Sectional Preview: 14
The coming high school season is almost upon us. With that, we are taking a look at each Sectional in the state. Starting with 64 and ending with 1. Today, we are previewing Sectional 14.
Bloomington North (12-10) – Lost Sectional Semifinal
For Bloomington North, they were setup to have a legit shot at the Sectional Championship before Musa Jallow graduated early and went to Ohio State. Now, they should still be good but losing Musa early will hurt. They bring back David Morgan, Jack Townsend, and bring in freshman Isaac Vencel. They now will lose a big rebounding presence and size. Replacing that will be difficult. This team should still score the ball well but Bloomington South and Shelbyville will be the best.
Bloomington South (22-5) – Lost Regional Semifinals
This should be the last year before there will be a changing of the guard for Bloomington South. They lose a few good players in Josh Hall and Trey Bomba. However, they bring back Phillip King, Chance Coyle, and Anthony Leal. Those three make up a really good shooting trio with a little size. Noah Jager looks like he is going to be able to step up this year as well. They don’t have true size in the post and that will have to be something they deal with this year but they are the most veteran and skilled group in this Sectional.
Columbus East (11-13) – Lost 1st Rd. Sectional
Columbus East is coming off a season in which they only won 11 games and now will lose three key seniors in Chaz Painter, Kyle Frost, and Tanner McFall. Painter and Frost gave them veteran size who were really effective and McFall was a senior guard who could pick up the scoring. Now, they have players that should make big improvements with Max Nolting, Matt Frost, and Carson Whitehead. A lot of their upside depends on how they can improve their post play. They have enough on the perimeter but thankfully no other team in this Sectional has a ton of size either. Not sure they compete at the top of this Sectional this year but possibly next.
Columbus North (15-9) – Lost 1st Rd. Sectional
Columbus North will take the biggest hit of all as they lose seniors Ethan Mitchell, Alex King, and Stephon Peters-Smith. All three were their best players and all three had size at 6’7 or taller. Now, they will be much more built around guards with Jaylen Flemmons and Trey Vincent. They also just lost junior standout Trenton Kelley for some time with an injury. This is a full rebuild season for Columbus North and they will have to completely regroup.
East Central (13-11) – Lost Sectional Semifinals
East Central might be at the biggest disadvantage every season as they are clearly the longest to travel to the other Sectional sites each season. They haven’t been too competitive and the last time the won a Sectional Championship was 2007 and last time they won a Sectional game at all was 2008. They lost only two seniors but Brady Ewing will be a tough loss as one of their major contributors. They should still be solid but this isn’t the season with Bloomington South and Shelbyville as strong as they are.
Shelbyville (18-7) – Lost Sectional Finals
This could be a strong year for Shelbyville. They bring back a ton of talent including Cooper Lewis, Sam Lewis, Brock Blackwell, and Zach Kuhn. They have some size along with a ton of scoring options. This core has been together for a while and they have all be consistent Varsity level players since they were freshman so experience is at a high level. Last season, they just came up short to Bloomington South. Expectations are for a rematch but could see this go either way.
Contenders For 2017-18: Bloomington South, Shelbyville
Prediction: Bloomington South
Player to Watch: Chance Coyle (Bloomington South)