Sectional Week

 

Sectional week is a bittersweet time of the year. It’s when the most meaningful ball is played and when players and teams become remembered. On the other hand after this week there’s only 64 teams still playing out of a possible 404 (I believe that’s the #) teams. It’s always rough seeing players and teams you’ve seen for 4 years or more come to an end. But there’s always a new group coming up to replace the teams and players that have gone on. On Tuesday I had to check out what turned out to be possibly the game of the season about 5 minutes away @ Madison between Charlestown and Corydon. It was an OT classic with big time individual performances from seniors Anthony Fresh (Charlestown) and Jack Fessel (Corydon). Wednesday I took a trip over to Salem to see the undefeated Rams take on Crawford County. The game wasn’t near as close but the hospitality room @ Salem was top notch. There were so many good games on semi finals Friday from all over the state. I ended up going out to Hanover to see the young Eagles @ Austin against Switzerland County and two ORVC rivals, South Ripley and Southwestern for the 2nd time this season. The next night was championship Saturday and I went back to Hanover to check out the red hot Eagles against the hometown Rebels in a classic 2 pt. game. Saturday night and Sunday were spent streaming numerous games from around the state in the previous night so I got eyes on alot of teams this weekend. Let’s get to the big Sectional Week write ups.

Corydon Central v. Charlestown- These 2 teams have played some really good and close games the last few years. I felt like going into Charlestown is just a little better and should get the W but Corydon played them super close about 5 or 6 weeks ago and the Panthers certainly have had a good year record wise @ 17-6. Corydon Sr. Jack Fessel may be one of the better players that absolutely nobody really gives much attention to. To begin this game he was getting to his spot and hitting mid range shot after shot. His midrange game is one of the best I’ve seen this season. Fortunately for the Pirates it looked like their Sr. Indiana All Star candidate was on his A game tonight as well. Anthony Fresh got hot early and often hitting shots from the outside and driving to the basket. Charlestown was up 15-12 after 1 and maintained a 4 pt. lead @ half. By halftime Fresh had 21 or 22 with seniors Keevin Bowman and AJ Todd chipping in as well. The Panthers never fully went away and kept it within striking distance. Their biggest deficit I believe got up to 9 or 10 early in the 3rd but Fessel and Jr. Grant Lindemann answered with a run of their own. As close as they got, Corydon could just not get over that hump of getting a lead. Going into the 4th it was the Pirates with a 50-44 lead. The 4th quarter is when things really got interesting. With about 5 minutes left and Corydon making a run, there was a technical foul called on one of the Panther players that the fans wearing black and gold did not like at all. It was an emotional game and as a neutral fan the tech. was questionable. I thought @ that point this was Charlestown’s game to lose. Fresh has been getting to the basket at will, Corydon is losing some of their composure. I wasn’t sure if the Panthers had another run in them. They absolutely did and flipped the script completely when Fresh was called for his 5th foul with just under 2 minutes left. At that point it was a 1 point Pirate lead and I thought they’d just try and hold the ball for almost 2 minutes. The Panthers ended up getting the ball back and got a basket to finally take a lead and possibly their first lead of the entire game. I thought to myself this is how it’s going to end for this group of seniors for Charlestown (Fresh, Odle, Todd, Bowman). It ended up tied with just under a minute left and Corydon ball. Fessel got a real good look and took the 3 with about 6 seconds left that rimmed around the rim and came out. Overtime. Playing four extra minutes for Charlestown without Fresh was not ideal and it felt like all the momentum with was with Corydon. Fresh got them to that point with 35 pts on the night but AJ Todd was the closer. Todd put the team on his back in OT and refused to lose. Todd got to the line and capitalized on his free throws ending the night with 13 big points. Meanwhile Corydon couldn’t get much to fall in OT and the game slipped away from them by a final of 69-64. Fessel ended his Corydon career with 32 pts. and should get some North/ South (East/ West whichever one it is) All Star game recognition. A big boost on the boards tonight for the Pirates was Bowman who grabbed 13 rbs to go along with his 15 pts. The Pirates face the home team Madison Cubs on Friday.

Crawford County v. Paoli- I had to make the drive west to check out the undefeated Rams take on the Wolfpack on Wednesday night. Paoli came into the game 23-0 and without a loss in the regular season for the first time in school history. This is my 4th time seeing the Rams this season what I notice as one of their biggest strengths is their depth. They play a legit 9 guys with no real drop off from each other. I’m sure there has been but the games I’ve went to no individual scored 20+ pts. And there may have even been different leading scorers in each game. A second strength of theirs is the press. When they throw it on it usually gets the team going creating defense into offense. With playing 9 guys they can afford to play faster without getting tired or in foul trouble. On the other side Crawford County has had a tough year just losing to Paoli a week ago in their last regular season game. Soph. Braxton Bowman is a bright spot for the Wolfpack averaging 23 ppg. In the first quarter tonight I’m not sure Paoli got the message they were the 23-0 team that was scheduled to play @ 7:30. Both teams came out pretty sluggish to begin tournament play. CC actually took a small lead into the 2nd. The Rams are going to have to start alot better if they want to advance past this weekend or next. Sr. Dane Padgett got things going on the inside for Paoli, as did fellow Sr. Chad Sullivan. They realized they could bully CC down low. Juniors Treighlin Minton, Ian Sullivan, and Dakota Apple got to the basket off some CC turnovers and by half it was a Rams double digit lead. Bowman for the Wolfpack was guarded hard by multiple defenders all game and found it difficult to get going. You could see the frustration of shots not falling and being face-guarded all game. In the 2nd half the Rams kept increasing their lead and showing why their depth is so important. With five or six minutes left in the game CC was held to only 20 pts total so the Rams defense really shut down the Wolfpack in the 2nd and 3rd quarters. The running clock came into play in the 4th quarter as Paoli kept pushing their lead. The game eventually ended up 68-36 in favor the Rams. Sr. Dane Padgett led the Rams in scoring with 16 pts and 7 rbs. Chad Sullivan chipped in 12 pts and 7 rbs for Paoli while CC soph. Braxton Bowman led the Wolfpack with 15 hard fought pts. The Rams also got a W on Friday night beating Mitchell 77-36. Sr. Kirk Hughes led them in scoring with 19 pts in that game. Saturday the Rams captured the sectional crown and continuted their undefeated season beating Providence, 45-28

South Ripley @ Southwestern- Two ORVC rivals the last couple of years met up with SR winning the last 3 going back to last season’s sectional win on the Rebels home floor. Just three weeks ago the Raiders visited Hanover and came away with a 20 pts W that was really seemed more than that. All signs were pointing to another Raider W and knocking a senior led Rebels team out on their homecourt. I remember seeing this current senior group of Rebels back in middle school and they were a strong group then defeating bigger schools like Silver Creek and Scottsburg, but things just haven’t clicked 100% all the time this year. A few weeks ago South Ripley scored easy and at will but the first few minutes of this one their shots just weren’t falling. Meanwhile SW senior Brady Cook got cooking and really didn’t stop until the final buzzer. The senior showed up in the biggest game so far of his career driving to the basket past his defender up top and hitting some key three’s throughout the game. Speaking of 3’s a real shot in the arm this season has been the freshman sharpshooter, Quinton Lewis. Lewis may not get the statewide notoriety just yet but he’s just as good as most any freshman from beyond the arc. Tonight he went 3/6 and scoring 13 pts. total.  On the Raiders side the top two scorers, soph. Eli Gilpin and Jr. Drew Volz were struggling to find their offense. The two combined had 6 pts. @ halftime. As bad as it sounds for South Ripley they were only down 2 at the break. Although Raider fans were worried the feeling was they’d come out in the 2nd half and play like their normal selves. I’m not sure if it actually got worse for SR or just better from Southwestern but in the 3rd quarter the Rebels extended their lead with a run that put them up 10. The 3’s were falling for SW with multiple players hitting (Jeter Chatham, Quinton Lewis, Brady Cook). Chatham’s two 3’s were big and an unexpected bonus for the Rebels. Sr. Braxton Lewis who has been out injured most of the season for SW played an excellent point guard game controlling tempo and managing the clock. Once the Raiders got down 8-10 it was an uphill climb for a Rebels team that knew how to hang out and help kill a game. In the 4th quarter SW almost let it slip with taking a few unwanted quick shots which led to easy Raider baskets. When a 3 pt. shot that would have cut the SR deficit to 3 bounced off you felt it was just Southwestern’s night. The Rebels even missed some free throws in the final minutes that kept hope just alive but SR never could take the game away. SW avenged a loss from earlier in the season with a 62-52 W moving on to championship Saturday in Hanover v. Austin (another team that beat them by 20 just two weeks ago).  Soph. Blake Gunter played one of his better offensive games of the year with 16 pts and 10 rbs for the Raiders. The 6’5 Gunter is a relentless working underneath the basket and is a solid athlete. Big things are expected in the next few years for him and his fellow 18-6 Raiders as SR only graduates one senior, Bryson Sipples. The senior 4 of Brady Cook, Braxton Lewis, Jeter Chatham, and Caleb Goode have played alot of ball together for SW and will have at least 1 more together on championship Saturday. Cook ended up with a game-high 23 pts, 5 rbs, and 2 assists. Goode ended up with 11 pts. and Chatham with 9 pts.

Austin @ Southwestern- Sectional Saturday night is special. There were so many really good matchups in the state on Saturday but I knew this one would be a rock fight and close to the very end. In spite of Austin winning by 20 pts a couple of weeks ago the Rebels had a chance for revenge on their home floor in Hanover. Southwestern got over the South Ripley hurdle on Friday night that had plagued them the last couple of years but I was a little worried there would be a letdown on Saturday. As I’ve written in here before, the Rebels can be good one night and bad the next. Austin came in red hot as a team winning 13 of their last 15 games. While SW is senior led the Eagles are a group of talented underclassmen that look to be poised for a run like they had in the late 90s/ early 00s. In the first quarter the pace of play was just what the Rebels wanted. SW controlled the tempo and held Austin to 7 pts on their way to a 12-7 lead. Early on it looked like the Rebels offense would run through Sr. Caleb Goode getting to the basket. The Eagles were looking to get Jr. Carter Hunley by going inside to him and using his size on his way to 8 pts in the game. Austin Coach Bret Jameson called a timeout to get the press going to speed up the pace and cause some Rebel turnovers. Credit to Austin for realize the game was not flowing how they wanted it to and fixing it. By half it was all tied up at 24. SW senior Brady Cook who put in 23 pts the night before was guarded by someone as long, big, and athletic as him tonight in Eagle freshman Micah Mohler. The Rebels once again got a huge boost from freshman, Quinton Lewis. Q hit some huge 3s  and drew a critical 3rd foul on Mohler on his way to 16 pts in the game. Lewis has been one of their more consistent offensive players over the last month putting up double figures. And Eagle sophomore Tracen Roush handled the ball very well in his first yr. as pg and hit some big time shots as he put in 9 pts on the night. After 3 it was still tied with the game waiting for someone to take over. Every possession felt big and one team was just a few points away from taking control over the game. With just over 5 minutes left Cook was called for his 5th foul with Mohler driving to the basket. The last 4 or 5 minutes the Eagles just played through Mohler and they were going to win or lose it through him. Alot of times throughout the game SW played some good solid defense but Mohler would just rise up and bury a 3, or he’d get to the basket drawing a foul or getting a lay- in. Austin took their largest lead of the game @ 10 with about 4 minutes left and it looked like the run for this group of Rebels was over. But they fought back thanks to some Austin missed free throws and turnovers. Rebel Sr. Braxton Lewis’s 3 cut it to 2 pts but with only a few seconds remaining and with SW out of timeouts, the horn sounded and the Eagles got the W, 54-52 and got their first sectional title since the Drew Buhr- led team in 2018. Mohler has long been known coming up in the southern Indiana area but it’s time he starts getting some statewide recognition and consideration for one of the (if not THE) top player in the ’29 class. In the 4th Mohler put the team on his shoulders and just refused to lose scoring 14 pts in the quarter. Coming into sectional week I knew he was the best talent in the sectional but could a freshman carry them to a title a year ahead of schedule? That question was answered in tonight’s game going up against 4 senior starters for SW. He ended up fouling out 2 of their 5 starters on his way to 32 pts, 8 rbs, 2 assists, 2 steals, and 1 block winning MVP of the sectional. When you read about a kid scoring a lot of points for a smaller school you think he shoots alot. Mohler is a very good and willing passer but when the game needed to be taken over he realized it and did. Austin looks like they could be a problem in 2A south for the foreseeable future.

East Chicago Central @ Gary Westside- Speaking of young talent, this Westside/ EC game had an abundance of it on display Saturday night. The ‘baby birds’ @ ECC play and are led most nights by 1 of 3 freshmen that get good PT. Zayden Johnson, Naji Meux, and Mekhi Gillis. On the other side GW starts one of the best prospects in the state in 6’8 Prentiss Gates and 6th man, Deshawn Clay Jr. The Cougars took the W earlier in the season on this same court thanks in large part to Sr. Trey Hinton. Hinton is a 5’11 explosive guard that gets to the rim and can shoot from deep. He routinely drives past and sometimes over the defender for dunks and lay ins. Throw in a 6’10 senior in Tyler Crews and this Westside group should be one of the top teams in all of 3A North. In this one it was Gillis for ECC getting hot early scoring 11 pts in the first quarter alone. It was clear to anyone watching that he was the calming factor for the Cards. He slowed the pace when needed to, handled the GW press, and knew when to take the shot or draw the foul. Any one of the 3 freshmen Cards could lead on a given night but tonight was Mekhi Gillis’s night. ECC took a 10 pt. lead into half really outplaying Westside. Hinton was quiet for most of the half and as good as Gates is defensively, he’s still raw on offense. EC got some big time baskets inside from their big Sr. Lance Jackson. Jackson is a wide body that had some nice up and unders. The 4th quarter is when the action really got going, especially the last few minutes. Cardinal seniors Jamarie Pollard and Joseph Watkins also hit some big time shots and free throws during the last half. It looked like ECC had it won and was going to pull the upset but Trey Hinton for Westside just refused to lose hitting shots and getting to the line. With the season on the line and the Cardinals up by 3 Hinton takes a look for 3, is fouled what looked like before the shot, but Hinton smartly raises up and is given 3 free throws to tie it up with little time remaining. He calmly knocks down all 3 and it felt like ECC blew their shot at a sectional title. After a miss from ECC at the end of regulation Gillis hit a huge 3 in OT with just around a minute left to give the Cards a 3 point advantage. After a GW miss and free throw from ECC the Cardinals led by 1 with time winding down. Hinton takes a wild off balance 3 that goes in and cuts it to 1. Watkins is fouled where he was clutch hitting 2 free throws to make it a 3 pt. advantage. GW had one shot left to tie and ECC had 1 foul to give. The Cardinals missed their chance to give it in the backcourt and Hinton got a fairly good look at a tie that bounced off. The Cards earn their 3rd straight sectional crown by a score of 57-54 in OT. Gillis led the Cardinals with 22 pts and controlled the game for EC. Hinton laid it all on the line for GW in his last game in the orange and blue with 28 pts. The Cards ended up hitting 20/23 from the foul line and grabbed 31 rebounds on GW to help ice the game. GW shot the ball well from the line as well hitting 10/11. This was just another instant classic between 2 rivals that are young and we’ll be hearing more about in the next few years.

Other News and Notes from Sectional Week from Across the State

• New Albany defeated Scottsburg, 80-64. Soph. Noah Washington with 25 pts for the Bulldogs. Soph. Caiden Boswell put in 24 pts and 9 rbs for the Warriors.
• Columbia City got an opening round W v. West Noble, 75-33. Sr. Owen Marshall with 32 pts and 8 rbs for the Eagles.
• Blackford came back to get a 62-54 W over Alexandria. Soph. Amarian Leggett with 31 pts for the Bruins while going over 1K pts so far in his career. Leggett put up 10 pts and 8 rbs on Friday in a W v. Eastbrook.
• Wood Memorial defeated Evansville Christian, 60-45. Sr. Houston Schoonover with 25 pts and 7 rbs for the Trojans. On Friday WM beat Tecumseh 81-53. Schoonover with 21 pts in the W.
• Trinity Lutheran get past Shawe Memorial, 72-36. Jr. Reed Mellencamp led the Cougars with 16 pts and 11 rbs.
• HSE won their first sectional game in 5 years defeating Westfield, 68-61. Sr. Landon Osswald with 23 pts and 9 rbs for the Royals.
• Greensburg got by Lawrenceburg, 63-45. Soph. Max Buening with 16 pts for the Pirates.
• Parke Heritage with a 56-44 OT W over Greencastle. Sr. Treigh Schelsky poured in 25 pts for the Wolves.
• West Washington defeated Henryville on Tuesday, 62-55. Jr. Holden Russell with 13 pts for the Senators. Jr. Justin Cobbs scored 15 pts and 6 rbs for the Hornets.
• Evansville Bosse got by Evansville Central, 76-54. Sr. Dorion Bowen with 17 in the W for the Bulldogs.
• Cloverdale beat WRV 56-44. Soph. Ishmael Kiteka with 21 pts and 10 rbs for the Clovers.
• Defending state champs, Jeffersonville got by Floyd Central 72-54. Soph. Aiden Toler put in 20 pts for the Red Devils.
• East Chicago got an opening round W v. Highland 67-38. Sr. Jamarie Pollard led the Cards with 13 pts and 3 steals.
• Mater Dei defeated Tell City on Wednesday, 72-41. Sr. Jayden Overton with 19 pts for the Wildcats. On Friday Mater Dei got a 61-45 W over N. Posey. Soph. Cole Breeden with 22 pts in the W.
• Roncalli beat New Pal. 69-58. Sr. Conner Kesler had 17 pts, 5 rbs, and 5 assists for the Royals. Soph. Will Davison put up 35 pts for the Dragons.
• SB Riley got by LaPorte on Wednesday 58-40. Sr. Tyrese Jones finished with 16 pts, 11 rbs, and 3 assists. SB also defeated Penn 58-47 on Friday. Jones had another 23 pts, 4 rbs, and 4 assists for the Wildcats.
• Guerin Catholic rolled past Frankfort, 81-36. Jr. Carter Murans put up 24 pts for the Golden Eagles.
• Penn got by Michigan City 63-43. Soph. Caleb Coolman with 18 pts, 10 rbs, + 5 assists for the Kingsmen.
• Lakewood Park Christian defeated Smith Academy on Wednesday night, 73-37. Sr. Avery MacFarlane put in 21 pts for the Panthers.
• Borden hit a last second 3 to defeat CAI, 48-47. Parker Rarick made the shot and finished with 8 pts. for the Braves. On Friday Borden got the W over South Central 78-60. Soph. Wyatt Jones with 25 pts for the Braves.
• Edinburgh got a W on Wednesday night over Knightstown, 63-60. Soph. Max Dodson with 18 pts and 10 rbs for the Lancers.
• Gary West got the W on Friday night v. Griffith. Sr. Trey Hinton put in 25 pts for the Cougars.
• Lake Central hit a halfcourt 3 to defeat Munster, 51-48. Sr. Cooper Kroncke hit the shot to give him 10 pts. for the Indians. Sr. Jakob Billmeyer with 20 in the W.
• Sheridan beat Taylor 67-66 in OT. Sr. Trey Page with 20 pts and 3 rbs for the Blackhawks.
• Fishers got by HSE, 75-65. Jr. Jason Gardner Jr. with 24 pts and 5 rbs. for the Tigers.
• Paoli moved on to Saturday night’s final with a 77-36 W over Mitchell. Sr. Kirk Hughes with 19 pts for the Rams.
• Greenfield got by Anderson, 71-52. Sr. Clay Mullins with 23 pts and 12 rbs in a W for the Cougars.

Sectional Championship Saturday

• SB St. Joe’s gets a come from behind W v. SB Riley in OT. Jr. Peyton Miamba led the Huskies with 16 pts.
• The Paoli Rams remain undefeated with a sectional title W v. Providence. Sr. Chad Sullivan led the Rams with 12 pts and 4 rbs.
• Silver Creek captured their 1st sectional title since 2021 with a W v. Charlestown. Sr. Dane Caldwell with 28 pts, 14 rbs, and 6 blocks for the Dragons. Jr. Brandon Hunter put in 25 pts and 8 assists for SC. Sr. Anthony Fresh finishes out his career as a Pirate with 26 pts.
• Barr Reeve knocked out defending 1A state champion, Orleans 54-36. Jr. Kierson Lengicher led the Vikings with 28 pts. Bulldog Sr. Nate Brown put in 21 pts.
• Monroe Central captured a sectional championship with a 53-39 W over Union City. Sr. Ta’Shaun Beatty with 21 pts for the Bears.
• Marquette Catholic upset previous unbeaten Kouts 59-57. Jr. Josiah Mays with 24 pts in the W.
• FW Snider won their sectional v. FW North in OT, 68-65. Jr. Braylin Fertil led the Panthers comeback W with 21 pts.
• Blackford got the sectional crown v. Wapahani, 49-39. Raider Sr. Cam Bell finished his career with 19 pts.
• New Albany got their 1st sectional since 2018 defeating Seymour 73-42. Soph. Noah Washington with another big game of 21 pts for the Bulldogs.

5 Stars of Sectional Week 

Bryce Lacross- FW Blackhawk. 21 pts and 7 rbs in a W v. Angola. 40 pts in an OT W v. Dekalb. 11 pts in a sectional championship W v. East Noble.

Dorion Bowen- Evansville Bosse. 17 pts in a W v. Evansville Central. 33 pts and 12 rbs in a W v. Evans. Memorial. 21 pts and a sectional championship v. Heritage Hills.

Noah Washington- New Albany. 25 pts in a W v. Scottsburg. 31 pts in a W v. BNL. 21 pts and a sectional title W v. Seymour.

Luke Ertel- Mt. Vernon (Fortville). 25 pts, 6 rbs, and 6 assists in a W v. Muncie Central. 25 pts, 8 rbs, 8 assists, and 3 steals in a sectional championship v. Greenfield Central.

Kamdon Partenheimer- Forest Park. 18 pts, 19 rbs, in a W v. Pike Central. 22 pts and 21 rbs in a W v. South Spencer. 19 pts and 12 rbs in a sectional title v. Evansville Mater Dei.

Team of the Week- Barr Reeve Vikings. Defeated Loogootee 48-35. Beat North Daviess 63-30. Won the sectional title v. Orleans 54-36.

Upset(s) of the Week- Brownsburg beating Ben Davis. Seymour defeating Jeffersonville. Carmel over Fishers. Lawrence Central beating Lawrence North. Jasper over Gibson Southern. Anderson defeating Pendleton Heights. Forest Park beating Evansville Mater Dei. Marquette Catholic over Kouts. Castle defeating both Evansville North and Harrison on their way to winning the sectional.

Top Freshmen from Around the State in Sectional Week

Micah Mohler- Austin. 32 pts in a W v. Southwestern (Hanover). 15 pts in a W v. Switzerland County.

Mekhi Gillis- East Chicago Central. 22 pts in a W v. Gary Westside. 11 pts in a W v. Hammond Noll. 9 pts and 4 rbs in a W v. Highland.

Romyiez Calvin- Evansville Harrison. 18 pts in a W v. Evans. Reitz.

Walker Johnson0- Delta. 16 pts and 7 rbs in a W v. Hamilton Heights.

Karson Stoudemire- New Albany. 16 pts in a W v. Scottsburg. 10 pts in a W v. BNL. 15 pts in a sectional title W v. Seymour.

Quinton Lewis- Southwestern (Hanover). 15 pts in a W v. Brown County. 13 pts in a W v. South Ripley. 16 pts v. Austin

Wyatt Wilkins- Floyd Central. 16 pts v. Jeffersonville.

Charlie Roberts- Edinburgh. 16 pts in a W v. Knightstown.

Jayden Kennedy- Cathedral. 15 pts and 8 steals in a W v. Herron.

JP Siltz- Henryville. 12 pts and 3 rbs v. West Washington.

Charlie Bailey- FW Concordia. 10 pts v. Leo.

Mekhi Gillis- East Chicago Central. 9 pts and 4 rbs in a W v. Highland.

Zayden Johnson- East Chicago Central. 9 pts and 3 rbs in a W v. Highland.

Larry Upshaw Jr.- Michigan City. 9 pts v. Penn.

Deshawn Clay Jr.- Gary Westside. 8 pts in a W v. Calumet. 10 pts in a W v. Griffith.

Ryan Gold- Cathedral. 7 pts in a W v. Shortridge.

Corey Brown Jr.- Gary Lighthouse. 4 pts and 9 rbs in a W v. Andrean. 9 pts, 9 rbs, and 2 blocks in a W v. Wheeler.