By GREG MENGELT

Silver Creek girls’ team improved to 5-0 last week with three impressive wins. The Indiana Basketball Coaches Association pollsters awarded the Dragons.

The defending Class 3A state champions moved up two spots from No. 14 last week to No. 12 this week. The Dragons beat Charlestown 54-37, Jeffersonville 41-37 and New Albany 64-39 last week.

Silver Creek’s Mid-Southern rival, Salem (4-1), fell one spot to No. 20. The Lions rebounded from their first loss of the season for wins over Eastern (3-2) and Madison (3-3) last week. Salem beat rival Eastern 51-33 Friday then knocked off 60-46 Saturday.

After beating then-No. 4 North Central (4-2), Bedford North Lawrence (6-0) moved from No. 5 to No. 4 this week. Hoosier Hills rival Columbus East has moved seven spots from its pre-season ranking to No. 13. For some reason, Jennings County still hasn’t reached the top 20 despite a 24-point win over No. 20 Salem and a perfect 5-0 record. The Panthers did receive votes, so some coaches are paying attention.

Crown Point (5-0) remains at No. 1, garnering 18 of the coaches’ 20 first-place votes. No. 2 South Bend Washington (6-0), which Silver Creek beat last spring to win the Class 3A title, earned the other two first-place votes. Noblesville (5-0), BNL, Franklin (7-0), Fishers (5-0), Homestead (4-1), North Central, Zionsville (5-1) and Misahwaka Marian (4-1) round out the top 10.

INDIANA BASKETBALL COACHES POLL
Rank, School (1st place votes) Record
1. Crown Point (18) 5-0, 2. South Bend Washington (2) 6-0, 3. Noblesville 5-0, 4. Bedford North Lawrence 6-0, 5. Franklin 7-0, 6. Fisher 5-0, 7. Homestead 4-1, 8. North Central 4-2, 9. Zionsville 5-1, 10. Mishawaka Marian 4-1, 11. Penn 4-2, 12. Silver Creek 5-0, 13. Columbus East 5-1, 14. Westfield 3-2, 15. East Central 2-1, 16. Carmel 1-2, 17. Hamilton Southeastern 4-2, 18. Lake Central 4-1, 19. Lawrence North 4-3, 20. Salem 4-1.

Others receiving votes: Benton Central (5-0), Columbia City (5-0), Evansville Memorial (2-0), Fort Wayne Carroll (3-2), Fort Wayne Snider (2-2), Frankton (4-1), Garrett (4-1), Jac-Cen-Del (5-0), Jennings County (5-0), Linton-Stockton (5-1), Northridge (3-2), Norwell (5-1), Pioneer (4-0), South Central-Union Mills (5-0), Tecumseh (2-3), Triton Central (5-0), Twin Lakes (6-1), Valparaiso (6-0), Vincennes Rivet (3-0), Waldron (6-0), Warsaw (5-1).

NOTE: Records as of Sunday.