First off, I want to wish a happy and healthy Thanksgiving to all of my viewers out there. So, before we get start getting the turkey, gravy, and ham ready for Thursday, we got some basketball to cover, and this one here has been circled on the calendars of many people the moment these two played last season.
Angola is coming off an impressive 40-17 win over a very good Eastside team led by senior Hanna Knoll with 20 points. The 17 points allowed by Angola was the fewest since Jan. 9 and Jan. 19, 2018, both against Busco. Garrett is coming off a 58-21 win over county rival DeKalb.
The Big Train in 2020-21 are just as loaded if not more so than last season returning basically their entire starting lineup plus Taylor Gerke, who transferred from Lakewood Park. Bailey Kelham is pretty much the same fantastic player we saw last season except it feels like her shot selection has improved and is getting stronger. Gerke has provided that interior presence and impressive ball-handling skills that has relieved some of the pressure on the rest of the core.
Morgan Ostrowski is looking like possibly the best center in the NECC averaging 11 points 9 boards and 2 blocks a game. And we got to talk about maybe the best ball facilitator in Northeast Indiana, Nataley Armstrong who is 2nd in the state in assists with 9.6 (that’s not a typo).
Angola, while their offense is off to a slow start like it normally is at the start of every season, things did start to improve with their execution in the 2nd half against the Blazers. Knoll still leads the team in points with 16.5 points 5 boards 2 assists and 4 steals a game as one of the faces of the NECC. Lauren Leach really saw her scoring pick up last season and some of that came back Friday against Eastside and she leads with 6.5 boards and 1.5 blocks as one of the area’s best defenders at the forward slot.
While it’s been a ice cold start for Nisun offensively shooting just 18% from the floor, she has been awesome on the defensive ended averaging 6 boards 2 assists and a block a game. And then we got to talk about some newcomers led by freshman Riley Pepple who has showed why scouts really love her dribbling and perimeter presence averaging 4 points 1.5 steals and 2nd in 3-point percentage.
In a extremely important game against Garrett, their offense will need to continue to improve, while maintaining the effort and poise that they are showing so far against a Garrett team that’s a pain in the rear end to play against, which probably means they are doing something right.
In the last 10 years, Angola has owned the Railroaders in the recent head-to-head meetings winning 10 of the previous 13 meetings and are on a 7-game winning streak against Garrett. But their last meeting showed promise to how this season’s game may look as Angola had to grind their way to a 40-34 win at Central Gym, the closest margin in this head-to-head series since Nov. 25, 2014 when Garrett won 46-40 at Paul Bateman Gymnasium.
Most likely the winner of this game takes a huge step in maintaining control of the conference standings in the coming weeks ahead.
3 Keys to winning
Angola
- Start off Strong
As much as I give a ton of credit for how hard and relentless Eastside plays, the Hornets cold shooting made this game much closer than it probably should have early on. Going against a Garrett that has 4 players that can score double digits not naming Faith Owen, Angola needs to find some rhythm here, and this is important because playoff games are not going to always be pretty games, so considering that some of their players are young, this is a learning curve moment for some of them playing against a physical team that does get under a lot of teams skins on both sides of the court.
So far, Angola’s offense is averaging 4 points in first quarters, which is by far their worst out of any quarter offensively, but the defense has only allowed 3. However, there are just some teams that you can’t hold to 3 points in a quarter, and Garrett is one of those teams. So, if the Hornets can grab the lead early and can execute a little better on some of those easy looks, that could be critical because with this game expected to be close, every bucket counts.
2. Continue to limit turnovers and take care of the basketball
In their last game, they still allowed quite a bit of turnovers with 15 against Eastside, but it felt like the Hornets were much sharper in that area and looked a little like the Hornets offense from the last few years. It is going to take some time as it usually is with previous teams but most certainly with a new voice led by Nick Burlingame. Defensively, I felt like there weren’t going to be massive changes there because the style Nick has played in the past dating back to his Lakeland days is very similar to what Appleton implemented.
The biggest adjustments are probably on the offensive side of the ball, and that would have happened on a certain level anyways because they’re relying a lot on their talented freshman trio for secondary scoring. However, this is a Garrett team that wants to impose physicality and speed every night, and again they have a lot of playmakers over there most since probably my sophomore or junior year of high school which is 6 years ago.
3. Play with High Energy and High Effort
When it’s all said and done, the Hornets need to continue to come in ready to play their butts off and to be mentally and physically engaged in this one. This Garrett team will by far be one of the toughest teams they will play all year. Very few teams in the state of Indiana can have that much confidence on 4 players to put up double digit points, 5 or more boards, and be that efficient in their passing and forcing turnovers.
Angola likes to go up and down the court, play a fast-tempo offense, be aggressive in the paint to open up shooting options and their perimeter offense, and on defense it’s all about applying a ton of full-court and even half-court pressure, using their speed to frustrate other teams, bringing chaos and physicality through their speed and on/off ball pressure and make opponents feel overwhelmed and confused.
Garrett plays a similar style to Angola, except I have always referred to them as a “lunch-pale” team. Garrett controls pace and their offense through being physically and mentally tough and they are not afraid to stack up the paint and put their hands and bodies on opposing shooters. In other words, playing against Garrett on both ends of the court is like being on a battleground. The difference with this year’s version is mainly the fact they are a multi-dimensional offense that can shoot everywhere on the court and can do so confidently.
When playing Bob Lapadot’s Garrett Railroaders, the effort and intensity level has to go way up because they don’t give you anything easy to shoot the ball at. They like Angola make you earn your stripes. Given that these two are longtime rivals, I expect both teams to grind it out and endure through some bruises throughout the night.
Garrett
- Beware of the Hornets’ perimeter offense
So far, other than maybe Woodlan, Garrett has not played a team that has such a dangerous backcourt to go along with a deep roster and some size in the paint. Defensively, Garrett has only allowed 32 points a game. Other than the New Haven game where their talented guards shot 50% from the perimeter, Garrett has done a good job limiting damage from the perimeter.
However, much like how Angola will have to play against one of their toughest teams to defend in Garrett’s quartet, Garrett will have to play against a stingy Angola team that is so hard to stay composed because of their mental toughness, speed, and having the high basketball skills to change games through the triple.
In their last meeting, they held Angola to 21% shooting from the three, but those 3 triples by Hanna Knoll were the difference in a game that was a tight low-scoring game.
2. Keep it simple, share the ball, and make the defense keep guessing
One of the things I have noticed with Garrett in past meetings is whenever Angola applied all of that chaos and madness that they usually put on defense, Garrett at times seemed to have been rattled and not quite play at the level that usually feel comfortable in. The bugaboo with this Garrett team in the past is not them defending this talented Angola team. They have showed in past meetings that they are capable of competing against this team whether it’s playing a grind it out game on defense, crashing the boards, using their bench, or playing a fast tempo game. They can do those things.
But it feels like Garrett has really struggled to find their game on offense and feel comfortable playing through this full-court defense that Angola loves to do even with a new coach. Garrett has only shot 40% or better from the floor against Angola twice in their last 9 meetings. I mean that’s huge…If Garrett struggles against this elite Angola defense, it is going to make it a lot harder to beat this team.
The good news is this is a roster that is so talented that even some of their bench players would be regular starters on any other team out there. I think that state tournament run really showed the potential Garrett truly has when they’re calm, collective, simplifying their games, and when they’re moving the ball well.
It’s weird because when I was watching film on their New Haven game, I went back to the sectional championship game and I remember just seeing a totally different team when it came to their confidence. This has me more confident that they can do the same this season especially against a championship caliber Angola team.
However, as I always remind people, if they can’t stop the press, they will struggle with the rest and I’m sure Coach Lapadot is hoping that run to regionals was what they needed to learn how to win those tight stressful games against the best of the best.
3. Win the rebounding and turnover battle
When you play Angola, you better go at full force, put everything on the line, and win those battles to the ball. To me, that is the difference in this game. If Angola struggles to box out on this Garrett team and they still have a hard time shooting the basketball then that means Garrett is winning those battles.
Angola wants to set the tempo and be a team that beats you through speed and aggressive defense led by Hanna Knoll and Lauren Leach. Garrett is very capable of winning those battles, but it comes down to simply determination and intestinal fortitude. Garrett is a hard working team that is focused, but when you play Angola, you have to outwork them and be resilient the whole time.
Look for Ostrowski and Leach to really get after it on the glass, and really watch to see how Garrett matches up with Nisun against likely Gerke. And of course all eyes will be on who’s guarding Angola’s star guard Hanna Knoll whether it’s Kelham or Armstrong. That really doesn’t matter too much because they both play great defense.
One player to watch
Angola
Hanna Knoll
This is where the stars stand out in these big moments, and in a game filled with many stars on both teams, expect Knoll to have a game-deciding impact on both ends of the court whether her team gets the win or not. Hanna Knoll will not end this game quietly. In her last game against Garrett, Knoll scored 21 points 5 boards and 4 steals against a very physical Garrett defense.
Garrett so far hasn’t been able to stop Hanna Knoll when she’s in good rhythm and they have really struggled to prevent Knoll from penetrating to the hoop where she is at her best. Will that change tonight? Who knows, but Knoll cannot be totally stopped.
Garrett
Morgan Ostrowski
To me, this feels like Ostrowski is the wild card of this entire game because good luck trying to stop a Bailey Kelham that is Ms. Everything on the court and is a deadly shooter from everywhere on the court. Have fun keeping Nataley Armstrong from being the offensive playmaking wizard that she is, and Angola will definitely have their hands full with Taylor Gerke.
But it comes down to Ostrowski and how well she protects the rim against their shooters and how strong she is getting the boards against mostly Leach and Nisun. She has really struggled against Angola in the past scoring 3 points (a triple) 3 boards and 1 block against them. In fact, she has made a career total of 6 points against Angola and making less than 5 field goals.
I believe that they will give her plenty of looks to the net, especially from the paint where she usually thrives.
Conclusion
This is the most important game of the entire season for both teams. They are both still getting their feet into game shape and are still looking to find the best version of themselves. This game doesn’t decide the conference, but it sure as heck gives some direction on where things could head for the rest of the season. Plus, just a news flash, they’re also sectional rivals so this is kind of a tuneup game leading up to the NECC tourney and sectionals.
It’s going to be a fantastic game no matter who comes out on top.
Around the NorthEast Corner 