More than any other Northeast Indiana area Sectional this one is considered wide open by area experts. This amphibious expert tends to agree, with a couple of caveats of court.
I will get to those later, but first lets examine that with the exception of a down South Adams, it is possible that any team wins any game in this Sectional.
FAVORITE
ADAMS CENTRAL (13-10)
People have been asking Bounce since the Sectional draw who was the favorite in this Sectional and why. My answer hasn’t wavered and it is pretty simple: Adams Central and Downtown Kevin Brown. Notice, I don’t put the senior’s nickname in quotations. Why? Because it should be as much of his name as Kevin is. There is no better under pressure, long range assassin in this Sectional, maybe in this area. Adams Central has a lot of fun threats; Brown is wow’ing.
Adams Central gets the first day of Sectional play off and will play Eastside or Canterbury on Friday, with wins over both of those teams. Against either of those, Bounce would like to see Ben Voirol be a major player when the Flying Jets look to go inside and outside no matter who they play. This Adams Central senior class plays very well together and despite being just above .500, they have shown consistently how strong they are as a team and moving the ball around to help create opportunities for each other.
CONTENDER
CHURUBUSCO (11-11)
There is a part of me that really wanted the Eagles to have a better record than they do. Because I think that they are far better than 11-11. A compact lineup doesn’t help, but the handful of guys they can heavily rely on is a heck of a handful to have. Jackson Paul, in my opinion, is still scratching the surface of how good he can be; but he is young and that is to be expected. They are a perfect 3-0 against Sectional opponents and you have to look at wins over Adams Central and Heritage as marquee victories.
Especially when you see that Bounce has listed Adams Central as the favorite in this Sectional; I’m sure much to the chagrin of coach Chris Paul.
Busco’s potential success going forward doesn’t hinge on one thing, but I will keep an eye on Brayton Bonar if I was everyone else. Like a tank with a Ferrari engine, Bonar is a physical force that moves with the fluidity of a point guard a lot of the time. If he makes it a point to get to the basket, few teams have the size to contend with him. Busco will open with South Adams on Tuesday in the late game.
THE REST
CANTERBURY (6-13)
Thing haven’t transferred on the court at Canterbury as quickly as even I thought they will. But Bounce can’t help but consider them on the fringe of contending none the less in this Sectional because they have one of the best young coaches in the area and a pretty balanced lineup, even if they are all still just getting their feet wet. Noah Drapala and Noah Wolfe are game changers when their shots are falling and Will Shank perfectly fits the mold of the blue collar workhorses that Chase Sanders has had in the past on the AAU scene. They open the Sectional with host Eastside on Tuesday, but the momentum of a day one win could be critical.
BLUFFTON (7-15)
Don’t you ever date to count against a Chris Benedict coached team, it is not a good look. Getting the bye to a Friday game against the winner of South Adams and Churubusco gives the longtime coach even more time to prepare. This team is heavily on the senior side with Johnathan Irwin leading the way, but physicality expected from Everett Johnson, Gavin King and Zach Cummins. The Tigers aren’t quite a contender either, but seeing them in Saturday’s final wouldn’t be a surprise.
EASTSIDE (9-13)
They will start the Sectional off with Canterbury and it will be a heck of a game. Alex Yoder and Chase Franz can both be dangerous scorers with Yoder setting the school’s single game scoring record earlier this season. They have no wins against this sectional and no wins against Class 2A; that is alarming. But, if you look back at wins over Lakeland and especially Fairfield in NECC play, it is clear that the Blazers shouldn’t be taken lightly in this mostly wide open bracket.
SOUTH ADAMS (2-20)
This has been a tough rebuilding year with a young team. Made tougher by the football injury to James Arnold that has kept him off the court all season. Lately, Nick Miller has really been developing as a duel threat, but the Starfires are still a year away from being able to fight for a Sectional win.
These opinions represent those of Bounce and Outside the Huddle. No opinions expressed on Outside the Huddle represent those of any of our advertisers. Follow Bounce on Twitter at Bounce_OTH
1 Trackback / Pingback