3 For 3: Week 6 Preview
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The high school boys’ basketball season is underway and even though we could face some challenges throughout the year, we at PrepHoops Indiana want to give you the absolute best coverage in the whole state. Indiana is full of great…
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Continue ReadingThe high school boys’ basketball season is underway and even though we could face some challenges throughout the year, we at PrepHoops Indiana want to give you the absolute best coverage in the whole state. Indiana is full of great teams and talented players thus giving the fans incredible matchups every week. Join me, Kyler Staley, every Monday during the season as I preview the 3 Players, 3 Teams, and 3 Matchups to watch for that coming week. Are you ready? Let’s get started!
3 Players
Charlie Williams Charlie Williams 6'10" | PF Carmel | 2022 State #220 Nation IN – 6’8 2022 PF – Carmel: Williams is a long, tall forward who is very versatile in the paint. Currently one of the main reasons that his team, Carmel, is one the best teams in the 4A right now. He is one of my players to watch this week because I feel like the causal high school basketball fan does not know how good this power forward is. Runs the floor so well and is the type of big that scores at all three levels. Just one of those players that can impact any game he is in. He and Carmel will take on Anderson (12/30) and Fishers (1/2) this week.
Luke Goode Luke Goode 6'6" | SF Homestead | 2021 State #107 Nation IN – 6’6 2021 SF – Homestead: Goode is a tough wing with a lot of skill and shooting ability. This Illinois commit has Homestead competing at a high level and is currently undefeated having won 9 straight. Goode is such a smooth player and has one of the highest basketball IQs in his class. He is a do-it-all type player that is so tough to stop once he gets in the flow of the game. He and the Spartans have a couple of somewhat challenging games with traveling to Marion on Tuesday and hosting North Central (Indianapolis) on Saturday. Expect Goode and Homestead to continue their hot streak this week.
Lane Lauderbaugh Lane Lauderbaugh 6'7" | SF South Decatur | 2021 State IN – 6’5 2021 SF – South Decatur: Lauderbaugh is coming off a historic accomplishment having became the all-time leading scorer for South Decatur in his last game against South Ripley. He is quietly having an awesome season with averaging a double-double currently. Lauderbaugh is a tall small forward with a lot of skill and can just score at a high level. He plays around the wing a ton but can mix it up in the paint a good amount. South Decatur is currently 2-3 on the season but have a big chance to snag a few big wins when they compete in the Edinburgh Tournament starting Monday. Expect Lauderbaugh to continue his amazing senior season and start to get South Decatur in the winning column a bit more.
3 Teams
Fishers (4A): The Tigers have had an up and down season so far. Currently 2-2 this season but have lost the last two games against two really good teams (Hamilton Southeastern and Lawrence North). They are one of my teams to watch this week just because of the amount of games they have. They are competing in the Huntington North Tournament, which is loaded with good teams, and then host Carmel on Saturday. Teams are bypassing them right now in the ranking so if they can rack up some big wins this week they will be right in the mix of things.
Jeffrey Simmons
Jeffrey
Simmons
6'7" | PF
Fishers | 2022
State
IN
and Fishers are in for a huge week to prove some doubters wrong.
Hammond (3A): The Wildcats are one of the top 2 teams in 3A right now. Led by senior PF Darrell Reed Darrell Reed 6'8" | PF Hammond | 2021 State IN (Alabama State Commit), Hammond is currently 3-1 on this season and are in the conversation for 3A State Champs at the moment. On Tuesday, they will compete in the North Central (Indianapolis) Classic taking on both Avon and North Central (Indianapolis), which they should win both. Then if that is not enough, they will travel to Bowman Academy to take on 4A Merrillville. I expect Hammond to go 3-0 this week and prove why they are in the mix with teams like Silver Creek and Heritage Hills.
South Spencer (2A): The Rebels are one the best teams in all of 2A right now. Undefeated and have pretty much dominated every team they have played this season. When you have players on your team such as Jace Kelly Jace Kelly 6'0" | PG South Spencer | 2021 IN , Chase Garrett Chase Garrett 6'4" | CG South Spencer | 2021 State IN , Kobe Bartlett Kobe Bartlett 6'2" | SG South Spencer | 2021 State IN , Michael Donoho Michael Donoho 6'1" | SG South Spencer | 2021 State IN , and Holton Compton Holton Compton 6'6" | PF South Spencer | 2022 State IN , it should be no surprise that they are having a season like this. On Monday they will compete in the Perry-Spencer Tournament and honestly should be the favorite to win the whole thing. Keep an eye, not only this week, but for the rest of the season on this awesome South Spencer squad.
3 Matchups
Gary West (4A) at Lawrence North (4A) – Dec. 30th, 6:00 pm: This is probably the best 4A matchup this week. Both teams are at the top of 4A teams this season and have absolutely been on a roll all year thus far. Tons of big time players and prospects in this one with studs like
Quimari Peterson
Quimari
Peterson
6'0" | PG
Gary West | 2021
State
IN
,
Mason Nicholson
Mason
Nicholson
6'8" | C
Gary West | 2021
State
IN
,
Jalen Washington
Jalen
Washington
6'10" | PF
Gary Westside | 2022
State
#32
Nation
IN
,
DJ Hughes
DJ
Hughes
6'8" | PF
Lawrence North | 2021
State
#219
Nation
IN
,
Shamar Avance
Shamar
Avance
6'1" | PG
Lawrence North | 2021
State
IN
,
Chris Gunn
Chris
Gunn
6'5" | SG
Lawrence North | 2022
State
#114
Nation
IN
, all playing. I think this game really comes down to who wants its more because the talent on both teams is not an issue. Real tough one to pick but until proven otherwise, Lawrence North is the best team in 4A right now. Expect this one to deliver on excitement.
Hall of Fame Tournament – Dec. 30th, 11:00 am: Kind of cheating here but this tournament is too big to only feature one game. In the first game you have a clash of 2 of the top 5 teams in 2A with Luke Brown Luke Brown 6'1" | PG Blackford | 2021 State IN and Blackford taking on Andrew Bennett Andrew Bennett 6'2" | SG Shenandoah | 2021 State IN and Shenandoah. Not only are those two of the top guards in the state featured in this game but other top prospects like Kaden McCollough Kaden McCollough 5'11" | PG Shenandoah | 2021 State IN , Dayton Hoover Dayton Hoover 6'4" | SF Frontier | 2023 State IN and so many others are competing in this one. In the second game you have the best team in 1A, Barr-Reeve, taking on the best team in 2A, Fort Wayne Blackhawk. This game is probably the best game on paper this week just because of the matchups like the power forward collision between Curt Hopf Curt Hopf 6'8" | PF Barr-Reeve | 2021 State IN and Caleb Furst Caleb Furst 6'9" | PF Blackhawk Christian | 2021 State #34 Nation IN . Literally any team has a chance to win this one, but when the dust settles I think Blackhawk comes out the ultimate winner here.
Bloomington South (4A) at Eastern Greene (2A) – Jan. 2nd, 7:30 pm: I think it is safe to say that Bloomington South is not the team they were last year. They are not a bad team by any means but they just do not have the talent they had last season. Recently got bounced out the top 18 in 4A and their schedule is not exactly easy especially with a underrated Eastern Greene team hosting them on Saturday. Eastern Greene has had a sneaky good year this season and are being led by two of the top scorers in the state with Sam Rees Sam Rees 6'1" | SG Eastern Greene | 2021 State IN and Bryan Rippy Bryan Rippy 6'5" | C Eastern Greene | 2022 IN . If South is going to win this one, senior stud Joseph Bomba Joseph Bomba 6'4" | SF Bloomington South | 2021 State IN will need to go off here like he has done all season. Call me crazy but, I think Eastern Greene upsets South here.