The Logansport Berries don’t have long to feel blue about letting a fifth North Central Conference title slip out of their grasp.
There’s still plenty left to play for. The Berries (16-4) have a good chance to bounce back tonight when they face Frankfort (3-19) at Case Arena.
The Hot Dogs have struggled this season but Logan coach Pat Skaggs said they are a team that is capable of playing well. He’s looking for his squad to play well in the final game before next week’s Class 4A Kokomo Sectional.
“This will be like the last practice game of the year. We have 21 of those, so hopefully we know it’ll be a big tuneup for us going into next Tuesday,” Skaggs said. “We have to be more focused on ourselves and not worried so much about Frankfort. We obviously know anybody can beat anybody on a given night. We’ll need to be sharp and ready to go.”
The Berries have already secured their fifth straight season of at least 15 wins, the first time in program history since Cliff Wells’ groups did so from 1939-43.
Normally a third-place finish in the NCC would be a good one for Logansport, but this one hurt, as the Berries were in first place or tied for first place every week other than after the final week of league play.
But they lost two of their last three games to Anderson and Indianapolis Tech. Anderson ended up placing tied for eighth and Tech finished tied for fifth.
But it was a wild season in league play overall. For instance, Logan beat co-champion Lafayette Jeff by 14, which beat co-champion Marion by 33, which beat Logan by 17, which is just one example.
Injuries played a big part of the season and Sam Skaggs’ ankle injury played a big part in the loss to Tech and it’s a big story line going forward. He had to be carried off the court after re-spraining his ankle with 53 seconds left in the third quarter. He left having recorded 19 points, five assists and four steals to that point. He did return for parts of the fourth quarter but did not score or assist again.
Skaggs was on crutches after the game. He has been in a walking boot this week and has been ruled out for tonight and is questionable for next week’s sectional. The Berries drew host Kokomo at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday.
“I’d say it’s 50/50 at best right now to be honest with you,” coach Skaggs said.
It appeared that Tech may have gotten away with a palming and/or travel on the game-winning basket with 6.8 seconds left.
But the Berries certainly weren’t perfect themselves. They went just 6 of 15 from the foul line (40 percent) with two of the misses coming on front end of 1-and-1s. They were 10 of 17 from the line (59 percent) against Anderson a week earlier in a game where a slow start saw them down by 19 at halftime that they later cut to 2 late.
But bigger things could still be on the horizon for the Berries, as any team in the state would likely trade a conference title for a sectional title. They’ll have to hope Sam Skaggs is a fast healer, as he’s one of the top point guards in the state.
Will Penny is one of the top scorers in the state, as the 6-foot-5 senior is second in all of Class 4A at 26.2 ppg. He adds 5.7 rebounds per game. Skaggs is eighth in 4A in scoring (19.8 ppg) is first in assists (7.6) and steals (4.3).
Evan Hassett averages 8.8 ppg, Tucker Platt adds 7.3 ppg, 4.5 rpg and 2.8 apg, Eli Wickersham adds 4.3 ppg and Jacob Cox averages 4.1 ppg and a team-high 6.6 rpg.
LAFAYETTE CATHOLIC (18-4) AT CASS (5-16)
Lewis Cass drew a tough opponent for senior night, as Lafayette Central Catholic is ranked No. 5 in Class A.
Carson Barrett is a stat-sheet stuffer for the Knights. The 6-5 junior guard averages 15.3 points, 11 rebounds and 8.4 assists per game.
The Kings have their own stat-sheet stuffer in junior Easton Good, who is averaging 19.7 points, 7.7 rebounds, 1.9 assists and 2.7 steals per game.
The Kings will honor seniors Nate Jones (3.9 ppg) and Trevor Kessler.
PIONEER (9-11) AT TRI-COUNTY (6-13)
Pioneer makes the trek over to Tri-County for their annual late season clash. The two teams are on the opposite side of the sectional bracket this year as Tri-County faces No. 11 Covenant Christian (DeMotte) in the first round on Tuesday, while Pioneer faces Caston on Wednesday at the Class A West Central Sectional.
Tri-County has won three of four after wins over Delphi, Faith Christian and LaCrosse.
Pioneer has dropped three straight and four of five. The Panthers are led in scoring by Logan Nusbaum (14.2 ppg), Calahan Kindley (12.4 ppg), Jacob Brown (10.2 ppg), Gage Cripe (9.2 ppg) and Damon McGuire (8.9 ppg).
Pioneer (2-4 HNAC) hosts North Judson (11-9, 4-2) in a makeup game Saturday night to conclude the regular season. North Judson defeated Knox on Thursday, so Winamac and LaVille are the co-champions of the league. Pioneer could potentially finish tied for fifth in the league with a win.
WINAMAC (17-4) AT RENSSELAER (10-9)
Winamac has a shot at win No. 18 tonight at Rensselaer.
It’ll be the Bombers’ fifth game in eight days. They’re 3-1 so far during the stretch with wins over Cass, West Central and North Newton and a loss to Lowell.
It’ll also be Winamac’s fifth game in eight days. It’s a stretch where the Warriors won their second HNAC title in four years and fourth conference title overall in six years.
Calvin Larkin is averaging 20.6 ppg and 5.8 rpg to lead the Warriors. Will Larkin averages 13.9 ppg. Austin Brandt adds 6.2 ppg and 6.2 rpg.
Commented
Sorry, there are no recent results for popular commented articles.