BEST OF THE BEST IN 2022
Following I take a look at the very best games MAX 98.3 FM (WYMR) covered during the 2022 boys and girls high school basketball games as well as the top high school football contests we aired.
There were so many memorable games and team performances, plus some individual performances that will be remembered for an awfully long time.
PLEASE NOTE: The following list is compiled from games that were covered on MAX 98.3 FM ONLY during the entire 2022 season so from January through this month.
We thank all of the school teams we cover, all their support staffs as well as their friends and families and everyone who loves high school sports like we do and wish everyone a very happy and blessed New Year!
So without further ado, here is my list of the Best of the Best in 2022 …
BEST HS BOYS BASKETBALL GAME
This is a no-brainer.
The 2022 sectional championship game in Class 3A between No. 1 Glenn and No. 2 Marian was a classic.
Played in front of a sold out crowd at Marian High School the game went down to the wire and we were privileged enough to call it on MAX 98.3 FM!
The Knights prevailed 46-43.
Glenn led 30-28 in the third quarter and had a chance to tie it at 44 with 27.9 seconds left, but missed a free throw.
The Falcons had a chance to win it, but Noah Dreibelbeis and Brycen Hannah’s three-pointers in the waning seconds missed.
Glenn coach Travis Hannah loved how his team competed, but admitted his team allowed too many offensive rebounds to come out on top.
Brycen was held to just seven points on 2-for-9 shooting as Marian’s zone defense and length gave him fits throughout the contest.
Glenn senior Joe Delinski led all scorers with 14 points, including four triples in the first half.
BEST HS GIRLS BASKETBALL GAME
Last year’s Bi-County Tournament started with a bang on the girls side.
Bremen survived at Argos, 52-50, behind star guard Ellia Foster’s game-high 20 points.
Bremen trailed at halftime 19-17, but outscored the Dragons 18-13 in the third quarter and held on to nip the hosts.
The Lions would go on to capture the Bi-County Championship as Foster would become the school’s all-time leading scorer.
BEST BOYS HOOPS INDIVIDUAL PERFORMANCE
In a battle of two of the best juniors around, Penn handed Glenn its first loss of the 2021-22 season.
Although the game was one sided in Penn’s favor, we saw a pair of standout performances.
Kingsman guard Markus Burton, who is Notre Dame bound, poured in a game-high 24 points and was a handful to say the least for the Falcons.
Hannah more than held his own, scoring a team-high 21 points.
BEST GIRLS HOOPS INDIVIDUAL PERFORMANCE
We will never forget the incredible shooting performance we witnessed courtesy of junior guard Rose Peterson in last year’s sectional semi-finals at Culver.
She exploded for 37 points to help her Cavaliers avenge a 71-34 regular-season loss to Triton and beat the Trojans to advance to the sectional championship against Argos.
Twenty-five of Peterson’s points came in the second half as her team stunned the Trojans 58-46.
You will be hard-pressed to ever see an outside shooting display like the one she put on that night. Peterson sank eight triples and scored 14 of her team’s 18 third-quarter points.
Bravo No. 30, bravo!
In that same sectional, Oregon-Davis senior Maddie Hudspeth was absolutely unstoppable against West Central, scoring a career-best 37 points. She scored inside and lived at the foul line, drawing foul after foul against her overmatched opponent.
Honorable mention in this category has to go to Argos junior guard Sam Redinger. Earlier this month she was unconscious against South Bend Career Academy. After being sidelined for more than a month with a broken wrist, Redinger had an incredible second quarter. She poured in an unbelievable 20 points in those eight minutes, hitting five triples in that stanza alone. Redinger finished with a game-high and career-high 26 points.
BEST DUNK IN A HIGH SCHOOL GAME
Earlier this month in Culver Academy’s boys basketball game against defending state finalist Lafayette Central Catholic, Eagles senior forward Folabomi Fayemi gave us a dunk to remember forever and one that would easily make ESPN’s Top 10.
The Fayemi had one of the most spectacular alley-oop dunks you will ever see.
With just under two minutes to play in the first quarter, Fayemi exploded off the floor and somehow caught a pass that appeared to be uncatchable and threw it down with authority. It was easily one of the best dunks we have ever seen on the high school level.
Fayemi’s dunk ignited his team to a convincing 33-point win.
BOYS BASKETBALL MVP
Hannah was a first-team All-Northern Indiana Conference selection a season ago after pouring in 443 points and helping his team to its best start in school history. He paced his team in points (17 per game), rebounds (5.7), free throw percentage (75) and field goal percentage (56).
Honorable Mention: Glenn’s Silas Kaser was his team’s second-leading scorer, finishing the season with 326 points. As he went, so went the Falcons in many aspects.
Hannah and Kaser guided the Falcons to a 24-2 record and a No. 1 ranking in the final Class 3A poll as Glenn won the NIC North South Division at 5-0.
GIRLS BASKETBALL MVP
We are going to have co-MVPs on the girls side.
Triton sophomore Addy Viers was Underclassman Honorable Mention All-State last season after leading the Trojans in points (18.7 per game), rebounds (8.2), blocks (2.0) and field goal percentage (48), helping her team capture a sectional title.
OD’s Hudspeth topped the 1,000-point mark for her high school career during last season’s sectional run.
The Lady Cats’ leading scorer was named Small School All-State and later earned first-team Academic All-State
MOST MEMORABLE HS FOOTBALL GAME
It was hyped as the game of the season and boy did it ever deliver.
When Class 1A No. 3 North Judson-San Pierre traveled to Class 2A No. 3 LaVille in October, the two programs put on one of the best high school football games you could wish to see.
A standing room only crowd was on hand at Lancer Field and for the second straight year between these two stellar programs, the game needed overtime to be decided.
LaVille’s Noah Richart scored the game-winning touchdown on first-and-goal from Judson’s 10-yard line prompting quite the celebration from his teammates.
Richart’s score was a memorable one as he looked to be stopped around the 5-yard line, but the pile kept moving toward the goal line until he eventually crossed it.
In the opening half, the game see-sawed with Judson leading 21-14 at the break.
The third quarter was scoreless. In that frame, however, the Lancers lost starting quarterback Lucas Plummer suffered a shoulder injury that would cause him to miss the rest of the season.
Collin Czarnecki stepped up under center and his interception in the fourth quarter set up the game’s tying score, which came on Paul DeWitt’s 32-yard burst with 4:30 remaining.
LaVille had a chance to win it in regulation, but on the final play its field goal missed when it hit off the left upright.
Judson missed a 25-yard field goal to start overtime setting up Richart’s game-winning run.
The 27-21 Lancer victory clinched at least a share of the HNAC championship.
TOP HS FOOTBALL PERFORMANCE BY AN INDIVIDUAL
In October, LaVille started sectional play with a bang, thanks in big part to DeWitt.
In the first half against Whiting, all the senior running back did was rush for 252 yards on 19 carries and four touchdowns in a 24-minute half.
The 5-foot-9, 195-pounder was quick to credit his o-line for his performance, but make no mistake DeWitt was a beast, a battering ram if you will, rarely going down on first contact.
FOOTBALL MVP
This is easy.
It’s DeWitt all the way.
What a magical season he had, capping a tremendous high school career.
In 11 games during the 2022 campaign, DeWitt had 207 carries for 1,574 yards (7.6-yard per carry average/143.1 yards per game average) and scored 24 touchdowns.
DeWitt helped his team to a 10-1 finish.
It was a magical season for Coach Will Howstrawser’s second-ranked Lancers, who finished 10-1.
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