Sectional Preview: 21
The coming high school season is almost upon us. With that, we are taking a look at each Sectional in the state. Starting with 64 and ending with 1. Today, we are previewing Sectional 21.
Fairfield (13-13) – Lost Regional Semifinals
This past season for Fairfield was the first sectional title since 2009. Their roster from last season boasted a lot of seniors, they do bring back most of their scoring. Luke Stephens returns as a 16.8ppg scorer and is one of the better guards in the northern half of the state. Fairfield returns their top three scorers and after winning 13 games last year should be fairly good this season. With NorthWood down this year, you could easily see Fairfield winning back to back sectional titles.
Lakeland (8-15) – Lost 1st Rd. Sectional
It has been seven years since the last time that Lakeland was able to win double-digit games in a season. They start over this year with the new head coach but also bring back their top two scorers from last year. Their game schedule for the regular season is fairly light and should allow them to finally get over the hump and rack up some wins. However, Fairfield looks to be tough in this Sectional doesn’t look like they have many down teams. With only having to replace one starter from last year, Lakeland Will at least get an opportunity to compete.
NorthWood (21-3) – Lost Sectional Semifinal
Last season for Northwood was a slight disappointment as they were bounced early from Sectionals losing to Fairfield. However, recent success has really put NorthWood at the top of the Sectional for the last few years. Now though, they will be starting over from scratch as they basically lose everyone. Caleb Lung is the only returning player with more than 100 career points. This season is likely to be way further down than they have had in the last decade as they trying rebuild with their youth.
Tippecanoe Valley (10-14) – Lost 1st Rd. Sectional
The great Bill Patrick has finally retired and now Tippecanoe Valley will start a new program under a new name. Last season they went 10-14 but we’re bounced early in Sectionals. They graduated everyone and really don’t return anybody of any significance in terms of minutes played last year. They only return one senior and will now look to build from there youth, which, could take some time to do. It doesn’t look like this will be the season where they’re able to contend for Sectional title.
Wawasee (6-18) – Lost Sectional Semifinals
Wawasee is coming off of bad year only winning six games. They haven’t won double digit games since 2014 and haven’t won a Sectional title since 2009. They return a good portion of their team including standout Senior Trevon Coleman. This team should develop as the year goes along but it’s not likely that they will be able to really take hold of sectional coming off a bad season. If they get lucky and get a great draw they could find themselves in a position to take advantage but they would need a lot of luck in order to do that.
West Noble (9-15) – Lost Sectional Finals
The recent success of West Noble hasn’t included a Sectional Championship but this might be the year where they can finally break through. With teams like Northwood and Tippecanoe Valley down, West Noble returns everyone except for their top scorer last year. They have some decent size and plenty of experience returning off a season in which they won nine games and made it all the way to the Sectional Finals. They still have competition to get through but a rematch with Fairfield on Sectional Saturday wouldn’t be out of the question.
Contenders For 2017-18: Fairfield, Lakeland, West Noble
Prediction: Fairfield
Player to Watch: Luke Stephens (Fairfield)