Top 5 teams in the area

5.Lew Wallace-Yes the Hornets are on a 2 game losing streak. Yes the Hornets have already dropped games to Wirt and West Side in city rivalries, but if you've seen them play, you know the potential is there. With the best 1-2 punch in the region in Damian McGhee and Brandon Dawson, the Hornets will be a force to be reckoned with come tourney time.

4.West Side-With possibly the best backcourt in the region in Xavier Jones and DeShawn Clay, the Cougars are one inside guy away from doing serious damage in the post season. I'm sure coach Boyd will have his quick team ready for all challenges.

3.Valparaiso- Led by Toledo bound Hayden Humes, the Vikings have one blemish on their record(Chesterton) and just put away Merrillville easily on Saturday night.

2.Munster- The lone undefeated team in the area put away Mooresville in the Region Rumble on New Years Day. They should win their next 5 games before their date with Valpo on Jan.31st at home.

1.Bowman Academy- This team is virtually unknown in the region because, well, they play a grand total of TWO games in the area this year. They won in the Lake Shore Classic against LaLumiere on the first game of the year and they travel to EC at the End of February. Their schedule is one of the toughest around, having faced(and received their lone loss to) the defending 2A champ Fort Wayne Luers, they won the Huntington North tournament and they just took down the Class A number 2 team in Fort Wayne Blackhawk in the West Central Classic. This might be the Region's best bet to advance far in the state tourney if they keep improving.

Purdue hosts Valpo 12/28 @ 3pm CST

Tomorrow, the Valpo Crusaders go down to West Lafayette to take on the AP 10th Ranked Purdue Boilers. With Valpo's struggles this season, this shouldn't be too much of a game with Purdue(Led by the Region's Robbie Hummel and E'twaun Moore) playing such pressure defense that Valpo hasn't seen yet. Yes, I know North Carolina was a recent opponent, but they didn't pressure and deny passes like Purdue will. Who knows, maybe Valpo will play a smart game and limit turnovers in order to pull of the big upset.

The game will be broadcast on The Big Ten Network.

IUN Defeats Division 1 Eastern Kentucky

In what coach Pete Trgovich deemed the biggest upset in basketball this year, The IUN Redhawks defeated Eastern Kentucky University 74-73 in Richmond Kentucky last night. IUN was led by Joe Ramey with a game-high 25 points. Jesse Howell added 18 points, and the coach's son, Pete Trgovich scored 17 points, Pete Dunbar added 11 points and 14 rebounds in this big win. In the Post Tribune, Trgovich likens this victory to the 1982 upset of Chaminade over Number 1 ranked Virginia This has got to be the biggest win of the program's history as they compete as in Independent in NAIA Division 2. Here's the box score from ESPN.

Wirt vs Lew Wallace turns into a brawl

Friday night in Miller, the Wirt Troopers eeked out a 72-71 victory against Lew Wallace. From the sound ofmSteve Hanlon's article, fans got more than a basketball game. This is sad to read. Especially with him calling out specific players as punch throwers. Terrible for Gary Basketball

Valpo 7th, Munster 18th in this week's IBCA poll

The Valpo Vikings, fresh off a 31 point win over Laporte, has moved up to 7 in this week's IBCA Rankings. Munster pushed up 2 spots from 20 to 18th. These are the only 2 Region teams mentioned in the poll this week.

Valpo and Purdue have big tests today

Valpo takes on #1 ranked North Carolina at the United Center today at 1pmCST. The Crusaders will have to play flawless basketball and UNC must play terrible basketball for this game to be an upset.

Meanwhile, Purdue faces a Stephen Curry led Davidson in Indianapolis in the Wooden Tradition on CBS at 3pmCST. This is a winnable game for the top 20 Boilers although Davidson is a top 20 team themselves. Purdue is going to need solid games from Region natives Robbie Hummel and E'twaun Moore to win this one.