LAPEL — The Lapel Bulldogs enter the 2009-10 boys basketball season with hopes of competing for a sectional championship and possibly more.
Lapel returns seven letter winners from last season’s 18-5 sectional finalist squad.
Among the returning are three starters from last season. Guard Chandler Guion is back after averaging (14 points, 4 assists, 4 rebounds) and frontliners Logan Ingle (15 points, 7 rebounds) and Jeremy Reed (12 points, 7 rebounds).
Reed won’t be available at the start due to a broken ankle suffered mid-football season.
“We’ve got three really nice players back,” said Howell. “Reed has to see the doctor and get released then get his 10 practices. It’ll take him a month to get him where he should be. Until then we’ll have a few people playing out of position.”
“I hope I can get back as soon as possible,” said Reed. “I just want to be a part of this team so badly. It’s a privilege to be a on this team, and I want just want to play so bad.”
Newcomers to the Bulldogs include freshman Tanner Watkins and senior Austin Gardner, who played for Pendleton Heights last year. Watkins is the grandson of former Highland Scots coach Alan Darner.
Dylan Hobbs, Chase Needler, Andrew Gibson, Logan Wyant and Boston Fields round out one of the deepest teams in Howell’s six seasons at Lapel.
Among the losses to graduation were Michael Pritchett and Ryan Scott. And gone with them was some outside shooting and inside toughness, but more importantly was the leadership that they provided.
“We must get better leadership from our players,” said Howell. “They’re better than they were last year. But that’s going to be a key for us; getting leadership out there on the floor.”
“We just need a couple of players to keep everybody in gear,” said Reed. “Just to keep everybody positive. If that happens we’ll have a really good bond.”
“We have a lot of young guys on the team, and we just need someone to step up and help the young guys develop the confidence they need,” said Guion.
Lapel’s new conference provides a boost in its strength of the schedule. Lapel has replaced the teams that it has had some recent one-sided success against with the idea that a step up in competition will help the team come March, when the state tournament rolls around.
“There were always a couple of games where going in we thought we’d win by 25 or 30. We don’t have those this year. We have a schedule where we might not have as good a record, but it should help us come tournament time.”
“I think we’ve got a tough task in front of us. I know we have a tough schedule, but I just want to leave it out on the floor,” said Chandler Guion. “I’m looking at it as one game at a time, but to be honest I want that sectional.”
The Bulldogs will be featured in the Wigwam Classic on Jan. 23 when they play Park Tudor. Another highlight trip will come on Jan. 30, when they play Pendleton Heights at Hinkle Fieldhouse.
The Bulldogs will be playing in both the White River Athletic Conference and the Indiana Crossroads Conference.
“We’ll have eight conference games this year,” said Howell. “That may sound like a lot, but not as much as the baseball team will have. They’ll play 16 conference games.”
The goal for the Bulldogs in the long term remains winning the sectional championship.
“I hope we’re going to do well. We’re playing new competition and I think we’re going to do well,” said Reed. “I think we’ll have a good year. The (schedule) gets us ready for sectional and that’s the goal.”
“I think we should be in position to where we can contend for the sectional,” said Howell. “Once you’re there, anything can happen.”
Lapel opens the season Wednesday at Mount Vernon.
High School Sports
Lapel sets sights on championship
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Bearcats upend AHS
Often basketball is a simple game, and it was certainly true for the Anderson boys basketball team here Thursday night. “We had too many turnovers — that’s the game,” said AHS coach Joe Nadaline after the Indians lost to Muncie Central 54-46 for their eighth straight defeat.
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Bulldogs topple Raiders, win 9th in a row
The Bulldogs keep on rolling. Lapel (16-3) led from start to finish as it beat visiting Shenandoah 69-47 Thursday night to push its winning streak to nine games.
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PHHS shoots down Fishers
It can be easy to take Kellen Dunham for granted. But the Pendleton Heights senior reminded everyone why he is a Mr. Basketball candidate with a furious fourth quarter Thursday night against Fishers. Dunham scored 15 of his game-high 32 points in the final eight minutes, connected on all 10 of his free-throw attempts during the period and drained a 3-pointer from the top of the key early in the frame that sent the fifth-ranked Arabians on their way to a 53-42 victory.
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Frankton subdues Liberty
Youth was on display Thursday night in Frankton as the host Eagles squared off against the Liberty Christian Lions boys basketball team. Neither team had a senior start the game, and Frankton proved to be the more seasoned team in a 68-59 win.
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Indians fall to Bearcats 54-46
Photos from Anderson as the Indians hosted the Muncie Central Bearcats.
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Five for fighting
Like other coaches, Alexandria wrestling coach Jack Grimaldi sometimes has to worry about how to motivate his charges as they head into their matches. That shouldn’t be an issue for him with his five Tigers heading into Saturday’s individual semistate at New Castle.
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Red-hot Lapel limiting miscues
Like any basketball coach, Jimmie Howell knows how important it is for a team to be playing its best basketball as the state tournament draws near.
But what’s going on in Lapel might be redefining that theory.
With a 60-42 win on the road over Class 3A No. 6 Guerin Catholic on Saturday, the Bulldogs pushed their winning streak to eight games. Over the 32-minute course of the game against the Golden Eagles, Lapel committed a microscopic four turnovers. -
PH moves on
On the roster of every successful team is a player or two who will do the unpleasant work. The ones who actually find satisfaction in this pursuit are worth their weight in wins to any coach. Pendleton Heights sophomore Kiawna Cottrell was just that player Tuesday as the Arabians advanced to the second round of sectional play with a 55-45 victory over Greenfield-Central.
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Indians slay Spartans
The last time these two girls basketball teams met on Jan. 17, Anderson defeated Connersville 83-74 in overtime. Lady Tribe coach Chad Cook knew the Spartans would come out with a chip on their shoulder ready for revenge in Tuesday’s opening round of the Class 4A sectional.
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Eagles eke by Raiders
Back in November, the Frankton girls basketball team handled Shenandoah by 29 points. Tuesday’s sectional opener at Shenandoah wasn’t as easy, but the end result was the same as Frankton moved on with a 44-43 win over the host Shenandoah Raiders.
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