Kokomo boys basketball coach Brian McCauley thinks his squad has shown improvement from game to game in opening the season 3-0.
McCauley hopes that trend continues tonight when Kokomo entertains Muncie Central in both teams’ North Central Conference opener.
“This is the biggest game of the year up to this point,” he said. “You’re certainly not going to win the North Central Conference in this game, but you can really give yourself a leg up or put yourself in a hole. It’s an important early season game.”
Kokomo and Muncie Central have ruled the NCC in recent seasons. The Wildkats took a share of the 2010 title and then won the outright title in 2011, beating the Bearcats both times for 1-0 starts. Last season, the Bearcats beat the Kats 65-60 in an early showdown and the Bearcats went on to win the league title with a 7-0 record.
Muncie Central features plenty of new faces this season. The Bearcats are 1-1 after beating Class A squad Monroe Central and falling by a deuce to Yorktown. The Bearcats are hitting the road for the first time tonight.
“Muncie Central is an outstanding program. They never seem to rebuild, they always just reload,” McCauley said. “They have a lot of athleticism this season and they’re a typical Muncie team in that they play with a lot of toughness, they defend really well and they’re very disciplined.”
Kokomo is scoring 66 points per game and allowing 47.7. Muncie Central counters with an offensive average of 51.5 and a defensive average of 46.
McCauley noted the Bearcats returned point guard Kaleb Mallory from last year. The Bearcat senior is averaging 14 points and 3 assists per game.
“I’ve been impressed by his defense and his offensive improvement,” the Kat skipper said.
Muncie Central also returned a pair of players who worked as backups last season, 6-foot-4 senior wing Jabriel Allen and junior post Jay’lin Barnes. Both are starting this season and shouldering bigger loads. Allen is averaging 14 points and Barnes is averaging 8 points and 8.5 rebounds.
Muncie Central also has senior Tim Barrett (4 ppg) and freshman Marcus Dukes (5.5 ppg).
Eastern at Western
Eastern visits Western tonight for a girls-boys doubleheader.
The girls game pits two of the three remaining unbeatens in Mid-Indiana Conference play. The Class 2A No. 5-ranked Comets are 7-0 overall and 2-0 in league play while the Panthers are 6-1 and 3-0. Class 3A No. 5 Hamilton Heights (1-0 MIC) is the defending league champion and the other unbeaten.
The boys game features defending MIC champion Western. The Panthers beat Northwestern last week for a 1-0 league start. They are 1-2 overall. Eastern is 0-2 overall heading into its league opener.
Both boys squads are in action Saturday as well. Eastern hosts Southwood, and Western visits Rossville.
Taylor at Northwestern
Taylor visits Northwestern tonight for a girls-boys doubleheader.
The girls game features a pair of squads looking for a spark. The Titans are 1-6 overall and 0-2 in the MIC. The Purple Tigers are 2-5 overall and 1-2 in league play.
The boys game has Taylor (0-3 overall) playing its MIC opener against Northwestern, which is 2-1 overall and 0-1 in league play after falling by a deuce to Western last week.
Both boys squads are in action Saturday as well. Taylor hosts Caston, and Northwestern visits Mississinewa.
Around the area
Also in the MIC tonight, Cass (2-1, 0-0) travels to Hamilton Heights. The Huskies are making a delayed season debut after their football team’s run to the state finals.
In the Hoosier Heartland Conference, Clinton Central (0-4) visits Sheridan (1-0) for both teams’ league opener.
And in non-conference games, Maconaquah (1-1) hosts Wabash (1-2), Peru (1-1) hosts Class 3A No. 10-ranked Plymouth (4-0), and Carroll (2-1) visits Caston (0-3).
Sports
Kats set for first NCC test
County rivalries renewed as Eastern faces Western, Taylor takes on NW
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Kats regain tennis throne
At 10:51 a.m. Saturday morning, the bulk of Kokomo’s girls tennis team sprinted from the viewing hill to the east entrance of the tennis courts to mob No. 1 singles player Morgan Mohr as she came off the court following her 1-6, 6-1, 6-1 victory over Eastern’s Courtney Clark.
The No. 3 singles match was still raging, but the team match was already won. The Wildkats had reconquered the throne from two-time defending champion Eastern and were once again champions of the Kokomo Sectional. -
Eastern boys track claims first sectional title since 1998
The boys track and field coach at Eastern High School from 1987 until last season, Paul Nicholson’s parting message to his team was simple: “Don’t deny the gift.”
That motto left such a lasting impression on the Comets’ returning athletes that they had it screen printed on their 2013 season T-shirts.
With Nicholson in attendance to celebrate with them, new coach Austin Roark and the Comets outlasted host Kokomo to win their first sectional title since 1998 Thursday night, topping the Wildkats by 3.5 points, 124.5-121.
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Eastern, Kokomo favored in boys track sectional
Some of the names and faces have changed, but the plot remains much the same.
The Kokomo boys track and field sectional, much like last year, will likely be a two-horse race between the host and three-time defending champion Wildkats and Eastern, a team looking to break through and win its first sectional title since 1998. -
Cole to jump at Miami University
Eastern athlete Grant Cole has only been a long jumper for two seasons, but being turned on to the event late in his career has landed him a scholarship to Miami University.
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Comets roar to sectional title
As the old adage goes, it’s harder stay on top than it is to reach the top.
Eastern’s girls track and field team entered the 2012 postseason hoping to put in a strong enough effort to claim the program’s first sectional title.
Having done so, the Comets entered Tuesday’s postseason opener — the Madison-Grant Sectional — with a much larger bull’s-eye on their backs than in previous years.
Eastern proved up to the challenge, scoring a landslide victory to repeat as sectional champions with 125 points. -
Dexter leaving Eastern
Eastern girls basketball coach Jeremy Dexter has stepped down from the Comet program after accepting the AD job at Churubusco last week. Churubusco is in Whitley County about 15 minutes west of Fort Wayne.
Dexter led the Comets to a Class 2A state runner-up finish this past season. -
Hunter edges Shrout in Thunder Car thriller
Two drivers who are no strangers to Victory Lane returned there Sunday night at the Kokomo Speedway. Meanwhile, a third driver scored just the second feature win of his career at the local oval to highlight the racing action.
Chris Hunter, the winningest Thunder Car driver in the history of the local oval, ground out a gritty win over defending track champion Jason Shrout to highlight the chilly night. -
Girls track sectional is tonight
Eastern’s girls track and field team is ready to chase some more championship hardware.
Two weeks ago, the Comets won their fourth straight Howard County meet. Last week, they won their fourth straight Mid-Indiana Conference meet. Now, the postseason is here, with the Madison-Grant Sectional tonight.
“We’re looking forward to taking the next step,” Eastern coach Michael Goodspeed said. -
Athlete of the week
Oyler led the way as Class 2A No. 5-ranked Eastern beat Cass (4-3) and Hamilton Heights (5-4 in 12 innings) to move to 6-0 in the Mid-Indiana Conference with one league game remaining.
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Page family bonds over martial arts
A mother and father to six children, Jason and Denise Page began to run into your typical challenges associated with such a large family back in 2008, once the oldest children reached an age where they started to have desires to be involved in sports and other extracurricular activities.
As the commitments started to pile up, it didn’t seem like there were enough hours in the day to accomplish all the pitstops and still have time left over to fellowship as a family.
Karate to the rescue. - More Sports Headlines
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