WW Boys: Team of the Year, season wrap-up

As we approach the close of the Indiana high school basketball season, it's time to dole out the Winless Watch hardware.

We ended up with a total of two winless teams in the state on the boys' side. First, some thoughts from my previous boys WW post, on February 21. With my new comments in bold, I said then:

With one regular-season game left against a New Haven team that's riding a 6-game losing streak of its own, #3 Adams Central could parlay its near-miss against a not-bad South Adams team last weekend into its first win of the season.

(It didn't.)

It'd better come this weekend for the Jets, because they drew 20-0 Bluffton in the first round of the sectional. Before you think, "Uh-oh – mismatch of the century," keep in mind that Bluffton beat the Jets by only 13 earlier in the season.

(And Bluffton beat the Jets by 23 in the sectional … and then saw its undefeated season come to an end in the sectional championship game. Adams Central wore them out!)

#2 Whiting has had four of its 19 losses to date by less than 10 points, but when they've been uncompetitive, they've really been uncompetitive: five of their other losses have been by 40 or more. The Oilers have one game left as well, tonight against a 12-7 Hammond Clark squad that already beat them by 34 back around Thanksgiving.

(A little better showing the second time around against Hammond Clark, as Whiting lost by only 18.)

Whiting will face the winner of 16-4 Morgan Township and 11-9 Kouts in the bye game of the Kouts Sectional next Friday night.

(… and lost to Morgan Township by 35.)

The best opportunity, though, for a winless team to break their skid this weekend – and maybe gain some momentum heading into sectional – is on Saturday night (weather permitting), as #1 Shoals hits the road to face a 3-win New Harmony team that is only one spot above the Jug Rox in the Sagarin ratings.

(Then I talked about all of the common opponents they shared, and it appeared that Shoals had the edge on New Harmony on that basis alone.)

Add it all up, and you've got to hope if you're Shoals that the ice storm that walloped far southwest Indiana this week doesn't wreak havoc with the scheduling of the game.

(They played the game, and Shoals - full disclosure: Winless Watch's alma mater – defeated New Harmony 50-42 to get off the Winless Watch list for the season. Congratulations to the Jug Rox!)

(Oh – Shoals' sectional draw didn't go much better than Adams Central's; they drew 18-2 North Daviess in the opener on Tuesday night.)

(Irrelevant, since they already scored a win, but the Jug Rox showed some improvement since their 49-point loss to the Cougars in November, losing to the Class A #1 team by only 34 the second time around. North Daviess then lost its next game to Barr-Reeve – again, Shoals wore them out!)

******

The Jug Rox victory on February 23 paves the way for a new Winless Watch #1, who will also score the Winless Watch Team of the Year trophy. The tale of the tape between Whiting and Adams Central:

Records: Whiting 0-21, Adams Central 0-20
Average margin of defeat: Whiting 25.7 ppg, Adams Central 15.6 ppg
Worst margin of defeat: Whiting 49 (lost 88-39 to Hammond Noll), Adams Central 33 (lost 78-45 to Parkway, Ohio)
Number of defeats under 10 points: Whiting 4, Adams Central 4
Strength of schedule ranking (according to Sagarin): Whiting 317, Adams Central 207
Opponents' records: Whiting 219-256, Adams Central 233-211
Sagarin ranking: Whiting 393, Adams Central 350
Calpreps.com ranking: Whiting 414, Adams Central 380
Calpreps.com predicted final score (neutral court): Adams Central 58, Whiting 45

Whiting had a worse margin of defeat against a weaker schedule, it appears. On the other hand, they are a Class A school, while Adams Central is a 2A school and should theoretically play a stronger schedule. But the Oilers played only 5 games against schools in its class, while the remainder of its games were against larger schools. Adams Central, meanwhile, played 4 games against Class A competition.

Whiting lost its 5 games to Class A competition by 19.8 ppg, while Adams Central lost its 4 games to Class A opponents by 14 ppg.

Whiting played 8 games against Class 2A schools (Adams Central's class), and lost those by an average of 25.6 ppg. When Adams Central played in its own class, it lost those 8 games by 12.5 ppg.

Whichever way you slice it, it appears that Whiting has the lower hand in every category, save for one:

Both teams played one game against an out-of-state opponent. Whiting lost by only a basket to Grant Park, IL, while Adams Central was dealt its worst defeat of the season, a 33-point loss to Parkway, OH.

Despite the fact that the Oilers represented their state a lot better than the Jets did, my provincial loyalty isn't enough to pull them from the top of the list, unfortunately. The Whiting Oilers – your 2007-08 Winless Watch Boys Team of the Year!