News

NEW CASTLE – With the approaching holidays, another edition of the most prestigious regular season tournament in Indiana high school basketball – the City Securities Hall of Fame Classic – is near.

The girls- and boys- 2011 City Securities Hall of Fame Classic tournaments will be held Thursday, December 29 and Friday, December 30 at the New Castle Fieldhouse featuring the top teams, talent, and coaching in the state.

2011 Girls- City Securities Hall of Fame Classic
New Castle Fieldhouse – Thursday, December 29, 2011
11:00 AM Roncalli vs. Norwell
to follow Penn vs. Mt. Vernon (Fortville)
6:00 PM Consolation Game
8:00 PM Championship Game

Another outstanding group of teams comes to the New Castle Fieldhouse on Thursday, December 29 for the 2011 City Securities Girls- Hall of Fame Classic. As of December 19, two of the four teams are undefeated and the four teams have a combined record of 32-3.

The first game begins at 11:00 a.m. (ET) with Roncalli (8-1) taking on Norwell (7-0). The second game will feature Penn (10-0) versus Mt. Vernon (7-2). Winners play for the championship at 8:00 that evening with the consolation game preceding at 6:00.

Roncalli returns five starters and an overwhelming majority of their 2010-11 team that reached the 3A semi-state and led eventual 3A champion Evansville Memorial in the fourth quarter. The Rebels have won 51 games and all three sectional championships in coach Sara Riedeman-s first three full seasons. Seniors CoCo Clark and Katie Brewer (Butler) are four-year players for the Rebels, while junior Bridget Perry was all-state as a sophomore and recently committed to play at Purdue.

Norwell has maintained one of the state-s top programs over the past few years. Currently ranked #1 in class 3A, coach Eric Thornton-s teams have won 88.7% of their games (86-11) over the past five seasons, a mark that is 3rd best in the state. Senior post Jessica Rupright (Miami (OH)) is averaging 18.4 points and 7.9 rebounds, while Taylor Wilson scores 10.1 points per contest.

2011 4A runner-up Penn continues an outstanding run and sits as the state-s #1 ranked team. The 10-0 Lady Kingsmen have won 90.7% of their games the last three seasons, have lost only one regular season game to an Indiana team in that same span, and have recorded a remarkable 18 consecutive winning seasons. Senior Alex Morton (Western Michigan) averages 17.1 points and 3.4 steals for Kristi Kaniewski-s team, which has four other players averaging between 7.7 and 10.6 points per game.

Mt. Vernon advanced to last year-s 3A semi-state and returns a majority of that team-s personnel. Head coach Julie Shelton surpassed 200 career wins earlier this season and has a strong tie to the Classic tradition. Shelton was the MVP of the 1987 Classic while a player at Seymour and was head coach of Mt. Vernon-s team that won the 1999 event. She became the first woman to play in the Classic and win the Classic as a head coach.

Mt. Vernon senior point guard Jessica Brown (Indiana Wesleyan) leads the team at 14.8 points, 5.8 assists per game and recently scored her 1,000th career point. Classmate Makenzi Reasor (Indiana State) averages 13.6 points and 5.0 rebounds, while sophomore post Erica Moore scores 11.1 points and grabs 6.3 rebounds per game.

The 2011 edition is the 28th girls- City Securities Hall of Fame Classic and 22nd played in New Castle. The girls- tournament has included 15 teams that went on to win a state championship that season, including eight state champions and four state runner-up teams in the past nine years alone.

Each of the 2010 Girls Classic participants claimed successful seasons. Brownsburg won the event behind Tournament MVP sophomore star Stephanie Mavunga, while Jeffersonville (4A) and Evansville Memorial (3A) went on to claim state championships. The other participant, Carmel, was the team that ended Ben Davis- 81-game winning streak – the longest in state history, either boys or girls.

2011 Boys- City Securities Hall of Fame Classic
New Castle Fieldhouse – Friday, December 30, 2010
11:00 AM Hamilton Southeastern vs. Pendleton Heights
to follow Kokomo vs. North Central
6:00 PM Consolation Game
8:00 PM Championship Game

The 2011 Boys- City Securities Hall of Fame Classic will pit four teams who have been ranked highly in statewide polls and have reason to take aim for lengthy postseason runs.

As of December 19, the teams hold a combined record of 22-4 and have held the top three spots in the Indiana Basketball Coaches Association non-class Top 20 poll.

The day begins with an 11:00 a.m (ET) meeting between Hamilton Southeastern (5-1) and Pendleton Heights (7-1). The second game will match Kokomo (5-1) against North Central (5-1). Winners play for the championship at 8:00 that evening with the consolation game preceding at 6:00.

The opening game features #3 Hamilton Southeastern in a regular season rematch against 4A #13 Pendleton Heights. The Royals, who previously were ranked #1 in state polls, defeated Pendleton 70-53 on December 3.

Senior and Mr. Basketball candidate Gary Harris (Michigan State) leads the Royals at 22.8 points, 7.8 rebounds and 4.0 assists per game. Harris scored 34 points and grabbed 13 rebounds in HSE-s loss at North Central on December 17. Junior Zak Irvin (Michigan), is scoring 17.7 points per contest, while senior and likely Division 1 recruit Jacobby Bledsoe averages 14.0 points and is hitting 51.5% from three-point range.

Pendleton Heights senior Kellen Dunham (Butler) averages 29.8 points per game and opened the season with outputs of 40, 37, and 38 points in victories. The sharpshooter has hit 60 of 63 free throws (95.2%) this season. Dunham last year scored a combined 70 points in the 4A regional against Fort Wayne Northrop and Kokomo. Junior point guard Brogan Gary has averaged 9.2 points and 3.7 assists so far this season.

The second game sees Kokomo, last year-s 4A runner-up, against powerhouse North Central.

Kokomo is led by senior D.J. Balentine (Evansville), who has scored 19.2 points, 5.0 rebounds and a team-high 3.5 assists per game. Junior LaBradford Sebree scores 14.0 points and sophomore Taylor Persons scores 12.2 points and grabs 5.3 rebounds.

The #1 ranked North Central Panthers have the 3rd best winning percentage in the state over the past four seasons (75-9, 89.3%) and bring a talented crew to the Classic. Senior point guard Ronnie Johnson (Purdue) is scoring 21.2 points, 5.2 assists and has nailed over 51% of his three-point attempts. Johnson hit seven three-pointers and scored 27 points in their weekend win over then-#1 Hamilton Southeastern. Senior Patrick Ingram (Iowa) averages 15.6 points and junior post Darius Latham averages 12.0 points and 6.4 rebounds.

The 2011 Boys- City Securities Hall of Fame Classic is the 35th edition of the boys- tournament. 12 participating teams have gone on to win their state championship, with four more finishing as state runner-up that season. 21 men who have played in the Boys Classic have been named Indiana Mr. Basketball, 21 have been named McDonald-s All-Americans, and 13 have been NBA draft picks (two #1 overall picks).

Last year-s participants went on to claim two class championships. Washington won the 3A championship and Bloomington South won the 4A championship after their runner-up finish in the Classic. Center Grove was the 2010 Boys Classic champion and Warsaw won the consolation game.

Tickets are available through the participating schools, the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame, and at the New Castle Fieldhouse on the day of the games. For more information, call (765) 529-1891 or email info@hoopshall.com

In-game entertainment will include Tony Hoard and the K9 Crew. Hoard, a New Castle native, has made appearances with his dogs on ABC-s -Good Morning America- and made a long run on NBC-s -America-s Got Talent.-

Musical performances of the National Anthem will include Connersville-s Stan Howard, father of former Butler University star Matt Howard; Shenandoah High School-s Ivy Walker; and representatives of the participating schools.

The National Anthem will be performed prior to the Boys Classic championship game by Phil Cox, Indiana-s 1972 Mr. Basketball who performed the song prior to the 1972 state championship game at Bloomington-s Assembly Hall between his Connersville Spartans and Gary West High School. Cox, now an assistant coach at Kokomo, is a 2009 inductee into the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame.

All games will be televised in Central Indiana on WHMB TV-40 Sports. Morning games will air tape-delayed at 2:00 and 3:30 that afternoon with live coverage of the consolation and championship games each night. The boys- championship game will re-air at 10:30 p.m. on December 30.