Greenfield-Central’s Dylan Moles was named the IBCA District 2 Player of the Week.
The Daily Reporter File Photo
By Brandon Bradley
For the IBCA
Greenfield-Central senior guard Dylan Moles was one of four boys basketball players to earn Indiana Basketball Coaches Association/Franciscan Health Player of the Week awards for Week 14 of the season.
Moles was the IBCA’s District 2 choice.
Moles helped in a big way to extend the 17-1 Cougars’ winning streak to 14 games. G-C won twice last week and is ranked No. 14 in the IBCA poll (all classifications). The Cougars are receiving votes in the Associated Press Class 4A poll.
The senior guard headed to Marian University had two big outings. In a 56-43 Hoosier Heritage Conference win over the Delta Eagles Thursday, Moles scored 24 points on 11 of 17 shooting, including 2 of 4 from deep. He also grabbed three rebounds and handed out seven assists in the game.
Against Delta, he opened scoring with a 3-pointer just 30 seconds into the action. It was the 182nd 3-pointer of his career, making him the school’s all-time leader. The old record of 181 was set by Tate Hall, recently inducted into the G-C Athletics Hall of Fame. Hall is a 2016 graduate and was a key contributor for the NCAA tournament teams at Loyola University of Chicago.
On Saturday, the 6-2 guard helped the Cougars to a 55-39 win against Greenwood. In this contest, Moles scored 20 points. He was a perfect 5-for-5 from the charity stripe, and added five rebounds, five assists, and three thefts to his stat line.
Moles is the first Hancock County player to earn IBCA Player of the Week honors this season.
In total, Week-14 of the IBCA/Franciscan Health Player of the Week Awards Program saw seven more Hoosier prep players earn honors, including three ladies who led their teams to sectional titles, each for the first time in 10 or more years for their schools.
Chesterton junior Justin Sims, Moles, Bloomfield senior Peter Combs, South Ripley sophomore Cole Henry, Valparaiso freshman Lillian Barnes, Twin Lakes sophomore Addison Bowsman, and Corydon Central senior Ava Weber were all selected as winners for Jan. 30-Feb. 4 in the recognition program coordinated by the IBCA.
Sims and Barnes were the boys’ and girls’ winners, respectively, in District 1. Moles and Bowsman were the recipients for District 2 and Combs and Henry share boys’ honors, while Weber was the lone girls’ honoree in District 3.
Sims had a major impact on extending his team’s winning streak to nine games. The 6-6 forward was strong in two performances a week ago. First, in a 59-57 Duneland Athletic Conference win at Michigan City, he posted a 24-point, 12-rebound performance, achieving his first double-double of the week. He was a strong 12 of 14 from the free-throw stripe, plus five of his rebounds came at the offensive end. Later in the week, the Trojans went into Warsaw and pulled out a hard-fought, 71-56 win. This time, the junior forward was a highly-efficient 11-for-14 from the field and 7-for-9 from the line, scoring 29 points, a career high. He posted another double-double with 10 rebounds.
Freshman Lillian Barnes has been a highlight show all season for the Valparaiso Lady Vikings, and she came to play last week, helping the Green and White to their first sectional title since 2005. It was their 21st crown, but it didn’t come without some tough wins. The 23-2 Vikings began their week with a close 40-34 triumph against Crown Point. In that game, Barnes scored 16 points and had a double-double with 10 rebounds. In the Sectional semifinal, the 5-11 wing scored 21 points and grabbed 14 rebounds, as Valparaiso knocked off Chesterton, 60-46. The Viking rookie also passed out six assists, picked up seven steals. In the finale, Valparaiso took care of Portage by a 47-33 margin. Barnes was again stellar, knocking down 8 of 13 shots from the floor and a perfect 8 of 8 from the line. She scored 24 points in total and posted her third double-double of the week with 12 rebounds.
Bowsman has helped Twin Lakes to a perfect 26-0 record.
Last week, the Lady Indians won their 17th sectional title, but just their first since 2007. They began their week with a comfortable win over North Montgomery, in which Bowsman scored 21 points and dished out 10 assists.
In the sectional semifinal, a nail-biting 68-61 double-overtime win against West Lafayette, the 5-6 point guard was productive again, scoring 25 points, pulling down seven rebounds, and assisting on seven more baskets. In the sectional championship, the sophomore guard went for another 20 points and handed out seven assists. She set the single-season Lady Indian record for assists with 186.
Bloomfield’s Combs and South Ripley’s Henry shared District 3 boys’ honors for their equally strong play in huge overtime wins for their teams.
Combs helped the Cardinals to a Southwestern Indiana Conference win over North Daviess by knocking down a buzzer-beating jumper from about 10-feet to seal the 49-47 double-overtime win. The 6-8 senior finished with 28 points, and eight rebounds.
Henry was instrumental in South Ripley’s 80-72 overtime win against Ohio River Valley Conference opponent, Southwestern (Hanover). In this triumph, the 6-6 forward scored 33 points and had a double-double with 11 rebounds. He protected the paint with his eight blocked shots.
Weber has helped Corydon Central to a 24-2 record this season, and the Panthers are still rolling, having won their first sectional title since 2013, their 18th overall.
In an impressive 58-39 win against a good Charlestown team, Weber scored 30 points and contributed nine rebounds and three steals to the effort. In the sectional semifinal, a 53-39 win against North Harrison, the 5-11 forward scored a modest 21 points on 8 of 12 shooting. She saved her best for the championship game, scoring 34 points in the 63-54 success against a strong Scottsburg squad. The senior forward snagged nine rebounds, five of which were offensive, and she added a pair of assists and five steals.
