We kick off Regional Saturday where Blackhawk Christian will make their second straight trip to the Regional round as they head to Caston. Will, statistically, the best Braves team in history be able to make more by winning the program’s first ever Regional title?
The Class 1A Regional at Caston will be played Saturday starting at 10:30 a.m.
BLACKHAWK CHRISTIAN VS. TRITON, 10:30 A.M.
Triton (11-11) went into their last two games of the regular season at 6-11 and have rallied off five straight wins to get to this point. That is a ton of momentum working in their favor to get here but they haven’t quite had the season that Blackhawk Christian (19-6) has had. Hailee Kline is one of the best pure scorers in this Regional and in the North half of Class 1A. The Braves have really strong guard play and athleticism to score on multiple levels. Kline is their leader but a large group of players, including Lily Helmuth, Aubree VanderDussen and Lydia Stayton can all step up in a solid rotations. I think that helps them toward their goal of the first Regional round win in school history. BOUNCE PICKS BLACKHAWK CHRISTIAN
PIONEER VS. KOUTS, 12:30 P.M.
Pioneer has some gaudy numbers for a class 1A team, including 30.3 rebounds and 13.4 steals per game and it has pushed them to 21 wins on the season (21-4). This is a team that shoots very well, hitting 45 percent from the field, but isn’t great at the line. The Panthers won’t want to put too much emphasis on their drive because of that and more than a quarter of their shots have come from long range.
Kouts (17-6) comes in with a solid record, but hasn’t faced the level of competition that some of their Regional round opponents have. They are far better at the free throw line than the field, but are only shooting 54 percent there. They need 6-foot sophomore Lauryn Koedyker to really work hard inside where she can create some mismatches. BOUNCE PICKS PIONEER
FINALS, 7:30 P.M.
It is hard to imagine a world where this isn’t Blackhawk Christian against Pioneer but upsets are always possible on Regional Saturday. This is a pretty solid Class 1A field overall so its likely we are getting a solid final no matter who gets there. If Blackhawk gets their 20th win of the season on Saturday, they continue a record year but you have to wonder at what point some of their adrenaline could run out. Pioneer are the defending Regional champs, so they have been here and done this recently. They know how to handle this day. BOUNCE PICKS PIONEER
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Hailee Kline, Blackhawk Christian: Kline has proven her worth continuously and is one of Northeast Indiana’s most underrated players because she has the ability o score on a high level no matter who she is against. Kline works tirelessly on all three levels of the floor and is willing to do the hard work to get baskets.
Hailey Cripe, Pioneer: Averaging 19.1 points and 4.1 assists per game, Cripe leads this Pioneer offense while hitting 46 percent of her shots, including 81 triples. Containing her and running her off the line has to be priority number one for any opponent. You also have to stop her in transition, somewhere she can get to easily with her team high 4.3 steals per game.
Allison Capouch, Kouts: The sophomore has only been held to single digit scoring twice this season and hasn’t scored less than 15 in her last four outings. She is dangerous attacking the basket and shoots 84 percent from the line so has no issue trying to work through traffic and drawing the foul. Capouch averages 18.6 points per game.
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
Be the first to comment