Regional matchups too close to call

Trying to pick a winner for this weekend’s Class 3A Jasper Regional and the Class 1A Regional at Southwestern (Shelby) is like trying to nail jelly to a tree.
Both sites have their fair share of respectable competition, have teams that have been there before and teams that haven’t been there for a while.
Action at each regional begins at 10 a.m., followed by a game at noon, and then the championship at 8 o’clock.
Tickets are $9.
Here’s a quick rundown of the next step facing Corydon Central and South Central along the tournament road:
South Central vs. Oldenburg Academy (10 a.m.)
Lady Rebels fans ‘ and their head coach ‘ were left scratching their collective heads this weekend when it originally came across various web sites that No. 4-ranked Jac-Cen-Del narrowly (but expectedly) defeated Oldenburg Academy. But late Saturday night, the Indiana High School Athletic Association site listed the Southwestern Regional’s first game as being between South Central and Oldenburg. Even as late as Monday, the Louisville Courier-Journal still had South’s opponent listed as Jac-Cen-Del.
Here’s the straight dope: South Central WILL play Oldenburg Academy (11-9) at 10 a.m. at Southwestern (Shelby). The second game pits Northeast Dubois (17-6) against Waldron (13-9).
‘I couldn’t believe they had it so messed up,’ South Central coach Randall Schoen said. ‘I didn’t find out until noon (Sunday). I already had stuff on Jac-Cen-Del, but I don’t have anything on (Oldenburg). That kind of surprised me.’
Not much is known about the Lady Twisters, outside of the fact that their sectional win was only the second in school history and first since 1997, and their mascot is a tornado; not Chubby Checker.
South Central has not lost to a Class 1A team this season, while Oldenburg has lost to four, including Jac-Cen-Del.
‘I think that shows that you have to be ready every game and this is the perfect example,’ Schoen said. ‘That’s what I’m going to tell my girls: ‘If they are good enough to beat Jac-Cen-Del on their home floor, then you can bet they are good enough to beat you.’ ‘
Brittany Schoen, who broke the 1,000-point mark for her career in last Tuesday night’s sectional win over Restoration Christian, said the team remembers ‘ and learned from ‘ last season’s stinging fourth-quarter meltdown against Northeast Dubois, the eventual Class 1A state runner-up.
‘It’s a new year and we don’t want to feel that way again. Just like Rachel (Dixon) said about sectional, we don’t want to feel like that about regional,’ the sophomore said.
Once again, South’s outcome will probably hinge on how its able to defend the post.
Junior center Dominika Roberts, who is 6-0, scored a team-high 17 points in the final win over Jac-Cen-Del, and could be the deciding factor against South. Megan Dickman, a 5-10 senior forward, scored 10 before leaving the game with an injury and 5-6 senior guard Brittany Wurtz had eight points. Other players who should see court time include 6-0 Amanda Dickman and 5-8 sophomore guard Kenda Getz.
Another key factor will be the pace of the game: South Central averages 59.2 points and gives up an average of 42.8; Oldenburg averages 44.8 points and gives up an average of 44.9.
Corydon Central vs. Evansville Memorial (Noon)
Two adversaries that know each other all too well ‘ Corydon Central (22-1) and Evansville Memorial (20-4) ‘ will square off again in the second game of the Jasper Regional. The first tilt is between Gibson Southern (21-4) and Owen Valley (16-7).
In Class 3A, Corydon is ranked No. 3, Memorial is close behind at No. 7 and Gibson Southern probably could have been ranked considering its number of wins.
The Corydon-Memorial war is a rematch of the past two years’ regional final: Corydon won the most recent meeting, 48-45, while Memorial posted a 55-41 win in 2004. The two teams crossed paths (but didn’t face each other) earlier this season at the Midwest Sports Publishing Shootout at Lawrence Central High School. Corydon downed Huntington North, 55-42, while Memorial fell to Pike, 69-63.
‘We only got to see half of their game because we had to get ready for ours,’ Corydon coach Michael Uhl said.
Despite their losses ‘ Pike (20-5), Western (19-4), and two to 4A No. 11 Castle (21-3) ‘ the Lady Tigers are still a formidable opponent.
Leading the charge is all-state candidate FahKara Malone, a senior guard who averages 20.7 points, 3.7 rebounds, 4.4 assists and 4.8 steals per game.
Of Memorial’s 1,461 field goal attempts taken this season, Malone has accounted for 496 (34 percent).
The scoring drops off from there to Courtney Reising (9.6 ppg.), 6-1 sophomore center Chelsea Falkenstein (8.6 ppg.), 5-7 junior forward Kari Stieler (6.6 ppg.) and 5-11 senior forward Jennifer Balbach (6.0 ppg.), who is the team’s leading rebounder at 5.3 per contest.
Reising, who is a 5-7 senior, is the team’s leading three-point shooter at 44.5 percent on 53 of 119 shooting.
‘They have done a good job of reloading. They are getting good play out of Faulkenstein, Reising and Stieler,’ Uhl said.
Corydon Central, which suffered only loss of the season against 4A No. 2 Jeffersonville, 57-46, shares just one common opponent with Memorial.
The Lady Panthers defeated Boonville, 50-22, while Memorial has knocked off the Pioneers twice, 62-32 (regular season) and 56-41 (sectional).
For those unable to make the trip to Jasper, the Corydon-Memorial game will be broadcast on AM-1550, WOCC.