Published: March 06, 2009 12:43 am      

THE DISH: Sectionals keep getting bigger at smaller schools

While a great majority of larger schools have spent the past decade-plus complaining (the familiar refrain goes like this: we drive too far and our trophy cases are emptier — pretty much the same opinion that small schools tried to voice for the first 90 years of the IHSAA tournament), class basketball has flourished at the smaller levels throughout Indiana.

That’s leading to this question. Has small-school hoops become too big?

It seems almost impossible to comprehend but the fact remains this — Henryville High School dodged a logistical bullet this week because the host school never had to try to harbor the four biggest ticket draws into Furnish Gymnasium at the same time.

On Tuesday, the gym was near capacity when just New Washington and Henryville played. On Wednesday, the people flowed into the rafters when Borden and Lanesville arrived — but Rock Creek Christian and South Central had a smaller following.

Tonight, Henryville is expecting to have to shoehorn another overflow crowd into the estimated 2,200 seats when New Wash plays Christian Academy of Indiana at 6 p.m. and then Borden attempts to take another step in its repeat bid against Lanesville in a duel of two schools that have become simply bitter rivals on the hardwood.

Wanna go? Good luck.

Even without the presence of the host Hornets on the docket, empty seats are expected to be non-existent on the premises Friday. Discussions are already starting to show the games on video feed in the auxiliary gym to minimize people being turned away.

A similar scenario is likely to unfold at Providence, when the Pioneers will host the semifinals tonight and the entire communities of Brownstown and Paoli forge into the front door of the Larkin Center for their semifinal tilt.

In this case, the home team is also present. The Pioneers will host West Washington (and surely the fine folks in Campbellsburg will be shutting down the hardware store early to get to Clarksville for that one).

And should Providence advance and should it be facing former coach Joe Hinton in the sectional champion — PHS athletic director Mickey Golembeski has already acknowledged his facility will be “at capacity.” It’s a polite way of saying check Stubhub.com.

It leads one to wonder if it may not be time for smaller schools to consider moving to bigger locations.

Like in Class A, when New Wash is in line to host come sectional time, would it be possible for the tourney to move to the more conveniently located and larger confines of Dunn Arena in Charlestown?

It’s the same school corporation and the host schools are still required to provide the workers. There’s a larger West Clark alternative when the games are to be held at Henryville and Borden (Silver Creek) and it would allow the Harrison County schools (South Central and Lanesville) to host the event at a place like Corydon Central.

It seems strange to even suggest because having to shift any class basketball event to a larger location because the masses would leave you to believe that these games draw roughly eight people into the bleachers and class hoops is to blame for the current downturn in the U.S. economy, last summer’s high gas prices, and childhood obesity.

But this tourney hasn’t been the complete utter disaster that some would lead you to believe.

Anyhow, there’s games to project this week.



CLASS 4A SEYMOUR SECTIONAL

• Jeffersonville 62, Bedford North Lawrence 58: The Red Devils send the Stars home and wait anxiously for another crack at New Albany.

• New Albany 84, Jennings County 22: And the Bulldogs happily oblige the Red Devil wishes crushing the Panthers.

• Final — New Albany 76, Jeffersonville 69: The Bulldogs remind the Red Devils to be careful what they wish for, repeating as sectional champions.



CLASS 3A CRAWFORD COUNTY SECTIONAL

• Salem 59, Corydon 48: The Lions simply are a better team.

• Silver Creek 60, Crawford County 51: Look out for the Dragons, too much talent to keep them down.

• Final — Salem 62, Silver Creek 58: The postgame interview with Salem coach Hank Weedin turns testy when a Jeffersonville reporter asks the coach how he feels knowing he kept the LeBron James of the 1990’s (Mike Hutsell) buried on New Washington’s junior varsity bench for the 1994-95 season.



CLASS 2A PROVIDENCE SECTIONAL

• Paoli 56, Brownstown 53: Hinton does his duty in setting up the dream finale.

• Providence 48, West Washington 39: Providence is more than anxious to give the fans what they are looking for.

• Final — Providence 56, Paoli 52: The outcome doesn’t truly matter, the storyline is truly too tasty in itself. Joe Hinton vs. Providence — we’ve been waiting a long time for this.



CLASS A HENRYVILLE SECTIONAL

• New Washington 68, Christian Academy of Indiana 57: The Mustangs possess the best 1-2 punch in the field. Vincent Minton and Devin Freels get on track after being limited to 20 points combined in their opening-round win.

• Lanesville 65, Borden 63: If any fewer than four fans are escorted out by security, it is surprising.

• Final — Lanesville 49, New Wash 43: The Eagles just pack too much punch all-around for the Mustangs to handle.

Contact Mike Hutsell at mike.hutsell@newsandtribune.com.