Looking ahead

There's a huge game tonight between the Marauders and Golden Bears for the sectional championship. MV looking for its first title since 1999 and 11th in school history, Shelby looking for its first since 2001, which would make 37 in its illustrious basketball history.

Listen to the game here, beginning at 7:10 p.m.

Friday night reminded me of the old one-class days -- by halftime of the MV-HH game, it was standing room only, with people standing on the stairways overlooking the gym and crammed into every available seat. The hallway adjacent to the gym was packed during the fourth quarter. The parking lot was so full, The Shelbyville News' Jeff Brown told me he parked "in downtown Indianapolis."

That felt like a sectional. Great atmosphere, very passionate and a lot of fun. Expect a similar atmosphere tonight when Mt. Vernon faces Shelbyville. I'd expect to see a huge Marauder crowd on hand, given it's a home game, and a sizeable contingent of Bear fans.

The first time they played, MV won 99-82. P.J. Hubert had 28 points, while Daniel Turner and D'Armond Davis had 21 each for MV in that game. Three Golden Bears were also in double-figures.

The winner cuts down the nets, adds to the trophy case in its school and moves on to the March 13 regional at Shelbyville, which could be one of the state's most dynamite.

The winner of tonight's game faces either #7 Greensburg (19-2) or Batesville (18-4) in the opening game of the regional at 10 a.m. Saturday. Greensburg won the regional title last season, and is led by Stacy Meyer, who led Southwestern (Shelby) to the State Finals a number of years ago. One of Greensburg's losses is to Rushville, a team both the Marauders and Golden Bears (twice) have defeated. Greensburg beat Shelby 64-58 on Jan. 8, and hasn't played MV. Greensburg & Batesville have played two close games, with Greensburg winning 45-42 and 48-38.

The noon semifinal pits the winner of the Indianapolis sectional (Brebeuf 13-8 vs. #12 Howe 20-5) against the winner of the Danville sectional, which includes #1 Danville (22-1) and Purdue signee Travis Carroll. Lebanon (13-9) is tonight's foe. Danville beat the Tigers 71-39 earlier this season and is a heavy favorite -- the Warriors' only loss is to 4A #3 North Central.

We will broadcast all of Mt. Vernon's games the rest of the tournament, so we will be at Shelbyville next week should the Marauders win tonight, at 9:40 a.m. for the semis, and at 7:40 p.m. for the championship game should MV win.
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In the northern half of the draw, Friday was "carnage night" in Class 3A -- partially due to the Hoosier Heritage Conference. Two top-five teams were defeated.

#4 Mississinewa -- which had been 20-1 -- was defeated 51-41 by Delta at the Muncie Fieldhouse. Paul Keller's Eagles (12-9) will play another all-HHC final tonight, as they face Yorktown (13-8). Those two split their regular-season meetings. Mississinewa was denied a shot at its first sectional title since 1954.

#2 Peru finished the regular season 19-1 and rolled through much of its schedule, with an average win margin of 18. The only loss was a two-point defeat to 4A Logansport. However, the Tigers fell behind early last night and couldn't catch up, falling to Norwell 53-51.

Some other strong -- yet unranked -- teams were defeated, including defending state champ Princeton, which finished 17-9, and multi-time champ and usual 3A sleeper Harding of the Fort Wayne area (16-7). Princeton fell to Vincennes and Harding lost to FW Dwenger. Culver Military, a somewhat loaded 14-8 team that was 10-2 against Indiana teams had played a lot of out-of-state schools and had some huge victories on its resume (namely, one over Pike and another over 1A #1 Gary Bowman), was beaten in OT last night by defending 3A runner-up Rochester.

The rest of the 3A top 10 is still in action, with six of the remaining eight ranked teams in the southern half. #5 Gary Wallace (15-4) or the soon-to-be-closed #9 Fort Wayne Elmhurst (15-5) are the favorites in the north. The south features #1 Danville, #3 MV and #7 Greensburg (and #12 Howe) all feeding into the Shelbyville regional, and #6 Washington, #8 Sullivan and #10 Crawford County (as well as #11 Boonville) all feeding into the Washington regional.