PERU — Peru boys basketball coach Eric Thompson finally got to experience cutting down the nets after winning the Class 3A Peru Sectional last season.
He would love to enjoy the moment again next March, but he knows it will be a tough assignment.
“We would love to repeat as sectional champs,” he said. “A lot of teams in the sectional have everyone back, so it will be more competitive. Everyone’s talent level has gone up a notch. Fort Wayne Elmhurst is one of those teams and they have a new coach. Fort Wayne Wayne has its top player returning, and coach Doug Hicks’ coaching will keep Norwell in games. Coach Luke Zartman will have Maconaquah ready and Bellmont had a lot of young scorers coming back. We’ll have to work hard and see what happens.”
There is no difference in the sectional field this season, only the location of the tournament. Wayne will host after Peru had honors last year.
Another goal that Thompson would like to see his team reach is finishing in the top half of the Mid-Indiana Conference final standings.
“The conference is tough as nails,” Thompson said. “We’d love to place higher than what we did last year (the Tigers were 12-12 overall and 2-5 in the MIC). Hamilton Heights is a team that everyone will be watching. There will be a whole bunch of teams battling it out in the middle.”
Those two goals could be very attainable with three returning starters — 6-foot-2 junior forward Wes Zimmerman, 6-1 junior guard Terry Smith and 6-2 sophomore forward Taylor Smith. Other returnees, primarily backups last season, are 6-5 senior forward Mason Zimmer and 6-2 junior forward Justin Engel.
Zimmerman is the top returning scorer at 12.1 points per game. Taylor Smith and Terry Smith each averaged 7.1 ppg.
Newcomers include 6-1 junior guard Danny Comerford, 6-4 sophomore forward Luke Primerano, 5-10 junior guard Nathan Gillespie and 6-2 senior forward Austin Shaw.
“The three starters will have more of a leadership role,” Thompson said. “Also, we want the players coming off the bench to step in and become major contributors.”
Thompson sees his five experienced players returning as a team strength.
“We have quite a few guys who have quality minutes on the court,” he said. “We also have quickness and a lot of grit. We have players who are pretty much interchangeable at this time.”
Thompson also noted that despite having some experienced players, he still has a reasonably young squad.
“We have two seniors, and one of them didn’t play much, so we will miss the senior leadership that we had last year,” Thompson said.
“Our height will also be a weakness. We have only two players taller than 6-2, and when you go up against teams that have players 6-7, you will have to make it up in other ways.”
Peru lost to graduation Kokomo Tribune All-Area player Jairus Burt along with Matt Richardson and Keaton Worland. Burt led the Tigers in scoring at 14.4 ppg and Richardson was the top rebounder at 5.4 rpg.
Thompson is seeing progress on a daily basis.
“Our guys are working very hard, and we will work toward having a team of championship quality,” he said. “We are not accepting anything less.”
Peru schedule:
JV games start at 6 p.m. unless otherwise noted
Wednesday — Southwood
Nov. 29 — Logansport
Dec. 5 — at Wabash
Dec. 12 — Plymouth
Dec. 16 — Tippecanoe Valley
Dec. 19 — at Eastern
Dec. 29 — Miami Co. Tourney at Maconaquah
Dec. 30 — Miami Co. Tourney at Maconaquah
Jan. 3 — at Norwell
Jan. 9 — Kokomo
Jan. 10 — at Oak Hill
Jan. 16 — Maconaquah
Jan. 23 — Taylor
Jan. 30 — at Western
Feb. 6 — Cass
Feb. 7 — at Manchester
Feb. 12 — at Northwestern
Feb. 20 — at Rochester, 6:15 p.m.
Feb. 24 — North Miami
Feb. 27 — Hamilton Heights
Sports
Peru shoots for more success
Defending sectional champs welcome back three returning starters.
- Sports
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Kokomo turns back Logan for a win on senior night
Kokomo’s boys basketball team got to celebrate a victory on senior night Thursday evening. Logansport made sure the Wildkats earned their celebration.
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N’western rips nets at Peru
Northwestern’s boys basketball team used torrid 3-point shooting to rip Peru 76-58 in Mid-Indiana Conference action Thursday night at Tig-Arena.
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Braves’ Christner shoots down Titans
Tanner Christner exploded for 25 first half points here Thursday night to lead the Maconaquah boys basketball team to 76-60 win over Mid-Indiana Conference foe Taylor.
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Western girls put defensive clamps on West Lafayette
Western opened its postseason by putting on a defensive clinic against host West Lafayette Wednesday night in a Class 3A Sectional opening round game.
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Rival Berries visit Kokomo
Muncie Central has the North Central Conference boys basketball championship in sight. The Class 3A No. 2-ranked Bearcats are 5-0 in league play with games remaining against second-division squads Anderson and Marion.
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Black takes spot among Taylor’s elite
Growing up, Mone’y Black always saw herself as a softball player first.
She was Taylor’s go-to player for the large portions of her career on the basketball and volleyball courts, but her first love was the diamond.
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Kats lose heartbreaker
Kokomo’s girls basketball team executed its game plan to near perfection against host Logansport in the first game of the Class 4A Logansport Sectional Tuesday.
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Tipton races by Taylor
Over the last two seasons, Tipton’s girls basketball team has been held under 40 points in just three games.
Tuesday’s sectional opponent — Taylor — held the Blue Devils down in two of those games. Tuesday was a different story.
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It’s tourney time
In the girls basketball regular season, Tipton and Logansport compiled gaudy records and conference championships while Taylor and Kokomo finished with sub-.500 records.
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What a kick for Hoosier native Weatherford
Indianapolis — While Steve Weatherford celebrated with his teammates in the New York Giants’ locker room after the 21-17 victory over the New England Patriots in Super Bowl XLVI, thoughts inevitably turned to Terre Haute — his hometown.
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