is where it is at?
22. Is Greg Oden really the next Sam Bowie?
23. If the Cubs don’t sign Fielder who plays 1B?
24. Do the Bears have a possible three way trade with the Cubs and Red Sox for WR Jeff
Samardzjia?
25. What will Robin do if Adam Dunn is really done?
26. Who has played on more teams Kenny Lofton or LaTroy Hawkins?
27. Why do media who show up a minute before the game, always expect a ringside seat?
How bout showing the school some respect and showing up at least 15 minutes before tipoff
or is it me?
28. Is putting all of the HS scores in the paper a lost art or do the schools just not send it
in anymore? Now you know why we try to share scores with you when possible, on Facebook.
29. An AD told me recently that a school brought zero fans to a Girls Varsity BB game, how
do you pay for 3 Officials in that one?
30. Will DAC teams play Bowman once the Round Robin is gone in Basketball?
31. How many leads can Purdue lose this year in basketball and what did Hope do to get
an extension in Football?
32. Why did IU Football get rid of Bill Mallory in the first place?
33. IU Basketball 12-0 and a Yogi on the way next year, can we finally say Good Knight?
34. Will the Parochial Football problem be Bobby Cox’s Class Basketball problem as it was
for Blake Ress?
35. If you like the IHSAA is that like being a Yankees fan?
36. Does the third official make calls in basketball just to stay involved?
37. If San Diego State is in the Big East where is the Big West, be Pacific?
38. What did the Bears really gain from the Dallas trio?
39. Whatever happened to DePaul Basketball?
40. To all who may be concerned some of us think a lot of administrators and coaches who
discourage poor sportsmanship, chants, and behavior that is unbecoming of anyone’s HS
student body public or private, believe it or not, it is worth the effort to stop it every time and
inappropriate is still your call among your HS students.
PLEASE SHARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON MID AMERICA BROADCASTING LLC ON FACEBOOK OR
THROUGH TWITTER as mabsports. These thoughts are not necessarily the thoughts of Mid
America Broadcasting, LLC.
Region Girls Basketball Coaching Changes
The days of one coach at a school for a long period of time may be long gone as another
coach leaves Crown Point in Mike Cronkhite. He had replaced Scott Reid who had taken over
for Tom May's long time position. 48 RIF's at CP may have played a role here. Calumet and
Clark have had Girls Basketball Coaching Changes also and there are lots of new Football
Coaches around the state too here in the region at Bowman, Clark, Hammond High, Gavit, KV,
and Hobart just to name a few.
There have been a number of coaching changes because of new factors such as school
budgets - RIF's, AAU Basketball - year round, and School Accountability have replaced over
zealous parents and administration of yesteryear. It is a new era in education that will affect
Sports Coverage. Currently Calumet, Roosevelt, Morton, Hammond High, and EC Central are
on the brink of state takeovers and this could be a huge factor in sports, if these schools are
merged or closed, in that only 50% of the existing staff could be brought back, if this option is
chosen, it could effect coaches. Also the emergence of Charter Powers like Bowman and
Indy Metro in Basketball. Metro feeds in students from 22 school districts.State voucher laws
passed recently could increase the enrollments at Parochial schools too, turning already
super sports powers like Luers, Cathedral and Dwenger, into elite Nationwide programs
across the state. Multiplier talk may be back again.
If you think about it since Tom May, Greg Kirby,Tom Megeysi, and Renee Turpa patrolled the
sidelines in the DAC, there have been many coaching changes - at Valpo, CP, Mich City, and
Portage. The one constant has been Jack Campbell at Chesterton with longtime assistant
Fred Mitchell. Ironically Chesterton won the Sectional this year. A couple of new coaches in
Mike Megeysi at MC, Leslie Iwema at LC and Chris Siebert at Portage look to have
powerhouse teams, the next few years. Players like Portage's Junior to be Nikki Monahan
come to mind right away as a Junior next year and LC and MC are loaded with talented
underclassman. Also not to forget to mention two great athletes at Merrillville in Senior to be
Raveen Murray and Soph to be AJ Downs coming back next year for Coach Amy Govert. No
NWI team jumped the hurdle in 2011 to the Girls BB Semistate, but their is some talent coming
back in 2012 and 2013 that may match Merrillville's 2010 run.
Thanks, Andy Wielgus MABC,LLC - you can contact us on Facebook at Mid America
Broadcasting LLC.
Andy Blog
Not a bad time to be a Chicagoland /NW Indiana Sports Fan in the Last 5 Years, this is not an
all inclusive list.
1. White Sox win the World Series.
2. Blackhawks win the Stanley Cup.
3. 2 of the best 5 basketball players on the planet, are from Chicago, Rose and Wade.
4. Bears go to the Super Bowl and NFC Championship.
5. Well the Cubs, are the Cubs - Lou did win a division twice though.
6. Butler Basketball, I know it's Indy but we claim them anyways.
7. Basketball - Wheeler, Bowman, Wallace, Munster, EC Central, Merrillville Girls Basketball,
and Noll in the State Finals.
8. Lowell Red Devil Football to the State Finals
9. Andrean Baseball back to back state champs.
10. Railcats Baseball and Manager Greg Tagert has been a success.
11. VU Basketball a success in The Horizon League.
12. NWI College Stars - Luke Harangody, Jeff Samardzjia, Michael Neal, E'Twan Moore, Robbie
Hummel, Scott Martin, Josh Mayo, Becca Bruszewski, and others have put the Calumet
Region on the nation scene again.
13. Crown Point Wrestling and other teams and individuals.
14. Gregg Popovich and the Spurs, he is from Merrillville.
15. Dan Dakich and Dan Plesac two region stars are now media stars.
Thanks, Andy Wielgus you can reach us on Facebook at Mid America Broadcasting LLC
Congrats to IU Recruit and Washington Hatchet Cody Zeller on winning Mr. Basketball. The
two time 3A state champion scored 20 points and had 18 rebounds against Culver Military
Academy in the 61-46 State Final win. Nic Moore of Warsaw finished second in the voting and
Dee Davis of Bloomington South and Marquis Teague of Pike tied for Third.
Dave Verta of Hammond Clark has stepped down as Football coach at Hammond Clark and
Larry Moore has stepped down as Basketball Coach at Hammond High.
Jon Steinhilber is the new Baseball Coach at Hebron.
Ryan Turley is the new Football Coach at Hobart.
Becca Bruszewski of Wheeler concluded her career at ND with a NCAA Runner up to Texas A
& M. run in her Senior year which included victories over Tennessee and UConn in the
tournament. The Irish had never beaten Tennessee in twenty tries, they were 0-20.
Butler and ND making runs in the NCAA Mens and Women's Tourney will be memorable.
Congrats to the Butler Bulldogs and there Asst SID Crown Point's Josh Rattray on the run,
Josh broadcasted and worked with many of us in the Region and is a great guy. Josh played
Tennis at Crown Point and Basketball at Crown Point for Tom Johnson, and he is a Butler
Grad. He previously did SID work for Cleveland State and Michigan State. His parents are
graduates of Calumet High School and still reside in CP. Also former Crown Point Star Alex
Webster is an Asst Basketball Coach at Butler in Women's Basketball, she played for Tom May
at Crown Point.
Thank you again to Andy Viano and the Railcats for your hospitality. Week One saw the
Calumet Warriors win the 1st Joe"Moose" Gates Classic 10-6 over West Side. Joe's no. 45 is
retired at the US Steelyard. Week Two saw victories for Morton 6-5 over Gavit, Wash Twp 10-1
over Kouts and RF 7-6 over EC Central. Thanks to JT Hoyo, Bob Potosky, and Rich Sapper for
their help on the call of these games. Also we had our Softball opener LC defeated CP, look to
our archive to listen to these games or listen live, just click Listen Live on www.
midamericabroadcasting.com and scroll down. Look for our MAB Monthly and Baseball
Program for April on the website too, thanks to Rich and Josh for their work on this and Hank
with his roster and website work.
Thanks, Andy Wielgus
Sectional Football Realignment Thoughts
1. Mishawaka will be tough to beat in 4A football up North.
2. Hobart being moved out of their sectional, will not bring back the Glory Days.
3. EC Central will right away be in the middle of the pack in their 4A Sectional.
4. SB St. Joseph's will take over where Andrean left off in 3A, only three region teams left
here in 3A.
5. Andrean will dominate in 2A, but with Luers looming it will be no cakewalk.
6. Rochester Football playing region teams that's a travel game.
7. Carmel going South in Football helps the DAC 5A powers.
Sectional Thoughts on Non Football Sectionals in Region
1.2A Sectional 33 Boys Basketball Meat grinder Bowman, Noll, and Wheeler Oh My! 3 of the
last 4 State Finalists in the North, in 1A and 2A.
2. Griffith being moved out to join the Hammond and Gary Schools, Tom Golumbeck and
Griffith Girls Basketball should dominate - Clark vs Griffith in Baseball should become a
rivalry, the Panthers won't miss the 59'ers in the Baseball and Softball sectional.
3.In 2A Whiting, Noll, and Wheeler are three good baseball teams matching up and add
Bowman Girls Basketball to match up with Wheeler too.
4. In 1A Boys Basketball - don't discount these charters -Campagna Academy, 21st Century
and Lighthouse - look what Indy Metro did with only 8 players and taking kids from 22
different school districts you never know, Who are the Indy Metro Pumas? 1A State Champs
now. Even though Morgan beat them, the Bowman Eagles moving up helps the PCC teams.
5.Hanover Boys Basketball moving up to 3A, at least they don't have to deal with the 3
powerhouses Bowman, Noll, and Wheeler but still Andrean.Hanover and KV could become a
bigger rival, could there be a new conference on the horizon again? Boone, KV, Rensselaer,
Hanover, Judson, and Wheeler?
Some of the Top HS Boys Basketball Players I have seen play this year and in one case Nic
Moore last year, I have not seen Marquis Teague play
1. Brandon Dawson - Lew Wallace - Michigan State
2. Kevin " Yogi" Ferrell - Park Tudor - IU
3. Cody Zeller - Washington - IU
4. Nic Moore - Warsaw
5. Glenn Robinson III LC - Michigan
6. Darwin Davis - Bloomington South - Xavier
7. Spike Albrecht - CP - possibly Brown?
8. Joe Crisman - Munster - Loyola
9. Adonis Filer - Noll
10. Brandon Clark - Merrillville - Santa Clara
11. Jerrick Suiter - Valpo - TCU baseball
12. Nick Davisson - Andraen
13. Jared Smoot - CP - Navy
14. Dejuan Marrero - Bowman
15. Ronnye Beamon Jr. - Noll
16. DJ Ballentine - Kokomo
17. Jeremiah Jones - Merrillville
18. Austin Richie - Lowell - Western Michigan
19. Brandon Grubl - Morgan Township
20. Ricky Carbajal - Munster
21. Jerrick Ware - EC Central
22. Brian Stolarz - Munster
23. Oljawon Edwards - Michigan City
24. Keith Mahler - Highland
24. Adam Butterfield - Valpo
26. Najee Bailey - Wheeler
27. Ricky Garcia and Dean Flores - Edison
28. Adam Bosak - Andrean
29. Evan Warden - Western
30. Jermaine Myers - CMA
31. Armon Bridgeforth - Kokomo
32. Trevon Bluiett - Park Tudor
33. Tylor Wideman - LC
34. Clay Yeo - Triton
35. Anthony Jackson - Indy Metro
36. Elijah Ray - Bowman
37. Griffyn Carpenter - Triton
IHSAA Boys Basketball State Finals Picks
4A Bloomington South wins over Kokomo, DJ Ballentine in the running next year for Mr.
Basketball for Kokomo though.
3A Washington over Culver Military Academy, Too much Zeller, a Hatchet repeat.
2A Park Tudor over Noll in a thriller - in a close game Ferrell vs Filer should be the best game
of the day.
1A Triton over Indy Metro, Trojans Same Team, Same Dream, Great Defense- Griffyn
Carpenter goes out a winner!
IHSAA Boys Basketball Semi state Picks
4A Munster over Kokomo, Bloomington South over North Central
Munster will win in a close game as always, can the NC Panthers survive and repeat, or will
this be the year for the Bloomington South Panthers, I think it is.
3A Columbia City over CMA, Washington over Batesville
Zeller to repeat in my view here for the Hatchets.
2A Noll over Tipton, Park Tudor over Forest Park
Adonis Filer vs Kevin "Yogi" Ferrell after he beats the Forest Park Rangers, Picnic Baskets?
A second GSSC title in two years if Noll wins, How bout that GSSC.
1A Triton over Rockville, Indy Metropolitan over North Daviess
With Bowman out, Triton is on a mission.
Andy Girls Basketball Blog
Kudos to Dori Downing - Winning the GSSC Conference Tournament - GSSC Coach of the
Year, and Retiring at Calumet.
Region Player of Year Claire Holba Chesterton going to IUPUI
Coach of the Year Mike Hamacher Hobart
Comeback Player of Year Brooke Gardner Chesterton
Rebounders of the Year Katie Buehler RF and Tori Bliss Portage
Best Defense for their Class 4A Hobart, Class 3A Griffith, 2A Boone Grove, 1A Morgan Twp.
Best Athlete Raveen Murray Merrillville
Most Underrated Princess German Bowman
Most Talented Team Offensively Michigan City
Teams that Rebounded in the 2nd Half to play well in the postseason - Portage, Wheeler, and
LC
Frosh/Soph Underclassman to look out for AJ Downs Merrillville, Blayr Poston Han. Central,
Nikki Monahan Portage, and Jessica Bell LC
Congrats to the 4 2011 State Champions! 1A Vincennes Rivet, 2A Fort Wayne Luers, 3A
Evansville Memorial, and 4A Jeffersonville!
Thanks you can reach us on Facebook at Mid America Broadcasting LLC
Boys Sectional Picks
Sect 1 Munster
Sect 2 Merrillville
Sect 17 Wallace
Sect 18 Andrean
Sect 33 Noll
Sect 34 North Judson
Sect 49 Bowman
Sect 50 Triton
I look for Munster to win their Sectional 1 - too deep, too big, and athletic for the other
teams, especially at the Guard spot. Sect 2 Merrillville is the most talented team here, but it
would not surprise me to see an upset or two at MC, if that's the case CP/Valpo have a shot. In
3A Guard play and FT shooting is a factor for El Dubb in Sect 17. Roosevelt has added some
players and they know the Hornets, Look for Wallace to prevail, Sect 18 - Andrean has beaten
these teams in their Sectional and will again.In 2A Noll wins here. Wheeler poises the best
challenge in my view to BNI ,match up problems galore with Noll, for the other teams. Edison
has won 17 games a school record, and Hanover has beaten Highland, with good guards.The
Bluejays will be awaiting Noll on their home floor in the Regional. In 1A Bowman and Triton will
win their sectionals respectively, but a great season for Whiting, Kouts, and Morgan. Next
year Bowman and Whiting go to 2A, so that will jumble things next year.
Girls Northern Semistate Blog
Listen to 2 Semistate Games this Saturday on www.midamericabroadcasting.com and you can
interact with us on Facebook as Mid America Broadcasting LLC or get our updates as
mabsports on Twitter.
This week I went 2-2, Getting Canterbury and BC right.
Now for this week - In 4A Penn will get by Mccutcheon, and the mighty 81 game win streak is
over for Ben Davis. Carmel vs. Penn next week in Fort Wayne. The Lady Kingsmen have
beaten Elkhart Memorial twice.
In 3A Fort Wayne Concordia will outscore Benton Central in a high scoring game. Concordia
vs. Evansville Memorial in the Final.
In 2A Fort Wayne Luers will end the Culver run, with Former Griffith Assistant Eric Scheub.
And Fort Wayne Canterbury will continue to roll in 1A and will play Vincennes Rivet again the
following week.
All in all, I see 3 Fort Wayne teams getting to the State Finals in their hometown next week -
Concordia, Luers, and Canterbury.
2011 Girls Basketball Regional Review
First off, I only did Ok in my Sectional Picks, 1-1 in 4A, 3A 2-0, 2A 1-1, and 1A 1-1, for a total of 5-
3 on the Sectional Winners, nobody picked Oregon Davis to lose, Michigan City and River
Forest are the only ones I missed.
4A at Valpo - Chesterton's dynamic duo Brooke Gardner and Claire Holba will be a bit too
much for Lake Central, however last year's title match up will happen this year as Memorial
will be playing Ben Davis in two weeks. An injury helped out the Bucs last year and the
Chargers will be tough to beat at this year's Valpo Regional.
Chesterton over Lake Central
Elkhart Memorial over Penn
Elkhart Memorial over Chesterton
3A at Rensselaer - A great year for Gary Roosevelt Coach Melonie Martin will end at the hand
of the Bison, and this year Griffith's defense will not make the girls from Oxford sing the
blues. Benton Central is the best team on Offense in this Regional, and they faced the Tom
Golumbeck' s Defense last year.
Benton Central over Gary Roosevelt
Griffith over Culver Girls Academy
Benton Central over Griffith
2A at Culver The Cinderella run for Wheeler's Coach Marc Bruner will end in Game One with
Culver's size. The Railroaders play the toughest schedule here and they will make the trains
run on time here.
Garrett over Fairfield
Culver over Wheeler
Garrett over Culver
1A at Caston -Bowman Academy will figure out the girls from Francesville -West Central and
there tough D in Game One with Princess German and then to fall to the eventual 1A State
Champ Fort Wayne Canterbury in the Final.
Bowman over West Central
Fort Wayne Canterbury over Triton
Fort Wayne Canterbury over Bowman
We will be broadcasting the 3A Girls Basketball Regional at Rensselaer Live,Check us out on
Facebook at Mid America Broadcasting LLC or get our updates as mabsports on Twitter.
Thanks, Andy Wielgus
Region Realignment Time
In Football - In 4A EC Central and Coach Stacy Adams could move right to the middle of the 4A
pack behind Hobart, Griffith, and Hanmond Morton right away with QB Everette Coleman. The
Cardinals will make a bigger impact then Clark in my view in 4A. In 3A the addition of Lew
Wallace is not a big move, but Andrean being out of 3A is. It is now wide open even more, with
New Prairie moving to 4A. Calumet and Gavit are the only other Region teams here, but they
were always in the background with Andrean's presence. In 2A Boone Grove is a few years
away and so is Edison, but the addition of Andrean, has just made things tougher for Wheeler,
a great Bomber team and now the Niners? Oh My! BNI moves down to 1A and will compete
right away, but they are still behind South Central, Whiting and Culver, who are the best here
but that could change as BNI has added busing to it's school. Remember Noll is a 3A State
Champion under Jerry Vlasic, and there Boys Basketball team is top notch in 2A this year.
In Basketball, Whiting is moving to 2A, that in itself is a step up. However, the bad news for
the rest of 2A is that they brought the Bowman Eagles with them. What a Boys Basketball
sectional it may be with Bowman, Wheeler, and BNI. Two state champs and Noll. In 3A,
Hanover Central moves up and they will have to adjust to the Basketball played in North Lake
County and not the PCC. Hanover Central it is time to consider conference realignment and
out of the PCC, for Football and to compete at the 2A and 3A level. The future of these
conferences is a different blog for a different day, from where do Hanover and Boone go, for
Football etc, and the tired story of Wheeler Football and close competitive games. Another
part of the story is Charter Schools - Campagna Academy and 21st Century Charter are in.
And the Lighthouse Charter in 2012-2013. Also, Hammond's new Charter School will be in the
mix soon and what the Accreditation situation in 5 Northwest Indiana High Schools and there
future will hold is unknown. Hopefully, those schools will make the achievement scores they
need and this will be a story that won't be necessary, and we wish them the best. And how
this will affect athletics, could be more significant than one thinks financially and otherwise.
Say for example the company that owns Charter School A acquires the rights to Public School
B. All of a sudden a Charter School Organization that owns hundreds of schools nationwide
could become a key player in how athletics are played out here in Indiana. It is already going
on with many charter schools disregarding conferences, playing as independents,
disregarding geography, and playing teams from all over the country. It has happened in
other states before Indiana and it is going on here too. Education reform could re -landscape
schools and the way sports are done. There could be a day in the near future where a
student- athlete could pick or choose any school they want. Not to say that I agree or
disagree with any of this, but this is reality in the Education Reform era of today, as a
possibility.
Thanks, Andy Wielgus MABC, LLC.- You can send your comments to Mid America Broadcasting
LLC on Facebook.
Top Moments in Region Basketball Post Season History
1. Crown Point wins back to back crowns in the Eighties under Tom May with Anne Kvachkoff
and Nancy Cowan
2. EC Roosevelt's championships and the Pollard era in the Seventies.
3. Lake Central winning a state title in 1994 under Tom Megeysi.
4. LC and Kelly Komara's run to be a State runner up and a loss to Martinsville, two of the best
teams in that era.
5. Valpo winning 5 semistates 82, 91, 92, 96, and 00, especially the Kirby era.
6. Hebron's relentless bunch with Lauren Bechtold - 2001 1A State Runner Up.
7. Merrillville breaks the deadlock and gets the Region to the State Finals in 2010.
8. Gary West Side loses a close State Final under Rod Fisher.
9. Tie - Morgan Township makes the 1A State Final 1998 and Crown Point's Cinderella run,
May's last trip to State Finals.
10. Highland and Griffith teams, that have almost made it under Coach Huppenthal and Coach
Golumbeck.
Thanks, Andy Wielgus - you can reach us at Mid America Broadcasting LLC on Facebook.
MAB Girls BB Sectional Picks - LC is really coming on strong, EC will be a challenge in game
one with size, West Side is not as deep as a typical Rod Fisher led club this year, Antoinette
Taylor is the Sectional's best player, Carolyn Sandrick is the leader for LC with some strong
underclassmen.
4A Sectional One at Munster
LC over EC Central
West Side over Morton
Lowell over Highland
LC over Munster
West Side over Lowell
LC over West Side
MAB Sectional 2 Great draw for Portage, CP will get to the final and fall to either MC or Hobart,
the Wolves are healthy and Hobart will have trouble with there size. Chesterton, Valpo, and
Merrillville - Murray and Stokes are as talented as anyone and the Trojans are at home with
Holba and Gardner.
Portage over LaPorte
CP over Valpo
MC over Chesterton
Hobart over Merrilville
CP over Portage
MC over Hobart
MC over CP
3A MAB GIRLS BB SECTIONAL PICKS
Roosevelt Sectional 17 - Roosevelt has the most talent in this sectional and plays the
toughest schedule.
Velt over H High
Gavit over Wallace
Velt over Clark
Velt over Gavit
Sectional 18 - Calumet's Dori Downing ends her career this year, but will beat Knox before
falling to Griffith, no one in this sectional will score 45 points on Coach Golumbeck's bunch.
Calumet over Knox
Andrean over KV
Griffith over Calumet
Andrean over Rensselear
Griffith over Andrean.
2A Sectional 33 at Noll Is this the year the Ingots finally win one? Blayr Poston vs Katie
Buehler 52-48 HC the first time, Marc Bruner's Lady Bearcats could be the darkhorse, I think
the best rebounder in the area and one of the area's best athletes in Katie Buehler wins this
one if the Ingots hit their free throws.
RF over LS
HC over Noll
RF over Wheeler
RF over HC
Sect 34 at North Newton Culver vs Boone in the Semifinal, JT says Culver has too much size
for the Wolves, I agree.
Culver over Hebron
Winamac over NN
Culver over Boone
Winamac over NJ
Culver over Winamac
1A Sectional 49 at Morgan Kouts 4 year run ends to Bowman. To the Regional with Mariah
Jordan and Princess German, who beat Chesterton this year.
Bowman over Kouts
Whiting over Wash Twp
Bowman over Lacrosse
Morgan over Whiting
Bowman over Morgan
Sect 50 at OD Coach terry Minix and OD are too good for this field.
OD over Marquette
Triton over SC
OD over Westville
Triton over Argos
OD over Triton
Chicago Bears Memories in my lifetime!
1. 85 Bears win the Super Bowl 46-10 over Patriots.
2. Bears win NFC Championship in 85, in the snow over Rams. A shut out and they shut down
Eric Dickerson.
3. Bears advance to the 2006 Super Bowl over Saints.
4. Walter Payton breaks Jim Brown's rushing record.
5. Sean Landeta's miffed kick in 85, Bears shut out Giants.
6. Bears beat the Giants and go to the Playoffs in 77, on Bob Thomas' Kick in The
Meadowlands.
7. 2006 Hester returns kicks in miracle comeback over Arizona. They are who we thought they
were game - Dennis Green.
8. Bears beat Dallas and Danny White 44-0 in 85.
9. Walter Payton's last game as a Bear 1987, vs the Redskins.
10. Mike Singletary's last game, a victory over the Steelers.
11, Fog Bowl vs. Eagles
12. Touchdown by Hester vs. Colts in Super Bowl
13. Fridge TD vs. Pack 85
14. Erik Kramer's big passing year
15. Ditka chewing out Harbaugh
16. Super Bowl Shuffle 85
17. Payton rushes for 275 vs. Vikings
18. Doug Plank's hits
19, The 46 defense
20. The Pieces are in Place - Wannstedt
21. Flutie at QB in playoffs disaster
22. Spare Bears
23. First Round Busts Enis, Thomas, and Mcnown
24. Todd Bell's hit on Washington 1984
25. Tragic Passing of Walter Payton
26. Jauron's lucky year.
27. Don Majkowski blown call
28. Losses in Playoffs to Skins
29. Jay Cutler trade
30. McMahon traded to Chargers.
Thanks, Andy Wielgus MABC, LLC. - GO BEARS! You can reach us at Mid America Broadcasting
LLC on Facebook!
Andy Blog
Where have all the Point Guards gone in Region Girls Basketball?
After watching a lot of DAC Girls Basketball this year. I find myself wondering if this is really
the conference that produced Nancy Cowan,Cassie Pruzin, and Kelly Komara? Their are a lot
of players playing the Off Guard or 2 Guard score first mentality at the Point. Yes, Point
Guards can score but there role is to get their team settled, make free throws, to run the
offense, and Yes to handle the ball on the perimeter, please. This year I have seen more
turnovers on the perimeter, steals off the dribble, can't break a press unless I get my own
shot to the hoop off the dribble, and just plain poor passing, poor free throw shooting, and
dribbling then ever. Yes these DAC guards can score AAU Two Guard style, but can they
control tempo, keep leads, and break presses, without throwing bad passes? The Region
wonders why they struggle at the higher levels, maybe get back to having your point guard,
be your point guard and not the girl who scores 30 or who shoots three's first or dribble
drives first and run the offense second? Maybe it is endemic with all the Tom Megeysi's and
Tom May's being out of the conference, heck even slow down Campbell ball is playing AAU
Huck and Chuck style. Maybe I miss the days of a Point Guard being a Point Guard or a
reflection of their High School coach and not their AAU team? A good example of a Point
Guard that was able to do this that I have seen in the Northern part of the state, was Melissa
Lechlitner at South Bend St. Joseph's who just finished at ND, yes she could shoot and score
but she ran her team's offense or break first.Look for an interview with her in the up coming
issues of the new MAB Online Magazine.
Hopefully I have made my Point?
You can contact us at Mid America Broadcasting LLC on Facebook or as mabsports on Twitter.
Thanks, Andy Wielgus MABC, LLC.
4A 2010-11 Indiana HS Girls Basketball up North!
The Duneland Athletic Conference Girls Basketball conference race is now all tied up. And we
will have the big game for first place on MAB, between the Chesterton Lady Trojans and the
Michigan City Lady Wolves. The Girls Basketball sectional at Chesterton, has 5 really good
teams - Hobart, Michigan City, Crown Point, Chesterton, and Merrillville - which is coming on
again with two big wins over Portage and Valpo. Melanee Stubbs and Raveen Murray had 21
points each vs. Portage and AJ Downs added 14. 2-11 Portage has lost 6 games by 5 pts or
less and Nikki Monahan and LSU Track recruit Tori Bliss are a good inside out combo. Nikki's
dad Grant played at Portage for Greg Kirby in 1982, 83, and 84 and her uncle Mike played for
Morrie Goodnight and Greg Kirby at Portage. Valpo is very young, but has lost to Michigan
City by only three. Up North I still see Elkhart Memorial and Snider as the teams to beat in
their respective 4A Regionals. Northridge and Penn are very good also.Northridge beat
Crown Point 52-35 in the Rumble.
In the other 4A Girls Basketball - Calumet Region Sectional, the young Lake Central Lady
Indians under Coach Leslie Iwema won over the LaPorte Lady Slicers 56-40, lost to CP 92-89
in OT, and they have beaten Merrillville. They have a young team too, that is coming on as the
season goes on with good rebounding and upcoming frosh and soph.players. And I think that
they may win their sectional. Antoinette Taylor leads Coach Fisher and West Side into this
sectional and she scored 28 pts on MAB vs. Chicago Marshall in the Gary Holiday Tourney.
Also, EC Coach and St. Joseph's in Dyer Grad and Andrean Grad - Eric Kundich and his EC
Central Lady Cardinals have size and have played a tough schedule, see their website on
www.midamericabroadcasting.com - done by Hank Kilander.The other schools would be
longer shots to win it, but don't count out Munster, Highland, and Lowell to win a game or two.
Highland Coach Tracie Mezera coached under Jack Campbell at Chesterton and is the All
Time leading scorer in River Forest Girls Basketball History and is in their RF Hall of Fame,
she played at Grace College. At RF she played for Coach Al Detterline.
But in 4A it all comes down to the Ben Davis Lady Giants who beat North Central soundly this
week. The UConn Huskies of Indiana have their win streak in the Seventies and I believe they
are heading to Fort Wayne to win it again. Many believe that last year's Lady Giants were the
best ever in Indiana, including Bob Potosky and Bernie Goin.
On a sideline note - how about this 2A rebounding machine - Senior Katie Buehler at River
Forest, 20 Points and 14 rebounds vs Defending GSSC Champ Calumet and 18 Points and 19
rebounds vs. Whiting, in the same week.
Another Sideline note - Look for the new MAB online magazine coming soon, and look for the
bylines by Mid America's webmaster Hank Kilander - in the 2010-2011 Hoosier Basketball -
Calumet Region Basketball Previews section, put out by Garry Donna. A Hoosier Basketball
Link is on our Links Page. I found it at Kmart, it is also can be found throughout Indiana at
retail outlets.
Also look for Mid America's Rich Sapper and Bob Potosky, in articles they wrote for the new
Indiana Basketball Magazine, avaliable at The Fieldhouse in Merrillville or see their link on
our main page.
Thanks, Andy Wielgus, MABC, LLC. You can contact us on Facebook at Mid America
Broadcasting LLC or get our updates as mabsports on Twitter, you can reach our emails on
our contact page on the Mid America website or on our sportsjuice.com page just hit Listen
Live.
Must See Northern Indiana After the Holiday Girls Basketball Matchups!
1. 1-6-11 8-4 EC Central at 9-3 West Side, two favorites in the sectional, a great year for Coach
Eric Kundich at EC, SEE EC GIRLS BASKETBALL PAGE ON OUR MAIN PAGE!
2. 1-11-11 13-1 Snider at 12-1 Luers, can the SAC get two state finalists in the hometown state
final?
3. 1-14-11 8-3 Chesterton at 11-2 Michigan City, can the Wolves avenge the first loss?
4. 1-21-11 11-2 Michigan City at 11-2 Crown Point. Can the Dogs rebound from being outscored
18-3 in the 3rd quarter - Rumble game vs. Northridge? 13-0 Elkhart Memorial at 11-1
Northridge, Can the Chargers get revenge from last year's loss to Northridge?
5.1-27-11 11-1 Hobart at 11-2 Crown Point, Can the Brickies dominate the Dogs and maybe win
the Sectional? 11-1 Northridge at 9-3 Plymouth, Coach Cox is a great tactician at Rocky Top!
6. 1-29-11 9-3 West Side at 7-4 Griffith, Up tempo vs. the Griffith Coach Tom Golumbeck
Defense!
7. 2-1-11 12-1 Boone Grove at 7-2 Kouts, Can the Fillies hang with the Lady Wolves after their
Rumble victory over Lowell?
8. 2-2-11 13-0 Elkhart Memorial at 10-1 Penn, Who are the Queens of Michiana Girls
Basketball?
Thanks, Andy Wielgus You can respond on Facebook at Mid America Broadcasting LLC.
On the road with MAB
Two great venues this week as I attended the Merrillville at Crown Point boy-girl basketball
doubleheader and the Gary Holiday Tourney.
The first two games at CP were well attended. See what happens if you get rid of that silly
bobbin round robin. CP's girls improved to 10-1 with a run and gun/huck and chuck style
basketball. The bucs tried to run with CP, but they only have 2 players with consistent playing
time from last year. CP slowed it down the last 5 minutes or so to win. Consistent point guard
play is the key for the Lady Dogs with Kelly Gross.
On the boys side the Pirates dynamic guard duo of Clark and Jones did not disappoint in the
first half with great athleticism and up tempo basketball, to lead 34-25 at the half. CP's Dejan
Stefanovic saw his first action of the season and hit a three, also Zac Bostian who had
collapsed on the court vs.Mich. City played a few minutes. The big boys Smoot and Seay sort
of neutralized each other. But in the third quarter my choice for DAC MVP Spike Albrecht took
over. He means more to his team then any 1 player except BJ Dawson at Lew Wallace. He
scored 30 pts before fouling out and the game was tied going into the 4th, the bucs could not
stop him. The Pirates got away from the up tempo in the 2nd half too much. That is what they
do, not a control game which let the Dogs back in. Both games I have attended at CP have
had bizarre happenings - a possible fight at the MC game with Crary and Edwards. The
Wolves coach getting a technical, and then having his AD coming out of the crowd to settle
him down and then they sat in a 2-3 zone and let the dogs run out the clock. And this game
had a half court shooting contest at half where kids were shooting half court shots for a
dollar bill. And the game started in the 2nd half and no one swept the floor after over a
hundred kids were all over the court.Then the officials lose track of the free throw count with
22 seconds left in a 6 pt. game and allow 6 seconds to go by and an in bounds before they
realize six seconds have gone by and they missed a two shot free throw, a debate ensued
with Coach Swan. And Merrillvile won by 7.
Gary Holiday Tourney notes
1. Due to a fall from a ladder West Side Girls Coach Rod Fisher did not coach in the tourney.
2. Marshall Lady Commandos coach Dorothy Gators has the most wins of any coach ever in
ILLINOIS History with several state titles.
3. MAB and EC football Asst coach Hank Kilander has attended every Gary Holiday Tourney
since 1989.
4. Brandon "BJ" Dawson won the MVP averaging 31ppg.
5. Bob The Bullseye Guy" Owen and Shirley Owen help out with shooting at Lew Wallace.
6. Former East Chicago Point Guard Johnny Ryan is an Assistant at Wallace for Coach Thomas.
7. Former PNC Coach Grayling Gordon is an assistant at West Side.
8. Wallace shot 52 Free Throws in its 88-62 win over West Side.
9. Detroit Cody and Lew Wallace play again this year.
10. Cody has a win over a HS from Toronto.
11. Marshall's boys team has four different players with the last name Sykes, Kiefer Sykes had
21pts and was our player of the game in their third place win over West Side 70-53.
12. Arnold Wilson is only a freshman and a starter for West Side.
13. West Side's Antoinette Taylor had 28 points in the championship OT. loss to Marshall.
14. West Side's girls and Wallace's boys are the favorite in the conference and both teams are
in the favorite mix for the postseason.
15. Former Lady Cougar Ashley Cheairs filled in for Coach Fisher.
16. The all - conference football players in Gary were honored Wednesday night.
17. Three games were covered by MAB and they are on our archive just click Listen Live.
18. Hank Kilander and our MAB Executive Producer Rich Sapper on the Boys championship
call.
19. Wallace's Isiah Carter transferred from Lake Station Edison.
Congrats to Edison as they beat the Portage Indians 63-59, in OT., Ricky Garcia had 19pts, first
time Edison has beaten the Tribe, since the Greg Kirby Portage era 1982-83.
Thanks, Andy Wielgus MABC, LLC. You can reach us on FACEBOOK as Mid America
Broadcasting LLC.
After the Holiday Some Must See Boys Basketball Games
12-28 Merrillville at Crown Point- Can the Bucs dominate on the road? Smoot vs. Seay,
Albrecht vs. Jones.
12-29 Gary Holiday Tourney Championships at West Side - A MAB tradition to cover,
Munster in Marion Tourney with Marion, Roncalli, and Warren Central, biggest test until they
play Valpo or Merrillville, Valpo plays Noblesville at Mackey Arena, How good are the Vikes
too? Gotta love that Round Bobbin Robin?
1-3 Bowman vs. Noll - Could be Noll's only regular season loss? Noll has the Bigs to play with
the Eagles, but the Guards?
1-4 Valpo at Merrillville - Duneland on the line, who is the king?
1-5 Noll at Wheeler - BNI gets the GSSC nod, Mims and Bailey are still getting used to each
other in Union Township,
1-13 Munster at Highland- Really a Battle of the Bridge that is competitive? The Trojans are
decent. Former CP Head Coach Tom Johnson an assistant at Highland
1-29 Noll at Whiting- Noll really better worry about these scrappy Oilers and Gio Cruz in the
GSSC, Valpo at Munster - Expect great defense here, possible regional teams in 4A, Bowman
at Luers - two state champion programs in 1A and 2A.
2-4 CP at Merrillville - Will the Dogs be at full strength with Dejan Stefanovic and Zac Bostian?
2-5 Munster at Merrillville - The Master vs. the Mentor, Hackett and East? A 4A Regional
preview?
2-12 Peru at Warsaw - Two teams the region should look out for, Nic Moore and Warsaw
especially.
2-18 Merrillville at Valpo - East vs. Otis for the last time or a preview of the sectional?
2-25 Riley at Munster - How good are the Stangs come Regional time? They should win the
sectional. Riley and Washington are two of Michiana's best, Munster has already beaten the
boys from Osceola, Penn.
Thanks, Andy Wielgus - You can reach us at Mid America Broadcasting LLC on Facebook or
get our updates as mabsports on Twitter.
REASONS WHY THE DAC DOUBLE ROUND ROBIN BASKETBALL IS BAD FOR FANS!
1. SPLITS CROWDS FOR GAMES, NO DOUBT HURTS GATES IN REALITY.
2. GIRLS AND BOYS TEAMS ARE MORE ISOLATED FROM EACH OTHER'S PROGRAMS.
3. NO SENSE OF BASKETBALL REALITY IN THE STATE, VALPO VS. WARSAW AND PLYMOUTH ARE
GONE FOR EXAMPLE, LAFAYETTE HARRISON VS. CP ETC.
4. WHO WANTS TO WATCH A BAD TEAM PLAY THREE TIMES, IF YOU DRAW THEM IN SECTIONAL.
5. WITH NO CLASS BASKETBALL YOU ARE OVER PLAYING YOUR HAND, EVERYONE KNOWS
WHAT'S COMING GAME PLAN WISE.
6. LESS SPIRIT AT GAMES, NO RIVALRY, SPIRIT WISE WITH SPLIT GAMES.
7. A COMMUNITY CANNOT GET AS EXCITED ABOUT AN UNDEFEATED OR RANKED TEAM AS
MUCH IN MY VIEW.
8. SICK OF HEARING EVERYONE IN THE DUNELAND IS TOUGH. HOW DO WE KNOW? YOU DON'T
PLAY ANYONE ELSE, THIS ISN'T FOOTBALL?
9. WE DON'T PLAY THIS SCHOOL OR THAT SCHOOL NONSENSE, PLAY THE BEST, THE FANS
WANT TO SEE IT. WITH EXCEPTIONS, COACHES SHOULD WONDER WHY THEY DON'T BEAT
TEAMS LIKE WARSAW, COLUMBIA CITY, PENN, GIRLS BB ELKHART MEMORIAL, ETC. PLAY ALL
COMERS WHO CARES IF THEY ARE URBAN, CHARTER, PAROCHIAL, SUBURBAN OR WHATEVER.
10. LESS MEDIA/BROADCAST COVERAGE IN REALITY, LESS CHANCE FOR MR. BASKETBALL/ALL
STAR TEAM NO STATE RECOGNITION OUTSIDE REGION.
11. FINALLY! FROM WHAT I HAVE HEARD, FANS WHO PAY TO GET IN, DON'T LIKE IT.
THANKS, ANDY WIELGUS
SHARE YOUR VIEWS AT MID AMERICA BROADCASTING LLC ON FACEBOOK OR GET OUR
UPDATES AS MAB SPORTS ON TWITTER!
GSSC BASKETBALL BLOG
1. Noll has three Division 1 Players - Mt. Carmel Transfer - Adonis Filer, Ronnie Beamon, and
Milos Kostic.
2. Purdue Coach Matt Painter has been seen on Chicago Avenue frequently.
3. Noll beat North Newton 71-19, and it will be a long year for the Spartans 0-4, so far.
4. Noll is the favorite in the GSSC this year. Noll is 4-0, 2-0 in the GSSC
5. Edison defeated 2A State Champ Wheeler 54-47, for the first time in 20 tries, dating back to
the 93-94 season.
6. Edison has one of the area's best guard duos in Junior Ricky Garcia and Senior Dean
Flores. Garcia and Flores combined for 36 pts in their win over the Bearcats.
7. Edison is 2-0 and 2-0 in the GSSC
8. Whiting is led by Junior Gio Cruz they defeated Calumet 77-63, he had 17, and he was our
player of the game with 22 pts. vs. Marquette in a 64-36 win.
9. Whiting is 4-1, and undefeated in the GSSC so far too, what a start for the OILER UP CREW!
10.Whiting football star Juwan Simmons is coming off the Bench for the Oilers.
11.RF 1-3, got it's first win over Marquette 51-38 at home, Dylan McPhee 13pts for RF.
12. Calumet is off to a slow start in the GSSC, losing 90-61 to Noll and 77-63 to Whiting.
13. Marquette 1-3, got it's first win this week also, over Covenant Christian 58 - 52.
14. Noll travels to Lowell Sat. to take on the Red Devils.
15. Wheeler is led by West Side transfer Nigel Sims and Najee Bailey, Sims had 22 and Bailey
had 9 in the loss to the Eagles.
16. Wheeler is 2-1, 1-1 in the GSSC.
You can reach us at Mid America Broadcasting LLC on FACEBOOK or get our updates as MAB
SPORTS on TWITTER.
Thanks, Andy Wielgus MABC,LLC.
DAC Boys Basketball Review - Top 4 are tough in DAC, Merrillville, CP, Valpo, and LC. LC beat
Valpo last night 46-41, Merrillville beat Highland 82-53, and CP over LaPorte 59-43. Look for
these 4 to battle it out in the DAC and then MC who beat Portage last night, Chesterton lost
center to prep school, Portage - Tony Cheky Jr, at the guard spot, and LaPorte - lost 4 seniors
including Demuth, to be second tier DAC teams in that order. What do you think? Share your
thoughts at Mid America Broadcasting LLC on FACEBOOK or get our updates as MAB Sports
on Twitter! LISTEN TO ANY OF OUR GAMES OR ARCHIVE ON www.sportsjuice.com and www.
midamericabroadcasting.com THE HEART OF AMATEUR SPORTS!
Top players for these 4 teams
1. Jeremiah Jones - Merrillville
2. Glenn Robinson Jr. - LC - Going to Michigan
3. Adam Butterfield - Valpo
4. Michael Albrecht - CP
5. Jared Smoot - CP - Going to Navy
6. Jerrick Suiter - Valpo - TCU for baseball
7. Dan Hummel - Valpo
8. Edward Seay - Merrillville
9. Tyler Wideman - Super Frosh at LC
10. Tony Cheky Jr. - Portage - Baseball for Michigan State
Thanks, Andy Wielgus
IHSAA STATE FOOTBALL FINALS BLOG/NOTES
JOHN GOSS/BARRY POOLE AND A CALUMET REGION OFFICIATING CREW WORKED THE 4A
GAME. JT HOYO OF REGION SPORTS DESK BROADCASTED HIS FIRST STATE FINALS GAMES ON
THE CALL OF THE 3A AND 4A GAME, RIVER FOREST HEAD FOOTBALL COACH JEFF BEAN DID
THE PRE GAME AND HALFTIME COMMENTS OF EACH GAME, SOON TO BE THE NEW LEADER OF
THE IHSAA BOBBY COX, WAS INTERVIEWED BY BOB POTOSKY AT THE HALF OF THE 1A GAME,
EVANSVILLE BROADCASTER MIKE SKHVARA WAS INTERVIEWED AT THE HALF OF THE 2A GAME,
THE LIGHTS WENT OUT FOR 10 MINUTES IN FRIDAY'S 1A GAME. MID AMERICA BROADCASTING
DID ALL 5 GAMES LIVE, FISHERS IS A FIRST TIME STATE CHAMPION, KENNY MULLEN OF LUERS
- SCALE COMPUTING PLAYER OF GAME AND TRE ROBERSON OF LAWRENCE CENTRAL HAVE
COMMITTED TO PLAY FOOTBALL AT IU, TONY SPRINGMAN OF DWENGER HAS COMMITTED TO
PLAY AT NOTRE DAME, TED KARRAS OF CATHEDRAL HAS COMMITTED TO PLAY AT ILLINOIS,
REMOUND WRIGHT - SCALE COMPUTING PLAYER OF GAME, OF DWENGER HAS COMMITTED
TO PLAY AT STANFORD. CATHEDRAL GRAD AND FORMER PLAYER STEVE GUIDRY DID COLOR
ON THE 1A, 2A, 3A, AND 5A GAMES. FOR THE 2ND YEAR IN A ROW MAB DID ALL 5 GAMES LIVE!
EACH GAME WAS VERY CLOSE IN THE FIRST HALF. IT WAS NORTH PUTNAM'S, FISHERS, AND
LAWRENCE CENTRAL'S FIRST TRIP TO THE FINALS. LCC WON A GIRLS VOLLEYBALL STATE
TITLE 20 DAYS EARLIER. MATT LINDSAY IS THE AD AT LUERS TOO AND HIS SON KYLE IS ON HIS
STAFF. FORMER CROWN POINT, ATTICA, AND HIGHLAND COACH BRAD SMITH IS AN ASSISTANT
AT FOUNTAIN CENTRAL, FORMER PACKER AND COLT MIKE PRIOR IS A CATHEDRAL ASSISTANT,
CONNOR BARTHEL'S DAD TIM IS THE QB COACH AT CATHEDRAL AND IS THE FORMER COACH
AT LAWRENCE CENTRAL, FISHERS COACH RICK WIMMER WON HIS 2ND TITLE, HIS FIRST WAS
AT ZIONSVILLE, HE ALSO COACHED AT MERRILLVILLE. LCC DANNY ANTHROP'S BROTHERS
PLAY BASKETBALL AT PURDUE AND ST. JOE'S OF RENSSELEAR, VALPO WON THE RED GOLD
SPORTSMANSHIP AWARD IT WAS AWARDED DURING A HALFTIME PRESENTATION. LUCAS OIL
WAS GETTING READY TO HOST THE SUNDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL GAME CHARGERS - COLTS, SO
IT WAS A BUSY PLACE. THANK YOU TO THE IHSAA AND JASON WILLIE AND ASSOCIATED
SPORTS AND IRA MAHER FOR ALL OF THEIR HELP. AND OUR MAB BROADCASTING TEAM BOB
POTOSKY, JT HOYO, STEVE GUIDRY, HANK KILANDER, JEFF BEAN , RICH SAPPER, AND THEIR
FAMILIES FOR ALLOWING THEM TO HELP FOR THE THANKSGIVING WEEKEND. ALSO TO THE
VOICES OF THE FAN INCLUDING 3 MORTON FANS FROM THE SEMISTATE AND TOM KULAVIK,
MELISSA LECHLITNER, JASON MOSS, AND MIKE BOZICH FOR TUNING INTO OUR MID AMERICA
BROADCASTING LLC, FACEBOOK PAGE AND BROADCASTS THIS WEEKEND.
THANKS, ANDY WIELGUS
IHSAA State Finals Blog - Listen to all the Championship games on MAB and sportsjuice.com
for the second straight year! Interact at Mid America Broadcasting LLC on FACEBOOK! Or get
our updates on Twitter as MAB Sports!
1A
Lafayette Central Catholic Knights - Wingback Danny Anthrop's brothers play basketball at
Purdue and St. Joseph's college, LCC trailed for the first time in 2 years last week 8-7 to
Churubusco, LCC has not given up more then 14 pts all year. LCC' s home field is just blocks
away from Lafayette Jeff and is named Laroca Field or "THE ROCK". The AD at LCC is also a
state champion baseball coach Tim Bordanet. Football Coach Frank O 'Shea is 38-2 at LCC and
coached the Mccutcheon Mavericks previously. He coached major leaguer Clayton Richard at
Mccutcheon. Frank's Dad used to be the head coach at Merrillville.
Fountain Central Mustangs - Is in Veedersburg and trailed 20-0 before coming back to beat
Guerin Catholic 22-20, in the last minute. The Mustangs lost 52-0 to the Knights last year in
the 1A state final. Wabash River Conference
2A
Fort Wayne Bishop Luers Knights - Kenny Mullen has committed to play football at IU,
Rensselear was defeated for the second year in a row at the Semistate 42-21, it was 28-0 at
the Half. Last year it was 52-21. Luers has recently won state titles in basketball and baseball.
Basketball star Deshaun Thomas plays at Ohio State also Jaylon Smith's brother Rod Smith
Plays Football at Ohio State. Luers defeated Monrovia 24-17 last year for the state title. SAC -
Summit Conference.
North Putnam - Scored all of it's 6 pts in the second half to defeat Mater Dei. First trip ever to
the State Finals and first Semistate title. Hoosier Heartland conference. West Central
Conference.
3A
SBSJ Indians - Trailed Andrean in the HIDDEN LAKE FOG BOWL 21-7 at the Half at 5959
Broadway Father Eckert Field and came back to win. 2-5 at one point, a real cinderella story
with a loss to Marian that they avenged. Defeated Leo 27-7 in the Semistate at School Field.
Lost to Chatard in the 2007 Final. NIC Conference.
Indianapolis Bishop Chatard Trojans - Another Kleinschmidt - Ryan stars for the Trojans,
Chatard blew out previously undefeated Hamilton Heights and shutdown Indian Creek to
three pts., in the Semistate. Purdue star Joe Holland played at Chatard.
4A
Fort Wayne Bishop Dwenger Saints - Most wins, 82 of any team over the last 7 years, RB
Remound Wright committed to Stanford, Lineman Tony Springman to Notre Dame. Lost at the
RDP - Inferno last year in the Semistate to the Red Devils and Brandon Grubbe. Wright and
Jalen West are a dynamic backfield for Dwenger! SAC - Summit Conference.
Indianapolis Cathedral Irish - Avenged a lost to Matt Mcintosh and Reitz at the Semistate 56-
28, Defeated Cincy Moeller and lost tough ones to Michigan's Birmingham Brother Rice and
East St. Louis. They also play St. Xavier in Ohio along with tough Indiana schools. Connor
Barthel is having a great year replacing all stater Kofi Hughes who is at IU. Division One
Lineman Ted Karras' father Ted is the head coach at Marian College and is related to All- Pro
Detroit Lions Lineman Alex Karras, and his Uncle is Jeff Karras the coach at South Central in
Union Mills who won a sectional for the first time ever in school history. Ted's Dad and Uncle
starred at Hobart for Don Howell.
5A
Fishers - Head Coach Rick Wimmer is 9-1 alltime vs.Valpo in his career. He won a state title at
Zionsville and was the Head Coach at Merrillville before. Fishers had a tough road knocking
out Carmel, HSE, Snider, and Valpo. Formerly a part of HSE, first trip to the State Finals and
first Sectional., Regional, and Semistate title ever. Hoosier Crossroads Conference.
Lawrence Central - QB Tre Roberson can flat out play and he is committed to IU. LC knocked
out Warren Central 35-14 and had a huge comeback to defeat Avon before bouncing
Bloomington North 41-17 last week. First trip ever to the State Finals! First Regional and
Semistate title ever! Conference Indiana.
MY PICKS TO WIN! - LCC, LUERS, CHATARD, CATHEDRAL, AND FISHERS!
Indiana HS Football Semistate Blog
1. Will Northwest Indiana/Valpo get there with a big school 5A title this year? Best chance
since Lake Central with Ben Brown vs. Bloomington South and the 80's Highland team that
lost to Ben Davis 14-7 with Tommy Homco - LA/St. Louis Rams, Mike Stuckert - Cornell, Jason
Evans- VU, Joe Munoz- Butler, and Tony Gillis- Navy. That was Ben Davis' 1st state title, a late
fumble by Frosh QB Brian Guzik was a key play that I remember, a snowstorm win over Carmel
in the Region Semistate and knocking out CP which had throttled them in the regular season,
enhanced there momentum to the state title game.
2. Recent Region Semistates in 5A have been tough - Merrillville has been taken out by the
likes of Carmel and the games have not been pretty for the region.
3. 5A - Hope for the Region - In that Fishers is inexperienced at this level and Valpo has the
best D left in 5A. Fishers gave up a lot of pts. to Snider and Lawrence Central gave up 39 to
Avon, with a great comeback. Tre Roberson can flat out play for Lawrence Central. Valpo has
the best D. Some Valpo Offense advice from a region fan - don't throw the ball late in the
game unless it is a need situation and catch the passes that are thrown by Andrie, if you don't
like I saw at times the last two weeks, it could be a problem against Fishers or Lawrence
Central. It is your Defense and Running game that will win you a State Title.
4. 4A - Dwenger has been giving up points. all year and Morton likes a high flying game on
turf. Also Dwenger still has Lowell on it's mind and Morton plays more like a Fort Wayne
school then Lowell. In 4A it's Cathedral - Reitz that matters in a Fight for your Reitz game in
Indy next week and a State Title.
5. Andrean's and Phil Mason's State Title Ship rolled in with the Hidden Lake Fog at father
Eckert Field on 5959 Broadway. As Blanco's injury did them in a Tale of Two Parochials. St.Joe
was 2-5 at one time including a loss to Marian, what a turnaround! With St. Joe led by the QB
Max Matthews, playing like a state champion, in the 2nd half. Their was a fog delay where
were Buddy Ryan's Eagles and the Soldier Field fog?
It reminded me in some ways of the Lowell - FW South game, when the Red Devils throttled
the Archers with a RDP shellacking in the 2nd half after a poor 1st half. Chatard beat Hamilton
Hts 49-7, they should be your 3A State Champ.
6. 2A/1A - Bob Holmes and Bremen with gadget plays and a great game plan almost beat
Rensselear losing, 35-28 OT. Were the Bombers looking ahead? Luers is awaiting in Fort
Wayne and still has too much for the Bombers, in the awaited no.1 and 2 matchup. Luers over
Mater Dei in the State Final and LCC over Guerin Catholic in the 1A State Final, It could be 4
parochial state finals SBSJ - Chatard in 3A? Dwenger - Cathedral in 4A? Reitz may stop
Cathedral though, Mcintosh is a great QB for them.
7. Listen to our Semistate preview on sportsjuice.com at 530pm this Wednesday from Beggars
Pizza.
Thanks for reading this and you can respond on FACEBOOK at Mid America Broadcasting LLC
on FACEBOOK!
Regional Info
1. Valpo has a huge advantage with a Division 1 Kicker in Sam Ficken, in Special Teams over
Mishawaka. Mishawaka put the fourth in a row, big hurt on Penn 14-7 in Ot.
2. Concord QB Anthony Yoder is probably out, bodes well for Morton. Morton would host
Dwenger in Semistate.
3. Valpo's last undefeated season was 1975 under Tom Stokes.
4. Northwest Indiana's last Big School Champ was not Hobart it was the Portage Indians in
1977 under Hall of Fame Coach Les Klein who defeated Reitz in the 3A State final, Mike
Wishnevski was the star Rb, Mark Evans at QB, Kelly Campbell at TE, and a ferocious defense
like Valpo's this year, knocked out defending state champ Merrillville under Hall of Fame
Coach Kenny Haupt 3-0, who had Tom Jelesky and Tim Seneff who both starred at Purdue and
Jelesky with the Philadelphia Eagles too. Mike Wishnevski became the Moonlight Graham
story as he made it to Triple AAA baseball with the Mariners and was on deck to bat against
the Yankees and never did. He went back to college in his thirties and finished a year playing
football at the old Indiana Central which is now the University of Indianapolis and did well.
5. In 3A Could it be Chatard - Andrean again?
6. Luers - Ren. is looming at the Semistate? Luers could win 3A!
7. LCC has given up 6 tds all year in 1A enough said, 2 to Pioneer.
8. Could we be looking at 4 Parochial state title games 1A LCC - Guerin Catholic, 2A Luers -
Mater Dei, 3A - Andrean - Chatard, 4A - Dwenger - Cathedral? How bout that Multiplier?
You can respond to this blog at Mid America Broadcasting LLC on FACEBOOK and become a
fan or get our updates as MAB Sports on Twitter!
Thanks, Andy Wielgus
SECTIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP WEEK QUESTIONS
1. Sectional 1 Has Crown Point recovered from the Homecoming loss to Chesterton, enough
to compete with Valpo? Valpo isn't a passing team so this could help the DOGS.
2. Sectional 33 Who is the better running back in Biggs or Salary? Last time Culver/South
Central hooked up it was 22-21 Culver. Look for Coach Karras to have his troops ready and he
deserves the credit with these Satellites, does he have the most wins of any 1st year coach in
the state, maybe Bob Potosky can configure the answer to that question.
3. Sectional 2 - Can Mishawaka beat Penn for the fourth time in a row in front of ten thousand
Michiana HS fans? Penn needs it's Gold Rush offense to do, more Mishawaka's defense put a
big hurt on it the last time?
4. Sectional 4 Where is Carmel, no more MIC? Fishers and Hamilton Southeastern formerly the
same school now the same district, a new Elementary school is built every year it seems, in
Hamilton county.
5. Sectional 9 Morton will have to travel to Concord for the Regional, how did that work out
for Lowell this year?
6. Sectional 10 Concord awaits Morton at the Regional and then Fort Wayne Dwenger?
7. Sectional 17 Andrean at home with Glenn, Coach Mason may get it's awaited rematch with
the Jimmies at Jimtown for the regional, according to Rich Sapper jimmies are the sprinkles
on the top of the ice cream sundae
8. Sectional 25 Bombers and Bearcats, Wheeler's center is out, Bombers await Bremen/Bob
Holmes and then possibly Luers.
9. Sectional 34 Lafayette Central Catholic has given up 4 tds all year, 1a state champ next
question. How bout Guerin Catholic out of Hamilton County beating Sheridan, Hamilton County
football is super this year, Fishers who beat Carmel, which is in this county also, HSE, and 3A
undefeated Hamilton Heights.
10. Congrats to Illinois Mt. Carmel's Coach Frank Lenti on his 300th win for the Caravan, he
has had players like Donovan Mcnabb and Simeon Rice.
11. Where does Jake Dixon go down in Portage history as a RB? Mike Wishnevski 1977 state
champ, Jeff Veatch, Scotty Curran state runnerup, Joe Christian, Rob Wishnevski, Steve Ford,
Brent Kingery, Kris Karagory, Antoine Brown, Albert Evans, etc.
I encourage everyone to join our FACEBOOK page at Mid America Broadcasting LLC on
FACEBOOK and share your comments, also our tweets are avaliable as MAB Sports on Twitter.
Thanks, Andy Wielgus MABC, LLC.
Here is my Sectional Corner dialogue questions to ponder?
1. In 5A with Warren Central, Center Grove, and Ben Davis out whose in, in the South? Pike,
Law. Cent., Avon, Col. East, Col. North, or Brownsburg?
2. Tre Roberson is the best player in the state period.
3. What's happened to the mighty MIC?
4. Did Col. East or Law. Central whine about enrollment or did they play football and just win?
Or do coaches do that only after a team like Carmel beats them like a drum?
5. Did Triton worry about seeding? With only one win and they won.Or maybe the media
shouldn't? Can't they write about something relevant in their previews, like the games?
6. Some people think it is good to see the same teams week after week, I think it blurs your
perception and it is egocentric? Just my view.
7. Why do some people downgrade the NCC because Lowell isn't as good, it's better then
most 4A conferences this year?
8. I heard one unnamed coach say in the media that he thought about opening his offense up,
you wait until week 10 to consider it?
9. How lucky can CP get - a last second win to beat Portage and now Munster? While letting
Valpo and Merrillville beat each other up.
10. Has the Radtke era ended at Griffith? We shall see.
11. Where were the Wally critics Friday after the Griffith game at around 930pm in Hobart?
12. 4A Collision - Reitz and Cathedral in the South again?
13. 2A Collision - Luers and Renn up north?
14. Did South Central put in a late TD with it's starters in, to make it 52-0 vs. Winamac. I
thought only another school in the region does this with late fg's and three onside kicks?
14. Join our FACEBOOK at Mid America Broadcasting LLC. These are not necessarily the
opinions of MABC, LLC. just points to consider.
Week 9 Blog
Questions to ponder as we go into the tournament
1. How many varsity level players does Griffith have, Radtke has to be Coach of the Year, with
so much going on this year.
2. Can Jake Dixon stun CP in Week One? What happened to CP vs. Chesterton?
3. Wheeler - Renn on a collision course, can the Bearcats handle the Bomber physicality?
4. Will Munster lose it's 11th in the last 14 in the Postseason play to LC?
5. West Side, Highland, or Hammond will get to the Sect. Championship in 4a which one will
make it? I like Highland.
6. Mishawaka had to score 15 pts in 5 minutes to beat Sb Wash 29-28, Will the Caveman beat
Penn for the fourth time in a row to get to the Regional? Penn drilled Adams 56-0 to close the
year.
7. Who wins Sect. 33 Winamac, Culver, SC, or Whiting? It's Up for Grabs and not the diner on
Calumet Avenue? Culver beat SC 22-21 earlier in the year, and Whiting always has battles with
SC, including the Chain Gang getting tossed game, this year.
8. Does the Lowell Magic end this year in Sect. 10? Remember Midgett is a giant!
9. If Morton and SB Washington play in the Regional, it could be 61-60 on turf?
10. In 5A - their is Carmel, Warren Central, Center Grove and then everybody else capice?
The Warren Commission will be called in if one of these three isn't in the state final.
11. Has RF ever played at the home of Stephanie White, Seeger? Is Seeger's Band led by a
guy named Bob? How bout Bowman and Newton first time I think?
12. Andrean's sectional will be the Andrean Invitational again? A regional rematch with
Jimtown? Hamilton Heights in the 3A State Final?
13. Can the Bucs ride Denzell Pierce and Raspopovich to the Semistate?
14. Is Gang Green - Valpo's D ready to shutdown everyone on the way to the Semistate vs.
Carmel? Valpo plays Carmel in the regular season next year.
15. A .500 season for EC, after last year escapades.Coach Stacy Adams was still at VU then.
Great job Coach Adams and staff including Coach Hank Kilander and Juda Parks, EC is going
in the right direction again.
16. Reitz - Cathedral again in 4A in the South. Remember the Irish! It's who you are playing, not
the record that counts, the Irish beat Cincy Moeller, the home of Ken Griffey Jr. this year
soundly.
16. For the best coverage listen to our games each Friday through the state finals at 630pm
on www.midamericabroadcasting.com and www.sportsjuice.com and our weekly show at
530pm on Wednesdays - MAB Weekly and T's Pizza Scoreboard at 1015pm on Football Friday
nights on www.midamericabroadcasting.com and www.sportsjuice.com THE HEART OF
AMATEUR SPORTS. Check us out on FACEBOOK and become a Fan at Mid America
Broadcasting LLC. and on TWITTER as MAB Sports. Thank you to our show and game night
crews JT Hoyo of Region Sports Desk and Joe Fadely of Region Sports Desk for their help on
shows and games, Coach Tim Gault and Zach, Hank Kilander - Webmaster, Rich Sapper our
Executive Producer, Bob Potosky - game prep, setup/play by play/host, Steve Guidry, Josh
Hammers, Mike Madura - Munster Volleyball Game and Tom Kulavik - Marquette Volleyball and
Web Input on games and shows. Check out our archive - just go to sportsjuice.com and hit
any of our games/shows or hit High School on sportsjuice.com and scroll down to Mid
America on sportsjuice.com - thanks to John Onorato of Sportsjuice for his help too.
Thanks, Andy Wielgus, MABC, LLC.
WEEK 8 BLOG
At the Inferno on Senior Night to see a NCC match up Munster at Lowell. And we turned it up a
notch for the broadcast as always with Bob Potosky, Coach Tim Gault, JT Hoyo on halftime and
scoreboard and Coach Gault's son Zach.
The first quarter saw some good defense, after the crowd had been relieved earlier in the
day with the capture of the alleged honeybee shooter, which had been on everyone's mind.
Lowell had only one practice this week and some of the boys had a makeshift practice in the
park during the week. Munster had a smaller crowd then usual and they led 14-10 at the half
due to a number of penalties and communication miscues, throughout the half by Lowell.
Including a late hit out of bounds late in the half to keep a Munster drive alive. Lowell has to
get this straightened out before the playoffs. Midgett scored all 10 pts for Lowell including a
FG. But at least they played better in the first half with Munster then they did against Griffith,
CP, Morton, and Hobart.
Lowell came out fired up from the locker room and got an early turnover to turn the tide 17-
14, and then proceeded to lead 24-14 in the second half. Munster's offense was too many
dive plays and an incomplete fullback screen and a lot of vanilla that got them 7 yds for the
third quarter. Munster needs to open things up with Egan and Wargo and let the chips fall
where they may, or they will continue with the recent 3-9 post season record. To Munster's
credit they opened things up real late with a pass play to Collison and then a FG by Smith,
they recovered an onside kick and then it fizzled. Midgett had over 200 yds rushing and
scored all of the points for Lowell, Juarez looked good but he is still recovering from injury.
Lowell's Cover 3 defense played well led by their linebackers and a great game by Jeremy
Crocker - he lived in the Mustang Corral backfield all night.
Thanks for listening and reading this, and you can respond on Mid America Broadcasting LLC
on FACEBOOK. - Andy Wielgus MABC, LLC.
October 4th
WEEK 7 BLOG
Penn vs. Mishawaka was a great game on Homecoming. Mishawaka puts the big hurt on the
Penn Homecoming and shocked the GO PENN GO Faithful 21 -14. Penn with their Gold Rush
offense, which struggled with point of attack blocking all night. Mishawaka's Roberto Martinez
and Sebastian Cameron lived in the Penn backfield all night! And Penn's Wild Bunch defense
gave up over 14 pts for the first time this year. This should be a Sectional 2 rematch in 5A.
Mishawaka 21 Penn 14 Final!
Their may be a new King in Michiana and we are going back to the Stone Age with the
Caveman of Mishawaka! As you may know Penn had not lost a NIC game for 24 years until
recently.This was the first time also since 1985 that Penn had lost a home game in the NIC and
the first time Mishawaka has won at Penn since 1977 OH MY! Mishawaka has now beaten
Penn three straight times, who is the last team to beat Penn three in a row? An interesting
note the year before Hall of Fame Coach Chris Geesman took over at Penn, "Gees" was
broadcasting right next to us with Donnie Smith of RRSN, they were 0-10 and then 5-5 in his
first year and the rest is history!
Both of these teams have punishing defenses. The game was played at Freed Field on the
Field Turf at Penn in front of 8,000 fans. Parking was a challenge but the good folks at Penn
took care of us and we were set to TURN IT UP A NOTCH!!!
The 1st quarter was played in 15 minutes with Mishawaka's no huddle attack, and then scoring
occurred back and forth in the second. A 17yd punt by Mishawaka led to Penn's 1st TD a
Randy Frederick to Andrew Campbell connection, Penn had the ball at the 32 of Mishawaka
which helped this drive. Frederick was 9-9 passing in the 1st half for Penn. Region fans if
Mishawaka who is 7-0 and # 3 ranked has a crutch it is Special Teams they had a punt blocked,
a few wounded duck punts - one that led to a score, looked weak on xtra pts - barely making
them, and we"re doing pop up video kickoffs.
Mishawaka's Soph Qb Sam Schrader did a great job with the no huddle attack offense from
the 2nd qt on, with a huge scamper in the second quarter. Schrader and Calvin Bonewits of
Griffith do the best at the run game that I have seen this year. It was 14- 7 Mishawaka at the
half as Penn blew a pass coverage and the long scamper by Schrader. Penn attempted a late
1st half FG that was missed.
Mishawaka led 21-7 in the second half as teams exchanged turnovers as Mishawaka's Ben
Versyp - yes he is a relative of Purdue coach Sharon Versyp, and Gary Yeoman of Penn had
picks. Desean Prentice of Penn made 2 huge catches in the game and Campbell got his
second td to cut it late to 21-14, but a late 1st down finished it. An interesting call in the game
a punt was blocked in the second half by Penn, hit three Penn players and then Mishawaka
recovered it down the field past the 1st down marker. Whose ball? Referee John Goss and
his crew gave it to Penn?
5A NORTH RANKINGS AS OF TODAY WHO IS GOING TO LUCAS OIL?
1. CARMEL - IS DEVIN BRINSON HURT? CAN THEY BEAT THEIR RIVALS IN HAMILTON COUNTY? -
SECT. 4
2. SNIDER STILL THE FAVORITE IN FORT WAYNE CAN THEY PLAY WITH CARMEL AT REGIONAL?
- SECT. 3
3. VALPO - BEAT ALL COMERS! PENN, CP, CHEST, AND MERR? - SECT. 1
4. MISHAWAKA - SECT. 2 FAVORITE!
5. CP -2 3PT. LOSSES TO VALPO AND MERR.- SECT. 1
6. MERRILLVILLE 42-41 TO LAPORTE? LOST TO VALPO ONLY 51 YDS OF OFFENSE IN 2ND HALF
VS. VALPO?- SECT. 1
7. PENN CAN THEY BEAT THE CAVEMAN? - SECT. 2
WILDCARD TEAM - JAKE DIXON AND PORTAGE WHO CAN STOP HIM? 380 YDS VS.
CHESTERTON? - SECT 1.
Thanks for reading this and listening, Andrew Wielgus MABC,LLC. - You can respond to us at
Mid America Broadcasting LLC on Facebook and become a fan. - Next week at the INFERNO in
Lowell for Munster/Lowell.
SEPTEMBER 28th
WEEK 6 BLOG
Ames Field - what a beautiful venue to broadcast and see a game. LC dominated Michigan
City in the 2nd half and won 31-0. It was Pop Warner night at Ames Field and I learned that
Juan Marachial once pitched minor league baseball in this stadium from Coach Gault.
It was nice to see the Girls BB Coach for the Wolves, Coach Mike Megeysi in the Press Box
and I recall following his South Bend St. Joe Lady Indians to a State title and through their
glory years with Rich Sapper and Bob Potosky. Rich was the official voice of those Indians and
I had a chance to see some great talent at Alumni Gym including Candace Parker, Melissa
Lechlitner, Dee Dee Jernigan and Kelly Watts the Electric Company, Skylar Diggins, Sydney
Smallbone, and Aimee Litka. Coach Megeysi was our halftime guest. Thanks, Coach.
The game itself was dominated by the physicality of the Blue Indians led by lineman #53
Nicholas Johnson, #23 RB Tanner Redlarczyk with over 100 yds and #10 Wr/Db Kramer Phelan
with two nifty TD Grabs and a fumble recovery for LC.
Wolves QB Rodney Washington had 25 carries and 46 yards. The loss of Craig Buzea, Tom
Cicero, and his staff was evident as Coach Schreiber puts in his system and has Former
Edison Coach Joe Fussell and Former Noll QB Star Bobby Kimp as Assistants helping out.
LC could give a team a challenge in the Sectional, they took the Red Indians to OT 20-14, beat
Munster last year in the sectional, and beat EC Central this year.
For the MC Wolves it will depend if they draw a team like winless Elkhart Central.
You can contact us on Facebook at Mid America Broadcasting, LLC or to get our updates on
Twitter as MAB Sports or on My Space.
Thanks for reading this and listening, and come on out to our scoreboard at T's Pizza on the S
curve of Rt. 51 by the legendary Brickie Bowl, on Friday nights at 1015pm or our MAB weekly
shows on Wednesdays at 530pm, see the front page for the schedule, and we will put you on
the air with "THE VOICE OF THE FAN".
Thanks, Andrew Wielgus, MABC, LLC.
SEPTEMBER 21st
WEEK 5 BLOG
I attended the Hobart - Andrean game at the new Brickyard. And the Brickies played ok 14-10
in the 2nd half, until they faltered in the 4th quarter 27-10. The old Brickie Bowl had a real
train and not a fake whistle going by and it is missed by all. But the new Brickyard has some
nice amenities, especially the pressbox and scoreboard.
The young Bricks led by Jamal Merritt - over 190 yards on the ground, showed some real
competitiveness. But it was to much Blanco and Mckenna, as Blanco turned the Brickyard into
the House of Blanco, with 3 long TD Scampers. One was scored without Joe Peco on the field,
when he had a 15yd. penalty and was pulled out by the coach. Peco is the leader of the Bricks
on D and Andrean only had 22 yds of offense in the first half besides the 80 yd. scamper by
Blanco.
A nice pizza place to go after the friday night game is T's Pizza in Hobart on the S Curve on Rt.
51, come on out and we will put you on the air at 1015pm on the Scoreboard Show, no media
type hyped discussion, just region football fans talking about the games.
How bout them Edison Eagles as they shocked Calumet and Ivan Zimmer 26-20! Great job by
the Big Train - 6'2 220lbs RF Transfer Hasonie Walters he plays Basketball and is all - GSSC
conference in Track too, 3tds in the game for Edison. Hasonie played his JH Football at
Edison. And Jerry Castellanos is a good RB for Coach Mike Hepp too. Edison has some strong
football and basketball teams at the JH, and they will be even better in a few years also.
Next week two big games Valpo/CP, CP has struggled with Valpo recently and this should be a
great game, between the 2 best defenses in the region! West Lafayette - Renn, 3A Champ
taking on this year's possible 2A Champ? Renn. Bomber Nation fans will be pumped for this
one! JT Hoyo is going down to see it from Region Sports Desk and I will be excited to hear
how the game went. If you haven't joined our FACEBOOK go to Mid America Broadcasting, LLC
on Facebook and become a fan are updates go to Twitter as well as MAB Sports. Thanks to
everyone for reading this blog and special recognition goes out to our sponsors for
supporting us and our broadcast crews,
Thanks, Andrew Wielgus MABC, LLC. THE HEART OF AMATEUR SPORTS
SEPTEMBER 13th
WEEK 4 BLOG
MAB had a great game this week and Griffith defeated Lowell 19-16. We were on the Visitors
side and Lowell had a huge crowd. Griffith had the lead at the Half, thanks to there QB Calvin
Bonewits and there runners Yost and Brinkley. Lowell came out of the Locker Room down and
trailed at one point 19-3, there only 3 points on a 38 yd FG by Midgett, is there anything this
kid can't do? It would have been good from 50yds. Then RDP showed itself as Midgett and the
O - Line from Lowell put on a show and had the ball with a chance to tie it with a sure FG or
win it, and a late fumble sealed it for Griffith.
Observations
1. I have seen Lowell three times, and they are a great second half team, not so good in the
first half.
2. Griffith is not real deep, they only dress about 35 kids and Reavis got hurt in the game.
3. Bonewits can run the Griffith Rush offense as good as anyone recently.
4. NWCC has 4 even teams Munster, Andrean, Lowell, and Griffith, on any given night they can
beat each other.
5. Lowell has the best game night and biggest road fan base in the NWCC.
6. Hobart has a beautiful Brickyard, should be Don Howell Field, stadium but the only other
win they are gonna get may be Highland in the Regular season.
7. KV will go winless unless they draw a Gary school in the sectional.
8. NWCC is full of great running QB'S Blanco, Bonewits, and Munster's QB are great runners.
9. Wheeler will not lose in the GSSC this year 28 in a row, but Jeff Karras wil get his kids fired
up and ready to play the 2A media proclaimed powerhouse school with softball and basketball
state titles.
10. Interesting Info Griffith's AD used to be Edison's AD, Crown Point's AD used to be Edison's
Football Coach, Griffith Sup't Pete Morikis is forrmerly a Principal in Edison's and Hobart's
district, Russ Radtke originally coached at North Judson San Pierre, Phil Mason was formerly
the coach at Wheeler and Clark and his son PJ plays at the Univ. of Indy and was on the 59'er
state title baseball team, Brad Stewart formerly of Lowell is now at KV, the voice of the Red
Devils John Alessia is a Principal in Lake Central's district, Highland Qb Gunner Grider's Dad
is a coach at Highland, KV AD Doug Greenlee used to be the football coach at KV, the
basketball coach, and he is still the baseball coach, Highland's coach Ken Bye won a cluster
playoff game at Michigan City Elston and beat Portage and Les Klein in the eighties, on that
Portage team was Rob Wishnevski who was the RB and was traded straight up in a MLB trade
for Candy Maldanado. Brandon Grubbe was great at Lowell but don't forget Pickett, French,
Barker, Goetz, Gray, and Clemens, Former LC and Gavit Asst for Bill Melby, Jim Magrames
who is an attorney, was an all state LB for Coach Marsh at Munster in 1987 and held the HR
record at Munster in his era for Coach Shinkan, Mab anaylst Tim Gault is the former head
coach at Knox and RF and he has been an assistant at Michigan City, Hobart, Tri West, Crown
Point, Andrean, RF, and Wheeler. Coach Gault had NASCAR Driver Jeff Gordon as a student at
Tri West. MAB Broadcaster Bernie Goin played for Coach Gault at RF, Roy Richards used to be
the head coach at EC Central, and the Griffith blown up panther looks more mousy then
catlike, in my opinion?
Thanks, Andrew Wielgus please make your comments on our FACEBOOK Page - Mid America
Broadcasting, LLC. - Congrats to my son Matthew's team, as his Big Green Hornets team beat
the Blue Devils 33-0 to move to 4-1 also great job coach Scott Shabaz and his staff, The CP JR.
BULLDOGS have the week off due to there fundraiser which I encourage everyone to attend,
$5.00 at the Lake County Fairgrounds Industrial Building, for all the food and beverage you
like, 6-11pm on 9-18-10, also thanks to County Line Orchard, Carriage Court, and T's for
hosting MAB this week.
SEPTEMBER 5th
WEEK 3 BLOG
10 FOOTBALL QUESTIONS TO PONDER
1. When was the last time RF was 3-0? 2003
2. How many GSSC games has Wheeler won in a row? 22
3. How many weeks will Dylan Patrick be out for KV? 5-6 is what we hear?
4. When Highland plays Griffith, what is that called? THE BATTLE OF THE BIKEPATH
5. When RF plays South Central? THE BATTLE OF THE MINNOW BUCKET
6. We hear that Jake Dixon may play baseball at Portage this year? Like Tony Cheky Jr. played
football?
7. Where will Matt Neal play his college football? Toledo, Illinois State - mid major
8. Which 1st year coach will win the most games? Flowers, Karras, Kilmer, St. Germain or
Adams? Surprisingly it might be Karras, only Wheeler is a team that they shouldn't compete
with and then the 1a sectional?
10. Which teams have the best shot beyond the sectional? 3a Andrean, 2a Renn, 5a
Merr/Valpo/CP 4a Morton/Griffith/Lowell - this may be the end for the Devils streak -
Concord/SBW/Plymouth, Playoff preview - 1a Lcc/Pioneer will knock out whomever 2a LUERS -
RENN have a showdown, don't count out Cass, 3a West Lafayette/Jimtown are good again.4a
Cathedral - Dwenger 5a Carmel - Warren Central rematch book it!
11. Best coverage on facebook? Mid America broadcasting on FACEBOOK and REGION
SPORTS DESK ON FACEBOOK!
Thanks, Andrew Wielgus go to Mid America Broadcasting, LLC. on FACEBOOK and become a
fan
AUGUST 31st
WEEK 2 BLOG
FRIDAY NIGHT EXCITEMENT AT THE INFERNO! MORTON AT LOWELL!
LOWELL Fans were on edge, after there boys had taken a loss the week before to CP. The
first question was eased as a familiar voice was on the PA John Alessia. There was some talk
that he would be replaced because he is now a Principal in the LC district.
The athletic govs showed there athleticism, but mistakes and penalties did them in. They
outgained the Devils but the big plays by Midgett and Juarez did them in, in this one. As I
ventured out into the construction of rt. 2, I pondered the decisions that I saw Friday night, a
decision to go for 2 when it was 27-26 Lowell, was a tough decision by Roy Richards. Coaches
have to go with there gut, and I noticed that the govs coaches were giving there input too,
but that is what the head coach has to decide, and Roy Richards did. It was great to have the
executive producer of MAB Rich Sapper back on the broadcast and the Region Sports guys
joined us for the pregame, halftime, and scoreboard show at T's Pizza.
Saturday saw a big victory for my son's team the Green Hornets over the Purple Vikings 19-0,
my son Matthew had 6 carries for about 19 yds.
I listened to Bob and JT's call on the St. Rita and Portage game, they held Aqui down but they
were too physical and Portage needs to work on their passing game. A side note it was nice
to see Tony Cheky Jr making plays for the tribe like he does for the big red on the diamond.
His dad Tony Cheky Jr. played football for Les Klein and wrestled for Bruce Sheriff, I
remember a game where Tony had a pass go in and out of his hands to almost beat Lew
Wallace in 1985 and Tony Cheky Jr.'s mom is Becky Alderson who played basketball for the
late hall of famer Bernita Adkins at Portage. I played alot of little league baseball,
neighborhood football, and wiffle ball against Tony Sr. growing up in the Birdland subdivision
of Portage across from Woodland Park in the seventies and eighties, and including Tony,
some good players for Portage came out of our subdivision including Jim Wilkie who pitched
in the Minor Leagues, Scott Bruce a leading scorer for Portage in basketball in 1985, Randy
Coudriet who was a star runner in the late seventies for Bill Wilkie's x-country/track teams, a
couple of Malone brothers who played football on the state team in 1977, and John Garcia the
starting point guard in the pre - Kevin Mackey days in basketball.
Thanks, Andrew Wielgus you can respond to this blog on FACEBOOK at Mid America
Broadcasting, LLC
AUGUST 22ND
WEEK ONE BLOG
I attended two games this week and a cp jr. bulldogs game. A dominating performance by CP
over Lowell 37-6 and Whiting winning the Battle of 119th Street 23-0 over Clark. The Crown
Point game was an overflowing crowd that filled the HS, St. Matthias, and Eisenhower
Elementary parking lots. Lots of CP JR. Bulldogs kids in there jersys from the Green Hornets
to the Blue Devils roaming around as they got into the game for free with there jersey
including my son Matthew and his no. 30 Big Green Hornets jersey, his team is 2-1 in first
place and they defeated the previously undefeated Red Raiders Saturday 20-0. They are
having a big fundraiser at the Lake County Fairgrounds on Sept. 18th 6-11pm, all the food and
drink for $5.00 and always a good time.
Who will replace Brandon Grubbe at Lowell? Cole Midgett? The answer friday is that this is
not the same Lowell team as a year ago, replacing Kennedy who lost to the Bedford North
Lawrence Stars at Bloomington South, Yes Bedford is improving but this is the home of
Damon Bailey and Hoosier Hysteria country. Losing Kirk Kennedy, Brad Stewart, and AD Don
Bales to a football program may be compared in some ways to losing Don Howell and Tom
Kerr in the same year . And the running game for Lowell Friday, did not bring back memories
of French, Pickett, Gray, Goetz, Clemens, or Grubbe.
Saturday started for me with a Big Green Hornets win for my son Matthew 20-0, Troy Grady
and Eli Udchitz 8th Graders at Taft scored the Tds for Coach Scott Shabaz, and the youngest
brother of Green Bay Packer Matthew Neal, Adam had at least 4 sacks and he is an 8th grader
at Merrillville .Region fans two more Neals are coming Ryan who is a rb and a freshman, and
Adam who is way over 6'0 as an 8th grader.
The travel to Robertsdale and Fort Pioneer is always full of construction and when I finally
arrived , there was plenty of pregame media and activities going on, by the way some people
thought this webcasting would never take off when me, Bob Potosky, Rich Sapper, Mike
Bozich, and Hank Kilander starting doing this 8 years ago - what are they saying now? The
game was a show in the first half for Whiting's Juwan Simmons who is receiving D1 letters
from IU, Ball State, and Louisville amongst others and he had 6 catches and a td in the game,
Juwan's dad played basketball at EC Central in 1987. Whiting led the game 7-0 at half and Clark
could never get going with Rb Cameron Copeland who had some nice plays, and Alex Evanich
who got ejected late in the game, so he will have to sit out next week against Calumet. Clark's
Dominic Williams had several tackles for loss and if you play Clark you need to scheme for no.
52 and a heavyweight punter in Zamora.
The night was all about the Oilers, Jeff Cain got Simmons involved right from the get go and
Clark could not cover him. Quiroz gained big yards as the Clark defense wore out in the 2nd
half, lots of run blitzes really kept the Clark offense off balance with Hennessey and Aponte.
Can Whiting play with Wheeler in the GSSC? One area of concern is snapping at least 10 bad
snaps - on the ground, over Aponte's head, and all over the yard. Against a good team this
will haunt the Oilers, but it is game one. The Freshman for Clark, Ramirez got into the game
late and he is the brother of Clark Legends Mario and Mike Ramirez. Thank you to Tim Gault
who did color for us at MAB GREAT JOB TIM. Also, thanks to the Region Sports Desk guys for
doing the game video and the scoreboard show at T's Pizza, which was really good football
talk pop and pizza.
Thanks, Andrew Wielgus - please share your responses on Facebook to this blog or any of
our games at Mid America Broadcasting, LLC and become a Fan and receive our updates.
AUGUST 14TH, 2010
I Attended the Highland - Crown Point Scrimmage with my son Matthew under threatening
skies. Interestingly, the game's parking lot was full with Lake County Fair shuttle traffic and
buses.
The Bulldogs looked considerably stronger with Sr. Austin Atherton at Rb., then Highland and
they are team - CP, with some significant underclass talent.starting with Junior QB Joe
Hopman and former Jr. Bulldog league star Braxton Rice who is a 6'5 Soph. Wr., 6'2 215 lb Jr.
Te Tyler Kral whose younger brother Morgan pitched the CP Cal Ripken Little League to a
state title, Jr. Austin Stanley had an int in the game, and Jr. Baseball player Jake Lindeman is
back out as well.
If I was CP I would think about focusing on the younger talent in the program, this year would
be a success if they get a decent record and get a lot of exposure for these kids, for next
year. They may be a future power in years to come, I have seen some of these kids play in CP
Jr. Bulldogs and they are now Freshman and Soph., look for names like the ones I mentioned,
and some other underclassmen like Freshman Nick Hanlon, Tristan Peterson, Soph. Skevo
Zembillas, Mohammed Elayyan, and Freshman Rb Jonathan Wigmore, along with Ryan Neal
who plays at Merrillville, and Brendyn Mckinnion to make some noise at CP as they dominated
the Jr. Bulldog league with two straight undefeated and unscored upon seasons under Coach
Scott Shabaz, Troy Grady,and Larry Hanlon for the Jr. Bulldogs Green Hornets Big Team
Highland is a team that showed some flashes and I really liked the athleticism of soph. #28
Chris Aifuwa at the rb. spot. They are in for a challenge with Wheeler's qb Sam o" Shea and rb
Jake Hidalgo next week, Highland did not have big roster numbers either and that could hurt
them in there rugged conference and they really need improved play on the line to compete.
Feel free to respond to us on Mid America Broadcasting, LLC on Facebook.
Thanks, Andrew WielgusJuly 28th
With Andre Dawson, Bruce Sutter, Dennis Eckersley,and Ryne Sandberg now being in the Hall
of Fame. The X generation of Cub Fans now have there idols in the Hall. Will Mark Grace or
Lee Smith be the next Ron Santo in 20 years? With Billy, Ernie, and Fergie in the Hall, the 69
cubs have there place in the Hall and all they need is Santo. The 69 Cubs had there own Hey
Hey Holy Mackarel Record/Album in there day, just like the 85 Bears Super Bowl Shuffle.
I grew up with WGN Cubs Baseball, Danley Garage Ads, the Leadoff Man, and Jack "hey hey"
Brickhouse, the good kid Lou Boudreau - 1948 World Series MVP from Cleveland from Harvey,
IL., Arnie Harris, Jack Rosenberg, and Vince Lloyd.
My mornings always started with Ray Rayner as a kid and I still remember the 77 Portage
Football team being on the Ray Rayner Show and his duck, and Cudley Dudley the Dog. I had a
day off from Crisman Elementary when Portage and Les Klein won it all over Evansville Reitz
34-7 in the 3A Final, with Tribe legends like RB Mike Wishvevski, QB Mark Evans, TE Kelly
Campbell, a ferocious defense and of course K Alex Mackenzie who made the 3-0 kick in the
4th quarter to beat defending State Champion Merrillville at Demaree Field and Coach Ken
Haupt who had Tom Jelesky, Tim Seneff,and Kelly Keough. Three Big School DAC State
Champs in three years 75,76, and 77, in the pre - Hobart Don Howell days!
My question to the next generation is Should Sammy Sosa be a Hall of Famer? Barry Bonds,
Mark Mcgwire, Roger Clemens, A ROD, Palmeiro, etc. This debate will go on for some time
with this generation, but it shouldn't exclude the Ken Griffey Jr.'s and Frank Thomas' of the
World who have not been accused of anything, but remember we never did get all of the
names off the last Mitchell Report list.
Well for now let's celebrate the Bows and the great 87 season 49 hrs, of THE HAWK ANDRE
DAWSON, THE THIRD PLAYER IN HISTORY TO HAVE 4OO HR'S AND 3OO STOLEN BASES! WAY
TO GO HAWK! I was at the Sandberg game, and I am not lying.
I remember also the new Hall of Famer Whitey Herzog extollling Sandberg after the game for
his play. Hall of Fame Inductions mean that NFL Training camps and two a days are around the
corner, how many days until pads Bob Potosky?
You can respond to this blog on FACEBOOK at Mid America Broadcasting, LLC or email our
webmaster at hkilander@gmail.com, thanks for reading this blog and tune into any of our
shows or games and TURN IT UP A NOTCH WITH THE HEART OF AMATEUR SPORTS, on www.
sportsjuice.com and you can listen to our archive there at mid america broadcasting on www.
sportsjuice.com too, including the Indiana State Finals from last year in Baseball, Softball, and
Basketball. Check out the Bowman - EC BB game on the archive it's a classic with Bob Potosky
and Hank Kilander, and I learned a new term in basketball from Bernie Goin "Floppers", in the
Wheeler - Southwood game, and you can hear Rich Sapper on Highland vs. Boone Grove
Basketball a great game, and an exciting New Prairie vs. Hobart OT affair.
July 15th
This is the time of the year when the fans get excited about football again now that Lebron
mania is over. A last note on basketball - Pat Riley vs. Phil Jackson in the finals, The three
kings vs. the king of three peats Kobe and Phil, Shaq/Fisher may sign in Miami, David Stern is
loving this. Here are some questions and thoughts that come to mind in football?
1. Are we really thinking about Brett Favre again and is Michael Vick allegedly having some
issues again?
2. It's time to start thinking about HS Football again and I will be looking to see the yearly
reviews of the HS teams, you can go to www.rrsn.com to purchase the Indiana Football
Digest. It is a review of all of the teams and I believe it is avaliable at All Stars in the Southlake
Mall in Lake County, I always want to say the mall is in Merrillville when I know it is Hobart.
Look for the MAB ad too this year.
3. Will Devin Hester really know the plays this year?
4. Will Mike Martz really get along with the other coaches? How will he use the tight ends?
5. Will Jay Cutler throw to the right team?
6. Is Charlie Weis really gone?
7. Will Lovie be gone mid season? How many former coaches on staff can take his place?
8. Will James Aldridge and Jaymar Johnson catch on with there teams?
9. How much will Michael Neal play for the Pack?
10. Will Kawann Short be a force for Purdue?
11. How much will Matt Ernest play at IU?
12. Who is the best QB in the region? O'shea, Raspopovich, Washington, Hoppman, Dixon,
Aponte?
13. Who will play Qb at RF? Hanson, Young, Richie Pennington, JJ Pennington?
14. Will Keith Kilmer be successful at Lowell?
15. Will anyone win at LC?
16. Can Coach Hepp bring back the Eagles?
17. Is Coach Kennedy really in Bloomington?
18. Is Urlacher done? How bout Tommie Harris is he done?
19.Do the Bears have a Safety finally?
20. Will EC make it through the season with a coach?
21. Is this the year for Roy at Morton to go downstate?
22. Can anyone hang with Rensselear in 2a?
23. Will someone challenge Wheeler in the regular season?
24. Will Andrean reload in 3a?
25. How good is Portage ? Better then Valpo or Merrillville?
Thanks, AW you can respond on FACEBOOK at Mid America Broadcasting, LLC or to our
webmaster at hkilander@gmail.com.
July 6th
Indiana High School Baseball
Down at the state finals I had a chance to work with Cathedral grad Steve Guidry. And we
discussed the influence that Cathedral baseball is having in the MLB. Cathedral grad Tommy
Hunter who went to the University of Alabama, just beat the White Sox recently 3-1 in 7
innings of work and Jake Fox is doing good things for the Orioles, as I saw him score a
winning run for them recently, this is his third team, the Cubs and A's before Baltimore. Why
did the Cubs get rid of him anyways, he at least provided some offense.
Now a third promising player in Cathedral pitcher Dillion Peters who is bound for Texas in
2012, and he set the strikeout record for state finals games with 16. The region has produced
great ones and some role players too, here is a list from the region including 1983 Rookie of
the year - Ron Kittle - Wirt, Kenny Lofton - ECW, Dan Plesac - CP, Jeff Samardzja and the late
Tim Bishop who I believed would have madethe majors, it if not for a tragic accident, - Valpo,
Latroy Hawkins West Side, Wallace Johnson and Lloyd Mcclendon - Velt, the late Joe Gates -
Wirt, Sam Rice - Morocco, Rob and Mike Wishvevski - Portage, Hal and Bobby Morris of
Munster, Ron Reed and Chris Bootcheck - Laporte, and Tim Stoddard - ECW.
But other areas of the state have had great players too like Scott Rolen of Jasper, Rodney
scott of Arlington, and Andy Benes of Evansville.
This year saw a 1a player from Cowan - Muncie area - a Catcher Justin O" Connell get drafted
in the first round by the Devil Rays, and to along with the Cathedral duo - recent Indiana HS
players have made a mark like Clayton Richard of Mccutcheon and Jeff Samardzja of Valpo.
Look for players from Brownsburg, to leave there mark soon too, that are in the high minors,
like Lance Lynn who pitched at Ole Miss. Also, the son of former Major Leaguer Lloyd
Mcclendon - Bo McClendon of Merrillville who got drafted by the Tigers out of VU. In other
words it was great to see Michael Neal, Gordon Heyward, and Luke Harangody get drafted,
but baseball is leaving it's mark in the Hoosier state too!
Here is a list of region baseball players who made the major leagues:
P DAN PLESAC,LATROY HAWKINS, TIM STODDARD, JEFF SAMARDZJA CHRIS BOOTCHECK, RON
REED, ROB WISHNEVSKI, AND BOB ANDERSON
OF RON KITTLE, KENNY LOFTON, LARRY BIGBIE, AND SAM RICE
IF WALLACE JOHNSON, 2B JOE GATES, 1B CLIFF FLOYD, LARRY BIGBIE, ROB MACKOWIAK,
DON LARSEN, BOB ANDERSON
July 3rd
In the local media today there is an article about Former Munster Mustang 1986 and
Boilermaker SS Jeff Kapp starting a Little Sluggers Academy in Chicago. I played softball with
Jeff and he was a heckuva softball player and I remember playing with some great players
around the area in several tournaments/leagues, that Hank Kilander would set up some of
throughout the region. Softball is a great outlet for competitiveness. Hank had set up some
great teams over the years and I enjoyed playing during that 1986 - 2000 era.
Some of the names and nicknames that come to mind right away to me include the late Mike
Stolarz who pitched with us for several years, the late Dave Nixon an umpire in Crown Point,
Hank Kilander, Xavier "X man" Canchola, Mike Coppess, Grey Mcclintic, Johnny Seberger,
Mike "Smoothie" Fechalos", Tim " Buddha" Fechalos, Mark and Jerry Pancini, Sammy Mynes,
Chris"Goose" Gustafson, and his Ringer Brother Bobby, Doug Basham and Jimmy, John"
Balls" Moehlenkamp, Kevin "Vinnie" Scott, Jeff Kapp. Eric Cadle, Jay Mueller, Jeff Pysh, Jeff
Bastian, Kevin "Gumby" Kunz, Tony Terzarial, Ron Head, Scott and Steve Felton, Jeff Hartog,
Jeff and Todd Harbrecht, Donnie Schoenbeck, Mark Hidalgo, John Doherty, Billy Cain, Matt
Kachur, Mike Bozich, Tiny never knew his name but he was 6'4 and definately not Tiny that's
what you get in softball, from my early days growing up in Portage in softball including some
Hobart coed Tony Cheky, Sean Wilkie, Olsen Soberg, Louie and Chris Gonzalez, Ray Sierra,
Jack Furgye, John and Rose Kliza, Brian and Amy Siver, Dave Parks, Ted Hansen and many
sponsors like Hydads, Ronnie b's, Dawn Foods, Ace Hardware, Harbrecht Construction. Also
the many leagues that I played in Lemon Lake, CP, South Haven - the late Myron Fessler was
the director, Hidden Lake the late Tim Vesa was the director., Imagination Glen, Highland, and
Hobart. Every time I now go to see my daughter play softball, I walk by the men's leagues and
great memories come flooding back and the old competitiveness starts coming back and I
smile and realize that I had a great time playing with some great teams - Hydads that beat
State and National champs - Geisen's and Bridges a few times in the nineties, and people
over the years and if I missed your name, thanks also, I know Hank can remember them all and
maybe add them to the blog. And of course the theme song DO THE HUSTLE, that sparked a
few major rallies, one coming back from 16-1 in one inning at Crawfordsville. As I run into all
these guys at my kids games or in Northwest Indiana I always go back to the fun of that era
before, during, and after games.
Thanks, AW
June 30th
Blog 1970- 2010
40 years of HS Basketball in the Region. Who are the top 10 at the HS level in the region. Mr.
Basketball"s get a high ranking automatically because they were the best of the best in the
state there senior year!
First Team - F Glenn Robinson - Mr. Basketball - Purdue no. 1 NBA DRAFT PICK state champ
F Etwan Moore - EC Central - Purdue state champ
C Jim Bradley - EC Roosevelt state champ
G Roger Harden - Mr. Basketball - Kentucky
G Delray Brooks - Mr. Basketball - Indiana Providence
Second Team - EC Washington 1971 state champ - starting lineup of Trgovich, Bailey,Adell,
Bridgeman, and Stoddard
Could the second team beat the first team who will stop Bradley?
Third Team
F Dan Palombizo - Mr. Basketball
F Luke Harangody - Big East player of year
C Chris Hunter - Golden State, State champ
G/F Shane Power - all time nw indiana scorer
G Bryce Drew - VU - The shot enough said!
Others to mention - Kenny Lofton - Arizona, Carson Cunningham - Purdue, Dan Dakich - IU, Tim
Bishop, Tony Harris - New Orleans, 76'ers, Winston Garland - NBA Three teams, Teyon Mccoy -
Maryland/Texas, Joey Wright - Texas Tim Mcalister - Oklahoma, Kenny Harris - VU, Rob Harden
- VU, Fla, Nevada, Keith Gailes - Loyola, Keir Rogers -Loyola Jake Parker - Bethel, Matt Nover -
IU, Jim Bullock - Purdue, Drake Morris - Purdue, Angel Garcia, Hunter Atkins - Loyola, Ole
Miss, Brandon Cameron - Penn State, IUPUI, Gary Patterson IUPUI, Butler, Lonnie Randolph -
Drake, Eugene Wilson,- Illinois, Patriots, James Borom, TJ Lux - NIU, Jamaal Davis Purdue,
Cincy Brett Fedak Toledo, John Wilczynski,Akron Greg Tonagel VU, David Wayne Taylor, Scott
Anselm VU, Mike Jones Ole Miss, VU, Renaldo Thomas Houston, Ricky Wright Providence,
Carlron Oudie Baker Barton County, Corey Stokes, Mike Cash Bradley, Joe Hershman, Dan
Stevens Loyola, Jake Kitchel ISU,Tellis Frank West. Ky, Wallace Bryant SF, Brian Asberry West
Ky, Johnny Fort Iowa, John Hegwood SF, John Brugos Purdue, Bo Cucuz NW, Milan Petrovic
NW, Tim Gabrish, Dave Polak, Rich Valavicius IU, Auburn, Brian Banks Nebrasks, Juda Parks
ISU, Raynard Malaine , George Butler Georgetown, Rene Buster Glover Kansas State, Thad
Garner Michigan, Walt Whitaker ISU, Jeff Markle VU, Jeff SimmonsVU, Milosh Pujo, Larry
DemicAz, Dejuan Marrero, Tyrae Robinson, Glenn Robinson Jr., Jeff Furlin Ball State, Kevin
Mackey, Steve Hendershot, Ricky Hise, Lou Stefanovic ISU, Josh Mayo UIC, Charles Macon -
Ohio State, Curtis Jackson, Dion Campbell ISU, Kirk Manns Michigan State and Zach Novak -
Michigan. What do you think email us your thoughts at hkilander@gmail.com or go to
facebook at mid america broadcasting, llc.
June 28th
Memories of Merrillville Basketball
With Jim East's impending retirement after next year, it has me recalling all of the Pirate
basketball that I have seen. Starting with a cinderella Pirate team under Jim Vermillion that
made the state finals in the late 70's after upsetting Noll with Thad Garner who went to
Michigan and Walt Whitaker who went to Illinois State before losing in the final four. They
were led by Tim Seneff, Tom Jelesky, Eddie Krol, Gregg Kemp,and Sharpshpooter Jeff Markle
who went on to play ay VU. Seneff and Jelesky were stars on the 76 pirate football state
champion team under Ken Haupt, and played at Purdue together before Jelesky finished his
career with the Eagles in the NFL. As Jim East came in along with assistant the late Don Slys
who was the tennis coach at Merrillville and whose son Mike is now a teacher at River Forest
and an assistant for Courtney Quigg. The Pirates were loaded with talent like Lou Stefanovic
who went on to play at Illinois State and played professionally in Europe. Lou has been
coaching his two sons in the AAU circuit and hiis son Dejan started at CP this year and his
younger son Sasha is an upcoming star in 6th grade. Along with Lou, the pirates had Bill
Meade, Chuck Gans. Casey Carrabine who went on to play at the University of Denver, Randy
Ban whose brother Eric is the Principal at CPHS, Jay Layman, and Lenny Schmidt - and yes I
remember the fight with Kevin Cardo Cardenas of Portage. And we can't forget the manager
of those teams Xavier Canchola the X man, the unofficial mayor of Merrillville. The pirates of
this era were exciting to watch as they battled in the DAC against the likes of the Harden
brothers at Valpo, Palombizo and Brooks at MC, Dermody of Laporte, and the Tribe bunch at
Portage of Kevin Mackey, Brian Binder, the late Glenn Devries, Brian Sutherland, and
Downtown Billy Pendleton. Great Pirate memories extended into the eighties with John
Wilczynski who played at Akron, Dennis Metcalf, and Dan Green who I attended basketball
camp one year at VU with. Pirate Power was seen by dominance in the DAC with several
crowns and only one subpar season through all of those years and was highlighted by the run
to the state title game in 95 with Ben Davis, led by Division One talent like Jamaal Davis who
played at Cincinnati and Purdue and yes Hank he dunked on Lake Station and several teams,
TJ Lux who played and starred at Northern Illinois and is currently on East's staff and Brett
Fedak who played at Toledo. The late 90's was led by the Calumet, I mean Calumet region duo
of James Borom and Lonnie Randolph that were two of the best pressure defense guards
ever to play in the region. An underrated star in pirate lore is UIC star Josh Mayo who to this
day I don't know why VU didn't recruit him. Eugene Wilson was one of the best all around
athletes ever to play in the region, similar to the late Tim Bishop of Valpo who played with
Bryce Drew, who played at VU and professionally in the NBA. The cinderella run of the pirate
team led by a super freshman performance by Greg Hill in the Michigan City regional, that
myself and Bob Potosky called. I can't mention pirate basketball without mentioning my aunt
and uncle the late Ruby and Jerry Wielgus, Jerry was a pirate booster and fan who passed
away in 1989, he was so upset when the Pirates lost to the Indians in football 3-0 in 1977, that
he couldn't even talk to my dad and myself about the sectional game for a week. Finally all of
the coaches that have come out of pirate basketball - Mike Hackett - Munster who has a 7th
grade son coming up at Munster, Leo Bonin whose sons play for CP in AAU, - Blake - 7th
grader at Taft and Bryce who will be a 6th grader at CP, currently coaches in the AAU ranks
and at TF North before, Randy Stelter - Wheeler AD - 2 State titles this year, TJ Lux, Skeeter
Heath and Steve Leonard retired from Lacrosse and Lowell. Lots of memories and the pirate
ad's always welcome us when we broadcast. You can email our webmaster on this blog at
hkilander@gmail.com or comment on facebook Mid America Broadcasting, LLC.
Thanks, Andy Wielgus
June 24th
As a school person, fan, and a broadcaster this year.
It has been an exciting one for student – athletes! The year began with several exciting
football and volleyball matches. One that comes to mind right away is watching an Indiana –
Illinois football matchup between Portage and St. Rita, in that game the Tribe held their own,
but St. Rita running back Aqui put on a strong show of physicality. As I announced this game
with RF and now VU grad Bernard “ Bernie” Goin.
I also had the chance to witness a great upset, in RF beating Bishop Noll at Ray Madden Field,
the Ingots have a great future ahead of them under Coach Bean with Rich Pennington, Mike
Manning, Joey Puskac, Tyler Hanson, Ramon Diaz, and Hasonie Walters back in the mix next
year. I enjoyed broadcasting the Ivy Tech Invitational also this year from Lucas Oil in Indy as
well, highlighted by Ben Davis and Warren Central.
I was able to see a team in Culver Community that really dominated Whiting in the sectional,
and then the next week got handled by LCC. Look for Culver to be a favorite in their 1A
sectional again. Another memory is Cathedral grad Steve Guidry, Bob Potosky, and I doing the
call at the Inferno between Dwenger and Lowell, what a crowd, and what a heart Brandon
Grubbe had throughout his career at Lowell, good luck at Butler. The football state finals saw
a dominant offensive and defensive effort by LCC IN 1A, a great show by West Lafayette in 3a,
and Evansville Reitz putting on a show in 4A, the night cap Warren Central – Carmel, was a
heck of a game called by Steve Guidry and Hank Kilander, how bout that Trooper Offense
guys!
The basketball season saw for me a Cinderella run by RF in boys and girls basketball with the
boys winning 15 games and the girls 14. RF had a great season under Head Coaches - Jason
and Courtney Quigg and Jason was the GSSC coach of the year. Andrew Eskridge, Richard
Perez, Jesse Allen, Ryan Smith, and Jack Zambrana had a great senior season thanks for the
memories guys, the underclassmen led by Ricky Garcia and Hasonie Walters have a lot to look
forward too. In girls basketball it was the dynamic duo of Katie Buehler and Bethany Galligan
that led to an exciting season, Bethany with her ball handling wizardry and hitting threes.
Katie Buehler the number one rebounder in Northwest Indiana - who put on a relentless
defense and rebounding show every game. A game that I broadcasted that comes to mind is
Highland – Boone Grove which went back and forth all night and was an exciting boys bb
game, with Rich Sapper on the call, Rich is the unofficial voice of the LAC and Highland
sports, Rich has done more Highland games than anyone I know, including 2 more this year. A
MAB game I listened to was Bowman and EC. Hank Kilander and Bob Potosky had a great call,
Hank knew everything about these student – athletes and I read several great comments
about the broadcasters that were put on Harrell”s website, great job! The trip to Fort Wayne
for the Girls finals, was new but I really liked the stadium, it had the old Market Square Arena
feel, and what a team Ben Davis had one of the best ever! Also, it was nice to see a Northwest
Indiana team come out of the locker room there in Fort Wayne. I think that Austin is still
shooting threes in the 2a game.
In the boys basketball finals Bowman and Wheeler get it done for the region, I am especially
happy for Wheeler assistant Geoff Dan who I have known over the years, great job and great
run. Coach Quigg on the call with Bernie Goin in 2a.
RF this year was right in the sectional game, with Wheeler at the end in the Edison sectional,
and I recall Andrew Rudakas wiping his brow as he realized they had survived an upset
challenge. Also, Edison had a great 2 overtime game vs. Noll that myself and Matthew Wielgus
witnessed.
The 3A State final game between Wallace and Washington was a thriller and had a little of
everything to offer, could this be a rematch DAWSON VS. ZELLER next year! Juda Parks, Hank,
and Benie on the call.
4A Was the Terone Johnson show as Doug Mitchell’s North Central bunch dissected Warsaw.
In Spring sports the Railcats Challenge with Bob Potosky, was our main venue with other
baseball and softball sprinkled in. I saw some great action again this year, Whiting beating
Griffith was exciting, Coach Lenz’s team was exciting to watch. We had a chance to see about
95 percent of the teams in the region.
Great State Finals games were then on the docket for me as I saw three one run thrillers in
softball from a sweltering Ben Davis press box, 1-0, 8-7, and 9-8. Wheeler was down 6-1 and
then came back to win in 2a and in 3a Dwenger was down 7-1 and then came back to win. The
2nd state title for Wheeler this year with basketball, and three first time state champions in
softball and then the rain came for 4a, which was eventually completed three days later, with
Hamilton Southeastern winning over Terre Haute North 3-1. In both softball and baseball it
was Bob Potosky, Steve Guidry, and myself on the call and you can find these games on the
Mid America archive at www.sportsjuice.com .
In baseball LCC had it’s closest call 4-2 in a final and in 2a Heritage Christian led by the
identical twins the Ledbetter Brothers - who are bound for Wheaton College won 5-1, In 3a
Andrean defeated Jasper 6-1 with Kenny Mahala leading the way with a three run double in
the third and the pitching win to go to 10-0, 18-1 the last two years. The 4a game was special
as Fort Wayne Carroll led by Austin Wise outdueled Cathedral”s Dillion Peters 1-0 IN 9 Innings,
who set a 4a record for strikeouts with 16 and is bound for Texas in 2 years. Also, Carroll’s
Justin Glass there home run leader with 16 is bound for Cincinnati next year. It’s been a great
year to be a fan of sports and we have lost some figures this year that will be missed
including Jim Anderson, Joe Gates, Luke DeBold, and Wally McCormick. On a personal note,
Luke DeBold was a former student of mind at St. Joseph’s in Dyer and was a great person who
did a lot in the academic and sports arena for Andrean and the University of Miami. I will
always remember him as the excited sixth grade student in my first class, who was the most
eager to learn of any student that I have ever had and a super person from a great family.
Luke we all miss you.
Finally, thanks for taking the time to read this and I hope you will listen to one of our
broadcasts or you can email our webmaster at hkilander@gmail.com or
bpotosky@midamericabroadcasting.com.
Thanks, Andy Wielgus
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