A rejuvenated Homestead boys basketball team bounced back in the second half to clinch the outright NHC title and remain undefeated with a 65-55 win against Columbia City on Tuesday.The Class 4A No.This time there was a bit of suspense, thanks to the weather gods.
Yes, Homestead’s girls Evinruded easily to another sectional swimming title at Helen Brown Natatorium on Saturday, winning every event but three and piling up 407 points to leave second-place Carroll (298) and third-place Snider (257) choking on their wakes. But because of the snowstorm that buried central Indiana on Friday, some sectionals in that part of the state were postponed.
That means the unfamiliar feel of pins-and-needles for Chad Englehart’s Spartans, who will have to wait until Monday night or Tuesday morning to learn the state-meet fate of a couple of their swimmers.
“We’ve got a couple of girls on the bubble that we think can perform really well next week if they get in,” Englehart said. “But we’re going to have to wait. I think there’s going to be a lot of coaches that are going to be losing a lot of sleep this weekend to see who’s going to be going next week.”
Losing sleep over the outcome of the sectional, on the other hand, was not going to happen. The Spartans finished 1-2-3 in the 50-, 100- and 500-yard freestyle and swept all three relays, breaking their own meet record in the 200 free relay with a 1:36.81 swim. Only Snider’s Tara Cahill, who won the diving, and Amalia Kobelja, who won the 200 individual medley and set a meet record of 56.58 secons in the 100 backstroke, broke the Homestead stranglehold on the top of the podium.
The good news for Homestead and bad news for everyone else: The Spartans did it with kids, for the most part. Freshmen Raelynn Chastain (200 free) and Kacie Taivolkoski (500 free) won individual events, sophomore Emilee Duquette won the 100 free, and junior Tori Bagan won the 50 free and 100 breaststroke and swam on two of the three relays.
“We had so many outstanding swims,” Englehart said. “I think it was a great team effort where no on person held any more importance than anyone else. And we had some young kids really blossom, so the future looks really bright.”
CONCORD SECTIONAL: Wawasee sophomore Brittany Robinson and DeKalb junior Carlena Magley won their events to advance to the state meet. Robinson clocked 55.97 seconds to win the 100-yard butterfly, and Magley’s 52.71 in the 100 freestyle was a pool record at Concord.
