Hoops Hysteria

They are the enemy. The get-your-blood-boiling program that practically has fire marshals on standby given the intensity of the anticipatory hand-rubbing guaranteed to take place. Your dislike for them is rivaled only by theirs for you. Somewhere there is a mutual respect, but at the moment it's buried beneath decades of taunting fans, buzzer-beating finishes, stone-wall moving picks and repeated attempts at geographical superiority. They are the yardstick. Your yardstick. Only, please, refuse the temptation to swing one at them. Rivals. Can't live with them, can't live without them. But, man, do we ever like outscoring them on a basketball court, especially in March when the annual boys state tournament is going out of its way to blow-torch the nervous system of everyone involved, be it coaches, players or spectators. Long home of some of the best individual prep talent in the nation, the Indianapolis metropolitan area is no less impressive when it comes to rivalry games thrown into the single-elimination blender. The introduction of a four-class system 12 years ago greatly impacted the norm, especially at the onset. However, with the Indiana High School Athletic Association having used that time to eliminate as many wrinkles in the system as possible, many of the old rivalries have returned. And that, as every coach will tell you, is a good thing. A primary example is Class 4A's Sectional 9, hosted this season by Noblesville, though the Millers alternate rolling out the red carpet with longtime rival Carmel. Until 2007, this venue was dominated either by Pike (five sectional titles between 1998-2003) or another Marion County heavyweight: coach Doug Mitchell's North Central Panthers (four net-cuttings from 1999-2007). In time, Pike was shipped out. North Central's final postseason celebration on Hamilton County soil came in Eric Gordon's senior season of 2007 before it too, found itself in relocation mode. The result is a sectional with a county tournament feel. Five of the six programs hail from Hamilton County (Noblesville, Carmel, Westfield, Fishers and Hamilton Southeastern), while a sixth, Zionsville, is a short distance west of the county line. "It's a good sectional. Years ago, Pike and North Central were in there. Then they took Pike out and put us in, which made everyone happy except for Pike and maybe me," laughed sixth-year Westfield coach Joe Pearson. "The sectional has evolved over the years. What's interesting is that we're all in the same conference (Hoosier Crossroads) except Carmel, so everybody knows everybody, which is nice." Still seeking a first sectional title in school history, both Hamilton Southeastern and Westfield have their work cut out for them, given the level playing field of this Noblesville Sectional. "This year it's fairly balanced. We've got teams that have played some good competition, and we've got teams that maybe lost some games they probably should have won. It's up in the air," said eighth-year Hamilton Southeastern coach Brian Satterfield. "All the county programs add a great atmosphere. The great thing about our sectional is that it's packed just about every year, and that's a great setting for kids to play in." From an actual parity standpoint, 4A's Sectional 10 at Arlington stands taller than Lawrence North's frontline, if that's even possible. Regardless of which direction the ping-pong balls floated during the recent IHSAA tournament draw, this seven-team meatgrinder features, in no particular order, North Central, Lawrence North and Cathedral. Don't be surprised if the program that survives winds up playing in Conseco Fieldhouse the evening of March 28. This isn't a backyard rivalry. It's a backyard rivalry where brass knuckles have been handed out ahead of time. Lawrence North, North Central and Cathedral have captured a combined 34 sectional championships. Let the good times roll. "It's a pain. It's a pain in the butt," said Lawrence North coach Jack Keefer of having Mitchell's Panthers in the same sectional, even though his Wildcats have been the tougher cat eight of the past 12 times. "From a fan standpoint it's good, but I would like North Central to be somewhere else just because they're always so doggone good." Larger enrollment numbers by one or more high schools is another proven method of better localizing a sectional. Lapel, the Class A state champion in 2005, has since been bumped up to 2A and finds itself competing on the sectional stage against its main nemesis, Frankton, along with other Madison County rivals such as Alexandria and Elwood. For comparison sake, Lapel's A sectional brethren included faraway programs such as Eminence, Indianapolis Cardinal Ritter, Bethesda Christian and Indianapolis Lutheran. Jimmie Howell, a boys varsity coach in this state for 28 years, who has been at Lapel since that memorable state championship (2004-05) campaign, says his program and Bulldogs fans embrace the newfound familiarity. Bigger schools, yes. But closer programs, too. "The thing I don't like about class is that you can get moved around so much. It's hard to establish rivalries when you get moved all over the place," said Howell whose school last season found itself in the same sectional as Frankton for the first time since the early-1990s. "By being in 2A, we fell into a situation where there are more natural rivalries, and that's big for the kids and for the fans. Playing in a sectional with county teams is better than playing against schools they know nothing about." There are still flaws in the system geographically. New Palestine, Rushville and Shelbyville enduring long bus trips to Hamilton Heights in 3A? Morristown, Southwestern and Waldron playing at Edinburgh in A? Nonetheless, more and more rivalries sampled only during the regular season in the infancy of four classes, are slowly re-emerging as part of the postseason tournament picture. So remember what the good book says and love thy neighbor. At least until the ball goes up. -