Boys join the girls in HS hoops this week
The high school boys basketball season will tipoff for most area schools tonight. Culver Academy was the first team on the court Monday night and Laville’s original opener was pushed back, but the rest of the local teams will have the traditional Thanksgiving eve start date. Three area girls teams will be back on the court Saturday. Here are capsule previews for some of the top games tonight through the weekend.
Wed. watches
Plymouth @ Glenn (boys)
For the seventh straight year, Plymouth and Glenn will open the season against each other. The Pilgrims are 4-2 in those contests, but the Falcons have the last two rather easily. Glenn will be favored to make it three in a row as it returns most of its starting lineup from a year ago, while this game marks the first for new PHS head coach and former standout Joel Grindle at his alma mater. This is Grindle’s ninth year overall and has an 84-91 record, most recently finishing 15-8 at North Montgomery HS. This is Travis Hannah’s 15th season at Glenn and 23rd overall.
Argos @ Bremen (boys)
Argos and Bremen start the season against each other for the third straight year. Bremen has won the last two, with last year’s game needing overtime to decide a winner. Both teams are loaded with experienced players and this could be the best game of opening night. This is the first game as head coach for Argos’ Jason Breden, who is a former standout at Laville and was an assistant with the Lancers the past six years. Bremen’s Matt Miller begins his second year as head coach of the Lions following numerous seasons leading the JV team.
Triton @ Oregon-davis (boys)
Last year Covid pushed this match-up from opening night for the first time in 17 seasons. Triton holds
a 14-4 mark over O-D in the last 18 meetings, including winning a pair in each of the last two seasons. The Bobcats’ last win over the Trojans came in the season opener of 2017. Both Class 1a schools are part of Sectional 50. This is the start of Jason Groves’ 17th year at Triton and Larry Sennert’s third at O-D.
Rochester @ Culver (boys)
For the 22nd straight season, the Cavaliers open against the Zebras. Rochester holds a decisive 16-5 edge during that time, but Culver went 5-1 from the ’11-’12 season through opening night of ’16-’17 and are looking to end a current four-game losing streak. This is Kyle Evans’ second year at Culver and eighth overall.
Westville @ Laville (boys)
This was supposed to be the season opener for the Lancers, but has been rescheduled to Feb. 3 due to Laville’s football season going so long. LV’S opener will now be the Dec. 2 game versus Bremen. win at Wawasee Saturday. The Lady Trojans end their week with an afternoon home contest with potential sectional opponent Trinity (1-4). The Lady Titans have lost their last four games, including a 49-22 defeat to argos in their last outing.
Tippecanoe Valley @ Oregon-davis (girls, boys)
The Bobcat Den will be the location for the first local girls-boys doubleheader. This will be the sole game for the Lady Bobcats (3-2) this week. O-D is looking to bounce back from a loss to Class 1a No. 7 Kouts. On the other side, TV (1-4 before Tuesday vs. Maconaquah) just snapped a deceiving four-game losing streak. The Lady Vikings’ opponents in those four games currently have a record of 22-6. O-D won the boys game between these two last year, at Valley, 49-41.