FOUNTAIN CITY, Ind. – Saturday is about focus for the Northeastern boys basketball team.
“These kids have been focused on this tournament,” Northeastern Head Coach Brent Ross said of his team’s goal’s this season. “The waiting game is harder than anything. We’ve got to stay focused on getting better.”
The No. 4 Knights (22-4) open the Class 2A Greenfield-Central Regional against Cloverdale (19-7) at 10 a.m., while Indianapolis Broad Ripple (18-7) faces No. 7 Indianapolis Howe (20-7) at noon.
The championship contest is set for 8 p.m. The winner advances to the semi-state round on Saturday, March 19, which will be in Richmond or Seymour.
“We don’t want to talk about the semi-state and where it will be played,” Ross said. “We’ve got to take care of playing Cloverdale and make sure we do the job there and then have the opportunity to play in the (regional) championship.”
“Every possession matters,” Ross added. “Whether it’s offense or defense, we’ve got to be focused and this group has done a great job.”
Senior Robert Smith has a simple game plan for the Knights, who have won four straight and 12 of their last 13.
“Everybody doing their role and not doing anything extra,” said Smith, who scored a career-high 30 points in Northeastern’s 68-43 win over Centerville in last week’s sectional title contest.
Brent Ross
After taking Sunday and Monday off this week, the Knights started workouts on Tuesday.
“Practices have been great,” Ross said. “It’s kind of been that way all year.”
“They listen to what we need to do,” Ross continued. “We’re making some adjustments of what we might have to face this weekend, but we’re not treating any differently than we’ve treated any other week this year.”
However, there is a difference from a year ago when the Knights lost in the regional to eventual state champ Park Tudor.
“We’re not going to Greenfield to practice,” Ross said.
The early starting time shouldn’t be an issue for the Knights, but Ross knows the opponent will be difficult.
“We’ve practiced all year long at 10 o’clock on Saturdays,” he said. “Every team that is in our regional was ranked (during the season). They are all well coached and they deserve to be there.”
Also winners of four in a row, the Clovers are led by junior Cooper Neese, who is ranked third in the state in scoring at 29.3.
“They’ve got a Division I kid on their team that has already verbally committed to Butler,” Ross said. “We’re going to have to be ready. It’s going to be a great game and a great atmosphere.”
Ross said that Neese is comparable to Mark Albers of Pendleton Heights.
“He shoots like the Albers kid from Pendleton Heights, who we chased all over the floor,” Ross said. “We’re going to have to do a great job on him.”
Albers scored 27 against the Knights as they fell 77-73 to Pendleton Heights back in January.
“You can’t really practice how the game goes,” Ross said. “You have to use your past experience and I think this year our schedule and who we’ve played has really helped us. I can see a difference even in practice.”
The Knights have played some of the top teams and players in the state including the two leading scorers Eugene German of Gary 21st Century (33.3) and Desmond Bane of Seton (30.3).
Tyler Smith
Northeastern beat Gary 21st Century 83-78 and lost to Seton 76-72. Both teams are playing in Class 1A regionals on Saturday.
“We have played the top two scorers in the state and now we’re getting ready to playing the third,” Ross said. “We know we can play with anybody.”
Tyler Smith tops Northeastern in scoring at 20.2 points a game.
There are three more Knights in double digits for the season. Robert Smith is next at 15.6 and Bailey Stewart follows at 13.0. Nate Reynolds rounds out the group at 11.6.
In addition to Neese, Cloverdale has two others scoring in double figures. Jalen Moore averages 18.6 points per game, while Kaleb Camacho tosses in 11.3.
Cloverdale beat Monrovia 59-53 to win its sectional title.
Rockets and Hornets
Saturday’s second contest is a rematch of an Indianapolis Conference game from Dec. 12.
Broad Ripple won the game at home 75-68 over Howe and as a result took the conference crown.
Broad Ripple has a nine-game winning streak that includes an 80-36 decision over Indianapolis Scecina as the Rockets captured their sectional title.
Sam Colbert leads the Rockets with a 14.6 scoring average, while Isaiah Banks adds 13.2.
Howe has won three straight and the Hornets defeated No. 5 Shenandoah 53-41 as they punched their regional ticket.
The Hornets have three players in double figures led by Brian Warren, who scores 23.0 points per game. Tony Hopkins contributes 11.9 and Kycia Washington is at 10.2.
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