The Franklin
Central Flashes were the big Conference Indiana story during swimming
sectionals this past weekend. The Flashes upended Lawrence North to claim the
championship in the sectional contested in Franklin Central’s home pool. The
Flashes amassed 327 points and won seven events in grabbing the title. Lawrence
Central finished fifth in that same field and had winning performances in two
events.
At Franklin
Community, Perry Meridian gave a strong third place performance with a total of
137 points. Southport finished ninth in that sectional with 65 points. Pike totaled
187 points in the Ben Davis Sectional but ended a distant third behind high
powered North Central and Brebeuf.
The Columbus
North Sectional delivered a bit of a surprise. East Central upset the host Bull
Dogs for the title. Conference Indiana teams finished 2,3,4 in the competition.
This was close throughout. East Central edged Columbus North 302 to 278 for the
crown while Bloomington South was third with 264. Bloomington North ended the
day in fourth with 264 points.
As always, there is good and bad news for Conference Indiana teams in the
results of the draw for the state basketball tournament. There is obviously
added focus on the conference this year because everybody enters the tournament
chasing the 4A #1 Bloomington South Panthers. However, the draw says the
Panthers may not be the only CI team making some noise.
Let’s start at the Center Grove Sectional where powerful
Franklin Central will begin tourney play. The Flashes had to be cheering when
the draw was released. They drew a bye in the upper bracket and will face the
winner of the Center Grove-Perry Meridian game. Franklin Central beat Perry
Meridian by 32 points in December and knocked off Center Grove by 15 late in
January.
Southport has to be licking
their chops at this site as well. The Cardinals, currently 10-7, drew into the
lower half of the bracket. They open
against a 12-7 Whiteland team and would then face the winner of the
Greenwood-Franklin game in the second round. Those two teams are currently at
the bottom of the Mid-State Conference standings.
The news is not nearly as good for Lawrence central as they enter play at the
Arlington Sectional. The Bears drew a bye in the upper half of the draw. There
is certainly nothing wrong with that. However, they have to face the winner of
the Indianapolis Cathedral-North Central game in the second round. Those two
teams have a combined three losses on the season.
Pike is hosting its sectional this year and the Red Devils
have to be happy they have the homecourt. They are going to need it. They open
play against defending state champion Brownsburg. As we all know, defending
champs do not go down easily.
That brings us to the Columbus North Sectional. J.R. Holmes
and his top rated Panthers got some help even if they did not need it. They
drew the bye to the second round. South will face the winner of the game
between cross-town rival North and Columbus East. In the finals, they would see
the winner of the contest between host Columbus North and east central. It was
East Central who upset the Panthers last year in the tourney. You can bet
Holmes and the boys have long memories.
Franklin Central remains the top rated Conference Indiana team in the statewide poll. However, there is a new CI entrant on the list. Franklin Central is 15th this week. The Southport Cardinals appear in the poll at #24.
Here is a look at the complete poll.
1. Chesterton 226 2. North Central (Indianapolis) 207 3. Munster 196 4. Carmel 174 5. Concord 142 6. Northridge 136 7. Homestead 110 8. Crown Point 90 9. Castle 81 10. Hamilton Southeastern 74 10. Lake Central 74 12. Fishers 72 13. Carroll (Fort Wayne) 53 14. Center Grove 49 15. Franklin Central 45 16. Brebeuf 42 17. Michigan City 38 18. Plainfield 31 18. South Adams 31 20. Kokomo 27 20. Seymour 27 20. Terre Haute South 27 23. West Lafayette 25 24. Southport 22 25. Connersville 21 26. Oak Hill 20 27. Bedford North Lawrence 18 27. Muncie Central 18 27. South Bend Riley 18 30. Maconaquah 17 30. Tri-West Hendricks 17 30. Warsaw 17 33. Indian Creek 15 34. Bloomington South 14 34. East Central 14 34. Rensselaer 14 37. Southridge 13 38. New Prairie 12 39. Anderson Highland 11 39. Portage 11 39. Zionsville 11 42. Floyd Central 9 43. Yorktown 8 44. LaPorte 7 45. Greencastle 6 45. Mt Vernon (Fortville) 6 47. Guerin Catholic 5 47. Marion 5 49. Crawfordsville 4 50. Fort Wayne Snider 3 50. Noblesville 3 50. Vincennes Lincoln 3 50. Wawasee 3 54. Elkhart Central 1 54. Fort Wayne Dwenger 1 54. Valparaiso 1
The good news is that five Conference Indiana teams are still alive heading into the
semi-finals of sectional tournament action. The bad news is that is because
four conference teams have yet to see action. The league went just 1-3 in
opening round games.
The biggest
heartbreak came in Columbus where city foe East downed Columbus North 48-44.
Lawrence Central fell to Indianapolis Arlington 50-44 at Lawrence North. It is
never fun to lose, but LC fans had to be proud of the Bears. Arlington had
beaten them earlier in the year by nearly forty.
The final
contest had to have a CI loser because it was a matchup of two conference
teams. Perry meridian started its drive toward another sectional championship
by drubbing Franklin Central 38-16.
Things are
not going to get any easier Friday night. The league is guaranteed to lose at
least one more entrant when Bloomington South and Bloomington North square off
in Columbus. At Whiteland, Perry Meridian should handle Greenwood, but
Southport will have its hands full with Franklin Community. You can bet Pike
would gladly change places with any of those teams. The Red Devils have the
unenviable task of facing Ben Davis on the Giants’ home court.
The Southport High School girls’ swimming team got 8th out of 12 teams in sectionals on February 7th. Last season the team placed 10th.
“What a way to wrap up the year” coach John Kirtland wrote in an email to the SHS news bureau.
Senior Anna Timmons lead the team with a third place finish in the 100 meter breastroke. Senior Kim Pack placed seventh in diving. This was the last meet for the girls team this season. The girls’ will still have off season workouts during the spring and summer.
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