Sectional Preview: 5
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 5.
Carroll (Fort Wayne) (13-10) – Lost 2nd Rd. Sectional
Carroll loses the bulk of their scoring as Jacob Redding and Anthony Martin both leave and that leaves seniors Riley Perlich and Dan Mckeeman to front the scoring load. They won’t be as bad as some may think after losing the guys they did and could sneak into the title game is the cards fall right.
DeKalb (8-15) – Lost 1st Rd. Sectional
DeKalb is stuck in a group of a ton of tough teams to beat because each are very good year in and year out. Senior Jonah Webb is really going to have to stand out if they want to win more than 10 games this year. Cole Richmond is a freshman that could make a big impact for them as well this year.
East Noble (12-11) – Lost 1st Rd. Sectional
East Noble may surprise a few people this year. They have a young team and junior Ali Ali is 6’7 and has really improved this summer. East Noble could have a lineup out there that is huge with 6’1, 6’3, 6’4, 6’6, 6’7 all on the floor at the same time. This will be an interesting year but I think they are still a year away.
Fort Wayne Dwenger (12-11) – Lost 2nd Rd. Sectional
Campbell Donovan will be a big loss for Dwenger but returners Lucas Lehrman and Hayden Smithey should be able to carry the load. Dwenger lost five seniors but they do still feature some other nice pieces that played a lot last year. Dwenger should increase their win total from last year.
Fort Wayne North (27-3) – Lost State Final
After losing Jaylen Butz to graduation you would think that Fort Wayne North would be a little worse but I don’t think that will be the case. Keion Brooks and guard transfers Austin Boucher and Lucas Kroft will do the heavy lifting and those three are as good as any trio in the state. I expect them to make another deep run this year and anything less than a sectional title will be a disaster,
Fort Wayne Northrop (11-11) – Lost 2nd Rd. Sectional
Northrop lost six seniors from their team last year and will be in full rebuild mode. They have a couple freshmen who could make an impact but other than that not much returns. A few seniors will look to keep the team respectable but it may be a little tough.
Fort Wayne Snider (17-7) – Lost Sectional Final
Snider may have lost the most talent of any team in this sectional as their leading two scorers are gone as well as Mr. Basketball candidate from last year Malik Williams. This will be a vastly different team from last year and they, like Snider, will be beginning to build toward the future.
Contenders For 2017-18: Carroll (Fort Wayne), Fort Wayne North
Prediction: Fort Wayne North
Player to Watch: Keion Brooks (Fort Wayne North)