Calling a foul on a conference, the higher-ups
postseason for high school sports started this week with track & field and girls tennis, and will be followed next week by softball and baseball, then boys golf the first of June. But a couple of other things caught my attention recently that I’d like to share here. One pertains to the new conferences being formed involving local schools, another is a new basketball ruling from the national level that will trickle down, and some near-misses in track sectionals.
Brother, can you lend me a game?
Everyone I’ve talked to about the new conference (that will be named May 31) consisting of Glenn, Bremen, Laville, Knox, Jimtown and Tippecanoe Valley has said nothing but positive things. about the only negative is that it won’t start officially until the 2024-25 school year due to being such a large undertaking and contracts are already in place for next year.
apparently, this new arrangement did not sit well with the Three Rivers Conference though, which is losing Tippy Valley, but will still have 10 teams. Whereas the Northern Indiana Conference and Hoosier North athletic Conference have been understanding of the move, the TRC has basically said to TV, ‘We don’t want to play with you starting right now’ and eliminated all of Valley’s conference games for next year. What that meant was TV would have had only two football games on its schedule. You know how hard it is to fill empty football game slots? For boys and girls basketball it would mean at least nine less games unless filled by some other non-conference schools.
Fortunately, Glenn, Bremen and Jimtown were able to maneuver their football schedules and added TV for next year. TRC member Rochester did the right thing and will keep their date with the Vikings. Culver academy, who opened against Tippy Valley almost every year from 2005-20 will once again have the Vikings on its schedule for 2023. West Lafayette, Twin Lakes and Tipton were also able to fill holes in the TV schedule. So what looked like a disaster will have some normalcy to it after all.
More conference shifting
The Hoosier North athletic Conference has already filled the slots left by Laville and Knox as argos and Oregon-davis are slated to join the HNAC starting in 2024-25 it was announced Thursday. The first thing that jumps out here is that neither play football and not all teams have soccer. The other thing is that the Hoosier Plains Conference is losing one of its original members (argos) and the league is only what, three-years-old? I’m not saying this latest move is good or bad, but this conference shifting is starting to remind me of the transfer portal in college which I’m not a big fan of. Drives me crazy in fact. I like loyalty, time-honored rivalries, and not having to look up who’s where.
Is the game fouled up?
One of my pet peeves with most sporting events no matter what level, is how the last few minutes take an eternity, mostly due to timeouts. In basketball, late fouls and free throws add a ton of time to the game. Well, the free-throw and foul situations in high school basketball will look different for the 2023-24 season, but I’m not sure I like it.
The 1-and-1 free throw has been eliminated and foul limits will reset after each quarter, the National Federation of State High School associations announced earlier this week and the IHSAA is expected to follow suit.
Starting next season, high school teams will always shoot two free throws for common fouls in the ‘bonus’ situation. Teams will reach the bonus when their opponent commits five fouls in each quarter rather than seven in a half. Team fouls will reset at the end of each period.
One of the reasons given for the change was to improve “game flow and allow teams to adjust their play by not
carrying foul totals to quarters two and four.” I sort of buy that. Maybe teams will focus more on defense to get the ball back instead of automatically fouling late in a game if it’s guaranteed two shots. The other reason given for the change was, “The rules committee studied data that showed higher injury rates on rebounding situations and saw this as a chance to reduce opportunities for rough play during rebounds.” Huh?? Reduce opportunities by having more rebounds??? That I don’t buy.
Here’s what a few local coaches had to say about the rule change:
Joel Grindle (Plymouth HS boys)
I honestly don’t mind it and do think that it may help the flow of the game in specifically the second and fourth quarters. I do think it does change end of game strategies. The 1-and-1 always put pressure on the shooter to hit that first free throw, especially at the end of close games. That pressure is now diminished as the player will get two free throws no matter what. Overall, I don’t mind it and we will adjust to whatever new rules are incorporated.
Alex Robinson (Bremen HS girls):
It will definitely be interesting to see how the new rule impacts that game. I don’t really see any major negatives. I like the fact that you won’t see teams spend entire quarters in the bonus. I also think it will help curb the constant fouling at the end of games with teams getting 2 free throws every time instead of 1-and-1’s.
Jason Groves (Triton HS boys)
Honestly, I don’t know how I feel about this. They say the data shows that it will reduce rough play during rebounding, but if the fouls don’t carry over then they can just start playing rough again in the next quarter. I guess it will be one of those “wait and see how it goes” situations.
Michael Edison (Laville HS boys):
I have become accustomed to rule changes over the years. I believe many people see change in the basketball rules as progress. If this rule committee got together and came up with no changes then there is a very good chance others would see this committee as being ineffective. I think anytime a “study” comes out that talks about improving player safety then there is no arguing with that type of study. I have not personally thought that game flow needed to be improved upon, but maybe others have. I think this rule changes the dynamics of the game and there will need to be new thought into game planning. I do not think our old rule was bad or broken, but obviously some people, the people in charge of making and altering rules, did think that way. I personally liked the previous 1-and-1 situation with free throw shooting. For me, it will continue to be interesting to see what rule changes come about down the road. I am not in favor of a shot clock, but I am sure that one is coming as well. To me, that would improve “game flow” a lot more than doing away with 1-and-the-bonus free throws.
Track near misses
Every year there are some gut-wrenching near-misses at the track sectionals as only the top-3 in each event are guaranteed to continue their season. Here are some of those from this week’s sectionals:
Girls
Plymouth’s 4x800 finished 4th by one second; Plymouth’s 4x100 relay team was the favorite with the best time coming in, but had a dropped baton (it happens to the best - see US Olympic team) and did not advance; CGA’S Emma Zimpleman was 4th in the 100 by .08 seconds; Bremen’s Kila Foster was 4th in the 200 by .37 seconds and in the long jump by less than five inches; Glenn’s Michaela Hurford was 4th in discus by less than a foot, but fortunately qualified as a top-16 performer. The 3rd place finisher was teammate Arianna Stanley.
Boys
Bremen’s Caleb Cullers cleared the same height as the third-place finisher in high jump, but finished 4th due to earlier misses; Hunter Miller from CMA was 4th in the 1600 by .03 of a second; CMA’S AJ Black was 4th in the 400 by just .68 seconds; CMA’S Jaxson Warner was 4th in the 200 by just .09 seconds; Bremen’s Brayden Pearish was 4th in the long jump - an inch and a half from 3rd; Triton’s 4x400 relay team finished 4th by just .45 seconds.