For the last time in the 2020-21 season, I will be previewing a varsity doubleheader matchup as Busco makes the very short 22-min drive to the Jungle to face the Cougars in a very familiar rivalry. For those of you that know me, I grew up in this rivalry. No matter what circumstances anyone faces, it’s not high school sports without Busco vs CN.
While it won’t be jammed pack like it usually is, 400 fans in a rivalry game as intense as this one is will be an extremely loud 400 fans. Trust me, I announced games when the gym was half full and still was crazy loud.
Just to note, due to my experience of knowing this rivalry, this has to be done a certain way because if I don’t…..yeah I don’t want to go there. So if my writing feels too neutral, I am sorry. I have to be black and white with these two.
No matter who wins tonight, the Jungle will witness those loyal fans once again bleeding their school colors in a sea of burgundy and black throughout the night.
Link to these games is here! David Bremer
Girls basketball
This week has been kind of a crazy week for the CN girls (16-5). Coming off a 62-58 3OT loss to Bethany Christian, trying to bounce back at the start of their next game against Blackhawk Christian was a bit of a challenge, but hey they did schedule them for a reason. After trailing 33-21, CN rallied back to win 57-50.
For CN, they have won at least 14 games in each of the last 6 seasons under Josh Treesh, and the rest of their accomplishments speak for themselves like that state championship. Busco, on the other hand, well, it’s not so great. Since their last winning season in 2014-15 (14-10), Busco has struggled to reach that point again. It is nothing against any of the past players and coaches there, but that stat speaks to how long of a road it’s been to rekindle some of that success 6 years earlier.
At 5-16, Busco is well on pace to record their 16th losing season in the last 17 seasons, but the process has been so much more than just a single season or wins and losses as ex-assistant girls basketball coach at South Side, David Goodwell, looks to ride the ship and bring some excitement back to Busco girls’ basketball. While the stats might tell you one narrative, the actions they bring on the court tell another as this program is showing some signs of potential for the long-term.
In the last 15 years, CN has won 14 of their last 20 meetings and are riding a 5-game winning streak against their arch-rivals. Here are the 2 key things to watch in the girls game.
- Final regular season game for the seniors
Unlike the boys portion, this is near the end of the road for the 2021 seniors on both basketball teams. On the hometown side, they will be honoring the last remaining members of the 2018 2A state champions, Bridgette Gray and Lydia Andrews, plus adding in Casey Hunter who played JV that season.
When it is all said and done, Bridgette Gray will finish as the 4th highest scoring girls basketball player in program history trailing only to Carey Magnuson, Meleah Leatherman, and the school’s current all-time leading scorer Sydney Freeman. Lydia, not too shabby either as she will finish 7th in program scoring, and that doesn’t include their defensive contributions from all 3 seniors.
On the Busco side, they may not have state title rings to show for it, but they can say they have had some hard working seniors to be proud for with Carla DeBolt, Audrey Huelsenbeck, and Mariah Hosted. For Hosted, in particular, she is having the best season in her time as a Busco Eagle going from being basically a role player as a freshman to leading the team in scoring (11), 3-point FG’s (20) and percentage (41%), FT made (57), rebounds (7.8), steals (3), blocks (4 total blocks), and tie for the team lead in assists (1.2).
2. Rebounding
The only area where both teams definitively are competitive against each other is their ability on the boards with Busco averaging 26.2 and CN averaging 25 a game. While the Cougars don’t have the size advantage against every Busco forward, the Cougars always finds ways to grind it out with their scrappy mental toughness that they always bring. As the post-Syd and Meleah era has progressed, this team has learned how to find different ways to win in key games and to do so in a team-by-committee approach. Look for Lydia Andrews and Casey Hunter to really lead the way in the rebounding department, and even Bridgette Gray and Maddie Vice can grab some boards here and there. Huelsenbeck and the Hosted girls will have to play well defensively for them to have a chance at competing for 4 quarters against a really good team. Brelle Shearer can come up with some steals here and there.
One player to watch
CN
Senior Bridgette Gray
In her last home game in a basketball uniform, you would like to see Bridgette set the tempo on both ends of the floor early and often to get rid of some of those butterflies. In her career against Busco, Bridgette is averaging 7 points and 2.8 boards against the Lady Eagles.
Non-Senior Meghan Kiebel
CN doesn’t have a lot of natural post players, so they have to know their plays well and play with some toughness. Kiebel probably has the best skillsets to create some havoc against Busco, despite being a little undersized against some of their players. But it’s never about size. It’s about can you play some basketball, and CN has plenty of those girls at a high level. With Andrews and Gray getting a lot of attention, look for the sophomores to have their part in helping out their senior leaders.
Busco
Senior Mariah Hosted
Don’t want to sound like she is a one-girl team, but she is their MVP of this year’s team. For Busco to have a shot, Mariah has to perform well on both ends of the floor, which she has had plenty of these moments. Busco is 5-5 when she’s scoring in double-digits, which does not include rebounds. While she did put up an impressive 10 boards, Hosted made just 1 field goal against CN in the consolation game, and that can’t happen if they want to make this a ballgame.
Non-senior Brelle Shearer
If Busco can get anywhere close to the Brelle Shearer that led Busco in scoring (7) against CN plus a better performance from Hosted and Jorja DeBolt, then Busco is making some progress. While Shearer is not the best shooter out there, Shearer is capable of putting up some secondary scoring on this team, especially with her being a 27% perimeter shooter. Shearer is a decent playmaker and can get some stops on defense. If she can limit turnovers and make good plays on offense, that is really all they need from her on that side of the ball.
Boys Basketball
The marquee matchup everyone wants is this one. Why not? It is 2 intense rivals with rich talent and a fast-pace style they love to play. While Busco’s run-and-gun offense creates a ton of issues for everyone, CN has shown that they can play to their intensity and skill.
The first time these two met this season @ Prairie Heights, CN (14-1) and Busco (10-2) battled it out to a fast-tempo style of offense that felt like a college basketball game. But the difference was Connor Essegian and his school record 44 points that led to CN’s 81-71 win over Busco. So, now, it leads to this question. What will happen this time in ACT 2 of “The Big Game”?
This will be the 37th meeting between these two rivals in boys basketball with Busco leading the series 35-31.
3 key topics to watch
- Superstar Matchups and Adapting to each other on Defense
Obviously, everyone is going to notice by how many really talented players are going to be on the same floor at portions of this game. On the Busco side, you have the future Huntington University duo in Jackson Paul and Landen Jordan. Both players compliment each other at their own right with Jackson being the court general and playmaker of this team and Landen being your finessed and physically dominating workhorse in the glass. Trying to stop one of them is one thing, stopping both is another. Oh, yeah and then there’s Luke McClure whose only the best number 3 scorer in NorthEast Indiana averaging 16 points a game and is their leading 3-point shooter. While Busco’s numbers seem offensive minded, their defense is pretty good for their style being a more college schemed offense.
For Central Noble, you have the most talented shooter and probably the hardest working player I have ever seen in a Cougar uniform in junior Connor Essegian. Lethal shooter, excellent rebounder, dynamic all-around player, an improving player on defense, and has an intense desire to win no matter the adversity. Then it trickles down to Sawyer Yoder whose not only getting college interest for his great athletic abilities, size, and shooting but also an underrated defender shutting down some of the best players out there. From there, you have a talented supporting cast that makes this team very deep and very hard to stop. What makes CN a formidable opponent for Busco is their defense being ranked near the top 10 in the state. Yes, it has its moments, and yes they struggle with Busco’s tenacious defensive play and speed, but they are capable of getting stops on defense when it matters.
The key thing to watch is how both teams make adjustments this time around on defense because chances are it’s not going to be another offensive shootout the way their last meeting was. That game was probably a little TOO fast for their liking. So I do expect both teams to take care of the ball much better and play much better transition defense. It’s just not going to repeat again.
2. Rebounding and Rebounding
This area will decide this game because (guess what!) it has decided every single meeting John Bodey’s teams have matched up with Chris Paul’s teams. Whoever can control the glass the best and score on more second chance opportunities will control the pace of the game the best.
Especially for CN, it is paramount that they control the glass well because when they don’t, it doesn’t go well at all. Look at the Westview and Busco games when they don’t rebound well. This is why I stress this so so heavily because you live by the 3, you die by the 3. That means rebounding is so important for them. For Busco, it is equally paramount that they not only dominate the glass, but also get some offense off of those rebounds to bring some pressure on CN’s interior defense and open the offense up.
The underrated player to watch is Ryan Schroeder for CN. With him potentially playing not 100% because of his ankle, it will be interesting to see how he deals with this situation against Busco. Luckily, he is a tough dude, so I do expect him to elevate his game to what he is good at as a “glue guy”.
3. Intense Small-Town Atmosphere
Yes, we are still in a pandemic. Yes, masks are still a thing. Yes, we cannot have the usual sellouts because on a normal year, there is no empty seat left when it comes to these two. These two communities are so freaking loyal to their sports teams that it is delusional how this rivalry gets zero recognition outside of this area.
Even with that, CN will be out of the COVID red restrictions for the first time in about 3 weeks, and boy have the players and coaches missed that atmosphere. It is not Central Noble basketball without the fans chanting LET’s GET FIRED UP!, CN!, and DEFENSE! It is so so not Central Noble to not have that atmosphere for as long as they have, so that will bring them a boost of enthusiasm on this team.
On the Busco side, they haven’t had a chance to play in a atmosphere like this in a big game really since football season if that. Busco is in Whitley County, so they have been in COVID red ALL SEASON. They have been so use to playing without fans, I am starting to wonder how they’re going to adjust to the one thing they feed off emotionally, which is their fans.
I think, even at just a COVID capacity of 400 fans, that will be a huge benefit to both teams and will make tonight’s games considering the circumstances more special.
One player to watch
CN
Logan Gard
This is so obvious who to keep an eye on here. While Connor is Connor, this is a team sport for a reason. Why Logan still has his moments (mainly on offense), I feel like we are finally starting to see signs of a dominant Logan Gard, when he’s in his zone. I knew when he came in it was going to take some time for him to be acclimated to the varsity stage and to figure out what he has as a basketball player. Defensively, I have recognized some great potential in there, but I felt at times in the past he wasn’t aggressive at times, and a lot of it was inexperience. Now, you’re seeing the work being put to the numbers, solidifying his role as their number 3 option on offense and anchoring his spot as a rim protector.
The key thing here is how well he defends the paint, and if he can impose some physicality and interior scoring against Landen Jordan (mostly that is). The first time these two faced off this season, Logan passed the test. Now, what does he do this time? That could be a huge difference in the outcome of this game.
Busco
Andrew Pliett (pronounced as FLEET)
Get use to this freshman shooting guard on this Busco team. While all eyes are on the Big 3, Pliett is not one to be disrespected as he is averaging 8.3 points 3.7 boards 2.5 steals and 1.3 assists on 39% shooting and 28% from downtown. While Busco is a good, not great 3-point shooting team, they have guys that can get hot in key moments, and Pliett is no exception here. Against CN, he dropped 10 points in the 10-point loss. His play could be a huge part in Busco’s chances at winning this game.
Don’t rule out another freshman in Ayden White, who could have a bigger role depending on whose healthy and whose not for the Busco Eagles. While he has athletic potential, he does play some very good defense on the secondary unit for this team.
Conclusion
It is one of my favorite rivalries to cover, and I am glad it is getting the coverage it deserves given the great situation both programs are in right now. For the boys, this might be one of the most hyped boys games in the rivalry’s history. For Busco as the defending regular season champs, this feels like the Last Dance for this core to win some hardware and go as far as they can in the state tournament. For CN, you hope to come out with the win here and hope for the best case scenario of someone knocking off Westview, but from here on out they got to win out their conference games.
It should be a great night for hoops in Albion, and it should be a hard fought game between these two as it usually is.
Around the NorthEast Corner 