By MIKE HUTSELL
“The Dish” comes back after taking a one-week hiatus. I hope you managed without my weekly collage of bad basketball picks, awful one-liners and regurgitated tales of how Doc Nash was once a better basketball player than me.
And I know that several of you were convinced that the one week I was missing happened to coincide with the opening of Zaxby’s in Jeffersonville. I swear the two things are in no way related.
Now if I can just finish typing this without my keyboard drowning in chicken finger grease.Anyhow, on to the picks.
FRIDAY’S GAMES
• New Albany 68, Providence 50: The Pioneers are playing well, but it’ll take a near-perfect performance to pin a loss on the Bulldogs.
• Austin 66, Charlestown 54: The Pirates get another tough conference home game, but beating the Eagles may be too tough of a task.
• Madison Shawe 41, Borden 33: One day in 1993, Mike Hutsell was sitting happily on a junior varsity bench when his then coach, Dennis Stocksdale, pointed at him and said, get in there for Doc. He was referring to then New Wash freshman, now Borden coach, Doc Nash. Forty-three seconds after entering the game, Hutsell was then pulled from the lineup and did not return to the floor. That event marked one of only four times Mike Hutsell appeared in a game his freshman year. This has no bearing on the outcome of Borden’s game Friday. But it does confirm that for 43 seconds, there was actually a basketball coach who thought of me as a better basketball option than Doc Nash.
• Brownstown 66, Clarksville 49: The Braves are making a living on Friday night Mid-Southern Conference wins in Clark County. This would be three in the past three weeks.
• Bedford North Lawrence 71, Floyd Central 64: A week after their heartbreaker at Johnson Arena, the Stars get happy with a win at home over the Highlanders.
• Henryville-Crothersville: “The Dish” abstains from making Henryville predictions.
• Lanesville 63, New Washington 53: The Eagles entered the year as “The Dish’s” preseason Class A sectional pick. Having lost three of four, the Eagles need to gain some late-season momentum to fulfill on that promise.
• Rock Creek 64, South Central 55: The Lions look to be putting together their best season since winning 12 games in 2005-06.
• Silver Creek 68, Salem 63: This game starts the bi-annual four-game conference road trip for Silver Creek. This team appeared teetering toward a slump before last weekend’s blowout of Madison. Managing a win on the road could mean big things for the Dragons.
• Evansville Reitz 77, Jeffersonville 69: The Panthers pose another big test for Jeff, which survived in almost miraculous fashion against Bedford last weekend.
SATURDAY’S GAMES
• Corydon 71, Charlestown 58: Combined record of the three teams to beat Corydon is 32-7.
• Pekin Eastern 75, Christian Academy 50: The Musketeers are officially “The Dish’s” secret shocker to win the Class 2A sectional title.
• New Albany 81, Jennings County 51: Mismatch.
• Trinity Lutheran 66, New Washington 59: Another tough road trip for the Mustangs.
• Floyd Central 77, South Central 57: The Highlanders get things straightened out after losing two straight conference games.
Contact Mike Hutsell at mike.hutsell@newsandtribune.com.
