It’s the last weekend of October and there’s NBA on TV, college games soon to be on, and high school basketball is only about 4 weeks away. Which means our countdown is coming down into the top 20. This week features a team that wants to go an extra weekend further than last season with plenty of returnees. A team from far up in the Region that on paper seems to be the class of 2A. There’s also team that would like to make the 1 hr. and 20 minute trip northeast to Bankers Life in late March. A team with the potential to make a deep run all but far from favored in their own sectional. And finally another team in the Region that would like to pull an upset or 2 with their young talent and make a run in March. Let’s go ahead and start out the top 20.
20. South Bend Riley Wildcats- It all starts with Indiana All Star candidate, senior Tyrese Jones. Jones came over from Clay last year and fit in well as a Wildcat. Jones put up big numbers, especially in the game I saw against St. Joe’s. Graduating Marvin Schindler hurts but the incoming junior transfer, Da’Kori Parker from Washington should help make the transition smooth. Parker put up 15.2 ppg last year @ Washington and while the offensive numbers may go down on a stacked Riley team, the efficiency should go up. 6’5 senior guard/ wing Isaiah Packer is someone with some sneaky bounce and a good 3 pt. shot. He’s an underrated player on this Wildcat team. Speaking of underrated, 6’4 sophomore Tree Johnson does all the dirty work for this team inside. What he lacks in height he makes up for strength. 6’1 2- sport athlete Jr. Muri Jackson is a player Riley can count on to play with pace and help out on the defensive end. The sectional is a 7 team gauntlet that includes, St. Joe’s, Penn, Michigan City, and Adams so just getting past the first weekend will be tough. If you’re in the Michiana area Sectional 3 will be must-see.
Key Games;
December 13 v. Homestead @ Champions Classic
January 9 @ SB St. Joe’s
January 15 v. SB Adams
February 20 @ Penn
19. Terre Haute North Patriots- Solid height and shooting describe this Patriots squad. When this team is hot from beyond the arc, there’s not many teams that can keep up with this group. With that being said when they’re missing shots they’re liable to get upset. From what I saw in the summer, their height will cause big problems for smaller teams. 6’6 senior Brady Klopfenstein is the leading returning scorer at 11 ppg and 4 rpg. Klopfenstein recently committed to Bellarmine and presents as a matchup problem for most players. 5’9 senior Gavin Woelfle is the coaches son and gets this offense going averaging 10 ppg and 3 and a half assists. This talented senior class is rounded out by 6’2 Cam Fennell who also put up 10 ppg last season. This group has done alot of winning together over the last few years including a tip to last year’s semi state. The junior class is coming into their own as well led by 6’4 Blake Hammond. Hammond has a chance to really step up his offensive numbers this season. Although the 6’10 Renn graduated, there’s a younger Renn waiting and growing. 6’6 Tyler Renn put up 6 ppg and 4.6 rpg last year and will also see a step up in production. There’s a room for a surprise team to come out of the 4A South this year and it could just be THN’s spot.
Key Games;
November 29 v. Parke Heritage @ Greencastle
December 19 @ Bloomington South
February 5 v. Plainfield
February 20 v. Northview
18. Chesterton Trojans- The Trojans are trending up and are possibly a year away from being considered ‘favorites’ in the Region, but they’d like to arrive ahead of schedule. One huge reason for the optimism in Chesterton is 6’6 sophomore Brad Basila. The athletic wing plays like a mini version of Giannis (at the high school level) and is very hard to stop in transition. The question with Basila will be, can he hit jump shots and shots from the perimeter. Last year was his first year as a Trojan so a full offseason of work his shot should be very much improved. 6’4 senior Logan Pokorney is the Trojans leading scorer and recently committed to Taylor. Pokorney is a smooth shooter that can go outside or stop and hit the mid range. The junior class is strong @ Chesterton with 6’1 Tobias Ray who’s another knockdown shooter and 5’9 Malachi Ransom and is sneaky shifty. The development of 6’7 senior Caden Schneider is key to allowing open shooters on the perimeter. After falling to Portage in last year’s first game of the sectional the Trojans will once again be favored in Sectional 2.
Key Games;
December 5 v. SB St. Joe’s
December 13 v. FW Snider @ Grace
January 23 @ Crown Point
February 7 v. Penn
17. Westfield Shamrocks- It’s a good news/ bad news situation for the Rocks this season. The good is the combo of 6’10 Luke Vandergriff and 6’3 Drew Haffner are a super tough combo to stop for any team and can carry Westfield on a given night v. anyone. The bad news is they’re still in Sectional 8, which is arguably the toughest in the state. Haffner is a recent commit to Abilene Christian and led the Rocks in scoring last year at 12.4 ppg. Vandergriff is getting plenty of D1 looks and should be a breakout player in the state after putting up 3.6 ppg last year. Those offensive numbers should improve by alot this season. Another senior starter is 6’1 Brock Detamore who averaged 8 ppg last season and had a good spring/ summer of AAU ball. 6’4 senior Wyatt Freehauf, 6’6 junior Ian Muntel, and 6’0 junior Logan Sumpter should help ease the loss of 12 ppg scorer Durante Morton who was a tough piece for this team. Sophomore Andrew Noble is a name to keep an eye on and should see some varsity action this year.
Key Games;
December 19 @ Noblesville
January 10 v. Carmel
January 16 v. Hamilton SE
February 24 v. Mt. Vernon
16. Gary 21st Century Cougars- Our final 2A team makes the list here @ #16 and this should be the year 21st gets downstate to Bankers Life. The main reason for such a high rating is 6’1 senior guard Terrence Hayes Jr. The recent Missouri State commit had a big time spring/ summer fitting in smooth with Indiana Elite. He plays bigger than his size and has alot of fast twitch + athleticism in his game. Hayes put up 20.8 ppg last year and should be a shoe in for the Indiana All Star team next June. The Cougars are far from a 1 man show. His partner in the backcourt is senior Ronald Mosley who averaged 10.8 ppg last year. I’m not sure there’s a better backcourt north of Hamilton County in all of high school ball this season than Hayes and Mosley. 6’1 senior Jacoby Donaldson is another quick guard in the backcourt that put up 9.2 ppg. If that wasn’t enough 21st brings some size in 6’8 junior Kayleb Young. Young got to play with and against some big time competition this spring/ summer with Meanstreets 16U squad. Romel Williams is a 5’9 junior guard that got some good PT with the Cougars last year 5’8 sophomore Ryan Mosley also got some time on the varsity floor last year and will add depth to the backcourt. 6’1 Andrean transfer Jerry Triplett also comes over this year to help add quickness and another offensive option. As does Portage transfer 6’10 Metrell Harbin who if in-game shape will be a big piece to help out in the middle. 21st simply has size and athleticism that no other 2A teams can matchup with. In a loaded 2A class with depth Gary 21st has the top talent.
Key Games;
December 6 @ Brownsburg
December 12 @ Pike
January 31 @ Crown Point
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