For every classic moment that the Johnson County tournaments have delivered, there have been several matchups that proved to be far less competitive.
Daily Journal file photo
I really enjoy the idea of a county tournament. Being able to see all of our local teams play against one another is, at least in theory, a beautiful thing.
The “in theory” part is doing a lot of the heavy lifting there, though.
In practice, we’ve got a bunch of events that are either uncompetitive, scheduled during the worst possible parts of the season, or both. So with that being the case, I’m going to ask what is not only probably an uncool question but also one that goes against my own utopian ideals:
Is it time for the Johnson County tournaments to go bye-bye?
It’s not lost on me that I’m bringing this up during the week of the boys basketball tourney, which has been perhaps the most competitive event in the series annually and might be yet again. Four different schools have won the title within the last 10 years, including Whiteland three times and Greenwood Christian once (the Cougars’ lone county triumph in any sport since being invited into the fold). Girls basketball has seen similar parity of late, with a different winner — Center Grove, Indian Creek and Franklin — in each of the last three years.
Peel away that first layer, though, and things don’t always look so rosy.
The last two rounds of this season’s girls hoop tournament were great, with Center Grove winning back-to-back overtime games against the previous two champions to claim the throne. But then there was the matter of that first round, which saw the three games decided by scores of 73-15, 74-6 and 79-16 — an average margin of 63 points. The closest of those three games, Franklin’s 58-point win over Greenwood, saw the Grizzly Cubs get out to a 32-0 lead before calling off the dogs.
County golf tournaments have increasingly devolved into two-team affairs at best. In the girls tournament this fall, the Center Grove and Franklin girls staged their usual mano a mano — with the nearest competitor languishing 88 strokes out of second place. The county track meet offers some great battles in individual events, but the team competition is never an actual competition; the Trojans win every single time, and it’s not often close.
In baseball, Edinburgh has been quickly ushered out in the first round by scores of 24-0, 20-0 and 11-2 the last three years, with the closest of those against a GCA team that was then promptly run-ruled by Center Grove in the semifinals. Softball hasn’t been much different; Greenwood Christian has lost its tourney openers by scores of 16-1, 10-0 and 20-3.
For every classic battle we get — such as the Trojans’ 8-7 walkoff win over Franklin in the 2023 baseball final — we’re subjected to numerous wipeouts that can’t really be that much fun for anybody involved.
And even if we set aside competitive imbalance for a second, there’s also the matter of scheduling inconveniences to reckon with. Because of the baked-in conference schedules, most tournaments need to slotted in either at the very beginning of the season — baseball in early April, anyone? — or at another less-than-ideal time. Half of the county baseball tournaments I’ve been here for have taken more than a month to complete due to inclement weather.
The county cross country meet has become less and less of a priority; Center Grove’s boys have been running their junior varsity due to what they consider a more important meet in Terre Haute that same day, and the individual girls state champion (Indian Creek’s Libby Dowty) bypassed county this past fall for the same reason. The county meet is being moved in 2024 in an effort to get everybody there, but is that overdue effort even worth it?
Last month brought the issues even more into the forefront. State contender Center Grove put the other county teams through a wood chipper at the annual wrestling tournament, winning two of its duals by shutout and taking the others by similarly large margins.
The county swim meet, held at a time in mid-December when several teams have already made the transition to their full midseason practice grind, is never going to give us all of the local teams at their best. Seeing the Trojans, rested and wearing tech suits (understandably so, because they have no conference title to chase), go against a Franklin team that trained right before the meet and could be seen laughing after several event losses doesn’t benefit either side. When both teams are at their peak, like they should be at sectionals in February, it’s perhaps the spiciest sporting rivalry in Johnson County. The postseason meetings between the two local titans next month should be epic. But in December, when only one side really cares, what’s the point?
And that’s kind of where we are with county tournaments in general. With the gap between the haves and have nots seemingly widening year to year, what are we doing this for? The teams that want to play each other do so during the season anyway. The individual battles that we’d want to see in sports like wrestling and track end up happening during the state tournaments no matter what. There’s seldom much upside in subjecting teams to extra blowout games that don’t benefit anyone.
It’s not like I’m suggesting something completely sacrilegious or out of line here. There’s no county tournament in soccer, and the tennis tournaments were eliminated just a few years ago. And for the hardcore traditionalists who want to talk about how we’ve been doing boys basketball tournaments since 1921, don’t forget that there was a 40-year stretch from 1965 to 2005 where that one wasn’t held, either.
We’ve lived without them before. We can do it again.
Whether we will is another matter. Somewhat surprisingly, Edinburgh athletic director Luke Robertson likes giving his teams a chance to see where they stand in comparison with the big dogs, even if it often means a sure defeat. Center Grove AD Joe Bronkella, whose teams dominate most of these tournaments, also enjoys them because of the local rivalries and the larger crowds that usually accompany them — which also mean more money for the host schools.
I certainly don’t expect anybody to turn down a certain payday, and so I strongly doubt the county’s ADs are going to read this column, have an epiphany and shut it all down.
I’m just saying maybe think about it, guys.
Like I said, I love the idea of county. I like being able to catch up to all of our local athletes, coaches and administrators in one place. I love when one of the little guys catches lightning in a bottle, like Indian Creek baseball or GCA boys basketball did just a few years back. But those cases are becoming too uncommon to navigate a jungle of blowouts and apathy for.
The teams that should play each other and want to play each other are going to do so anyway. Let’s not continue to force it just so we can keep giving out trophies that no longer seem to mean as much for many of the participants.
Or just have six epic games this week and make me look like a complete idiot. That’d be fine, too.
Ryan O’Leary is the sports editor for the Daily Journal. He can be reached at [email protected].
