Winless Watch: Cannelton, My Cannelton

It's always funny to hear about a traditionally strong basketball team having a rough season, especially when that team struggles to a 14-7 or 15-5 record. Must be tough - I went to a high school whose basketball team went 4-80 in my four years there, so I can't relate to the "lack of success" that these other teams are experiencing. I suppose I'm empathy-deficient.

I point this out because nestled down on the Ohio River in Perry County, IN, is Cannelton High School. The Bulldogs, not known as one of your perennial basketball powers, find themselves sitting on an 0-12 record with eight games left in the regular season.

("So what? Lots of teams are winless at this point - Floyd Central, Woodlan, Triton Central, Kouts, Southern Wells, Cowan, New Harmony, Union (Modoc), North White, Morton Memorial, Howe Military and Terre Haute Holy Cross, in addition to Cannelton. So what's the big deal?" you might say.)

Yes, but. Most of those teams have been losing by at least halfway respectable margins. Besides, you can even make a case that Holy Cross is not winless, since they beat someone called 'Fountain County Home' over the weekend. Howe Military has played only six games, as has Morton Memorial.

Cannelton, on the other hand ... hooooo boy. They opened with a 71-19 loss to New Washington (the Mustangs' only win on the year), before losing the next three games by a combined score of 255-57. They bounced back to lose their next game to South Central by only 32 points, before losing the next three by a combined score of 308-79. Then, they lost the next three by 44, 47 and 60, before coming close against Cloverport, KY (losing by only 6 points). They've given up an average of 82 points a game, while scoring an average of just over 26.

I feel bad for those kids. I've been there, both as a player and as an innocent bystander, and I remember trying to balance learning the game with an instinct for self-preservation that demands you act French when the opposing team is bashing your skull in night in, night out.

Uh-oh. New Harmony is on Cannelton's schedule for a home-and-home over the next two weeks. As noted by their inclusion on the above list, the Rappites aren't having much better luck this season, going 0-11 and losing by just over 30 a game. Wouldn't it be great if the two schools split their two games?

(In addition to the above list, the only other teams I can tell who play each other are Southern Wells and Woodlan, who are in the same conference. Terre Haute Holy Cross does play Morton Memorial and New Harmony late in the season also.)

Winless Watch will continue in this space as events permit.