Top 5 girls teams, players in region..

[jtjrmoney8]

I know it's only July and summer ball is just about finished, but looking ahead to the upcoming season, who are the pre-season top 5 girls basketball teams and players in northwest Indiana??

[apollo]

1. Michigan City- Best Starting 5
2. Merrillville- Downs and Gaines
3. Lake Central - Seymour and Bell- area's best Rebounder
4. LaPorte- Jaclyn Heath
5. Lowell - Katie Bobos all area
6. Whiting - Brianna Blackwell
7. Boone Grove - Playing Tougher Schedule this year, need to see if PCC is a real fit longterm with Westville coming in?
8. EC Central - Coach of the Year Eric Kundich a guard at Andrean, Clint Swan was an Asst then, he played with Lenny Matela, his Dad played in the NFL.
9. Griffith - Sammi Adams
10. Hanover Central - Blayr Poston
11. Portage/ Hobart tie - Portage has Nikki Monahan, Roach and Flaharty are a good Brickie Junior Duo
Hon. Mention - West Side will be the best in Gary, Morgan, South Central, Kouts, Andrean will be better, Crown Point - Abby Kvachkoff plays multiple sports hard to get aread on the other girls who got hurt last year, Lauren O' Keefe an up and coming Soccer and BB Soph too, Valpo may be a year away but Jeanette Gray's kids will shoot 3's, play defense, and run the Greg Kirby Flex and Downscreen/Cross Screen Offense, Munster has talent for Coach Baacks- they need to synthesize which kids play though, shooters need to be on the floor as much as possible for stangs.

[jtjrmoney8]

I agree with much of that list..

1. Michigan City..IF they all decide to play..discipline is a real issue with this team and they are not always consistent..but talentwise, the best in the area

2. Merrillville..if Gaines comes back and can play at a high level, they COULD challenge City in the DAC

3. La Porte..beating Penn isn't a fluke..this team is legitimate and my darkhorse pick in the duneland..they have played a very difficult summer schedule and have hung tough with some of the best teams in the state (Northwood, Fort Wayne South)

4. Lake Central..this team has plenty of size and knows how to use it..I think they are a step below the other 3 schools in the duneland, but tops in sectional 1

5. Lowell..time will tell how good this coaching hire really is..but for the short term, having Katie Bobos along with Sarah Wietbrock will pay dividends as I see them as the top team in the NCC this season

6. Boone Grove..they return two very talented seniors in Paige Aguilera and Brittany Shaffer..while they lose much of their scoring from last season, they still have solid talent coming up from the JV team as well as a few returning starters..and until proven otherwise, they are still the top team in the PCC and I expect them to have another stellar regular season

7. Griffith..they lost much of their scoring from last season and really didn't gain a whole lot in return..but with Emma Blackard and Sammi Adams in the backcourt, they are still one of the most discipline teams in the area and should still have a solid season

8. Whiting..I could see this team realistically running the table in both the GSSC regular season and also the conference tournament..they are the team to beat in sectional 33 and it will be a mega matchup when they faceoff with Boone Grove this season

9. Hobart..this team doesn't really have a "superstar" so to speak, but alot of solid contributors that are young and more experienced after last year's youth movement..Daley Law and Grayce Roach might have this team contending with Griffith and Lowell in the NCC

10. South Central..watch out..just saying this right now..if there is a team that could possibly threaten Boone Grove in the PCC, it might just be the Satellites and not Hanover Central..they will be a team to look out for this season with the return of Center, Jill Rosenbaum as well as a very good incoming freshman, Riley Popplewell..in my opinion, this could be the sleeper team in the area

[julio]

We have not been very good for a long time at Hammond. At least 5 years since our girls were very good. We usually are better than the teams in our conference, but not very good outsie of Hammond. I know that Griffith is very good. They always beat our girls.

[indianbacker]

Our team isn;t very good either. I wish they were. That Mononon girl is supposed to be good, but I do not see them play so I do not know except what I read.

[jtjrmoney8]

Monahan gets alot of press for playing at Portage, some of it probably because of her dad being a great athlete back in the day..she's not Lisa Samplawski, but she is a good player..Portage was pretty good in 06-07 when they made it to the regional final, but have fallen off since then..I think they can win more than 5 games..maybe 8 or 9, but that's about it

[apollo]

Her dad is Grant Monahan who played for Greg Kirby at Portage in 83 and 84. The 84 team had a real good year with a real good front line of David Cobb, Monahan, and Bill Miller. Grant's brother Mike played for Coach Morrie Goodnight and the first year of the Kirby era with the likes of Bob Todd, David Whitlow, Mike Abbadini, Jerry Lasky, and John Garcia and the late Tony Soich at the Point Guard spot.

[richsapper]

Jul 7, 2012 0:50:11 GMT -6 jtjrmoney8 said:

Monahan gets alot of press for playing at Portage, some of it probably because of her dad being a great athlete back in the day..she's not Lisa Samplawski, but she is a good player..Portage was pretty good in 06-07 when they made it to the regional final, but have fallen off since then..I think they can win more than 5 games..maybe 8 or 9, but that's about it

I don't think it has anything to do with her dad. You don't get named to the JR All-Star team because of who your family is. The people who make those selections don't know about that. What they do know is about the 15.5 points, 4.7 rebounds, 3.2 assists and 2.1 steals she had her Junior year. She also does that on a team without a lot of other talent. In a game against Michigan City last year, there were 2-3 girls defending her all night, and she still played well. And, she was only a Junior.

By contrast Samplawski had 17.0 points, 5.6 rebounds, 5.2 assists and 2.6 steals per game as a senior. That is a point and half, .9 of a board, & 2 assists better with .5 steals fewer than Monahan in her Junior year. Who knows what Nikki is going to do as a Senior. I think she is a better player than some give her credit for. She is a different player than Samplawski, but it doesn't make her not the best player for Portage since Lisa.

Not only that, but she also scores more, has more assists and more steals than Katie Bobos who we all agree is a great player. Bobos does get significantly more rebounds though.

That said, here are my top 5 players (in no particular order)

Seniors:
Nicki Monohan (Portage)
Tica Murphy (Michigan City)
Katie Bobos (Lowell)
Blayr Posten (Hanover)
Jameka Collins (Michigan City)

Underclassmen:
Victoria Gaines (Merrillville)
Nickole Finch (Wheeler)
Jaclyn Heath (LaPorte)
Brianna Blackwell (Whiting)
Sammi Adams (Griffith)