Regional Preview: 1A Regional #13
The season is coming up quickly and we are starting to pour into our previews for the upcoming season. Today, we are looking at those Regional setups across the state starting with 1 and ending with 16. Today, we preview Regional 13 with Sectionals 49-52.
Last Year – 17-18
*Based on Sagarin from 2017-18
- Fort Wayne Blackhawk
- Gary 21st Century
- Washington Twp.
- Elkhart Christian
- Tri-County
- Westville
- Covenant Christian (DeMotte)
- Oregon-Davis
- Kouts
- Morgan Twp.
Conference Commentary
Top Ten
Teams that are in the Top 10 of the State in 2A
Fort Wayne Blackhawk – Fort Wayne Blackhawk lost some key players but return two studs at the 1A level. Senior Frankie Davidson and sophomore Caleb Furst are going to really expose teams at the 1A level this year. They are two guys that can single handedly lead a team to the State Finals. Don’t be surprised if Fort Wayne stays at the top of our rankings for quite awhile this season.
Gary 21st Century – While DeAndre Gholston is now playing at Kent State and Gary 21st lost four of their top six scorers, they should be reloaded and really to make some more noise in the Northern half of the state. Johnell Davis is a junior and returns with his 15.5 scoring average a year ago. This should be a team that is able to run and score much like they have in the past. Losing Gholston is a big loss, but they are well equipped to handle it.
Top Ten Potential
Teams that could be in the Top 10 of the State in 2A
Morgan Twp. – While there are a lot of teams in this regional that have potential, none have more than Morgan Twp.. They have the ability to be very good returning their top four scorers. Trevor Braden, a senior, might be the leading scorer in 1A this year and with a drop-off in talent after their first four guys they will need him to score much more than the 21.3 points a game he scored last year.
Argos – Argos is here because they did not have any seniors on the team last year. They are actually pretty young this year with Sam Manikowski and Owen Nifong being the two juniors who will really spur them. Senior Ian Kindig is going to be a beast this year as he returns for his senior season. Look for them to win upwards of 18-20 games to the start of a solid two year stretch.
Covenant Christian (DeMotte) – Covenant Christian (DeMotte) had a stellar year last year and went 23-3. The best part is that they return three of their top four scorers from a year ago and look like they are going to be solid once again. I am a little leary of marking them in for a top ten spot right now simply because they only return six players from the team last year. The future is bright with juniors Ben Lins, Gavin Herrema, and Cade Walstra at the helm as a three headed monster. Get off to a good start and they will be showing up in the polls.
Compete With Most
Teams that could be well above .500 this Season
Washington Twp. – Washington Twp. loses three very important players from a year ago but do return their top scorer from a year ago. Colin Burton is a senior now and it is his team. He will have to lead them and score in bunches. They return quite a few guys who played a lot last year and fellow seniors Jared Armstrong and Zach Brys are going to be heavily counted on to provide the secondary scoring.
Triton – Triton has a lot of experience in the system as they only lose two seniors from last year’s team. They will be a squad who throws a lot of guards at you since they don’t have much height and they play a lot of players keeping themselves fresh. Junior Tyler Heckaman is going to be the tallest returning player on this year and he’s really going to have to do a solid job inside.
Rebuilding
Teams that were good last year but could struggle this Season
Westville – This was a team that went 17-9 last year and was dismantled in the sectional final by Gary 21st. Westville lost two players that scored almost two thirds of their points. They will be a senior heavy team this year but I just don’t think that they will be able to replace the scoring that those two seniors brought. Josh DeChantal, a junior, is going to have to step up mightily in order for them to get to the win total they had last year.
Tri-County – After a 19-6 year last year, don’t be surprised to see Tri-County’s win total slip into the single digits this year. They were a very senior heavy team last year and of their 61.0 points a game last year, only 15.5 points of that returns which is spread across seven players. They lost such a vast amount of talent that I won’t be surprised at all if they flip their record from last year.
Preseason Power Ranking
- Fort Wayne Blackhawk
- Gary 21st Century
- Covenant Christian (DeMotte)
- Argos
- Morgan Twp.
- Washington Twp.
- Triton
- Oregon-Davis
- Elkhart Christian
- LaCrosse
Preseason All-Conference
First Team:
Frankie Davidson (Sr., Fort Wayne Blackhawk)
Caleb Furst (So., Fort Wayne Blackhawk)
Johnell Davis (Sr., Gary 21st Century)
Trevor Braden (Sr., Morgan Twp.)
Colin Burton (Sr., Washington Twp.)
Second Team:
De’Andre Coleman (Jr., South Bend Career Academy)
Brent Wireman (Sr., Kouts)
Justin Harmon (Sr., Lakeland Christian)
Ben Lins (Jr., Covenant Christian (DeMotte))
Kendall Arseneau (Sr., South Newton)
Honorable Mention Team:
Zach Brys (Sr., Washington Twp.)
Cole Wireman (So., Kouts)
Josh DeChantal (Jr., Westville)
Hayden McDougal (Sr., LaCrosse)
Sam Manikowski (Jr., Argos)
Landon Twombly (Sr., Lakeland Christian)
Triyonta Lomax (Jr., Gary 21st Century)
Jared Armstrong (Sr., Washington Twp.)
Kaleb Frazier (Sr., LaCrosse)
Cody Maxwell (Sr., Morgan Twp.)
Hunter Swivel (Sr., Morgan Twp.)
Carson Husmann (Sr., South Central)
Ian Kindig (Sr., Argos)
Owen Nifong (Jr., Argos)
Sam Getz (Sr., Tri-County)
Gavin Herrema (Jr., Covenant Christian (DeMotte))
Cole Robertson (Jr., North White)
Cain Hohne (Sr., Perry Central)