Indiana Preps | Games of the Week — Girls Basketball | November 9-14
Week two of the girls basketball season puts one team’s résumé on the line twice.
No. 2 Homestead plays two top-five opponents in four days, both on the road. Wednesday it visits No. 3 Northridge. Saturday it travels to No. 5 Pike. By Saturday night, the Spartans will have a much clearer idea of where they stand, and so will everyone else.
Around them, the week carries two more ranked matchups and two Southern Indiana games worth tracking before conference play takes shape.
Rankings are from the Nov. 8 IBCA statewide poll, which ranks teams across all classes.
GAME OF THE WEEK
No. 2 Homestead at No. 3 Northridge
Wednesday, Nov. 11 | 7:45 p.m. ET
This is the highest-ranked matchup on the state’s schedule this week. Two unbeaten programs, one spot apart in the statewide poll, meet in northern Indiana with early bragging rights in the region at stake.
Homestead entered the season at No. 2 in the IBCA preseason poll and has held that spot. It has done that while replacing six graduated seniors, including Myah Epps, now a freshman at Louisville. Northridge enters with a chance to beat a team ranked above it and to stake its own claim as the class of northern Indiana.
The stakes are simple. Whoever wins Wednesday has the strongest résumé north of Indianapolis heading into the weekend.
GAMES TO WATCH
No. 2 Homestead at No. 5 Pike
Saturday, Nov. 14 | 2:30 p.m. ET
Three days after Northridge, Homestead faces another top-five opponent, this time in Indianapolis.
That’s the storyline of the week. One elite matchup is a test. Two in four days, both on the road, is a stress test of depth, recovery and how well a rebuilt rotation handles consecutive games against teams that can match it physically.
Pike brings one of Central Indiana’s premier guards in Saniya Smith, a member of IndyStar’s preseason Super Team. If Homestead leaves Indianapolis 2-0 for the week, the argument for its ranking gets very hard to dispute.
No. 6 Franklin Central at No. 16 North Central
Friday, Nov. 13
Franklin Central opened the season ranked No. 3, then lost 39-38 to defending 4A champion Center Grove on a buzzer-beating three by freshman Harper Scaringe. The drop to sixth reflects that one-point loss, not a collapse.
The Flashes still have the talent to climb back. Ashlee Baker, Payton DuVall and Riley Huotari all made IndyStar’s preseason Super Team. A road trip to ranked North Central is their first chance to respond.
No. 10 Crown Point at No. 13 Fort Wayne Snider
Saturday, Nov. 14
A matchup between two ranked teams from the northern half of the state, and the clearest test yet for Snider’s backcourt depth.
Snider is built around Janaya Cooper, who averaged 19.1 points and 3.2 steals as a sophomore and earned IBCA Supreme 15 underclass recognition. Mackenzie White, who averaged 10.9 points and 7.6 rebounds as a freshman, gives the Panthers a second producer. Snider already saw No. 2 Homestead at the Lady Wildcat Invitational, so it comes into Saturday with a top-five opponent on its early tape.
Lanesville at Paoli
Thursday, Nov. 12 | 6:30 p.m. ET
A Southern Indiana small-school matchup that extends the week’s coverage beyond the 4A landscape. Neither team is ranked statewide yet, which is exactly why it’s worth watching. Early-season games like this one set the identity each program carries into conference and sectional play.
Castle at Gibson Southern
Tuesday, Nov. 10 | 7 p.m. CT
An early Southwestern Indiana measuring stick. Gibson Southern comes in off an opening win, and Castle brings a larger-school challenge from the 4A ranks. With conference schedules still developing, this is one of the first real reads on both programs.
Why This Week Matters
November games don’t decide February. They do shape how teams are seen.
Homestead can turn a preseason ranking into an earned one in four days. Franklin Central gets its first chance to answer a buzzer-beater. Snider gets another ranked test. And two Southern Indiana matchups give the rest of the state a look at programs building outside the spotlight.
Six games. One clear headliner. Homestead plays twice, and the poll will look different by Sunday.
Leave a Reply