Preseason Team Rankings: #12
It’s now creeping up on the start of the high school season and we are looking to start our series of previews on some of the best teams in the state. Today, Eric Gardner and Kyler Staley join up to…
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Continue ReadingIt’s now creeping up on the start of the high school season and we are looking to start our series of previews on some of the best teams in the state. Today, Eric Gardner and Kyler Staley join up to start our deep dive into some of these teams.
Our series will take a look at the best teams in the state for each class with our rankings. Starting at #50 and going to #1, we will look at each class ranking across all classes starting now with #12.
1A #12: Kouts
Kouts is coming off a stellar year as they went 22-4 and lost to a great team in Gary 21st Century in Sectionals. Now, they lose their depth as three outgoing seniors are taking a ton of production with them. But, juniors Cole and Cale Wireman return as big time scorers as they scored 17.1 and 14.7 ppg last season. In 1A, that should be enough to keep them near the top of the class. Now, their Sectional doesn’t get any easier as Covenant Christian, Gary 21st, and Washington Twp. are all going to be really good this year, sneaky good 1A Sectional. They should be highly competitive this year with a chance to make a run if they can get out of that Sectional.
2A #12: Heritage Christian
Heritage Christian is coming off a 19-6 season and a Sectional Championship. However, they are going to be replacing a ton with Will Christie and Andrew Williams now graduated. Harrison Eckels, J.T. Turner and some of their size returns as well as adding incoming freshman Myles Colvin who will be one of the best in the state this year. They might take a minute to gel but this is a program and a team that always seems to be going at full speed at the end of the year. Their Sectional is now much more difficult, maybe one of the toughest in 2A with Park Tudor, University, and Covenant Christian in it. It will take an upset or two to make a run but this is a team that has that in their bag.
3A #12: Delta
Delta had one of the most impressive seasons last year but it ended too quickly as they lost to Marion in the Regional Championship game after going undefeated the rest of the season. While they lose a good group of senior including Josh Bryan, they have a good senior group in Zach Garner, Conner Bedwell, and Josh Greenberg along with standout junior Brady Hunt returning. Hunt is looking more and more like a breakout candidate. He averaged 12 and 8 last year. Their Sectional and Regional both are easier than last year and while they might not have the depth like last year, their top end talent should push this team quite a ways.
4A #12: Carmel
Carmel just locked up another State Championship going 26-1 with their only loss coming to Brownsburg in the middle of the season. It was an impressive run but they are now completely reloading as they graduated a ton of talent. The only returning player is Peter Suder, a sophomore, who had any significant playing time. However, they have a lot of talent to choose from as they rebuild this roster. Connor Guoia, Brian Waddell, Bryce Beery, and Charlie Williams should be in line to be the biggest contributors but also look for guys like Will Leery, Spencer White, and Jackson Jannsen as contributors as well. This might be the deepest Carmel has used their bench in a while as they try and find guys early in the year.