Donald Cloutier . . . Western Michigan . Brandon McPherson . . . Valparaiso . Tyler Morris . . . Boston University . Warren Wallace . . . Indiana University-Purdue University , Fort Wayne . The Lawrence North High School boys' basketball team lost four Division I players off last season's Class 4A state champion.
And it may be better.
With Greg Oden and Mike Conley returning, the Wildcats didn't need to rebuild as much as make an addition. The result is a team that has gone deeper into the season without a loss than the program's titlists the past two seasons.
"I didn't (expect to be undefeated)," coach Jack Keefer said of the top-ranked team's 9-0 mark. "We have a very young team around the three veterans (Conley, Greg Oden and Brandon McDonald), and I thought it would take the bench and two new starters time to adjust, but we've been playing such good defense that it's made us competitive right away."
Lawrence North will find out just how good it is with the start of the Marion County Tournament tonight. The Wildcats' path to the championship couldn't be much more difficult as it opens with Ben Davis (6-3) at Pike at 6 tonight and could have to defeat No. 4 Pike (7-1), Decatur Central (7-2) and No. 6 North Central (8-1) to win the title.
Other tournament games involving area teams: Lawrence Central faces Park Tudor at 6 p.m. at Warren Central, followed by Brebeuf Jesuit and Warren Central; North Central hosts Speedway at 7:30 p.m. and Pike, the defending champion, against Lutheran will follow the Lawrence North-Ben Davis game. A Marion County team has reached a state championship game in 10 of the past 11 seasons, but only four won the tournament title. North Central upset Lawrence North in the county tournament's first round last season.
"It doesn't matter what side of the bracket (you're on) in this tournament," said Ben Davis coach Scott White The event includes six of the state's top 21 teams, according to the Sagarin Ratings. "It is the hardest tournament to win, period. I don't think there is any question about that. It may be harder to win than the state tournament."
Ben Davis won five straight county titles from 1992 to '96, but since winning a sectional in 2003, it posted a combined 12-29 record entering this season. The Giants have rebounded, however, and White attributes the success to improved depth that includes a pair of 6-foot-5 players in Clark Williams and Kendall Hardy, plus 6-4 Marcus Jackson.
"We'll have a couple of guys we feel can make it difficult for (Lawrence North) inside," White said. "I think Marcus Jackson did a great job on (Franklin Central's 6-10) JaJuan Johnson, but I don't think any one guy is going to stop Oden. We're going to have a lot of guys paying attention to him. We have decent size down there tangling with him and some good athletes on the perimeter."
The 7-foot Greg Oden is averaging 22.6 points -- he's scored at least 19 points in every game -- on 77.5 percent shooting. But the key to Lawrence North's undefeated record has been the ability of new starters Q. Owen and Damian Windham to step in immediately and be effective defensively. Lawrence North is allowing 47.4 points per game, better than in 2004-05 (51.4, 8-1) and 2003-04 (48.9, 10-1) at this point in the season.
"I think our defense is better (than the two championship teams)," Keefer said. "We didn't have a good offensive game (against Franklin Central on Jan. 3), but we held them to 38 points. You're not going to lose very often when people score in the 30s. That defense enabled us to struggle on offense but still beat a team by 19 points."
The offense also has been more productive than the previous two seasons -- 67.0 and 65.3 -- averaging 72.3 points per game (seventh in the state), and Keefer believes the offense will continue to improve. Lawrence North took advantage of playing just a single game over more than three weeks to work on its offensive sets.
"It's easier to step in and be better (defensively) right away rather than working into the offensive system we run," Keefer said. "(But) we made headway (offensively) during the break. We know our stuff better and can run it in more detail than in the first eight games. I'm surprised we're sitting where we are, (but) we're about to go through a tough spell of the schedule.
"I don't know how they could have made our draw (in the Marion County Tournament) any tougher. Maybe they could have put North Central over here, but I don't know whom you'd take out. It'll be quite a draw."
Call Star reporter Nat Newell at (317) 444-2610.
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