HILLARY SMITH: When the chance comes to open up, consider it for scheduling

E.C. Central's girls basketball season itinerary reads like a map of northern Indiana.

So, by the way, does Bowman Academy's.

The Cardinals made four trips to South Bend, including one for a tournament in which they played in the championship game.

Their regular-season schedule included four other teams that reached a regional and two that were in the sectional championship games.

The Eagles played the majority of their schedule outside their Class 2A confines. They played another two teams that reached a regional, one other sectional finalist, and Seton Academy, which is still playing, slated for a Tuesday match-up in Illinois' supersectional round.

Those are also the only two teams in the region to reach a regional final Saturday night.

There is obviously a lot of skill and luck involved once the postseason rolls around. But the regular season means something, too.

In this case, it meant diversity for the only two region teams without a conference to claim them.

With the freedom to play whoever, whenever, neither team held back in opening its schedule.

Bowman Academy has the 15th toughest schedule in Class 2A, according to the Sagarin Ratings. Bishop Luers, which beat the Eagles in the regional final Saturday, has the top in the class and 10th hardest in the state.

E.C. Central's schedule is 56th in Class 4A and 83rd hardest overall. The Cardinals have held onto some of the teams that they played during their years of success at the turn of the century.

Still, keeping some of those teams have been even more difficult for E.C.C. After the Class of 2006 graduated, the Cardinals went 2-19 and lost teams such as Whitney Young, Simeon and Merrillville from their schedule.

Holding onto teams such as Penn has been part of the rough task for coach Eric Kundich.

"You look, we played two out of the other three teams here in the regional," Kundich said. "Those kinds of things always help. You do have to take some teams on the schedule you might not want to, but for the most part you get to pick and choose some of the better teams in the state.

"Those holiday tournaments have prepared us for a day like this. When those holiday tournaments have the quality competition they usually do, I think this senior class was ready."

An appearance in the regional championship should help a little.

For Bowman Academy, the success was a little different. A start-up five years ago, the Eagles needed to prove their way into their tough schedule.

E.C. Central, South Bend Washington and Munster were among the first 4A schools to put the Eagles on their docket. Within a couple of years, Bowman was winning those games.

There is some give and take to having the opportunity to play anyone, anytime.

In the lean years, the good games are harder to find. There were no surprises between Penn and E.C. Central on Saturday when the teams met for the regional title because they'd seen each other year after year after year.

Another shortfall is the accolades and pride that comes from winning a conference title.

"I read about conference titles all the time and talk to other coaches about not only conference titles but also an all-conference team and conference player of the year," Kundich said, "and our kids miss out on that."

Still, the power to open up the basketball circuit to all comers served itself well this season, leading two teams down a path of historic significance.

This column is solely the writer's opinion. Reach her at hillary.smith@nwi.com.