Preps insider: Chipotle Nationals return to Indy
Preps insider Kyle Nieddenrip discusses the return of the Chipotle Nationals tournament to Indianapolis.
What you should know Waverly School In Pasadena, California: They are proud of the sports there. Yes, we’re proud of our sports here, and the echoes of that story reverberate from Southern California to Indiana, ominous echoes, like thunder and grown-ups crapping and lightning and children crying.
We’ll get to Crispus Atkins vs. Washington, and South Bend Washington vs. Gary Lighthouse.
But first, here’s what you should know about Waverly: Their middle school football team went undefeated in 2019. That’s a big deal – imagine being these kids! – That’s why it’s one of a handful of highlights mentioned on the school’s website Page Associated with sports programs there. Also, the middle school boys flag football team went to the playoffs in 2018.
No, this is not your typical school. At Waverly, a private school’s 2024 graduation ceremony so small was held in someone’s backyard, kids could fulfill their PE requirement by playing team sports. Children also have other graduation requirements, which are also pretty cool:
“High school students are required to participate in a total of 60 hours of community service before graduation.”
It is straightforward Waverly website. The first sentence under the school’s mission statement is also:
“Relationships are important at Waverly, defined by trust, understanding and mutual respect.”
Why are you here, in Indianapolis, reading about The Waverly School in Pasadena? Because of the echo. Because of what happened earlier this month when the Attucks girls basketball team beat Washington 115-5.
And because of what happened Thursday night in Southern California, where Mesrobian High scheduled a game with Waverly. So it could be:
Nick Khachchikian set a CIF record with 102 points. His twin, Dylan Khachkian, set a CIF record with 35 assists. Dylan, and this is it No I call him the Selfless Twin, had a triple-double without scoring a point: 35 assists, 15 rebounds, 13 steals.
Mesrobian led 79-0 at halftime. Nick Khachchkian had all 79 points.
The brothers played for most of the third quarter, then posed for pictures afterward. Knicks held up a piece of paper with “102” on it, an echo — again, that word — of Philadelphia Warriors star Wilt Chamberlain’s famous celebration after he scored 100 points against the Knicks in 1962. . Dylan held up a piece of paper with “35. On it.”
Chamberlain scored 100 points against the pros, who had won 27 games that season.
The Khachkian brothers did their job against the Waverly school kids, which have lost all nine games—by scores including 71-9, 79-13 and 65-14—with a roster of four sophomores and two freshmen. included, all meet their PE requirements, all competing for the program “Focus on maximizing the participation of all team members. Success is driven by personal development and overall team development. is measured in terms of
Success looks different to other people.
News: California high school basketball brothers set 102-point, 35-assist records
LeBron James, ESPN Thinks It’s Great
We are not immune to this in Indiana. We are nowhere, perhaps, or at any level immune to it. Ever heard of Grinnell College? It’s an NCAA Division III school in Grinnell, Iowa, that for years under coach David Arsenault would schedule one game a year against a smaller school — not an NAIA or junior college team. Think small – and use this contest to paint a masterpiece:
∎ 138 points for Jack Taylor In 2012, a National Christian College Athletic Association team against Faith Baptist College.
∎ 37 assists for Patrick Maher In 2014 against College of Faith, an online ministry school.
Whenever this happened, the media – social and otherwise – would go gaga: Hey, it’s not cool! Check out what Grinnell’s baby did. Sick!
Oh it would be nice to say it now: but times have changed…
But they haven’t.
On ESPN, the late-night SportsCenter from LA devoted most of its final minutes to “a special evening for the Khachkian family,” with photos of the brothers holding their pieces of paper. Completed. On Twitter, sites like Ballyslife His 1.6 million followers were saying things like “this is crazy,” and on Instagram, ESPN’s SportsCenter page — along with a photo of the brothers holding their paper — was greeted by the following comments: :
“I want to watch game film!”
He was LeBron James.
The world has lost its mind, and once again, it’s not just them. This is us too.
It was Attuck on Jan. 11, playing a Washington team that had lost 64-9 to Purdue-Poly-Englewood earlier in the week, using a trap defense and a 38-2 lead after one quarter. A high-tempo offense was used. 3 at halftime—and using the same trap, the same tempo, deep into the fourth quarter of that 115-5 destruction. Atkins star Kamara Banks, a top Division I prospect and daughter of coach Kumaran Banks, took nearly every shot in the first half and scored a school-record 63 points.
And it was South Bend Washington, a Class 4A powerhouse, scheduling the Class 2A Gary Lighthouse on November 16. Last season Lighthouse played nine games, losing all nine, and scored 80 points all season. South Bend Washington had more (86) after three rounds. “When I tell you we can get 300 points — we can,” Washington coach Steven Reynolds told the South Bend Tribune, adding: “We gave up.”
Crisps Attics, South Bend Washington doesn’t get any better
The vulnerable among us – people like Steven Reynolds – struggle with some form of the following:
what do you do want America (Misroben, Attucks, South Bend Washington) to do?
Because it is inevitable, see. Mesrobian, South Bend Washington and Attucks are good. Waverly, Gary Lighthouse and Indianapolis are not Washington. What do you want good teams to do?
It is not so.
Not copying the Grinnell model and, for whatever reason, scheduling an opponent who clearly can’t compete. SBW was the IHSAA Class 3A state champion in 2022 and the 4A region champion in ’23. What’s scheduling a team like Class 2A Lighthouse, which lost its last 28 games?
“We reached out to everybody,” Reynolds told the South Bend Tribune, “(())ing any 4A school in the area that we could possibly play, and nobody wanted to play us.” And I have a schedule to fill.
No you don’t, look. Play a low game. Will it hurt your kids more than 100-0, hurting the girls at the lighthouse?
As for Mesroban, they pulled back with about a minute left in the third quarter. By then the Khachkian brothers had set their own records by speeding up the game. Box score Shows Nick, who has the ball in his hands enough to score 102 points, had zero assists. Dillon had 35 assists and made zero shots. Mike Gabriel, Mesrobian’s coach, said San Gabriel Valley Tribune His team discussed the CIF individual scoring record at halftime—Nick Khachtikian had 79 points, remember, and Mesrobian led 79-0—and “we decided as a team. That they should let him go for it.
“Everybody was on board,” he added.
In the other locker room, preparing to come out for the second half, were the Waverley kids. It’s a school that has one of the best athletic achievements in 2017 when the “middle school started a coed tennis team.”
This achievement is a few sentences below the following sentence:
“We believe that participation in sports can make a significant contribution to the physical, social and emotional well-being of our students.”
Depends, really.
Find out at IndyStar columnist Greg Doyle on Threadsor on Bluesky And on Twitter @gregdoyle staror on www.facebook.com/greggdoyelstar.
More: Join sports columnist Greg Doyle for insight, reader questions and a behind-the-scenes look at Doyle.
