Four storylines to watch in Fort Wayne prep hoops

Over six months ago, I wrote about how the future year of prep basketball in Fort Wayne was going to be filled with a lot of intrigue. And while some of the faces and some of the places have changed, that intrigue has not.

Today, The News-Sentinel’s prep preview comes out and I urge you to read it. Not just because I designed it, but because it is chock full of great previews that give you plenty of information on all of the boys and girls teams in the SAC, NHC, ACAC and area.

The annual Fab 5 breaks down a terrific group of players including Caleb Swanigan, Jordan Geist and Karissa McLaughlin of Homestead, Snider’s Devlyn Williams and Deja Wimby, Concordia’s Reggie Tharp and DeJour Young, Carroll’s Chandler White, Leo’s Jenna Beer and Canterbury’s Darby Maggard. The 10 represent a lot of excitement this year and I for one am particularly interested in how dominant an athletic beast like Devlyn Williams will be and how Reggie Tharp incorporates his vastly improved game (it was never bad, but taken to the next level this summer) into the SAC season.

But when you only name 10 players, some get left out, simply because there isn’t room. So here are some more teams (outside of the obvious potential dominance of Homestead boys), storylines and players that I am most intrigued about this coming season:

—    Can anyone stop the Homestead girls either? Yes, Karissa McLaughlin is sensational, as good as any sophomore girl we’ve had in this area in years, perhaps back to Canterbury grad Megan King. But she has a pretty substantial lineup around her, led by senior Josie Fisher, who is absolutely one of the top 10 players in this area. As dominant as the boys team will be, this Spartan girls squad, under Rod Parker’s leadership, may be pretty close to unbeatable.

—    Sean McGee. The North Side senior is the key to the whole thing for a program coming off back to back Summit Athletic Conference titles. The Redskins lost a lot. And I mean, a lot from last year’s 2-loss team. But they also have a lot new. Jajuan Starks (Northrop) and Jaylen Butz (Bishop Luers) as move ins and the return of a tenacious defender in Terrell Crews are all fantastic for a team who could have been stuck in rebuilding mode. But, McGee is a legitimate scorer who could absolutely be the best guard in this area. What he does on the court, and off the court, could hamper the Redskins or make them a threat to challenge Snider and Concordia for a third straight title.

—    Let me talk about Horizon Christian. In today’s News-Sentinel, yours truly has a feature story on a kid named Keonte Jenkins. What I learned talking to Keonte and his coach is that he is a remarkable kid. You can check out the N-S for more on that. What I can tell you here is that I am absolutely intrigued to see this squad play this season. They aren’t IHSAA sanctioned, they aren’t going head to head with the best of the best all of the time, but games locally against Wayne, Bishop Luers and Canterbury are going to be something interesting to watch. Jenkins is a primetime, get to the basket scorer. And now, Marco Lee, who played sparingly at North Side last year, is alongside him and showing what he can. Lee is a score first point guard who is quick and scored 23 in his Horizon debut over the weekend. Yes, he sat the bench more often than not as a junior, but he wasn’t on the bench for just anyone, it was for one of the best teams in the entire state in any class of the IHSAA. A Lee/Jenkins combo helps make the Jaguars some threat to knock off a pair of SAC schools this year.

—    What makes South Side’s girls team so good? When you look at the city schools, there is quite the disparity between the top (South Side) and the bottom (North Side). And it isn’t just this year, it is every year. North Side has swapped in and out coaches over the last ten years and never been able to crawl up the order, even with some talented players. But South Side, a pretty identical school in theory, is always at the top, even with coaching swaps. The answer: Goodwell. Basketball isn’t in the Goodwell’s blood; their blood literally is bad up of liquefied basketballs. South’s head coach Juanita and her husband David (an assistant at South and leader for Always 100) are two of the more intense, knowledgeable and hard working coaches in this area on any level. There is a lot of talent at South, don’t get me wrong, but any school would be lucky to have this pair.

6 months away is never too early to think about all of the great basketball still in Fort Wayne

A tremendous year has come to a close in Fort Wayne for boys high school basketball, specifically in the Summit Athletic Conference.

While North Side flexed its muscles on the way to a second straight league title AND a Holiday Tournament crown, Snider and Bishop Dwenger played inspired basketball often and every other school showed signs of power while individual players flourished (Concordia’s DJ McCall is an Indiana All-Star and Wayne’s Justin Mitchell broke the school’s all-time scoring mark).

But the chance to see so many of the stars of the SAC’s recent years comes to an end officially Sunday (at least at a high school level anyway) with the Nancy Rehm Indiana/Ohio game, highlighted by a trio of those North Side stars (Tre Crews, Oosha Mitchell and Mike Davis), along with McCall, Mitchell (and his brother Levi), as well as South Side’s Nate Thomas, among others.

It leaves hardcore area prep fans wondering how we fill the gap next year. With so many power players graduating from every school, what will the SAC be like in 2014-2015 during its final year as an 8-team league (Carroll and Homestead join the following year)? But this has happened before and it will happen again. While it will be hard to reload at the same level of the SAC, with so much parity, of this past season, there is a lot of interest to peak the city when basketball rolls around again in about 6 months (I, for one, think it is too far away).

The biggest question will be with the back-to-back champs, who graduate 6 that include four starters and another all-area performer off the bench. But it also returns a strong core of JV post players to get tested and more importantly, a senior trio back court of Sean McGee, Terrell Crews and Marco Lee.

The game plan changes immediately with these three versus, say, Tre’Vion Crews as North now has three score-first guards. McGee is a solid shooter and a gritty kid who will fight for every inch. But, he will also have to shoulder a heavy scoring load and will probably need to average 20 points per game, especially early on as North feels out its new legs. Will the younger Crews develop into a significant scorer? There is no doubt that Terrell can play defense and was a nice energy guy off the bench but he will go from being “the little Crews” to “the Crews,” and I think he will fill those shoes adequately. Lee is the intangible with this group because of where he may or may not fit. In my opinion, he would be the first look to take over the point guard role, but does his game fit that? He is an explosive finisher when on his game, can he also slow the pace and run the team every possession like the elder Crews has done and coach Shabaz Khaliq has become accustom to?

Snider also looses a lot, but still has strong experience returning, especially with All-Area talent Devlyn Williams. His size and diversity in his game make him a tough match-up and added maturity will help him. Devlyn’s pull up game and athleticism will push him and the Panthers. His taller (little) brother Malik will also take more pressure off what Devlyn will be expected to do in the post. Good varsity experience as a freshman and hopefully a summer in the weight room will make Malik a tough draw for area posts. This is a kid I watched, before he ever played a high school game; embarrassingly dunk on Homestead’s Caleb Swanigan in an Always 100 league game. That speaks volumes about his ability that can be developed. As long as the guard play is decent at Snider, the Williams brothers will propel them far.

Bishop Dwenger, the other SAC power of this season, will be the same story: lose a lot, return a lot of intrigue. Kyle Hartman is back and he led the Saints well as a junior a lot of times. He got better getting to the basket throughout the year and his willingness to scrap will only be beneficial. He, and fellow Class of 2015 returner Ryan Christman are also prolific spot up shooters who you don’t want to get too hot. If brought along early, sophomore-to-be Campbell Donovan also has a soft touch and his corner threes could help free up Hartman for some added looks.

Their rival, Bishop Luers, will only get stronger as they get older. JJ Foster had a strong freshman campaign and will only get better as each year passes. This year, once again, he won’t have to shoulder the load because of the development and break out of Tyrell Johnson, who was the key guy for a lot of Luers’ push back this season against teams who were expected to beat the massively rebuilding Knights.

Youth also is the key at Concordia and Northrop. With a new coach on the horizon, things could change dramatically at Concordia. After all, the philosophy there hasn’t changed in a long time. Will it with a new head man? Either way, there are a pair of juniors in Reggie Tharp and Paxton Bergdoll that will be a great tandem. Tharp, on his game, is as dangerous as anyone in the conference this year. He is a shoot first, ask questions later talent, whose talent is catching up to his superior mentality. I expect him to put a great summer in on the AAU circuit and be ready to lead Concordia back into SAC contention next season. And with a healthy Bergdoll to mirror Tharp’s outside game down in the post, it could be tough for defenses to solve the Cadets’ puzzle.

At Northrop, there is some upper-class talent and the Bruins know it is still rebuilding time from the exit of the Scott twins in 2013, but there is a lot of younger talent I am excited about. Junior-to-be Jagger Surface is smooth when let loose. Like with Concordia, a good perimeter game between Surface and senior-to-be Aaron Thomas can only help their chances at Northrop. Anton Berry was super raw inside as a freshman, but there is no doubt coach Barak Coolman will get that polished a lot this summer. Add in hidden gem in sophomore-to-be Richard Robertson and the Bruins could be a team you never want to look past.

Wayne and South Side will need some break outs to be competitive, but with talent like Kye Black (Wayne) and Nick Thomas (South Side, younger brother of Nate), this is always a possibility. For South Side, can Nick lose his laid back style and become more aggressive? Mike Novell sure hopes so.

And let us not forget some names not mentioned. Fort Wayne Community Schools plus parochials always equal random transfers, so you never know where some people may end up. Some of those moves are already being gossiped about.

And if the SAC really isn’t your bag, you don’t have to look too far for some amazing basketball next year. Blackhawk Christian returns loads in Wes Davidson, Joey Morlan and Riley Reimschisel; Carroll is plugged in returns from Chandler White, Jeffrey and Jeremy Kalonji and Kyle Mallers and Garrett will be run well by Justin McCoy. And oh yeah, Homestead has this Division 1 prospect named Caleb Swanigan, and they don’t call him “biggie” for nothing.

A technical situation

So over the weekend, I hit a coaching milestone. Not one to be particularly proud of I am sure, but a humorous one none the less. In the midst of a game coaching for Always 100 on Sunday afternoon, I was assessed my 10^th career technical foul as a coach.

What stood out to me afterwards was the interesting point in what a referee’s line is. Do they always have the same line? Does it vary day by day? Coach by coach? I’ve been hit with some justified technical fouls and also with some, as this weekend was, humorous ones. My quandary after the game about what justifies a technical met up nicely with Duke’s Mike Krszyweski getting one that same day for throwing his dry-erase marker at the ground during a timeout and then being t’d up by a referee standing half a court away who Coach K has his back turned to.

As for me on Sunday, I was given the old ‘T’ sign with the hands after expressing my opinion to the official that perhaps he could go over to one of the adjacent courts in the field house where volleyball was taking place.

He didn’t even let me explain it was because in that sport, it wasn’t required for an official to call fouls. He didn’t take the time to think maybe I was just concerned with expanding his horizons in his secondary job of choice.

He also didn’t want to hear anything about the call he missed where an opposing player literally grabbed one of my player’s ankles with his hands to trip him right in front of the referee.

Nope, just a whistle, a hand gesture, told I was “done” and forced to take a seat.

Which has led me to think, with 10 under my belt now, how many technicals were actually justified in the traditional sense? Is it right to give a coach a technical for sarcasm? Maybe. It all depends on what your definition of “attempting” to “show up” the “referee” is.

Technical #1 came in 2006, almost seven and a half years ago at Huntington North High School while I was coaching the Fort Wayne North Side freshmen. It was the one and only time vulgarity was the cause of a technical. Using the word bullshit in a high school basketball game, probably not the best idea. But was it justified use of the word on my end? Of course. But this isn’t about my morality. Bullshit was mild when you look at the phrases and racial slurs slung at my players that day in Huntington North High School, the heart of hate. Especially when it was in direct response to the referee (yes I remember you Tim Enyeart) refusing to acknowledge my constant pleas to end the hateful remarks. But again, their morality, not mine. I’d do it again, but was the technical justified? Sure was.

Technical #2 came 13 seconds later for standing up. It is a no-no once the first technical was received. But considering it came with 15 seconds left in the game and I stood up to get a better angle on a loose ball and immediately sat back down, it sure wasn’t justified. Never the less, I was able to make an early retreat to the locker room where I had to listen to a midget Athletic Director with a complex act like he was relevant for a couple minutes.

It wasn’t again until 2011, amidst my first season coaching in Vinton that I received Technical #3. Since that game, I grew all too use to the horrible officiating in Roanoke County, especially of these guys I could only assume buy their VHSL official patches from the Goodwill. But back then, it was all too new. We were playing the 76ers in an overly aggressive game fully of fouls and beatings. Were we innocent? Probably not. But were we the worst? Nope. So after watching two players tumble to the ground going after a rebound and then see my player shoved while on the ground by the 76er on the ground, only to be ignored by the referee who was looking at them, I was hot. On the next defensive possession, more over aggression led to a hard foul on a 76er and my immediate assertion that they needed to call the game on both ends of the floor as the foul total for the half was now at 7 for us and 1 for them. Then came the whistle. Then came me sitting down and letting the referee know that if this wasn’t fixed then I was pulling my team off the floor because the officials were not taking care of any of the kids on either team and I wouldn’t put up with the dangerous environment. And then game Technical #4. I’d love to give the official the first one, but his lack of warning (I hadn’t, believe it or not, been mouthy up to this point) makes it a no go. And the second? Well he was just not level headed at that point. Protecting kids is technical worthy? Ok then. But remember this isn’t high school you are working.

To end the following season, again with the Vinton Blue Devils, I continued my early exit streak of “if you get one, might as well get two,” with technicals in the final regular season game, a meeting with the Hidden Valley Heat. As usual, the referees were having mental lapses and I was on them most of the game. The final straw came close to the end of the game when our point guard was called for a charge when he collided with a defender 4 feet behind the three-point line while they were both in mid air (our player was trying to make a pass). It was ridiculous. I said as much, though the specific words (unbelievable? terrible? ludicrous?) escape me at the moment. Justified on Technical #5? Not so much, but I also knew what my tone was going to be, so I knew I was getting one. And moments later, in one of my better off the cuff moments, I let Mr. Referee know “that’s the best call you made all day.” Whistle, T, Ejection. Justified of Technical #6? Yup.

I kicked off the next regular season ready to knock out my technicals with Technical #7. Maybe it was the referee’s assertion during the pre-game coaches meeting that “we (the officials) are basically volunteers,” and that as a reason we shouldn’t be hard on them. I’m no mathlete, but $25 per game (aka per hour) doesn’t really seem too volunteer to me. Especially since these meeting came after a lot of incidents during football season. But anyway, I was not thrilled with Ben Minton from the get go. What followed up was the usual amount of no calls and half-ass paying attention from the officials. This culminated, down by 1 point with under a minute to play when we got on a 1-on-1 fast break. This ended with an errant block attempt from the other team that ended up (unintentionally in my opinion) with a punch to our player’s forehead. He went down in a heap and in tears (this was a 10 year old after all), with no whistle and Mr. Minton staring down at the kid as he jogged back up the court with the play. He refused to stop play so I could check on the kid for a good 20-30 seconds, all of which I was heated. As I went to check on him, I lashed out back in the ref’s direction “see, this is why coaches get mad at referees.” Whistle time. Justified? Are you kidding me?

Now that I got that single technical out of the way and actually didn’t get ejected, I tried my hardest to be on my best behavior for the remainder of the season. That was until the Vinton Redskins played the Vinton Thunder, Technicals #8 and #9. A rough game with rough officiating that saw the Thunder coach also T’d up, we trailed in the final seconds of overtime by 3 when I called a timeout with the ball at half court. I let them know to inbound the ball to our best player and instructed him to put up a shot as soon as he felt contact. I knew this other coach and I knew that he would try to foul as quickly as possible to not allow us to shoot a three and potentially tie the game. By us throwing up the shot, I was hoping we would at least get three free throws and try to foil their plan. He did what I thought, met with one of their players basically tackling our shooter. He fired the shot, the referee called the foul and the bucket swished through. Barely over 2-seconds left and we were tied with a chance to win. Then after discussion between the referees (the one near the shot called the foul, the one in front of me on the other side of the court didn’t even blow his whistle), the call was overturned. The basket was no good. I emphatically urged to the referee who called the foul that he “couldn’t do this” as he walked to the scorers table to wave off the shot. It was to no avail and I lost my mind. Call it a rage blackout or whatever you choose; I don’t remember what I said to him. I heard a whistle and saw his hands. The game ended, we “lost” and I proceeded to let him know how ridiculous it was immediately after hand shakes. He let the scorers table know to mark me down for a second technical at that point, which I followed up with “put me down for 5, the game is over. And everybody in this gym just saw what you did.”

First one totally justified. Second one, highly questionable.

He didn’t put me down for 5. But those technicals earned me a 2-game suspension. Those are the breaks I suppose.

It was my last technical before Sunday and the last time I really lost it on a ref (if we exclude baseball umpires who don’t know that a ball bouncing in the dirt is not a strike).

At the end of the day, it comes down to this…what crosses the line? I have done way more to get one than I did Sunday. In fact, I have said way more and not received one. So I don’t think referees have a “line,” I just think they have agendas. In game agendas, against the coach agendas, life agendas, plan for the day agendas.

I joked with a parent after the game Sunday that our ref (always in a Duke hoodie) was too worried about the Duke ACC title game on TV and he didn’t want to be there. I joked. And then moments later realized that after the game, he left all of his stuff at the court and raced over to the snack bar to watch that game.

That was his agenda. And if that is how he wants to make some extra cash, he might as well go ahead and referee volleyball instead.

Redskins have solidified themselves as the best ever

The last time I wrote about Fort Wayne North Side’s basketball team, it was the day of the Summit Athletic Conference Holiday Tournament finals. In that blog, I compared them to the last team to win said title, in the 2006-2007 season.

North Side beat Snider that night on a thrilling buzzer beater. Since that time, they have gone 13-1 and improved their record to a state best 21-1 for the regular season. Their lone loss? A tough road match up where their two brightest stars sat out the vast majority of the first half in foul trouble.

Tonight, that same North Side team plays Snider again. This time, it is the opening round of Sectional play. 21-1 is nice and all, but a loss for either team tonight ends their season. And it ends a lot of careers.

For North Side specifically, this is the final run for four starts and their 6^th man. Tonight and the remainder of their season will be all in for Tre’vion Crews, Mike Davis, Oosha Mitchell, Jeremy Jones and Myluv Sutton. But what stands out to me as we enter the postseason, no matter results tonight or down the line, is that this North Side Redskin team has every right to claim themselves as the best team to lace up their sneakers for the school since it opened in 1927.

Not just one of the best. They have the legitimate argument for THE BEST.

I am a North Side basketball purist. I may very well be one of the foremost authorities on the history of the program. I have loved to study the program since I was in school at North Side and carried over more strongly when I was a coach in the program between 2003 and 2008. And there have been some extremely talented teams: runs at state titles in ’33, ’55 and ‘65, the all-time winningest team in 1978, a state-ranked 1999 team that fizzled out too early and a trifecta of 15+ win teams from 2005-2007 at the peak of modern day local prep basketball.

What makes them possibly the best overall is hard to quantify outside of numbers. But those numbers do not lie. They will, no matter what, be the first team in school history to finish with less than 3 total losses. They will, no matter what, end with the best winning percentage in school history. 1978 be damned, North Side has already done almost everything better than that year, widely regarded as the best year ever.

When you look at “modern day” North Side, we can call it the post-By Hey era, there have been five really good years and two squads stand out the most before this group.

The 1999 team was ranked 7^th in the state heading into the post season but faltered after a Sectional win. However that team, led by still professionally playing Vernard Hollins, set a standard for modern day North Side. Run and gun benefited this team greatly. Getting out on the break with Hollins, Quincy Rutledge, Tyone Little and Wes Williams was practically impossible for most other schools. And if they could slow the Redskins down, the 6’10’’ junior center Ross McGregor wasn’t exactly easy to stop when he wanted a basket or a rebound. They boasted the 5^th best winning percentage in school history, complete with SAC regular season and Sectional titles. It was a blueprint, a foundation, as a high bar and stepping stone for other North Side teams in the post-By Hey Era.

Then from 2005-2007, North Side stepped all over it.

Never with a better record, but with one of the best three-year runs in school history, the Mike Novell coached squads (with a common denominator in Eshaunte “Bear” Jones) were the talk of the area at a time when the area was at its best. Every school had a strong piece or two at that point. South Side with Juston Hairston and Fred Ford, Snider with Marques Johnson and Ryan Sims, Concordia with Brandon Knox and Kyle Pressley, Harding with Evan White, DeAundre Muhammed and Pryce Underwood, Bishop Luers with Kevin Fogler, Bishop Luers with Cory Howard, Troy Amos, Lawrence Barnett and later Deshaun Thomas. Fort Wayne alone was the who’s who of prep basketball.

And North Side, win or lose, always stuck out. They overachieved into a Sectional crown in 2005, underachieved with only a conference regular season title 2006 and peaked early in 2006-2007 by winning the Holiday Tournament and never getting more than a sniff of any other crown from there on out.

All of these teams were good, but none do what this year’s team does: they quite frankly, are the epitome of consistency. You could break it down player by player as I have done in the past and this year’s team would win some and lose some. But as a team, as fun as those other teams were…could they handle this group?

Part of that is their maturity and part is how well they gel. North Side has the area’s best point guard (and in my humble opinion best player) in Tre Crews, the best inside presence in Mike Davis and a complimentary core of guys who would be the best player on any other team. And there are not egos. Well, I am sure there are egos, but they never show them. One guy may want the ball more than he gets it, but come game day, they show no cracks like that, no little nuisances that naturally inhabit high school teams. When it is game day, only one stat matters: that their side is lit up a little more brightly on the scoreboard, that their opponents cannot finish with more points.

The last time North Side played Snider, I thought they were playing to be the best in the program’s history to win that tournament crown. Tonight, they have nothing to prove. This North Side team is as good as it gets and they don’t have to prove that to themselves or anybody else.

The best part of that? I think they already know they don’t.

Who would win the battle of the North Side Redskins?

As someone who was a coach in the program the last time the Fort Wayne North Side Redskins won the Summit Athletic Conference Holiday Tournament title, it is hard for me to believe that it has been 7 full years since that last crown.

Luckily for Coach Shabaz Khaliq and the Redskins, a chance to win that title tonight would make him just the third North Side coach to do so behind legendary By Hey in 1986 (they named the arena after him after all) and Mike Novell in 2006. And seven years is a much better drought than 20.

North Side is in a unique company tonight with the Snider Panthers as the last time either of them were in the finals, they won the thing. While North did it in 2006 against South Side, Snider did it in 2005 against the Redskins. North did however beat the Panthers in the semi-finals of their 2006 title run.

So today as I look back in my own head, I can't help but compare the two teams. How would this year's North Side stack up against the 2006 team? Who would have the advantage when broke down player versus player?

Point Guard

Justin Jordan (2006) vs. Tre'vion Crews (2013)

Fun thing about writing: I came back and wrote this match up last. Because, what do you really say? An Indiana All-Star against a kid who I truly believe to be the best player in the conference and in the area. But what I have to look at is the body of work for the give seasons. The very clear reality here is that the 2013 team would be lost without Tre Crews, while the 2006 team would hurt but get by without JJ. Justin was a cold blooded assassin on the court and set the standard for score-first point guards at modern day North Side. He was also a sophomore at this point and lacking some of the maturity that he would gain and that Crews has. I have told anyone that will listen that Crews could take over any game he chooses to and he shows flashes of that every night he is on the court. Better yet, he is the truest leader of either of these teams, the one you know you can rely on physically and mentally EVERY second of EVERY game. Comparing the two as seniors (Crews now and JJ in 2008-2009) would be damn near impossible. But when looking at these two seasons in question, to me it is clear.

ADVANTAGE: Tre'vion Crews (2013)

Shooting Guard

Eshaunte Jones ('06) vs. Jeremy Jones ('13)

The two Jones have some pretty key things in common. Both are pretty silky smooth and have a nice stroke from long range. Key three-pointers from Jeremy were crucial to stop Bishop Dwenger runs in the semi-finals. But where there are similarities, there is one key difference: Jeremy can make the big shot, while 'Bear' was the big shot. Bear's ability AND especially his desire to run the show are the reasons he was an Indiana All-Star and probably the best scorer to ever put on a Redskin uniform and he was at his best in the 2006-07 season as a season with just two games with less than 20 points.

ADVANTAGE: Eshaunte Jones (2006)

Small Forward

John Hefty ('06) vs. Sean McGee ('13)

This is an interesting match up because of the difference at the '3' spot for these two squads. For old school North, they ran three forwards, while this year's squad runs three guards. So the two aren't really comparable and these two guys bring way different things to the table. McGee has proven already in his three games back with the team that he's a formidable part of the lineup. He is a clutch scorer and big game player who when controlling his own mind, is such a danger to opponents. If North Side was good without him, they will continue to be great with him. Hefty on the other hand was capable on offense for sure, but what Hefty did was so unique and rare. John Hefty was the intangible guy, he did the things that nobody else did and that is something the current team is missing. He got after the ball all of the time and on any given day was capable of putting up double digits in any statistical category. What often gets lost in the 2006-07 team is that Hefty led the state of Indiana in steals per game, which is impressive in itself, but more impressive as a 6-5 hulking forward.

ADVANTAGE: Push

Power Forward

Damarlo Belcher ('06) vs. Oosha Mitchell ('13)

Pure power versus pure will. That is what this should be called. Belcher was just a freak overall athlete and that made him tough to battle against. Mitchell on the other hand, while athletic, just wills himself to the basket, either to score or to block a shot (he had 5 VERY impressive ones in the semi-finals). Damarlo was often unstoppable with the ball in the low post, and out jumped everyone when he wanted a rebound. Meanwhile Oosha is one that you just can't leave alone or he will work hard enough to hurt you either on a drive, put back or even on occasion from downtown.

ADVANTAGE: Damarlo Belcher (2006)

Center

Dominic Moore ('06) vs. Mike Davis ('13)

If there is something you can't teach, it is 6'9'' and because of that, Dominic Moore already had the advantage on so many guys. He rebounded well, worked hard and created a tough match up for most teams because of his height and his lean frame that allowed him to weave into tight areas well. His problem is Mike Davis' strength, which is that Moore at that time really didn't know how to use his frame and Davis knows how to throw around his weight. He proved the first time the 'Skins played Snider this season that he is more than capable of being a thunderous and ferocious rebounder. Better yet, Davis can be flashy. His dunks can be pretty sick and he has the diversity (like Oosha) to step out and his the deep shot.

ADVANTAGE: Mike Davis (2013)

6^th Man

Grayson Wambach ('06) vs. Terrell Crews ('13)

This is a tough match up because I believe Crews to be the better player, but when comparing these teams at these points, Wambach was so clutch and sealed the SAC Tournament title. Grayson was a pure shooter, the best true shooting guard and when he was hot, he was hot. In 2006-2007, he was the only Redskin not named Eshaunte Jones to lead the team in scoring with 26 against Homestead. Crews on the other hand is a tenacious defender and uses that as his hallmark as he continues to learn the speed of the varsity level. Despite being listed here, he has been a starter but I expect McGee to take that spot back sooner than later. Crews isn't fully ready to be the guy yet, but he had the capability to do so in the future.

ADVANTAGE: Terrell Crews (2013)

7^th Man

Tyshawn Mauldin ('06) vs. Myluv Sutton ('13)

Another meeting not really by position on the floor as much as position on the team. Mauldin was super small (5'6'' at best), but was quick and mighty. His out of nowhere block of Concordia's 6'8'' Brandon Knox in January of 2007 leads me to believe that he would (proverbially) take Myluv's cookies – if given the chance. But Myluv could have something if he puts all of the pieces together that he is capable of. He showed in the semi-finals that he can be huge off the bench when Mike or Oosha are in foul trouble or not putting numbers up. Myluv, like this year's team's other bigs, can also step out and hit jump shots well. He is sneaky and often forgotten, which is excellent for him to put back offensive rebounds.

ADVANTAGE: Myluv Sutton (2013)

8^th Man

Robert Williams ('06) vs. Marco Lee ('13)

This is a match up that we will call notable because neither one of these kids had/has played much at SAC Tournament time. Williams had his break out game against Elmhurst in January after the tournament and worked his way into the starting lineup at times as a sophomore. Before that, he was a guy to give the top three guards a breather and was a there to be a shooter. Lee has also not played much, but is a slick guard with a good shot.

ADVANTAGE: Push

Style

2006 vs. 2013

What makes a style? Accomplishment of the task at hand. Both of these teams are very, very good at putting their game plan and style to work. The difference as I see it is that the 2006 team did almost all of the time. Their season ended prematurely in Huntington during Sectionals and yes, they lost some games along the way (something the 2013 team has yet to do) but their transition game was smooth and their 1-2-2 full court zone press did what it needed with Bear (and later Williams) at the top moving the ball handler from side to side to get a turnover. This year's squad needs more consistency to avoid letting teams make runs like Bishop Dwenger did in the semi-finals. But their quickness is an asset and one they use well by getting in passing legs and fast breaking with numbers to hurt their opponents. I think both teams thrive in each other's own styles, but who worked their own the best?

ADVANTAGE: 2006

Coaching

Mike Novell ('06) vs. Shabaz Khaliq ('13)

Novell has the strength to drill in his philosophy. And while he had other successes and semi-successes, his drilling in of run, run and run some more worked well with this squad. Get up and down the floor, score in 8 seconds or left. It was simple and how he ran his practices to make it perfect. Khaliq on the other hand, is a great in-game coach (not to say that he isn't in practice). Shabaz does, what I've always thought to be the most important thing as a coach: he relates to his players. He can talk them down, he can build them up, fire them up and maneuver them as needed to get the most out of them. Their styles, and I am assuming, their philosophies are very different. When Novell was at North, Khaliq was the coach at Elmhurst. And what I am trying to keep in mind also when comparing the two is that Shabaz always seemed to have Mike's number one way or the other.

ADVANTAGE: Shabaz Khaliq (2013)

Overall

This would be such a fun game to watch. So we are all winners, right? Don't worry though, no cop out there. I coached at North Side in 2006 and I have coached a handful of games with Tre Crews, McGee and Sutton from the current team, but I know things to be true and I can be honest about these things now that I have thought deeply about it. Many parts of the 2006 team would be a nightmare match up wise for 2013. The biggest part of that is the three forward versus three guard issue. Who would change their approach to try and even things up with the other? But here is the difference to me: neither would. In 2006, replacing Hefty in the lineup for a big game or a title game would significantly weaken the team. And for the 2013 team, first glimmer of thought would say add Sutton to the lineup. But, not is Sutton soft, but is he hard enough to really battle with Hefty on the level Hefty would push things to? So leave McGee in, he'll beat and bang with anyone of any size. And I feel that wisdom would prevail for Khaliq too. So what wins? Big and bold or smaller and quicker? I said before that either team would work the others style with style and strength. And I think this game would go the pace of the 2006 team, which would be a mistake against the speed and enthusiasm of a Crews/Jones/McGee/Sutton/Davis lineup. I think the North Side Redskins become the 2013 SAC Holiday Tournament Champions tonight. And I think they will be the best Redskin team to ever boast such.

ADVANTAGE: 2013