Vikings looking forward to home atmosphere for sectional

Vikings looking forward to home atmosphere for sectional

By Justin Shockey sports@h-ponline.com | Sunday, February 24, 2013

Whoever said, “Home is where the heart is,” could not have been more correct when it comes down to crunch time and home-court advantage of basketball games played in late February and early March in this Hoosier state. With the IHSAA boys’ basketball tournament beginning on Tuesday night, the Huntington North boys’ basketball team will be sitting pretty in their hometown, prepping for their game against Homestead in front of their families and friends.

“Hopefully we can get an advantage,” Vikings head coach Rob Irwin said. We haven’t done a very good job of defending our home court here in the last three games when we’ve played there. But it is a lot better than getting on a bus and traveling to some other location. We’re comfortable and used to our own gym so that should be better. It should be an advantage, but the bottom line it comes down to is the fact that your guys have to play to their capabilities; especially with the draw that we have.”

Irwin said one factor more important that the home-court advantage would be how his players perform on that home-court. With the help of Vikings fans screaming their lungs out, the Vikings players have a chance to feed off of that energy.

“I think all of our players feed off the fans’ energy,” Irwin said. “Our young ones especially feed off their energy but I think it all comes down to the crunch time you face at home. With all those people there and all of that added pressure that comes with it, they just have to learn how to deal with it over time and it’s even hard for the guys who’ve been here and have been doing it.”

Irwin said with all of the action from the game happening right before his eyes, he does not pay much attention to the atmosphere around him. He doesn’t notice the energy in the arena until he stops and lets his mind slip from the court during a break; which rarely occurs.

“To be completely honest with you I’ve been doing it so long that I pay little attention to the atmosphere,” he said. “I worry more about what’s happening on the court with our players, but my wife gives me a lot of information. From what everyone said, especially during Senior Night, it was really good. I think the group of kids that have been coming to The Pit have been doing a great job for us all season. Hopefully they’ll come out on Tuesday night and give us another edge that we are going to need in order to find a way to win.”