Mark Morrow's My View/Your View: Eagles, Greyhounds get set to clash

The basketball confrontation between reigning girls state class champions Carmel (Class 4A) and Heritage Christian (Class 2A) postponed due to snow this week will be a battle of the fittest. So pass out the survival packs. The long-awaited and highly-anticipated showdown at Heritage Christian will also have spectators seeing pink, literally. Coaches Scott Bowen (Carmel) and Rick Risinger (Heritage Christian) agreed to let their players where pink shoe laces in an effort to raise breast cancer awareness. The game also marks the only time this season that two of last year's state champions will play one another. With the draw for the 34th annual state tournament coming Thursday, and sectionals tipping off Feb. 10, the Carmel-Heritage Christian showdown could be quite a measuring stick as each program tries to repeat - Heritage Christian seeking a fourth straight title. Both teams offer a lot of balance. Heritage Christian has four starters who've already scored over 1,000 points for a career. Carmel senior Chrissy Steffen averages 15.5 points per game and also produces nearly 8.0 rebounds and 2.5 steals per contest. She has surpassed 1,000 points for a her career. Senior Kelly Faris leads the Eagles in scoring (15.0 ppg) and hands out 4.5 assists per game. Eighth-ranked Carmel, now 14-3 after Saturday's six-point loss at unbeaten and Class 4A No. 4 Terre Haute South, continues its Murderer's Row schedule. There's no time for the Greyhounds to catch a breath, since Class 4A top-ranked Ben Davis (20-0), which is ranked No. 1 nationally by USA Today, pays Carmel a visit Friday night. "It's an opportunity to prove our worth, I guess you could say . . . no doubt games like these help get us better for the tournament,'' said Bowen. "We have some things to work on. We can't spot a good team a 21-point lead like we did against Terre Haute. The kids showed a lot of the heart the way they came back in the second half.'' Bowen said Heritage Christian has a lot of poise and experience, referring to the fact that the Eagles' girls have played together for so long. "They read each other so well and feed off each other so well,'' he said. "They have a sixth sense about them, and you have to be careful how you try to confront them defensively.'' Heritage Christian (17-0) and ranked No. 1 all season, also has won 53 successive games against Indiana schools since its last setback, which just happened to come at the hands of Carmel (60-59) on Jan. 23 in the 2006-07 season. The Eagles also have won 36 in a row against Class 2A opponents, last losing Jan. 29 in the 2004-05 season at Southwestern (Hanover). And keep in mind that the majority of Heritage Christian's opponents are in the upper two classes. Bowen chuckled when asked his thoughts on that long streak that started after the loss to Carmel. "Oh . . . ,'' he said, as if it wasn't the first time he had heard about it, "Well, our kids like big games.'' STATE FINALS NEWS The Indiana high school girls basketball State Finals will be played at Lucas Oil Stadium on March 7, but the boys State Finals will be played at Conseco Fieldhouse on March 28. Actually, the girls were moved to Lucas Oil Stadium because of a schedule conflict. The Women's Big Ten Basketball Tournament will be played that same weekend at Conseco Fieldhouse. It appears that date will be a conflict through 2012, but the Indiana High School Athletic Association does not have an agreement with any venue, including "The Luke'' after this season, according to IHSAA sports information director Jason Willie. Here are some future dates of conflict with the girls State Finals in parentheses: March 5-8, 2009 (March 7) March 4-7, 2010 (March 6) March 3-6, 2011 (March 5) March 1-4, 2012 (March 3) To contact Mark Morrow, post a comment or e-mail him at mediamarko@sbcglobal.net.