At the Hanger in Monroe, IN, the Eastside Blazers are set to kick off their season against the Adams Central Flying Jets. Dating back to the start of last season, Mike Lortie’s first win as their head coach came in a 41-39 win over these same Jets.
The Blazers went on to post a 16-7 record and very much in the race for the NECC and sectional title, despite coming short. Now, the Blazers look to build off of that season thanks to a return of several key players from that team.
Sam can be said for the Jets as they look to build off their 19-8 season which they won that very sectional. The Jets, under ex-Angola DeKalb and Lakeland coach Doug Curtis, also return several key players including Marissa Van De Weg and Concordia university commit McKenna Dietsch.
This appears to be one of the better games to watch this evening, but can the Blazers do it again?
3 Keys to winning
Eastside
1. Weather through the butterflies
Given that it’s the first game of the new season for both teams, given the pandemic and uncertain times we are living, the first 8-12 min or so are going to be extremely interesting. Expect there to be mistakes from both teams, but if the Blazers can keep fighting and hang around, you have to like their chances given how well coached they and how experienced they are. Therefore, it’ll be crucial to win the turnover ratio.
2. Penetrate to the net; Get to the free throw line
I think it’s going to be important that the Blazers no matter how well they’re shooting the ball continue to penetrate to the net and to not get too hesitant to make these plays. We know the Blazers are going to play hard nosed defense and get gritty for the boards, but it’s going to be interesting to see how the Blazers offense does against a pretty lengthy Adams Central frontcourt.
Given that this could be a very physical game, the Blazers are going to want to score through contact and even comfort some points from the charity stripe. Why not?
3. Play with high energy and poise
Again, with the excitement of opening night, there is a sense of curiosity on how the Blazers respond tonight. Obviously, both teams will make mistakes, but they’ll also have the battle against playing in a restricted crowd to no crowd at all throughout the season. That means teams have to find that energy within the team itself, and it sounds easy saying that, but it’s so hard to play with that high intensity.
One of the main reasons they play as well as they did was they played fast, confident, and they played with high focus, energy, and work ethic. No matter if the team is firing at all cylinders or the shots don’t fall, that’s key for this team against a solid and respected program.
One player to watch on each team
Eastside
Sullivan Kessler
When it’s crunchtime, your best players are the ones that need to come out the strongest and loudest, and last year Sullivan was in a lot of ways one of their leaders on the team. Now as a senior that role grows even larger. One of the hard working players out there with her commitment to playing through the grind and adversity to constantly improving her game with her ability to fire one from distance and score through contact.
If the Blazers come out on top, look for her to have her fingerprints all over this game.
Adams Central
Sage Hammond
With this already being a measuring stick game, Hammond has the physicality and motor to be a problem in the paint against a Blazers team that’s smaller but grittier and faster. That size and determination could be one that can decide the outcome of this game. With Dietsch and Van De Weg, you know what you’re going to get from them on both sides of the court. But going against Eastside’s Allyson King, that could be the wildcard of this game.
Conclusion
As we go through the duration of the season, my analysis will be much more in-depth regarding these teams in particular. But until the games are played, all we can do is watch and see them grow and learn as a team. Eastside is a wild card in both the NECC and their sectional. If they can build off of last season and find ways to win in a weird season via COVID-19, they could be a interesting team.
Expect Eastside to be a fun team!
Around the NorthEast Corner 