WINONA LAKE – There is a lot of good news for Lakeland Christian Academy heading in to this year’s 1A Fort Wayne Blackhawk Sectional. But, the news isn’t all good. One morsel of good news is a first-round bye, but the drawback is a potential semifinal game with host Blackhawk, the only team entering the tournament with a winning record. “Having the bye is nice, because we are one step closer to the sectional final,” head coach Chris Hohm said. “However, we have a really tough draw, so in some aspects, having a first-round game against an opponent more on our skill level would be an advantage for us, rather than playing the favorite on their home court if Blackhawk wins. “We are excited for the opportunity to play for a chance to make the sectional final, though, and only having to win one game to get there is nice.” More good news; the Cougars have won three of their last four games, the first such streak since the end of the 2004-05 season, before LCA became a full-fledged member of the IHSAA. The flip side? None of those wins have come against teams playing in a sectional, and they haven’t beaten a team playing in a sectional since Dec. 29, 2012, a 70-35 win over Covenant Christian in DeMotte. Hohm is realistic about what needs to happen before thinking about cutting down any nets. “Winning a sectional would be huge for LCA, it would validate the hard work that we have put in, and it would let us know that we can compete with anyone on our schedule,” he said. “But to be honest, we have some work to do before winning a sectional is on our goal list. First, we would like to win a sectional game. We’ve been in the IHSAA for a few years, and we haven’t won a (sectional) game yet, so that first win would be big for our program.” Still, the Cougars have come a long way in Hohm’s second season at the helm. Last year’s team struggled to win just one game, and got beat by at least 30 points in each of the Cougars’ first seven games (12 times overall). This year; not so much. “We have improved tremendously as a team in the area of mental toughness. We have talked about getting rid of the ‘losing mentality’ that many of the guys had,” Hohm said. “We have taken huge strides in eliminating that. We have still lost a lot of games, but there have been very few games where we were defeated before the game began. Late in the season, we are also scoring better and getting better production from our post players.” The Cougars are led in scoring by sophomore Josh McDaniel at 13.3 points a game. The Harmon brothers, Jake and Jon, average about 14 points a game between them, and three Twombly brothers, Carter, Noah and Landon, combine for 14.4 points and 9.9 rebounds a game. Hohm said McDaniel has set himself apart. “Josh McDaniel has emerged as our team leader. We have been starving for a leader for the two years that I’ve been at LCA,” Hohm said. “Even though he is only a sophomore, he has been our speaking captain, and he has taken that role and done a nice job with it. He gets guys motivated, but also leads by example with working hard and continually improving his individual game. “Josh has stepped up and the other guys have followed, which has made us a much better team.” Hohm said there are several things LCA has to get done to get that first taste of IHSAA postseason success. “For us to win in the sectional, we have to be able to handle pressure and high intensity defense for the entire game. We have done a much better job against pressing teams this year, but we need to continue to improve in that department,” he said. “We must rebound to our potential as well. We would need all of our guys to show up and play very well in order to win the sectional. “The thing that absolutely cannot happen is for us to turn the ball over and give up transition baskets. Our defense is improving, but when we give up easy looks, it is difficult for us to keep up in the game.” On the other side of the bracket, Bethany Christian and Hamilton square off in Tuesday’s first round, with the winner getting Elkhart Christian in Friday’s semifinals. The championship game will be 7 p.m. Saturday.
