It’s that time of the year again. Middle of January, and schools are getting back into the swing of things. For the residents in Northeast Indiana, it’s more special because you have the annual ACAC and NECC Tournaments.
In this day of age where there are more Holliday tournaments than the amount of presents friends and family stocked underneath their Christmas tree, we should appreciate the tradition of playing a mid-season conference tournament. The NECC has had a conference basketball tournament since its inception in the 1966-67 school year.
The ACAC’s tournament out lives the ACAC itself. The ACAC has been in operation for nearly 69 full years. Its basketball tournament has been in use since 1924, when the tournament use to include more Fort Wayne-based schools like New Haven that had zero association to what would eventually become the ACAC.
That’s Indiana basketball at its finest, and today’s generation of fans (I guess I can count as one) does not full understand how amazing this is to be apart of some of the historic high school basketball events in the state’s history.
Last night, that trip through nostalgia took place as conference tournament games got underway. I got to lecture about the conference’s amazing history, fans got to reminisce the “glory day” when they played back then, and we got to see championship-caliber games.
Depending on the blind draw, opening round games can be a mixed bag. At Paul Bateman Gymnasium, the games exceeded expectations. The girls’ game on paper featured a .500 Angola squad that’s been dealing with two starters not being able to play due to injuries from a recent conference game. The opponent was a 3-win Garrett squad that had lost their last 6 games, which included a 47-44 loss to conference rival Central Noble despite leading by as many as 15 points. Last night, it was Angola that eventually found their way to victory lane in a 55-48 win over Garrett.
It wasn’t supposed to be this competitive according to the numbers. In truth, it became one of the more exciting NECC games of the season. We got to see two teams demonstrating their skillsets and showcasing what the future of these two programs could look like.
Angola’s stifling defense forced Garrett to just 3-11 shooting and committing 6 turnovers. Bailey Holman had a monster game all-around with 25 points, a pair of threes, and went 7-8 from the foul line. Angola led by as many as 10 in this game and showcased a sense of physicality and hard work.
The urgency was there in the girls’ game alone. While Garrett had their fair share of struggles, their threat from the perimeter kept Garrett within striking distance for most of the entire game. Emma Coffman, one of the top freshmen in Northeast Indiana, found her groove in that game draining five threes and went on to lead the squad with 19 points.
Prior to that, Coffman had gone through a bit of a midseason slump just as you would expect from any player that has struggled to garner much success in a 6-game losing streak. Because of that shooting streak, Angola had to make adjustments, and it led to other players finding some confidence.
Sarah DePew has been Garrett’s most consistent player all season long as a junior. Coming off a game where she had 17 against Central Noble, she finished last night’s game with 14 points and four threes. Garrett stayed in this game from start to finish mostly because of the fact Garrett shot 9-19 from the perimeter, and Garrett committed just 5 turnovers the rest of the game, while Angola saw their turnover count skyrocket to their final count of 13 turnovers.
A 9-0 Garrett run in the 2nd quarter turned a comfortable Angola lead into a 28-26 Garrett lead. As this game went along, Angola found a response when it mattered most. A 5-0 run in the final 1:52 of the first half on a Stella Stockamp triple and a Bailey Holman layup gave Angola a 31-28 halftime lead.
Garrett began the 3rd quarter like the second with a quick 34-31 lead. Then, Bailey Holman started to take control of this game as she led Angola to a 14-2 run and would go into the final quarter leading 45-39.
Angola’s interior defense made it difficult for Garrett’s bigs to get any kind of momentum as the Railroaders on the game shot just 9-30 (30% from 2-point range). Meanwhile, Stella Stockamp had a career game at this point where the freshman recorded 15 points and drained three triples. Senior Karleigh Gillen came into crucial situations with a timely three and some hard-nosed defense.
When it’s all said and done, the Angola Lady Hornets (9-7) bounced back from their near 20-point loss at DeKalb on Saturday with a big opening round win at Garrett. Up next, it’s a trip to Butler to face 2A #6 Eastside (17-1) and their aggressive press defense. While Garrett (3-14) saw its losing streak extended to 7 straight, their two most recent games have been encouraging signs for a young team looking to find its identity.
While Garrett’s next game will hinge on the outcome of tonight’s second-round contests, you can bet they can take the good from last night into their next game.
The boys’ recap will be shown in a separate post.