The opening round of the IHSAA boy’s basketball Sectional Tournament begins Tuesday night, as the Valparaiso High School team travels north to Michigan City to face off against the Merrillville Pirates.
The game will be broadcast live on ValpoLife, courtesy of Region Sports Network, and you can catch all of the action on the link below starting around 6pm CST.
The Region Sports Network put together a great preview of the game, a rematch of last year’s Sectional Championship, where the Vikings upset the Pirates 53-47 (click here for photos!). You can read an excerpt of the preview for this year’s game below, or click here for the full preview.
What will it take for Merrillville to win again against a very hungry Vikings basketball team? In my humble opinion it comes down to Merrillville’s ability to push the basketball. Valpo has struggled all year defending teams that can get up and down the floor in a hurry. The biggest reason the Vikings were able to stay with the Pirates the last time these teams met, was because Merrillville did not look to push the ball as much as they did in the first matchup. Also, it’s no secret that Valpo can’t, and I repeat can’t, break a 2-3 zone defense. It may not be Merrillville’s style, but so what. If the opposing team has proven time and again that they have a weakness, I say exploit it.
Click here to listen!
Note: This link will open up Windows Media Player (or your default media player) is order to listen live
A big thank you to Region Sports Network, who are one of a growing number of our great media partners along with Lakeshore Public Television and Radio 89.1, WVLP 98.3 FM, Pow Wow Radio and Afternoons, Biz Voice Magazine, Northwest Indiana Business Quarterly, Building Indiana magazine, Direct Mail Advantage, Panorama Now, Duneland.com, and Duneland Today.