Sectional Preview: Greenfield-Central Regional
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The high school season is almost over and we are getting locked in for the State Playoffs. It is that time of year when we start looking ahead and previewing each and every Sectional. We will start with Michigan City…
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Continue ReadingThe high school season is almost over and we are getting locked in for the State Playoffs. It is that time of year when we start looking ahead and previewing each and every Sectional. We will start with Michigan City Regional and have two previews per day until the start of the Sectional tournament on Tuesday, March 2. Today, let’s look at the Greenfield-Central Regional.
Sectional 41: Hagerstown
The Teams: Cambridge City Lincoln, Centerville, Eastern Hancock, Hagerstown, Knightstown, Northeastern, Shenandoah, Union County
Our Contenders: Eastern Hancock, Northeastern
Players To Watch: Raedhyn Foust Raedhyn Foust 6'8" | PF Northeastern | 2022 State IN (2022) – Northeastern
Prediction: #9 Northeastern, led by Raedhyn Foust Raedhyn Foust 6'8" | PF Northeastern | 2022 State IN , and #10 Eastern Hancock, led by their guard trio of Landon O’Neal Landon O’Neal 6'1" | SG Eastern Hancock | 2022 State IN , Jacob Spaulding, and Silas Spaulding, come in as the clear favorites as two 17 win teams with a combined 13-0 record against the remaining six Sectional opponents. The only other team that comes in North of seven wins is Shenandoah, led by Jasper Campbell Jasper Campbell 6'3" | SG Shenandoah | 2022 IN , who suffered losses to Northeastern (by 30) and Eastern Hancock (by 9) during the season. Eastern Hancock should cruise through their side of the draw as they beat the three other teams on the bottom of the draw by 52 points per game. Northeastern has the toughest game with Shenandoah in the opener, but they beat the three other teams on the top of the draw by 32 points per game. Thus, we will have a rematch of Eastern Hancock’s 4-point win back in early December. In this meeting, the Knights held Landon O’Neal Landon O’Neal 6'1" | SG Eastern Hancock | 2022 State IN to just 3 points for just the fourth time in his 4-year varsity career (2 coming in his freshman year), so he will be the biggest difference-maker in this thriller on Saturday night.
Sectional 42: Park Tudor
The Teams: Covenant Christian, Heritage Christian, Indianapolis Scecina, Irvington Prep Academy, Park Tudor, University
Our Contenders: Covenant Christian, Heritage Christian, Park Tudor, University
Player To Watch: Myles Colvin Myles Colvin 6'5" | SG Heritage Christian | 2023 State #51 Nation IN (2023) – Heritage Christian
Prediction: Sectional 42 is wide-open with #12 Park Tudor, #16 University, Covenant Christian, and Heritage Christian all having a real shot at the title. All of these four teams met during the season except for Park Tudor and Unversity, and the five total meetings were decided by an average of 5 points. There are also several top-level players in this Sectional with Brock Buckley for Covenant Christian, Myles Colvin Myles Colvin 6'5" | SG Heritage Christian | 2023 State #51 Nation IN (Purdue) and Dylan Doss Dylan Doss 5'10" | PG Heritage Christian | 2023 State IN for Heritage Christian, Jermaine Coleman Jermaine Coleman 6'7" | SF Park Tudor | 2023 State IN and Bryce Petty Bryce Petty 6'1" | PG Park Tudor | 2023 State IN for Park Tudor, and Sabien Cain Sabien Cain 6'2" | CG Millennium | 2024 State AZ and Larry Pierce Larry Pierce 6'5" | SF University | 2022 State IN for University. Park Tudor and Heritage Christian will play in the opening round for a trip to the title game as the winner plays Irvington Prep. Park Tudor won by 3 back in January. On the other side, Covenant Christian and University should meet in the semifinals. University beat Covenant Christian on the road by 1 point back in January. All in all, I am going to take Park Tudor as they have done well against their tough school and they have the home floor which they are 11-1 on this year, but this one is wide open.
Sectional 43: South Putnam
The Teams: Cascade, Cloverdale, North Putnam, Parke Heritage, Riverton Parke, South Putnam, Southmont
Our Contenders: North Putnam, Parke Heritage, Southmont
Player To Watch: Christian Johson (2023) – Parke Heritage
Prediction: This Sectional looked to be a two-horse race earlier in the year, but with the return of Christian Johnson Christian Johnson 6'1" | SG Parke Heritage | 2023 IN for Parke Heritage, they are now in the mix to retain the Sectional crown. #17 North Putnam and Aaron Pickel Aaron Pickel 6'3" | SG North Putnam | 2022 IN come in at 19-3 on the year with their lone losses coming at Southmont in the first game of the season, at 3A #4 Sullivan, and vs Danville. Southmont is 16-5 on the year and led by Avery Saunders Avery Saunders 6'5" | SF Southmont | 2022 IN , but they did end the season with a 3 point loss at Parke Heritage. Parke Heritage is just 14-9, but they have ended the season on a 6 game winning and winning 8 of 10. Parke Heritage lost to Cloverdale earlier in the year, and this opening-round game between Kyle Thomas Kyle Thomas 6'4" | SG Cloverdale | 2022 State IN and Christian Johnson Christian Johnson 6'1" | SG Parke Heritage | 2023 IN should be great. On the other side, Southmont and North Putnam should face off in the semifinals. Parke Heritage has shown the ability to win close games, and they looked very impressive in their run to state last year, so I am taking the Wolves to pull off the upset and win their third straight Sectional title.
Sectional 44: South Ripley
The Teams: Milan, North Decatur, South Decatur, South Ripley, Triton Central
Our Contenders: North Decatur, South Decatur, South Ripley, Triton Central
Player To Watch: Hunter Johnson Hunter Johnson 6'2" | SG South Decatur | 2022 State IN (2022) – South Decatur
Prediction: All four of the contenders come in with between 11 and 13 wins, and the parody here will be outstanding. South Ripley was beaten by South Decatur, North Decatur was beaten by South Ripley, South Decatur was beaten by North Decatur, and Triton Central was beaten by both North and South Decatur but only by an average of 6 points. The South Decatur vs South Ripley game will feature a great matchup between Hunter Johnson Hunter Johnson 6'2" | SG South Decatur | 2022 State IN and Nick Schwarte Nick Schwarte 6'5" | SF South Ripley | 2022 IN . The North Decatur vs Triton Central game will also feature a guard matchup with Kaden Muckerheide and Josiah Blair. All in all, I am going to take the best player strategy in picking this Sectional to take South Decatur, but it could really go any of four ways, as it did last year when Triton Central shocked everyone and took home the title.