Game Report: Banks of the Wabash Shootout

I opened my 2022-23 high school basketball season on Friday night with a pair of games at North Vermillion for the Banks of the Wabash Shootout featuring Riverton Parke vs. South Vermillion and Parke Heritage at North Vermillion. In the opening game, Riverton Parke came in at a disadvantage out of the gate as their top player, 2023 guard [player_tooltip player_id='1556547' first='Derron' last='Hazzard'], was out with an injury. Without Hazzard, the Panthers were outmatched in a major way. South Vermillion would cruise to a 40-17 lead at halftime before hitting the running clock in the fourth quarter. The Wildcats would finish off the game with a 59-33 victory for their first win of the season. <strong>Elliott Corenflos</strong> led South Vermillion with 16 points and 8 rebounds. <strong>Brayson Shoults</strong> ended with 15 points including three triples. <strong>Dylan Conder</strong> added 10 points and 3 steals, and <strong>Luke Bush</strong> seemed to do it all in the South Vermillion backcourt with 5 points, 7 rebounds, 8 assists, and 5 steals. For Riverton Parke, it would be <strong>Brandon Todd</strong> with 15 points and <strong>Ashton Hines</strong> with 9 points to lead the way in the loss. In the second game, the hosts North Vermillion were taking on an extremely young Parke Heritage squad. Parke Heritage is led by a pair of freshmen <strong>Ethan Tidwell</strong> and [player_tooltip player_id='1560965' first='Treigh' last='Schelsky'] as well as a pair of sophomores in [player_tooltip player_id='1297106' first='Renn' last='Harper'] and <strong>Braydon Luce.</strong> They have a young core which will make this team dangerous in 2A for the next four years. Tidwell did miss this one due to a virus, but he will be a player to watch when he gets healthy. North Vermillion is led by junior <strong>Jerome White</strong> at 14.5 points and 8 rebounds per game this season and the freshman guard <strong>Teegan Dowers.</strong> This game started out horribly as White injured what seemed to be his ankle on the jump ball as he came down on the foot of the Parke Heritage player. White would not return for the rest of the game which put the already under-manned Falcons at an insurmountable disadvantage. North Vermillion kept in close in the first quarter of action thanks to a pair of catch-and-shoot threes by Noah Scott. However, Parke Heritage would lead 15-8 after one. The Wolves broke it open in the second quarter with a 15-0 run to extend the lead to 30-8. North Vermillion would fight back a little, but the Wolves would lead 33-16 going into the halftime break. <strong>Max Dowd</strong> led the Wolves with 12 in the first half and Schelsky added 11 and 3 steals. The big story of the first half was the 14-1 turnover advantage. It was more of the same in the second half with the running clock starting early in the fourth quarter. Parke Heritage would hold on for a 64-29 win. Schelsky led the Wolves with his third straight 20 points game of his career. He also added 4 rebounds, 3 assists, and 4 steals. Dowd added 15, and Harper disrupted with his length for 12 points and 5 steals. For North Vermillion, <strong>Cody Tryon</strong> led the way with 11 points as he was able to knock down some tough jumpers as well as get into the lane. Dowers struggled with the length of Parke Heritage and he finished with just 3 points on 0-7 shooting and 9 turnovers. He is going to have a good career for the Falcons, but this was a tough game for the freshman. Riverton Parke will take on North Vermillion on Saturday at 6:00 PM in the third-place game with Parke Heritage and South Vermillion playing for the Banks of the Wabash Championship at 7:30 PM.