We’re about one month away from the season starting and this week we’re into our top 30. There’s some really strong teams in this weeks rankings. There’s a 1A team that’s thinking the 3rd time to a semi state is a charm in the south. This next team graduated their school’s one and only Mr. Basketball but still may return an Indiana All Star. Way up north there’s a team that graduated a strong group of seniors but get a potential all star transfer to put them back in the mix. There’s a program that has been to 4 straight semi state’s and have the pieces to go one step further this year in 3A. There’s a rejuvenated program deep in southern Indiana led by the state’s top sophomore. And a group that graduated one of their most accomplished classes in school history but have enough returning pieces ready to step in and step up. Let’s get to teams #26- #30.
(t) 30. Delta Eagles- The Eagles have been one of the state’s most consistent winning programs the last 4 years. I’d have to look but I’m not sure anyone has been to 4 straight semi state’s in the modern era. The good news is that means every player on this roster has never lost a sectional or regional game. The bad news is none of these players have advanced to state and won the semi state. If the Eagles want to get over that roadblock this year they’ll have to first get through a tough Sectional 24 that includes Yorktown and Guerin Catholic. Junior pg Ryan Lynch is the leading returning scorer for Delta at almost 10 ppg and 3 assists. Senior forward Chase Phillips put up 9 ppg and just over 6 rebounds per game last season. Sr. guard Madden Ramsey is another returning player that averaged 6.5 ppg. Sr. Jackson Peters is another returning player that will get some more varsity PT this season. One of that state’s better freshman bigs last year was 6’7 Walker Johnson. Johnson debuted at 8.6 ppg and 6 rebounds last year and even more is expected from him this year. One of the big reasons everyone is so high on Delta is the Jr. transfer from Muncie Central, Jaxson Johnson. The 6’4 wing put up 14.7 ppg last season for the Bearcats. It’s not too much to say the winner between Yorktown, Guerin Catholic, and Delta in Sectional 24 should be favored to represent the North in 3A at Indy.
Key Games
December 4 v. Mt. Vernon (Fortville)
December 11 @ Yorktown
December 29 and 30 @ Lawrenceburg Tournament
February 26 @ Oak Hill
(t) 30. South Bend Riley Wildcats- There’s no replacing Tyrese Jones off of last year’s squad. Kelin Webster and Isaiah Packer were underrated players for Riley as well, but returning senior Da’kori Parker is a good start. The 6’0 guard will be an Indiana All Star candidate and was at times during last season the Wildcats best player. He came over from SB Washington and is fearless getting to the basket for his size and heats up in a hurry. 6’3 Tree Johnson is back again going into his 3rd year of varsity experience. What Tree lacks in height he makes up for in size and skill underneath. He’s a hard matchup for any opponent down low. Jr. Arreon Neely stepped up at times last year and showed flashes of how good he can be. He’s another hard-nose guard that gets buckets in bunches. A potential breakout player for Riley is 6’2 sophomore Lachlan Hoobin, He’s a smooth knockdown shooter. He’ll open alot of space for the Cats. Jeremiyah Johnson, a top 20 incoming freshman will be wearing a Riley uni this season as well. Expect Johnson to get some good varsity minutes sooner rather than later. There won’t be much a step back for Riley, if any this season but Sectional 3 is one of the toughest sectionals in the state. St. Joe’s, Michigan City, Laporte, and Penn will all go into the season thinking of a sectional title.
Key Games
December 5 v. Liberty Christian @ Brownsburg
January 8 v. SB St. Joe’s
February 12 v. Elkhart
February 19 v. Penn
29. Austin Eagles- In the 90s and early 2000s Austin was one of the better and consistent programs in all of southern Indiana. Indiana All Stars included Mark Lueking in 1992, Anthony Winchester in 2002, and Jeremy Holland in 2005. Not to mention Bruce Johnson in 1999 probably should have been. The good times appear to be back in Austin thanks in large part to another player that looks like a sure fire future Indiana All Star. 6’5 soph. Micah Mohler came into his freshman season with alot of hype and hope for Eagle fans. He did not disappoint leading the freshmen class in scoring statewide at 21.5 ppg and a semi state appearance. Widely considered the #1 ranked player in the ’29 class after committing to IU within the last couple of weeks averaged near 20 ppg and 9 rebounds per game on the Adidas 3SSB circuit over the spring/summer. Mohler looks to lead his Eagles to Indy in March. There’s alot of good pieces for this Eagles group. Jr. Tracen Roush returns after having some big time scoring outputs during the tournament, included the game tying 3 @ the semi state. Roush is easily capable of dropping 20 in a given game if teams are thinking of doubling Mohler. Speaking of dropping 20 the Eagles got a huge boost when Madison transfer, soph. Braysen Russell decided to enroll in the black and white. Russell is one of the better 3 pt. shooters in the entire state and averaged 20+ ppg himself for the Cubs last season. 6’5 Sr. Carter Hunley does alot of little things inside that Austin needs in order to be successful. He adds an interior presence and capable offensive scorer down low. Senior Braxton Barger is also a very capable 3 pt. shooter and ball handler when needed. As is sophomore transfer Carson James, who came over from New Washington. Soph. guard Hayden Hurst should get plenty of varsity PT this year on a loaded roster.
Key Games
November 25 v. Scottsburg
December 12 v. Oak Hill @ Carmel
January 9 @ Silver Creek
January 26 @ Brownstown
28. Crown Point Bulldogs- CP was one really good half, or maybe even a quarter away from winning the school’s first boys state championship last season. The Dogs graduate arguably the best and most accomplished class in school history. Dikembe Shaw and Mason Darrell are both playing D1 college ball now. Kingston and Kaiden Rhodes, as well as Bryce Peters all graduated also. So why the optimism and high ranking? Two reasons; all those guys that got some minutes here and there and even some jv players got to practice against elite comp. every day and are now expected to step up. And two, 6’4 Jr. MJ Wilson is a popular pick for breakout player in the state of Indiana. MJ got some really good minutes last year as a sophomore and had a great spring/ summer AAU season with GPP. Wilson is a very good athlete that can finish in alot of way going to the basket and his outside shot has really developed. 6’2 Sr. Reid Kaegi also returns after getting lots of PT last year. Kaegi is another player that should see his production go way up with more opportunities this year. Down low 6’7 Cooper Malaski will be counted on for toughness on the inside with Shaw gone. A sophomore transfer from Merrillville, guard Tyrece Kimbrough will also help with athleticism in the backcourt. It’s certainly not last year’s Bulldogs squad but they’re not exactly going away either. CP still looks to be the favorites in Sectional 1.
Key Games
December 5 @ Penn
December 12 v. Zionsville @ Carmel
January 22 @ Chesterton
February 4 @ Portage
27. Mt. Vernon (Fortville) Marauders- You could just about say the same thing for MV as you just read for Crown Point. The Marauders are a team that went to the state finals (and won) losing a really good senior class that included their best player in school history, Luke Ertel who’s off @ Purdue now. They also return a very good player in 6’7 Max Vise who’s a Bellarmine commit that averaged 14.1 and 5.4 rebounds a game last season. Vise rose quickly up the rankings last year and really broke out as a 2nd option to Ertel. Look for Vise to be an Indiana All Star in June. 5’9 Owen Daugherty returns and put up 5.6 ppg last time out. Daugherty came up big later on in MV’s run to the championship hitting some big time 3s. Another senior is guard Ben Schaeffer that averaged 3.6 ppg should crack into the starting lineup this year. 6’4 senior move-in Dominic Mulenga is a big time athlete that came over from Fishers and helps solidify the Marauders frontcourt. Sophomore Keagan Battles played most all of last year primarily on JV but could really be a breakout player for MV this time. Battles is one of the more athletic players on the floor in a given game and gets to the rim really well for his size at 6’1. Another sophomore that should see a jump is guard Amari Smith. Smith is another player that spent most all of last season on JV because of a loaded roster but could make his way into the starting lineup. This is a different looking MV team that will have a different style than last year but there’s some good athletes on this roster. MV looks like the early favorites in Sectional 9 once again.
Key Games
December 4 @ Delta
December 29 v. SB St. Joe’s @ Homestead Tournament
January 8 v. Greenfield Central
January 23 @ Hamilton Southeastern
26. Liberty Christian Lions- It seems like the Lions have been knocking on the door to get to Indy for a while now. This current group of seniors have known nothing except winning sectionals, and regionals. Over the last three years LC has gotten to the semi state every year and have gotten knocked out. The athleticism and pressure this group puts on teams is unmatched at the 1A level. Sr. Kendrick Martin has been there through it all and has been the Lions leading scorer for a few years now. Last season he put up 17.8 ppg and just over 2 steals. There’s not many from 1A that have a shot at making the Indiana All Star team but with a championship this year and strong showing, it would be hard to leave him off with all he’s accomplished. LC really got a shot in the arm when senior guard Antonio Baymon returned to Indiana after leaving for Florida after middle school. Baymon is explosive and fits right into the style LC plays. At the Charlie Hughes game I watched he scored 20+ points against a good Austin team. If two of the top 5 players in 1A isn’t enough, the Lions also return starting guard Tywaine Fuller. Fuller will get up into people defensively and go strong to the basket on offense. Jr. Marcus Boyd returns after averaging 6 ppg and 6.5 rebounds. One of the area’s better freshmen last year, Kamaries Allen returns after putting up 8.1 ppg. And just for good measure, 6’3 Sr. TJ English returns after a year @ FW Luers where he scored 9.6 ppg for the Knights. 6’4 soph. wing Marshon Fuller also comes over from Anderson and is good enough to demand being on the floor. So to say LC is loaded and deep is an understatement. If it’s anyone other than LC or Barr Reeve representing 1A South in Indy this year I’ll be very surprised.
Key Games
December 5 v. SB Riley @ Brownsburg
December 22 and 23 Tournament @ Scottsburg
January 5 v. Attucks
February 6 @ Lawrence Central