With girls basketball postseason coming around quickly, Bounce is here to quick preview and discuss the area Sectionals, continuing in Class 3A.
WEST NOBLE SECTIONAL
Projected Winner: Fairfield
The Falcons have had a near flawless season. Do they have it in them to repeat as state champions? Well, lets take baby steps here. After their surprising loss to Eastside in the NECC Tournament, the Falcons have slowed down their torrid pace a bit, edging Central Noble and playing closer that they needed to against West Noble. That said, it really feels like Fairfield is in a prime position to go full throttle again and this is the perfect time to do so.
The Falcons have handled both of their potential Friday night semi final opponents. That is step one. However, they did lost a very low scoring game to NorthWood earlier this season and of course we project that rematch to be for the Sectional title on Saturday night. Fairfield averages 43.4 points per game and in all three of their losses, they have been held to 25 or less, including a season low 21 points against NorthWood. The Falcons’ balance and light depth has been important to their 21 win season, but to capture a Sectional title for a fourth straight season, they will probably need someone to step up big time individually in a slow down title game; my hypothetical money is on Eva Herbert.
Player you can’t miss: Claire Payne, NorthWood
So Claire can be a real pain for other teams. See what I did there? The 6-foot-1 junior is able to control the interior really well and it has been a big stepping stone for the Panthers to get to 17 wins. She runs the floor extremely well and while she is capable too of getting the ball up the court, what she does when she runs ahead and fills her lane makes NorthWood so dangerous in transition. Payne leads NorthWood in scoring (10.1), rebounds (10.8) and blocks (1.5). Any team in this bracket is going to have a bit of a hard time matching up with her.
Don’t be surprised if: Its not close in the end
Think about this. What if Fairfield doesn’t fully bounce back from a challenging end to the regular season? We expect them to, but what if they don’t? What if they have another awful shooting night like what doomed them in the NECC Tournament finals? There is probably not much that could keep them from winning Friday and reaching the finals but what if it all goes wrong then? Even though NorthWood has been able to win some low scoring games and their defense has helped that, the Panthers can score a lot of points quick and could be bad for a bad shooting Fairfield.
Wait, hold on. What if Fairfield is at their absolute peak? They have scored 50 or more points seven times this season. But what if the stars all align and the likes of Herbert and Kaylee Dillon both have monster games in a potential Saturday night final? Fairfield has a handful of players all capable of putting up big numbers. If they align, as some of them have on and off this season, does Fairfield run away with it all?
We expect Fairfield and NorthWood to play for a title. We expect the game to be close. But what if it isn’t? Don’t be shocked.
SCHEDULE
Tuesday, Jan. 30
Lakeland vs. Wawasee, 7 p.m.
Friday, Feb. 2
NorthWood vs. West Noble, 6 p.m.
Fairfield vs. Lakeland/Wawasee, 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, Feb. 3
Championship
GARRETT SECTIONAL
Projected winner: Woodlan
This is a really tough Sectional to predict. Four of the teams, at least, could lay a pretty good claim to why they could win this thing. But in the end, it seems easy to fall back on Woodlan despite the fact they became a bit of an area afterthought because they weren’t stringing together many victories in a row. They have losses to Angola and Concordia and they immediately draw a tough matchup with Bishop Dwenger because the Saints have been playing really good basketball.
But erase what you think you know about an eight loss team and lets look at 2024. This calendar year, Woodlan is 6-1 and they have won seven of their last eight dating back to December 20’s loss to Concordia. Taylor Kneubuhler has continued, all season, to be one of the better scorers in the ACAC and an underrated top scorer in the area. The emergence of Alyssa Anderson during her sophomore year has been big too as she is leading the Warriors with 10.4 rebounds to go with 11.2 points per game.
Player you can’t miss: Izzie Eke, Bishop Dwenger
20 points in a win over Carroll. 27 two weeks later in a win over Wayne. A dozen as recently as last Friday in a win over South Side. The second half of this season has introduced the area more impactfully to Izzie Eke. She has kind of taken over for the Saints and not only gives them hope that they are a contender sooner than later in the SAC in coming years, but it gives the Saints hope in this Sectional too.
She is one of the biggest rising stars in the last stretch of the girls regular season.
Don’t be surprised if: Almost anybody wins this Sectional
Mentioned above in picking the winner: this thing is really wide open.
Angola has been playing as good of basketball as anyone in this Sectional as of late. Leo has quietly put together a solid season that isn’t being talked about enough because of how top heavy the NE8 is. Bishop Dwenger is peaking at the right time on the strength of the Eke sisters. You never count out the home team, which brings Garrett into the conversation under first year head coach John Bodey. And, we’ve mentioned Woodlan’s strengths.
So come Saturday, there may be individual favorites for people but there are four or five teams I could see posing with that trophy.
SCHEDULE
Tuesday, Jan. 30
Angola vs. Leo, 7 p.m.
Wednesday, Jan. 31
Garrett vs. Heritage, 6 p.m.
Bishop Dwenger vs. Woodlan, 7:30 p.m.
Friday, Feb. 2
Concordia Lutheran vs. Angola/Leo, 6 p.m.
Garrett/Heritage vs. Bishop Dwenger/Woodlan, 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, Feb. 3
Championship
MACONAQUAH SECTIONAL
Projected winner: Norwell
While there is competition in this bracket and it needs to be acknowledged, it would be crazy to pick anyone other than Norwell as the winner. As one of four teams with winning records, they have what is significantly the best of those and they hold wins over some of the best teams in the area and beat Bellmont, their best contender in this Sectional, by 30 just a couple of weeks ago.
Norwell is such a well oiled machine. Want to know how well oiled? Their varsity won the NE8…their JV team went 20-0…their 8th grade won the NE8…their 7th grade won the NE8. Not only is Norwell not going anywhere anytime soon, what they have on their roster right now is as top heavy as almost any team in the area and certainly more so than any area school in Class 3A.
Very few have a Kennedy Fuelling level player. Who has that and a Makenzie Fuess level player? Norwell wins this. They may run away with it.
Player you can’t miss: Hailey Cole, Bellmont
While so much attention will be on Norwell this week, Cole deserves attention for the season she has had as one of the more dominant all around players in the NE8 and certainly in this Sectional.
Would we call Cole a master of any facet of the game on this level? Some may. But more important than that to me is that Cole does basically everything at a very high level. Do you want to master one thing like shooting or rebounding or do you want to be one of the most multi-dimensional threats in the area?
Cole can change games. The Braves have a big challenge this week as Oak Hill is now slouch in a Wednesday game and we all look at that potential Norwell game. But for the 15-7 Braves, Cole leads the way for an exciting rather complete team.
Don’t be surprised if: It call comes down to Norwell/Bellmont…again
Has Norwell had Bellmont’s number? More often than Bellmont has had Norwell’s, that is something that is for sure. This year, Norwell’s regular season win was monumental and it was the second largest Bellmont loss to Norwell in the last eight seasons since the Braves have become one of the upper echelon programs in the area. Keep this in mind though, the only game that was a bigger loss was 2022’s regular season 33 point loss to the Knights; less than three weeks later Bellmont won the postseason rematch by 11.
So sometimes, anything can happen.
The fun reality here is that both team’s roads seem to be running through each other again. In the past 10 postseasons, Bellmont and Norwell have faced each other seven times. These rivals always just seem to run into each other and it looks destined to happen again for the 8th time in the last 11 seasons.
Norwell has the edge in the postseason, winning five of the last seven. In fact, the Knights have won 15 of the last 18 in this series. But the funny thing about rivalries is what happened in the past doesn’t really matter. Again, ask 2022. For now, its just fun to get another Norwell/Bellmont showdown should the bracket end up that way.
SCHEDULE
Tuesday, Jan. 30
Mississinewa vs. Maconaquah, 7 p.m.
Wednesday, Jan. 31
Peru vs. Northwestern, 6 p.m.
Bellmont vs. Oak Hill, 7:30 p.m.
Friday, Feb. 2
Norwell (17-4) vs. Mississinewa/Maconaquah, 6 p.m.
Peru/Northwestern vs. Bellmont/Oak Hill, 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, Feb. 3
Championship
YORKTOWN SECTIONAL
Projected winner: Hamilton Heights
Considered one of the top contender to win the state title, this 20 win team is a real danger to everyone around them. 10-1 against Class 3A and perfect against opponents who are in this Sectional, it is fair to say that Huskies are going to be a tough draw for anyone.
They have won 10 straight including, get this, a 103-6 win over Tipton two weeks ago. Tipton is 0-22 and is averaging just 16.9 points per game while giving up 63.5 on average. But the idea even that a high school team can score 103 points in 32 minutes is absurd. Do the math…Hamilton Heights scored 3.2 points per minute or roughly a point every 20 seconds. May seem doable on the surface, but the state’s best scoring team Hamilton Southeastern averages scoring 2.1 points per minute.
Do you want to play them?
Player you can’t miss: Camryn Runner, Hamilton Heights senior
Sure, could have mentioned Runner above in why Hamilton Heights likely wins this Sectional, but she needs to be talked about here.
One of the state’s most prolific scorers regardless of class and regardless of gender, Runner is averaging 27.9 points per game this season. The 5-foot-9 combo guard scored seven on opening night and then never lower than 17 the rest of the season. She has scored over 30 points seven times and over 25 on twelve occasions with a season high of…64 points. Yeah, you wanna point out that it was against Tipton, have at it. She still shot 57 percent from the field in that 64 point outing and is a 52 percent shooter for the entire season and shoots 93 percent from the foul line.
She doesn’t just score. Runner averages a team high in rebounding at 5.9 per game and defensively with 4.1 steals per game. She is an all around threat and nobody has had a way to consistently slow her down. Is there any reason to think this week could be much different?
Don’t be surprised if: Jay County continues silencing doubters
Jay County wasn’t supposed to back in this position right? They lost the best player in their program history. They lost their coach. There was some rebuilding. But bam, here they are as one of four teams in Northeast Indiana that won at least 20 games this season.
Culture doesn’t graduate a wise man once said.
They have a really good senior class, led by Sophie Saxman, Molly Muhlenkamp and Breanna Dirksen that have made sure the Patriots don’t drop off. Hallie Schwieterman has come in as a freshman and just been the model of consistency with some dominating performances thrown in there. Jay County is lucky that they won’t have to deal with Hamilton Heights until a potential final and while the Huskies are going to be the favorite, Jay County is just a scrappy bunch that refuse to lose. That is a trait that is so critical come the postseason.
SCHEDULE
Tuesday, Feb. 7
Yorktown vs. Jay County, 7 p.m.
Wednesday, Feb. 8
Centerville vs. Frankton, 6 p.m.
New Castle vs. Hamilton Heights, 7:30 p.m.
Friday, Feb. 10
Delta vs. Yorktown/Jay County winner, 6 p.m.
Centerville/Frankton vs. New Castle/Hamilton Heights, 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, Feb. 11
Championship
Be the first to comment