Indiana State | Archive | March, 2005

Led by freshman sensation and double-champion Jeanna Van Hoey, third-ranked Fort Wayne Dwenger narrowly outpointed No. 2 Lawrence Central for its third state championship March 19 in the 33rd Annual IHSAA Gymnastics State Finals at Perry Meridian.

Dwenger, a five-time runner-up in state competition, tallied 112.825 team points to LC���?�s 112.475 to capture its third team title, tying coach Rose Nix���?�s Saints for the fourth-most crowns with Chesterton and Connersville. Dwenger���?�s 29.05 effort on the vault ���?? the day���?�s best score ���?? was key to the victory.

Homestead leads all Indiana schools with six team championships.

Top-ranked Center Grove (110.625), paced by floor exercise champion and Mildred M. Ball Mental Attitude Award winner senior Natalie Hesler, finished third.

Van Hoey won the uneven bars, placed third in the vault, and took sixth in the balance beam and floor exercise to win the all-around competition. Her score of 38.025 beat Hesler (37.800), Lawrence Central���?�s Ashley Jacob (37.800), and teammate Rebecca Trahin (37.575).

No Indiana gymnast has ever been a four-time champion, so we may be looking at greatness in the making here, people.

Van Hoey captured the uneven bars with a score of 9.550, finishing ahead of Hesler (also 9.550), Jacob (9.500), and fifth-place Brianna Neumann of Fort Wayne Northrop (9.375), the defending bars champion.

Jacob, a junior, had to be almost perfect to overcome the Dwenger triumvirate of Rebecca Trahin (9.750), Van Hoey (9.650), and Megan Koehl (9.650) in capturing the vault competition. The 2003 uneven bars champion â�?��?? who won every regional title except floor exercise — did so, posting a near-perfect score of 9.900, the meetâ�?��?�s highest in any event.

Hesler, meanwhile, prevailed in the floor exercise with a score of 9.750, good enough to outdistance Crown Point���?�s Jorie Stahl (9.725) and Jacob (9.725).

Hobart junior Megan Cherry won the balance beam event, posting a 9.375 to get past Jay County���?�s Hannah Williams (9.350) and Shelbyville���?�s Ricci Beckner (9.325) before suffering a knee injury. Ironically, teammate Kara Morton ���?? the 2004 beam winner as a freshman for defending team champion Hobart ���?? missed the state finals due to injury.

Dwenger, the Fort Wayne Concordia Lutheran Sectional and Huntington North Regional champion, also earned state titles in 1995 and 2003, both under the direction of Nix. Van Hoey, the first ninth-grader to win the all-around since Valparaiso���?�s Angie Cook in 1993, joins former Saint Laura Szczepanski (1995 and ���?96) as a Dwenger all-around champ.

Lawrence Central coach Michelle Anneeâ�?��?�s runner-up Bears â�?��?? the Warren Central Sectional and Harrison (West Lafayette) Regional champion — fell just shy of a team title for the second time. LC placed second to Homestead in 2001.

Top 8 teams:

1. Fort Wayne Dwenger, 112.825

2. Lawrence Central, 112.475

3. Center Grove, 110.625

4. Valparaiso, 107.950

5. Crown Point, 107.750

6. Fort Wayne Northrop, 106.725

7. New Palestine, 105.700

8. McCutcheon, 101.275

Individual state champions:

Vault: Ashley Jacob, junior, Lawrence Central, 9.900

Uneven Bars: Jeanna Van Hoey, freshman, Fort Wayne Dwenger, 9.550

Balance Beam: Megan Cherry, junior, Hobart, 9.375

Floor Exercise: Natalie Hesler, senior, Center Grove, 9.750

All-Around: Jeanna Van Hoey, freshman, Fort Wayne Dwenger, 38.025

Hesler earns mental attitude award

Hesler was named recipient of the Mildred M. Ball Mental Attitude Award. A three-time all-state gymnast making her fourth consecutive trip to the state finals, Hesler captured the floor exercise crown while finishing second in the all-around and the uneven bars.

Hesler finished fourth in the all-around as a freshman and fourth on the balance beam as a sophomore before placing second in the all-around, floor exercise, and balance beam; fourth on the uneven bars; and sixth on the vault as a junior.

Hesler ranks 35th in her class of 436 with a 3.76 grade-point average and has earned National Honor Society, National Honor Roll, and Academic All-State accolades. She also volunteers at Center Grove Middle School.

â�?��?Natalie is an outstanding student dedicated to academic excellence,â�?� said Matthew Shockley, Center Groveâ�?��?�s interim principal. â�?��?Natalie is an outstanding young woman, model citizen, and a fine ambassador of Center Grove.

â�?��?Adults have described her as humble, loyal, dedicated, hard-working, honest, thoughtful, and kind-hearted.â�?�

Murray named outstanding official

Jane Murray, a 27th-year licensed IHSAA gymnastics official, received the Interscholastic Officials Association Award for excellence in gymnastics. Murray, a former gymnast at Muncie Burris (where she is the school���?�s alumni association president), has worked 25 sectionals, 23 regionals, and 15 state finals.

And from the Itâ�?��?�s a Small World Department â�?�¦

In flipping through the IHSAA���?�s wonderful official souvenir program, a coupla names from HA.com Managing Editor E. Shawn Aylsworth���?�s past reached out and grabbed him.

First is 1984 floor exercise champion Darinda Gres of East Noble. Dindy and Aylsworth both lived in Briscoe Quad as freshmen at Indiana University, and as memory serves the former was victimized by budget cuts as IU whacked the school���?�s gymnastics program.

No problem. Dindy just moved on over to the swim team. And she became an IU cheerleader — perhaps you recall the short blonde whom CBS kept showing every time theyâ�?��?�d come back from commercials during the Hoosiersâ�?��?� incredible win over Syracuse in the 1987 NCAA menâ�?��?�s basketball championship game?

Second is Lou Anne Schwenn, ironically a floor exercise judge at this year���?�s state finals. Lou Anne ���?? or Ms. Schwenn, as Aylsworth remembers ���?? was his eighth-grade health teacher at Belzer Junior High, teaching him CPR on one of those nasty half-bodied dummies.

This is easily recollected, as that was the year that Pink Floydâ�?��?�s â�?��?The Wallâ�?� was released.

Shawn says â�?��?Hey You,â�?� ladies â�?�¦

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Following are the results from the IHSAA girls basketball semistates Feb. 26.

ELKHART CENTRAL

Class 3A: No. 1 South Bend St. Joseph���?�s 48, NorthWood 41

Class 4A: Gary West 49, Kokomo 47

PLYMOUTH

Class A: No. 6 Tri-Central 49, South Central (Union Mills) 47

Class 2A: No. 8 North Judson 49, Taylor 37

SOUTHPORT

Class 2A: No. 7 Shenandoah 51, No. 10 Charlestown 48

Class 3A: No. 7 Corydon 49, Mt. Vernon (Fortville) 38

SOUTHRIDGE

Class A: No. 5 Northeast Dubois 52, Bloomfield 50

Class 4A: North Central (Indianapolis) 58, No. 6 Castle 37

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Following are the results from the 30th Annual IHSAA Girls Basketball State Finals March 5 at Conseco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.

Session I

Class A: No. 6 Tri-Central 47, No. 5 Northeast Dubois 46

Class 2A: No. 7 Shenandoah 54, No. 8 North Judson 49

Session II

Class 3A: No. 1 South Bend St. Joseph���?�s 70, No. 7 Corydon 57

Class 4A: North Central (Indianapolis) 57, Gary West 54

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Following is a narrative from Jon Howell, who just wrapped up his 23rd season as coach of the Alexandria girls basketball team led by his daughter, standout senior guard Jodi Howell. She was just named Indiana Miss Basketball, and HA.com brings you this look back at her career … from a dad’s point of view.

Probably one of the most telling “Jodi stories” has to be when she was a freshman playing in her first sectional game. We were undefeated and ranked No. 2 behind Brebeuf in Class 3A. We had drawn Delta (ranked #9, 19-1 and we were the only team to beat them that season) in the opening game of the tournament.

As it turned out, my seniors were very nervous and played as such. Junior guard Jackie Closser, who would be an Indiana All-Star the next year, had a horrible shooting game as well. Delta jumped out from the start and our shots were not falling. After falling behind by seven points early in the first quarter, Jodi took over and brought us back to go into halftime ahead by two. On the first play of the second half, Delta hit a 3 to take the lead by one.

To that point in the season, we had never trailed any team in the second half.

With Closser struggling (2 points on the night), and our other players missing shots they normally hit, we had to rely on the little freshman Howell. She hit from long range, took the ball to the hoop with power, posted up on the block. She simply willed us to win that evening, scoring 35 points and converting from the free throw line late in the game (she was 9 for 9 from the line that evening) to keep us ahead. Four of those free throws came with under one minute to play.

It has to be one of the most impressive tournament performances from a freshman in history.

Later in the tournament that same year, when we were in the regional finals against Brebeuf, Jodi tallied 35 points against the No. 1-ranked team in 3A. We lost by about five points, but you can blame that one on the coach!

With about 4:30 to go in the game, Jodi connected on a fast-break 3-pointer. That shot put us up by six, and we were on a roll. When she was coming down from the shot, though, the girl guarding her backed into her, and Jodi sprained her ankle.

We took a timeout and the trainer started taping Jodi’s ankle as quickly as possible. We went back onto the floor without Jodi, and two minutes later, when Jodi re-entered the game, we trailed by six. She quickly nailed a 3, but we never regained the lead as Brebeuf hit all their free throws to keep them ahead and Jodi simply traded points with them the remainder of the game.

The blame for that loss falls directly on the coach, as I could have — and should have — burned all my timeouts while Jodi was getting taped. Ouch!

Some lessons are more painful than others.

As you may or may not know, Jodi has her name engraved on a plaque in the James Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame. In 2000, as a seventh grader, she won the Elks National Hoop Shoot free throw contest in Springfield, Mass., connecting on 24 of 25 free throws to win her age group (12-13). The Elks have a huge plaque on one of the walls with all the national Hoop Shoot champions engraved on it through the years.

So, her connecting on critical free throws in the final minutes of close games doesn’t surprise anyone that knows her.

Todd Salkoski (the Shenandoah coach) doesn’t like this story too well, but in Jodi’s third game in high school, she set the school single-game scoring record by hitting 41 against Shenandoah. Ever since then, Todd always told her to hurry up and score 50 on somebody else because he didn’t like that every time an article on Jodi appeared, it mentioned the 41 against Shenandoah!

Jodi wears jersey number 00 because her grandfather, Jack Howell, wore the same number when he played basketball at Anderson College. There were two colleges that wanted Jodi’s grandfather to play

basketball for them: Anderson College, and Adolph Rupp from Kentucky.

This season, in the Madison County Tournament semifinal against Anderson Highland, Jodi had some foul trouble. We led by about 10 the whole game. But as Jodi was sitting due to fouls, our lead kept dwindling.

Jodi would go back in and help build the lead. In the 4th quarter, she sat a bit until with 4:00 to go, we made three straight turnovers and Highland took a three-point lead. Over the next two minutes, though, Highland scored two points . . . while Alexandria scored 20.

Jodi had 19 of them.

She posted up and scored. She hit free throws. She hit 3-pointers as well as pull-up, fast-break jumpers. That two-minute time span was the most impressive offensive display I have ever seen.

During Jodi’s sophomore season, we played Shenandoah at Middletown. (Remember, Jodi had 41 her freshman year at Alex.) Shenandoah did a nice job on Jodi in the first half, and we didn’t do a good job of getting her touches. She had 10 points on very few touches, and we trailed by about seven at the half.

I could tell that Jodi was mad in the locker room, and I knew that if we gave her a chance, she would go off in the second half.

Well, she had 29 in the second half, and we won by about five or seven points. So that’s two games against Shenandoah . . . and she scored 41 and 39. Todd always smiled and told everybody that if she played Shenandoah every night, she’d average 40 a game!

Of course, I’ve seen her play all the way up, so I know what she’s capable of doing. The other night at Knightstown, with about 45 seconds left to play, we were down by eight or so. Todd looked over to me and said, “Jodi looks tired.” I smiled, and he smiled, because we both knew the same thing: Jodi Howell can score a mess of points in a hurry.

I simply marvel at the people who claim that Jodi scores like she does because we play a 2A schedule. What they don’t realize is that her biggest numbers came against the toughest teams.

She scored 50+ points twice this year. I always wondered how a player can score that many points in a game. This year I found out . . . you don’t miss. You get a couple of steals and pull up for fast-break

3-pointers and convert. You get — and hit — 12 free throws. The startling thing about Jodi’s first 50-point night is that she did it in only three quarters of play!

The first time we played Shenandoah this season, Jodi scored 8 points. But what wasn’t known by anyone except our team is that she broke the knuckle of her right ring finger in warm-ups before the game. We literally had to tape a cast to her right ring finger to where she could barely dribble the ball, much less shoot with any accuracy.

Twice during the game, she reinjured the finger by catching the ball on it — we just added more tape. Add to that fact that we weren’t very good at all back then, and our only hope was that we could learn to set good screens for her. And that night we didn’t.

Jodi’s stats for this season are in:

�?· 631 points (a state-leading average of 28.7 points per game)

�?· 124 of 145 free throws (85.5 percent)

�?· 141 of 244 field goals (57.8 percent)

�?· 75 of 177 3-point field goals (42.4 percent)

�?· 138 rebounds (6.3 rpg)

�?· 76 assists (3.5 apg)

�?· 88 steals (4.0 spg)

�?· 17 blocked shots

Jodi finished her career with 2,026 points — 17th on the girls all-time scoring list. She only played four games her junior season, and she was averaging 31 points per game when she injured her knee.

“Love never fails, character never quits, and with patience and persistence, dreams do come true.”

— Peter “Press” Maravich

For more information on Jodi Howell’s incredible career, as well as all sorts of goodies on the Alexandria Lady Tigers, go to www.angelfire.com/in4/ladytigers and www.eteamz.com/alexladytigers.

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By Al U. Needisluv

HA.com Reality Check Guy

All right, freaks. Let���?�s go inside the numbers on the upcoming boys basketball state finals and figger out who���?�s gonna win, groovy?

Here are the teams and their records, prefaced by their Associated Press state rankings:

�?· Class A: No. 2 Lapel (24-3) and No. 6 Loogootee (21-4)

�?· Class 2A: No. 11 Harding (16-9) and No. 8 Forest Park (22-4)

�?· Class 3A: No. 7 Plymouth (22-3) and No. 1 Washington (26-2)

�?· Class 4A: No. 2 Muncie Central (27-1) and No. 3 Lawrence North (23-2)

Lapel (24-3) and Loogootee (21-4)

Lapel���?�s three losses were at Class 4A state finalist Muncie Central, 69-45, in the season opener Nov. 23; in a tournament to Class 3A Pendleton Heights, 61-56, Jan. 8; and then again at 3A Pendleton Heights, 58-50, Jan. 25. Three losses, two of them close, and to the No. 2 team in 4A and the No. 6 team in 3A, according to the Sagarin computer ratings.

Impressive.

Loogootee, meanwhile, fell four times, three of them going up in class:

�?· Nov. 27, 55-47, in a tournament to 2A Southridge (rated 11th in 2A by Sagarin)

�?· Dec. 21, 55-44, to 3A state finalist and top-ranked Washington (3A 1st)

�?· Jan. 22, 72-54, at Class A Oakland City Wood Memorial (Class A 26th)

�?· Feb. 18, 72-49, at 3A Heritage Hills (3A 33rd)

The Oakland City and Heritage Hills margins of defeat raise an eyebrow, but the latter probably served as an eye opener for sectionals for the Lions. The other two losses are legit. But Lapel definitely has played a tougher schedule with better success.

One thing to take definite notice of here is the scoring pattern of the Lionsâ�?��?� postseason games: Itâ�?��?�s, how would you say â�?�¦ minimal.

In sectional play, Loogootee posted wins by the scores of 40-34 and 40-36 ���?? the latter over Barr-Reeve in two overtimes, for goodness sake! It was more of the same at regionals: 45-34 and 49-34. Then that 36-35 thriller over Hauser at semistate.

Lapel has put 80 points or more on the board 11 times this season, while making 11 field goals in a game could be considered an excellent outing for the Lions. But Loogootee (the 1975 state runner-up to Marion) has held seventeen (17) opponents to 40 points or less. Uh, SOMETHING���?�S GOTTA GIVE, eh?

Lapel just has a feel about them (â�?��?Everybody in the community is just goinâ�?��?� crazy,â�?� said Bulldogs coach Jimmie Howell), what with the high-octane O, the sudden extensive media coverage thatâ�?��?�s hounding them (get it, HOUND-ing?), and the way all the players run around on the court with their No. 1 fingers in the air during games.

Not lacking for confidence, this group. Says here Lapel will roll.

Harding (16-9) and Forest Park (22-4)

Harding entered sectional play at a non-threatening 10-9 ���?? until you look at whom the losses were to:

�?· Dec. 14, 71-65, at 3A Bellmont (rated 5th in 3A by Sagarin)

�?· Dec. 17, 81-72, at 4A Fort Wayne North (4A 19th)

�?· Dec. 29, 65-58, in a tournament to 3A Fort Wayne Elmhurst (3A 51st)

�?· Jan. 14, 64-39, at 3A Fort Wayne Concordia (3A 23rd)

�?· Jan. 26, 54-48, at 4A Elkhart Central (4A 39th)

�?· Feb. 2, 89-87, at home to 3A Fort Wayne Luers (3A 34th)

�?· Feb. 10, 69-63, at home to 4A state finalist Muncie Central (4A 2nd)

�?· Feb. 23, 64-58, at 4A Fort Wayne South (4A 55th)

�?· Feb. 25, 72-61, at home to 4A North Central (Indianapolis) (4A 8th)

Only the Concordia loss stands out as a bad one, but it was to a bigger school, as are all the Hawks���?� defeats. Harding, which won its first four, went 6-9 over the next 15 games, then has won its last six (all in postseason play) is a perfect 8-0 vs. 2A competition.

As for Forest Park, two of its four losses were to bigger schools ���?? 41-39 at 3A Jasper Jan. 21, and 72-60 at home to 3A Boonville Feb. 15. The others were both road losses ���?? 55-53 Nov. 26 at 2A Southridge, and 45-44 Dec. 10 to Class A finalist Loogootee.

The Rangers (2A runners-up in 2003), who have won their last eight games since the Boonville loss, played up only three times, losing two of them.

Harding (2A champion in 2001, runner-up in ���?�02), meanwhile, faced larger-class schools 16 times.

Look for Harding to prevail in a pretty close contest.

Plymouth (22-3) and Washington (26-2)

Plymouth is just glad it doesn���?�t have to deal with its nemesis, Northridge (Sagarin���?� 13th-rated 3A team), which downed the Pilgrims, 67-58, in a tournament Dec. 29, then again Jan. 28 at Plymouth, 55-49. The other loss came Jan. 14 at Concord (4A 10th), 62-51, so nothing harmful here.

Washington, on the other hand, fell twice — both games coming at the Hall of Fame Classic in New Castle. The first was Dec. 30 to 4A powerhouse Carmel, 54-37, then later that night to 3A Bellmont, 59-54. Sixteen of the Hatchetsâ�?��?� 26 wins have come by 19-plus points.

Obviously, Plymouth has that state title from the Scott Skiles/Phil Wendel 1982 team. But Washington has three titles, and all of them since the advent of the indoor water closet ���?? the 1930 Hatchets of coach Burl Friddle, and the 1941 and ���?�42 teams of Marion Crawley.

This one looks like a barnburner. I used to stop at the Dairy Queen in Washington occasionally as a child on our family vacations from Indy to Evansville, whereas I���?�ve never even seen Plymouth. But my mom often was driving a Plymouth Duster through Washington all those years ago.

Guh. I���?�m torn! Give the slightest of nods to Washington, in large part because vanilla cones dipped in chocolate taste better than tie rods.

Muncie Central (27-1) and Lawrence North (23-2)

Lawrence North���?�s two losses were at Class 4A top-ranked Indianapolis Arlington (70-60 Dec. 17) and to North Central (Indianapolis) by a 69-63 count Jan. 10 in the opening round of the Marion County tournament.

The Wildcats avenged loss No. 1 in the highly anticipated March 4 sectional semifinal rematch with Arlington, 60-45. And coach Jack Keefer���?�s kids avenged loss No. 2 TWICE ���?? their very next game, against an Eric Gordon-less North Central at home Jan. 21 by a 76-47 count, and March 12 at Hinkle Fieldhouse, 56-42, for the regional championship.

Muncie Central���?�s loss, meanwhile, came Dec. 22 at home vs. Pike, 64-60, in overtime. The Bearcats didn���?�t need to avenge that one ���?�cuz LN done did it for ���?�em, downing Pike, 54-46, in the regional semifinal.

Here���?�s a look, meanwhile, at the two teams���?� common opponents:

�?· Marion: LN won, 76-57, at home Dec. 4; MC won at Marion, 60-59, Feb. 18 (advantage: slight Lawrence North)

�?· Indianapolis Manual: LN won, 65-27, March 2 in the sectional opener; MC won Dec. 4 at Manual, 84-56 (advantage: even)

�?· Carmel: LN won, 53-49, at home Feb. 4; MC won Dec. 30 in the Hall of Fame Classic at New Castle, 49-45 (advantage: slight Muncie Central)

�?· Ben Davis: LN won at Ben Davis, 76-67, Feb. 10; MC won at home, 84-50, Feb. 24 (advantage: Muncie Central)

�?· Pike: LN won twice â�?��?? at Pike, 59-40, Feb. 22, and at regionals; MC lost at home by 4 (advantage: Lawrence North)

�?· North Central: LN went 2-1, winning the two by a combined 43 points; MC won, 73-62, at North Central Jan. 22 (advantage: even)

For what itâ�?��?�s worth, Muncie Central also played â�?��?? and beat — two of the state finalists in smaller classes. The Bearcats opened the season with a 69-45 home assault on Lapel Nov. 23 (before anybody knew anything about the Bulldogs), and they won Feb. 10 at Harding, 69-63.

The Sagarin ratings say Lawrence North No. 1, Muncie Central No. 2. And the common-opponents scoreboard above comes out exactly even, making it the best possible matchup — a toss-up!

So what���?�s the call here?

Despite all the hub-bub over LNâ�?��?�s ****** schedule in postseason play â�?��?? along the way, the Wildcats have knocked off Nos. 4 (Arlington), 33 (Indianapolis Cathedral), 3 (Pike), 6 (North Central), and 7 (Terre Haute South) — howza bout we look at the locales, mmmkay?

�?· Sectionals at neighboring Lawrence Central â�?��?? just walking into that gym knowing they OWN the usual occupants brings mojo.

�?· Regionals down the road about 25 minutes at Hinkle Fieldhouse â�?��?? which the Wildcats conveniently got accustomed to in beating Missouriâ�?��?�s Poplar Bluff in that ridiculous school-night ESPN game Dec. 9.

�?· Semistate at Southport â�?��?? just a jaunt across town and where the Wildcats play any olâ�?��?� time they reach the county tourney semifinals.

Plus, I personally am sick of 7-footers growing on trees in outer Lawrence Township. Particularly when none of them end up playing at rival Lawrence Central (isnâ�?��?�t that Aylsworth guy who thinks he can write from there or something?). Been goinâ�?��?� on for close to 20 years now â�?�¦

I mean, Eric Montross (state championship). Greg Oden (state champ last year). The late John Stewart (state champ, probably, a few years ago if the Kentucky-bound big man had not died tragically on the court as No. 2 LN played No. 1 Bloomington South in regional play). Do we have to witness this Winner by Giant thing again?

NO! I���?�m taking Muncie Central, an incredibly exciting-to-watch, more proportional team with tradition-rabid fans in what could be the best state championship game since Plymouth and Gary Roosevelt threw down in 1982. Which happens to be the last (and only) state finals I���?�ve been to.

With this Saturday���?�s stacked lineup, 2005 without a doubt will be the second ones.

The General gets to Sweet 16 â�?�¦ and promptly reams IU

Odd thoughts while wondering what the fallout will be from Bob Knightâ�?��?�s latest slam on Indiana University (that he was going to replace then-assistant coach Mike Davis the next year before he was fired, and that he never would have hired him as his replacement) â�?�¦

After Texas Tech vanquished Gonzaga from the NCAA Tournament field March 19, â�?��?The Generalâ�?� said in the post-game press conference that this team is as enjoyable as any heâ�?��?�s ever been around.

For those counting, that���?�s two slams against IU in less than 24 hours. Think Knight still holds a grudge? And with this being Robert Montgomery���?�s first Sweet 16 appearance in 11 years, think that he realizes that now may be the only chance he gets to speak out on the topic for another decade?

Reggie does it â�?�¦ again

People who diss Reggie Miller just bug the **** out of me. I mean, 39 points to lead the severely shorthanded Indiana Pacers to a win over the LA Lakers and Kobe Bryant March 18 — at age 39? Câ�?��?�mon.

Did you NEVER SEE those two playoff games against the Knicks — including the one where Dude went FOR 25 IN THE FOURTH QUARTER â�?��?? that were just the most exciting pro sports moments youâ�?��?�ll ever have???????

Reggie drops 39 against The Groper who spent $8 zillion on a ring for his wife (ohyeah, they have a kid, too ���?? probably Kobe Jr. knowing that head case) after he cheated on her??? Hellll-OOOOOOOOOO! BTW, they say Kobe���?�s questionable behavior will end up costing him $150 million. That���?�s called karma.

It seems Uncle Reggie got Kobe in foul trouble, then responded to young Caron Butler���?�s smack by going off for 39, his highest scoring effort in five years. That���?�s his age, people. That���?�s MY age in a few weeks. Sheesh.

Said an awestruck Pacers coach Rick Carlyle: â�?��?The legend lives on. The next time any of us see a 39-year-old guy go in the â�?��?2â�?��?� spot and go for 39 â�?�¦ Itâ�?��?�ll never happen again in this lifetime.

â�?��?Itâ�?��?�s special. Never underestimate greatness at any age.â�?�

���?�nuff said.

Al U. Needisluv���?�s columns appear from time to time on HoosierAuthority.com ���?? usually when something���?�s got him upset enough to fax in his typewritten drivel.

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Rank School

1. Indianapolis Cathedral

2. Valparaiso

3. Northridge

4. Columbus North

5. Westfield

6. Chesterton

7. Carmel

8. Fort Wayne Carroll

9. North Central (Indianapolis)

10. Fort Wayne Concordia

11. Lawrence North

12. Indianapolis Chatard

13. Portage

14. Bloomington North

15. Penn

16. Lafayette Jefferson

17. Fort Wayne Snider

18. Noblesville

19. Center Grove

20. Brebeuf

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