Eric’s 3A State Preview
The high school season begins next week and we are looking at a little bit of everything as we begin. There are teams, players, and so much more to consider and in 3A this year, there are a ton of challenges that await. We breakdown, top to bottom, everything you need to know in 3A this season. Let’s begin.
Bosse Rebuilding, Culver Academies Back
For this upcoming season, when looking at the two teams that made it all the way to the 3A State Title game last year, Evansville Bosse is in full rebuild mode and Culver Academies, the team that won it, is sitting in the exact same spot once again.
Culver brings back everyone and has a fairly easy path, barring their Sectional as most of the talent is located in the southern half of the state. Bosse, reeling from replacing 4/5ths of their starting lineup, is going to be competing again with Crispus Attucks but also newcomers Silver Creek, Heritage Hills, and North Harrison among others.
3A South Is Wide Open
The last few years 3A South has been dominated by Evansville Bosse. This season that isn’t going to be the case. They could still be involved and be ready to step up but other teams, at least on paper, look like this is their year. Heritage Hills is a younger team but they are sitting in a good spot with scoring and size. Southridge has one of the best multi-sport athletes in the state and some upperclassmen that can help in the post. North Harrison is slowly becoming one of the bigger teams in the state with a pair of underclassmen at 6’9 and 6’6.
Add in perennial favorites in Greensburg, Crispus Attucks, Brebeuf Jesuit, along with some deeper teams in Princeton, Indianapolis Manual, and Danville and you have a bunch of teams that are grouped pretty close together. Attucks and Brebeuf Jesuit are probably the two separated a bit from the rest but not by much. This could be a wacky year to watch with a ton of competition down south.
Boonville Sectional 32 Is One To Watch
As we have talked about, Bosse isn’t nearly as deep or as strong as they have been in the past. Now, Evansville Memorial has stayed strong and Heritage Hills has gotten much better. Those three sit as the likely winners of the Sectional 32 at Boonville.
The last time someone other than Bosse won the Sectional was in 2014-15 when Memorial was able to get through and make it all the way to the Regional Finals. Heritage Hills hasn’t won a Sectional Championship since 2002-03 when they went 20-5 and lost to Corydon Central in the Regional Finals. Things don’t necessarily have to change this year but this may be Memorial and Heritage Hills best chance to do so in quite some time.
Prep Hoops Indiana’s Top 20 In 3A
- Culver Acadmies
- Crispus Attucks
- Brebeuf Jesuit
- New Castle
- Mishawaka Marian
- Marion
- Danville
- Greensburg
- Silver Creek
- Evansville Bosse
- Princeton
- Heritage Hills
- Evansville Memorial
- South Bend St. Joseph
- North Harrison
- Southridge
- Indianapolis Manual
- West Lafayette
- South Bend Washington
- Cardinal Ritter
3A All-Class Teams
First Team All-Class 3A
Trey Galloway (Jr., Culver Academies)
Nate Soltis (Sr., Cardinal Ritter)
Luke Bumbalough (Sr., New Castle)
Jaden Ivey (Jr., Mishawaka Marian)
Mason Gillis (Sr., New Castle)
Second Team All-Class 3A
Ethan Brittain-Watts (Sr., Culver Academies)
Jalen Blackmon (So., Marion)
Bradley Nalley (Sr., Corydon Central)
Sam Devault (Sr., Evansville Memorial)
Trevor Taylor (So., Edgewood)
Third Team All-Class 3A
Jalen Johnson (Sr., Manual)
Zane Gross (Sr., Silver Creek)
Luke Brown (So., Blackford)
Simon Banks (Sr., Brebeuf Jesuit)
Trey Kaufman (So., Silver Creek)
Honorable Mention
Blake Sisley (So., Heritage Hills)
Kiyron Powell (Sr., Evansville Bosse)
Tayson Parker (Jr., Northwestern)
Douglas Konieczny Jr. (So., South Bend St. Joseph)
Jalen Washington (Fr., Gary West)
DeMarcus Vaughn (Jr., South Bend Washington)
Khori Baker (Jr., John Glenn)
Deontae Craig (Jr., Culver Academies)
Stephan Wilkerson (Sr., Princeton)
Murray Becher (Jr., Heritage Hills)
Drew Comer (Sr., Greensburg)
Colson Montgomery (So., Southridge)
Harold Bennett (Sr., Crispus Attucks)
Connor Jones (Sr., Danville)
Carson Burtron (Jr., Lebanon)
Sincere McMahon (Jr., Crispus Attucks)
Dillon Ware (Jr., Danville)
Edreece Redmond (Jr., Bishop Chatard)
Jakylen Thomas (Jr., Marion)
Gus Etchison (So., Hamilton Heights)
Jadon Dance (Sr., Fort Wayne Concordia)
Kaden Gongwer (Sr., NorthWood)
Josh Bryan (Sr., Delta)
Camron Knott (Jr., Hamilton Heights)
State Predictions
I spent some time researching and looking into the teams in 3A this season. This is my personal, unbiased predictions for those winners of each Sectional, Regional, Semistate, and State game.
Sectional Predictions
Sectional 17: Gary West
Sectional 18: Twin Lakes
Sectional 19: Culver Academies
Sectional 20: West Lafayette
Sectional 21: NorthWood
Sectional 22: Fort Wayne Concordia
Sectional 23: Marion
Sectional 24: New Castle
Sectional 25: Lebanon
Sectional 26: Edgewood
Sectional 27: Crispus Attucks
Sectional 28: Danville
Sectional 29: Greensburg
Sectional 30: Silver Creek
Sectional 31: Princeton
Sectional 32: Heritage Hills
Regional Predictions:
Regional 5: Culver Academies
Regional 6: New Castle
Regional 7: Crispus Attucks
Regional 8: Silver Creek
State Predictions:
Semistate North: Culver Academies
Semistate South: Crispus Attucks
State Champion: Culver Academies