JIM PETERS: Boone's poor postseason fortunes continue

With a combined record of 61-7, Boone Grove has fashioned the best won-loss mark in Northwest Indiana girls basketball over the last three years.

Yet, while sectionals throughout Indiana move into the semifinals tonight, Wolves coach Candy Wilson has already done uniform inventory.

Boone was bounced from Class 2A Sectional 34 by Rochester in Tuesday's first round. It suffered a similar fate last season, falling to one-loss Culver in the bye game. In 2010, Boone reached the final, only to bow to Winamac.

"It's definitely starting to feel like a monkey on our back," Wilson said. "What are you going to do? It's one of those things where there's no rhyme nor reason to it. I was telling the kids the reason why the sectional is so special is it's something you don't win every year. There are so many factors involved in it, so many uncontrolled things. If I had the answers, you wouldn't be asking the question."

At 19-2, the Wolves got the nod as sectional favorite, but it was no sure thing. The field was filled with potential trip wires like Rochester (14-6) and Winamac (15-5), who now figure to meet in the finals.

"We went into this with very open eyes," Wilson said. "I told them before, records didn't mean anything. We're not looking for excuses. We knew it would be a tough road. I don't know if people in our area recognize that the teams we're going against are really good. It's a tough sectional."

Recent history backs Wilson. Winamac (2010) and Culver (2011) both reached the semistate, and she doesn't discount Saturday's survivor doing the same.

When the sectionals were reconfigured before the 2007-8 season, Boone was shipped east with 2A newcomer Hebron. It won the title that year, but over time, Wilson grew uneasy with the lack of familiarity with the field. Save for Hebron, the Wolves play only North Judson.

"It's not like the good old days when it was no more than a 40-minute drive for you," she said. "It's a different animal. You have to drive an hour to see anything. Does it guarantee you a win? No, but it makes you feel a little more secure going into games."

To that end, Boone is hoping to add Winamac to its schedule. It looks like it will be getting Crown Point back on the slate and may pick up Whiting as well. All three will be marked upgrades for the Wolves, who haven't lost in the top-heavy Porter County Conference since 2009.

"The hard thing with scheduling (up) is, sometimes you can build it up too strong, and it can be counterproductive," Wilson said. "We've got a nice core coming back, but we've got five seniors, so it's not going to be quite as easy it's been."

Then again, that might be a good thing for the Wolves, as far as their sectional chances go.

"The years we've won, we weren't the team picked to win," Wilson said. "I've had titles, and hopefully I'll have more. You try not to evaluate the season on one game. I just felt bad for the seniors, because we couldn't get (a title) for them, and they truly deserved it."

This column solely represents the writer's opinion. Reach him at jim.peters@nwi.com.