Sectional First Round Highlights

<em><span style="font-size: 8pt">Feature image is of <a href="https://prepgirlshoops.com/player/rose-fuentes/"><a href="https://prepgirlshoops.com/player/rose-fuentes/">Rose Fuentes</a></a> of Hammond's Bishop Noll Institute. Image is courtesy of Kale Wilk (kale.wilk@nwi.com) of the Northwest Indiana Times.</span></em> With 99 games taking place Tuesday evening, and another 40 games taking place Wednesday evening, 278 teams have now participated in the 2020 IHSAA State Tournament. While there were many items I could turn to, there were five that stood out to me the most from the first two days of this season's state tournament, and they are highlighted below. <strong><span style="font-size: 18pt">Warriors Fly Past The Fighting Eagles</span></strong> Hammond's Bishop Noll Institute has a solid history of girls' basketball success, so this season's 10-13 regular season record brought into question their potential to make a deep tournament run. So did drawing Lake Station Edison in the first round, a team who had beaten them 67-50 back on December 20. This time, however, Juniors <strong><a href="https://prepgirlshoops.com/player/courtney-blakely/"><a href="https://prepgirlshoops.com/player/courtney-blakely/">Courtney Blakely</a></a></strong> (<em>29 points</em>) and <strong><a href="https://prepgirlshoops.com/player/rose-fuentes/"><a href="https://prepgirlshoops.com/player/rose-fuentes/">Rose Fuentes</a></a></strong> (<em>25 points</em>) took matters into their own hands, scoring a combined 54 points, en route to a 93-68 win over Lake Station Edison Tuesday night. Each girl was 11-17 from the field. Blakely, a point guard, was also magnificent as a passer, as she handed out 13 assists. Not to be lost in the effort was Lake Station Freshman guard <strong><a href="https://prepgirlshoops.com/player/nasiya-gause/"><a href="https://prepgirlshoops.com/player/nasiya-gause/">Nasiya Gause</a></a></strong>. She poured in a game-high 31 points to cap off an impressive rookie season. <span style="font-size: 18pt"><strong>Perfect Start For Success Factor Teams</strong></span> There were six teams who played games Tuesday or Wednesday in a new enrollment class due to being elevated by the IHSAA's success factor rules, and all six of those teams won their opening round matchups. On Tuesday, 4A Northwestern (W 82-26), 3A Central Noble (W 54-31), 3A Winchester Community (W 80-41), and 2A University (W 65-44) all won by 21 or more points to begin their state tournaments playing "up" a classification. Wednesday it was 3A Oak Hill (W 45-33) and 2A Vincennes Rivet (W 56-27) who took to the new stage with victories. Weekend games could get a lot dicier for several of those teams, but it was a nice beginning, especially for Central Noble, Oak Hill, and Rivet, who all lost multiple key pieces via graduation. <strong><span style="font-size: 18pt">Teresa Magical For McCutcheon</span></strong> Sophomore point guard <strong><a href="https://prepgirlshoops.com/player/teresa-maggio/"><a href="https://prepgirlshoops.com/player/teresa-maggio/">Teresa Maggio</a></a></strong> played in just her second Varsity game of the season Wednesday night, and her play helped lead the Mavericks to a reversal of fortunes that could not be predicted. West Lafayette Harrison dominated area competition, going a combined 8-0 against McCutcheon, West Lafayette, Benton Central, Lafayette Central Catholic, and Lafayette Jefferson this season. In fact, their wins against McCutcheon were 69-41 on November 18, and 67-25 on December 20. In comes Maggio. She grew up in the McCutcheon system but opted to attend Lafayette Jefferson as a Freshman. This year, she returned to her local school but had to sit out of Varsity competition for 365 days from the last game she played at Jeff due to transfer limitations. But her presence was heard, and heard loudly, as she scored 20 points, grabbed 13 rebounds, handed out six assists, and collected a pair of steals. She didn't shoot it great, but her ten made free throws were a big help to the effort. The Mavericks also limited Harrison star <strong><a href="https://prepgirlshoops.com/player/sydney-jacobsen/"><a href="https://prepgirlshoops.com/player/sydney-jacobsen/">Sydney Jacobsen</a></a></strong> (2020) to just 13 points on 2-14 shooting. Jacobsen did grab ten rebounds and snare six steals, though, in her final high school game. <span style="font-size: 18pt"><strong>Welcome Back Costner</strong></span> Like <strong><a href="https://prepgirlshoops.com/player/teresa-maggio/"><a href="https://prepgirlshoops.com/player/teresa-maggio/">Teresa Maggio</a></a></strong> (<em>above</em>), Penn Junior point guard <strong><a href="https://prepgirlshoops.com/player/kaitlyn-costner/"><a href="https://prepgirlshoops.com/player/kaitlyn-costner/">Kaitlyn Costner</a></a></strong> was playing the waiting game as well due to her transfer from Elkhart Central at the very send of the Summer. Wednesday was her first Varsity contest of the season, and like Maggio, the 5-6 guard also scored 20 points. She contributed in other ways as well, grabbing six rebounds, handing out two assists, nabbing five thefts, and blocking a shot, all while only turning it over one time. Additionally, she was 2-5 from 3-point range, and while that might not seem like much, her perimeter shooting has always been an area that needed more consistency, so this is encouraging. Costner is an elite athlete and a high-level defensive player, so her presence will be felt at both ends of the floor moving forward. The Kingsmen defeated Northridge in this game, 65-42. <span style="font-size: 18pt"><strong>Dragons Find Their Fire</strong></span> New Palestine dropped a December 19 contest to Mount Vernon (Fortville) by a score of 44-25. So when they got to halftime Wednesday night and had just eight points...EIGHT...there had to be a lot of concern and frustration. Then something happened, and they figured it out, scoring 33 points over the final 16 minutes. Freshman point guard <strong><a href="https://prepgirlshoops.com/player/isabella-gizzi/"><a href="https://prepgirlshoops.com/player/isabella-gizzi/">Isabella Gizzi</a></a></strong> was outstanding, scoring 19 points, grabbing seven rebounds, but more importantly, only turning it over three times against a Marauder team who came in 22-1 and known for the defense...especially their full-court, trapping defense. In the December 19 game, Gizzi played more like a Freshman, scoring just three points while turning it over seven times, but this week she showed the poise and savvy of a veteran. Now, New Palestine lives to fight another day.