By GREG MENGELT

Defending Class 3A state champion Silver Creek moved up two spots in the latest Indiana Basketball Coaches Association poll, which was released Sunday.

The 16-1 Dragons have won four games in a row since suffering their only loss of the season, 49-42 at Bedford North Lawrence on Dec. 16. Creek beat rival Salem (8-6) on Saturday to improve to 6-0 in the Mid-Southern Conference.

Lanesville, which has won 13 games in a row, was one of 39 team to receive at least one votes from the coaches in the single-class poll. Lanesville beat its opponents — South Central and Crothersville — by a combined 163-17 last week and clinched the Southern Athletic Conference championship for the fourth year in a row.

Four different teams received first-place votes in the poll. No. 1 Homestead (15-1) got 13 of the 20 with No. 2 BNL (16-1) garnering two. No. 3 Franklin (18-1) got four top votes and No. 4 Crown Point (13-2) got the other. South Bend Washington (16-2) rounds out the top five.

Regionally, Columbus East (13-3) is No. 17 and East Central (12-4) is No. 18. Evansville North (12-2), Jennings County (12-3) and Washington (15-3) got received votes.

INDIANA BASKETBALL COACHES POLL
Rank, School (1st place votes) Record
1. Homestead (13) 15-1, 2. Bedford North Lawrence (2) 16-1, 3. Franklin (4) 18-1, 4. Crown Point (1) 13-2, 5. South Bend Washington 16-2, 6. Noblesville 14-3, 7. Westfield 15-3, 8. Silver Creek 16-1, 9. North Central 15-5, 10. Fishers 13-4, 11. Benton Central 19-0, 12. Lake Central 15-3, 13. Fort Wayne Snider 12-2, 14. Columbia City 16-0, 15. Mishawaka Marian 14-3, 16. Zionsviiile 13-5, 17. Columbus East 13-3, 18. East Central 12-4, 19. Garrett 16-1, 20. Valparaiso 12-3.
Others receiving votes: Ben Davis 10-6, Carmel 10-6, Castle 12-4, Evansville North 12-2, Fairfield 14-2, Hamilton Southeastern 11-6, Jac-Cen-Del 13-4, Jennings County 12-3, Lafayette Central Catholic 14-3, Lanesville 17-1, North Central-Farmersburg 14-4, Northridge 15-4, Penn 12-6, South Central-Union Mills 17-0, Tipton 15-1, Waldron 16-1, Warsaw 12-5, Washington 15-3, Winchester 16-1.

NOTE: Records as of Sunday.

By GREG MENGELT

West Washington and Rock Creek have been two of the best stories of the 2021-22 girls’ basketball season.

Rock Creek, in its second year under former Miss Basketball Sara Nord, is 7-5 and passed last year’s win total of two on Nov. 18. West Washington, which went 8-15 in its first year under Matthew Myers, is currently on a 5-game winning streak and has already won 11 games this season.

Coming into the season, few would’ve predicted West Washington-Rock Creek was going to be a big game … but it is. In fact, it is the Hoosier Hills Hoops Game of the Night.

Christian Academy goes to Portland Christian in Monday’s other local contest. After winning two games all of last season, Carson Casey’s Warriors stand at 5-9. Portland Christian is 8-2.

GAME OF THE NIGHT
WEST WASHINGTON AT ROCK CREEK
• Time: 6:30 p.m.
• Location: Rock Creek Academy/Restoration Christian Church (8000 Diefenbach Ln., Sellersburg)
• Records:
West Washington 11-4. The Hoosier Hills Hoops Team of the Week has won five games in a row.
Rock Creek 7-5. The Lions have won two of their last three and four of their last seven but haven’t played a game in nearly four weeks.
• Coaches:
West Washington — Matthew Myers (19-19 in second season at West Washington)
Rock Creek — Sara Nord (9-14 in second season at Rock Creek)
• Computer-based Sagarin Ratings:
West Washington — No. 259, No. 36 Class A
Rock Creek — No. 322, No. 62 Class A
• Most recent game:
West Washington — Defeated Edinburgh 44-40 (Jan. 8)
Rock Creek — Lost to Holy Cross (Ky.) 60-33 (Dec. 17)
• Last 20 years: West Washington 9-0.
• Most recent meeting: Jan. 13, 2021 — West Washington 72, at Rock Creek 15.
• John Harrell prediction: West Washington 43, Rock Creek 35.
• Sagarin projection: West Washington by 7.
• Outlook: The Senators beat Rock Creek by 57 points last year and have beaten the Lions all nine times they played, but this isn’t the same Rock Creek team. Still, the way West Washington is playing, it should win going away.
• Greg’s pick: West Washington 51, Rock Creek 33.

CHRISTIAN ACADEMY AT PORTLAND CHRISTIAN (KY.)
• Time: 7:30 p.m.
• Location: 8509 Westport Rd., Louisville.
• Records:
CAI 5-9. The Warriors, who have won three of their last four, will triple last year’s win total with a victory.
Portland Christian 8-2. The Eagles have won their last two and four of their last five.
• Coaches:
CAI — Carson Casey (13-44 in third season at CAI)
Portland Christian — Jason Bragg (Coaching record unavailable)
• Most recent game:
CAI — Defeated South Central (Dec. 29)
Portland Christian — Defeated Beth Haven (Ky.) 64-27 (Jan. 8)
• Last 20 years: Portland Christian 1-0.
• Most recent meeting: Jan. 5, 2021 — Portland Christian 45, at CAI 19.
• Outlook: Portland Christian has been beating up on some big schools in Louisville.
• Greg’s pick: Portland Christian 60, CAI 31.

By GREG MENGELT

LOUISVILLE — Bellarmine opened its second Atlantic Sun slate with a 66-61 victory over visiting Eastern Kentucky on Saturday at Freedom Hall.

The Knights, who had their last two games postponed or canceled, didn’t appear to be rusty and shot 50 percent from the field in the victory.

Junior guard Alec Pfriem and senior guard CJ Fleming — both Cincinnati natives — combined for 45 points in the victory. Pfriem, who came in averaging 6.4 points, had a game-high 23 and 9 rebounds with Fleming adding 22 points. Freshman Curt Hopf (Montgomery/Barr-Reeve) added 15 points and former Providence star Juston Betz contributed 4 points, 3 assists, a steal and a game-high 10 rebounds to the victory.

Eastern Kentucky’s Jannson Williams scored 15 points off the bench to pace the Colonels. The Bellarmine starters outscored Eastern Kentucky’s 64-29.

Bellarmine will try to make it 2-0 in conference play Tuesday when they host Central Arkansas at Freedom Hall at 7 p.m. The Bears are 4-10 and face Lipscomb on Sunday at 2 p.m.

The Bellarmine-Central Arkansas contest will air on ESPN Plus.

By GREG MENGELT

DENTON, Texas — Former New Albany star Josh Jefferson scored a team-best 19 points, but his Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders lost 70-63 at defending Conference USA champion North Texas on Saturday at UNT Coliseum.

Jefferson, a Middle Tennessee senior, went 5 for 12 from the field, 3 for 6 from behind the 3-point arc and 6 of 7 at the foul line in the loss. He also had 2 rebounds, a steal and a blocked shot for the Raiders, who are 9-6 overall and 0-2 in conference play following their third straight loss.

The Mean Green’s leading scorer, junior guard Tylor Perry, scored 25 points off the North Texas bench to lead all scorers. Perry was 9 for 9 from the charity stripe.

The Raiders will try to get back on track Thursday when they host Florida Atlantic (8-6) on Thursday at 7:30 p.m. That game can be seen on ESPN Plus. The Owls won at Marshall 90-77 on Saturday.

By GREG MENGELT

TOLEDO, Ohio — Freshman Kooper Jacobi scored 7 points in 10 minutes to help Toledo pick up a 94-63 Mid-American Conference victory over visiting Northern Illinois on Saturday at Savage Arena.

Jacobi — a former Silver Creek star — was 2 for 2 from the field and 3 for 3 from the foul line in the victory. All of Jacobi’s points came in the final 2 minutes and 32 seconds, including a 3-point play that put the Rockets ahead 88-58 with 1:31 to play.

Junior forward Setric Milliner Jr. and junior guard RayJ Dennis scored 16 points apiece to lead the Rockets’ balanced attack. Sophomore guard Ryan Rollins added 15 points and 7 rebounds, freshman guard Ra’heim Moss finished with 12 points and junior forward JT Shumate and freshman center Mihai Carcoana scored 11 each.

Northern Illinois (3-8, 0-1 MAC) was led by 12 points from junior guard Kaleb Thornton.

Toledo (11-4, 3-1 MAC), which has won six of its last seven games, go to Miami to face the 7-6 RedHawks on Tuesday at 7 p.m. That game can be seen on ESPN Plus. Miami suffered an 87-83 overtime loss at Bowling Green on Saturday.

By GREG MENGELT

BOSTON — Romeo Langford played a small role in the Boston Celtics’ 99-75 victory over the visiting New York Knicks on Saturday at TD Garden.

Langford scored the game’s final basket on a layup. He went 1 for 1 and scored 2 points in 2 minutes off the bench.

Jaylen Brown led the way with his first triple-double of 22 points, 11 assists and 11 rebounds as the Celtics improved to 19-21 on the season. The Knicks, who are also 19-21, got 19 points from R.J. Barrett.

The Celtics have a day off before hosting the Indiana Pacers on Monday at 7:30 p.m. The Pacers snapped a 6-game losing streak Saturday with a 125-113 victory over Utah.