Recent top ten rankings of boys basketball have come out. The Northwest Indiana Times has Bishop Noll currently sitting #8 in the area, while the Associated Press has the Warriors at #5 in the State for 2A. This is a big jump for a team that was an afterthought to the area at the beginning of the season.

Following last year’s semi-state runner-up team, the area seemed to have doubted Noll to be a competitive team this year due to losing Seniors Lee Howard, James Nabors, and Anthony Diaz. In the pre-season rankings, Bishop Noll was not ranked in the area or state, but like Santana Moss, former NFL Wide Receiver, once said after a big win in college, “Big time players make big time plays in big time games.”

The Warriors(12-4) sure have had multiple “big time” games this year and more in the upcoming weeks. But these games have not been won by just a single “Big time player”. This team is full of players who live for the spotlight and seem to shine when the pressure is on. Some of these players include seniors Roman Penn, Kodi Greenwell, and Akil McClain. Penn and Greenwell were on the semi-state runner up team last year, but McClain is a transfer from Bowman Academy. Wanting to not live in the shadows of last year’s team and prove to the state and area that this is a team to reckon with, the boys had big goals the whole season.

“We’ve done a lot of things that people didn’t think we could do. Thats our main [goal], we like to prove people wrong.” said Senior Forward Akil McClain.

What were some big time games? To start off the season, Noll played Munster, who was ranked in the area and was favored to win the game. Noll not only beat Munster, but never gave Munster a chance in the game with a final score of 61-33. This was not the only game in which Noll has stepped up in. Noll has also beaten Marquette Catholic, Whiting, and ended Hammond High’s (at the time) undefeated season.

A lot of the success of this year can be thanked by the good leadership from both Penn and Greenwell. Also, there have been some unsung heroes this year that have really stepped up their game this year. McClain has credited seniors Danny Wleklinski and Jordan Marquez along with freshman Cory Landers for stepping up their game this year, leaving a positive impact on the court.

McClain complimented the trio saying, “I stress on Danny a lot how he needs to shoot the ball more. And also shoot it with confidence. He is now doing that, and he is just playing great overall. Jordan Marquez is just playing outstanding. He is what you call ‘the hustle guy’. He gets in the game and hustles and rebounds. He gets in the big man head and makes them uncomfortable. Corey Landers is just a freshman and he already has a big role on the team. He’s a lockdown defender and a scorer. He’s aggressive. He doesn’t play like a freshman at all.”

The road for this team does not get any easier, though, with games against tough teams like East Chicago Central, Griffith, and Andrean. They will surely be tested in their final games of the regular season and the postseason after that. No games will be easy from here on out, but the team has grown together and should be able to continue their success.

“People are starting to take practice more seriously and making sure we push each other daily,” McClain said. “People are starting to play with more confidence now. They’re re starting to get the hang of it and realizing we’re out on a mission since tournament play is coming up.”

Though they will be tested McClain knows that this team will be determined and motivated to win.

“Our motivation is just getting down to state for our last year–taking care of games day by day.”

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