With the boys basketball postseason coming around quickly, Bounce is here to quick preview and discuss the area Sectionals, continuing in Class 4A.
SECTIONAL AT EAST NOBLE
Projected Winner: North Side
Reports of North Side’s potential demise in the preseason were greatly exaggerated. The loss of Brauntae Johnson to a football injury was a harsh blow for North Side. Clearly one of Northeast Indiana’s most talented players and a potential Indiana All-Star, Johnson wasn’t going to be easy to replace and we all knew it. So North Side just didn’t. They didn’t replace Tae, they just altered their balance to throw it more towards two-way forwards who contribute as well as guards as they do as post-centric players.
Jaxson Fugate and Eugene Young have simultaneously become two of the area’s top stars and two of the area’s breakout performers this season. If Fugate wows you with 25 points, it is likely that Young had 20 and a dozen or so boards. If Young is setting a torrid pace with 24 or 26 points, Fugate is likely knocking down tough shots and giving you 18-20 himself. To see two players so linked together in their success is very refreshing. Young doesn’t take away from Fugate and vice versa so when the two really click, they really click.
To North Side’s strength, neither of them has to handle the ball all of the time; Javion Davenport has been a really strong lead guard. And despite their length, neither of them has had to be the big man controlling the paint all of the time as Jordan King has put together the best season of his high school career too.
North Side, right now, just seems to have too many can’t miss options to not have them at the top of the heap.
Player you can’t miss: Cannen Houser, Carroll
Houser didn’t start the season as hot as he wanted or most expected, but his emergence in the second half and his hot streak tendencies have helped Carroll become winners of 5 of their last seven and those two losses to North Central and Bishop Luers were not bad ones for the Chargers.
If Houser finds his mojo this week, not only could Carroll upset the above listed favorite on Tuesday, it could be hard pressed for anyone to beat them. Houser has all the makings of a star and has performed as such much more often than he hasn’t. He is such a strong playmaker that moves so well laterally, he has the ability to outpace anyone who matches up with him on either side of the floor in the Sectional.
Don’t be surprised if: East Noble sneaks up on the casual viewer
They may not want to hear this, but the Knights are in a really good place as this week opens up. The draw has them away from North Side and Carroll and up against a Snider team they lost to but that was all of the way back on December 12, and a potential semi final against a struggling Northrop squad who has shown some nice signs of consistent play lately.
But East Noble, they can really get going. The return of Kobe Ritchie has been so important to this squad. He is a double double machine and as an undersized big, the workman like approach he takes to find success is more than admirable. Ritchie also allows East Noble to spread the floor more and they are a team who can really shoot and have showcased that well throughout the season in a conference where shooters shoot at a high success rate. Watch out for Ryker Quake or Nathan Bowker to get hot this week and if they both do, that casual SAC fan who isn’t looking at the host team might just wake up to what’s brewing in Kendallville.
SCHEDULE
EAST NOBLE SECTIONAL
Tuesday
Snider vs. East Noble, 6 p.m.
Carroll vs. North Side, 7:30 p.m.
Friday
Northrop vs. Snider/East Noble winner, 6 p.m.
DeKalb vs. Carroll/North Side winner, 7:30 p.m.
Saturday
Championship, 7:30 p.m.
SECTIONAL AT HOMESTEAD
Projected Winner: Wayne
This is a no brainer right? I won’t pretend Wayne’s road to a repeat is an easy one at all but this team started the season as the top team in the area and ends the season in the same spot. It has been Wayne and then everyone else. Nobody in Northeast Indiana has touched the Generals, even if some have given them some good runs.
Since Chase Barnes returned after missing some games, things have just ran perfectly for this team. In his absence, Wayne saw other players step up in major ways and some, like Kharrington Terry, into roles that many didn’t expect of them. Wayne got deeper through this season and seems primed to try and make a big run in the postseason.
Jevon Lewis has again be a hard to guard, live for the big moment shooter/slasher. At this point, with as little as there is new to say about Wayne, there isn’t much more to say about Lewis that hasn’t been said. He has done exactly what we expected, he is exactly who we all know he is and we all know what he does. Knowing is one thing, stopping it is another. What can help Wayne sustain a big run not only this week but possibly deeper into the postseason? Something tells me that Trey Dillard and how Wayne can control the boards will play a massive role the rest of the way.
Player you can’t miss: Will Jamison, Homestead
The story isn’t new. When this season began, there were moments that those close to him didn’t know if Will Jamison would live, let alone play basketball again. But this kid, he never gave up and five games ago made his senior season debut. That alone was the story, to get back to the court was something amazing. And it could have been just that, it could have been a feel good get back on the court and get a bucket and a standing ovation thing.
But Jamison didn’t come back to just play, he made sure he could come back and be Will Jamison. In his five games, while playing 21 minutes per game he is averaging 14.6 points and has averaged 23 points per game over his last two outings while shooting 42 percent from three point range. No matter what the week looks like for Homestead on their home court, getting to see Jamison out there doing his thing again will be well worth the price of Sectional admission.
Don’t be surprised if: Columbia City pulls off some of that NE8 title magic
The NE8 is not a conference to be overlooked in this Sectional. New Haven has surged as of late and their win over Bishop Luers behind JC Cottrell and a near triple double from Ajani Washington was huge.
Huntington North also recently bested Luers, a big surprise for the Vikings behind a nice night from Zach Nash. In a recent loss to North Side, Ethan Zahn hit seven threes, scored 26 points and had three steals.
But Columbia City…there is something about those Eagles. They have been the cardiac kids all season, it led to a lot of success for them and their last second shocker over Bellmont ultimately is what led Columbia City to share the NE8 title to the surprise of a lot of people that don’t live in Whitley County.
Columbia City’s biggest strength is that you never know where the head of the snake is on any given night. Matt Mulligan has been huge, Aiden Denning has shot opponents out of the game, Brady Hartman has come clutch with his workhorse motor. All three are averaging 12.6 points per game or above right now. That doesn’t take into account how big Stratton Fuller has been in the major moments or how Owen Marshall or Cayden Kauffman can help facilitate the offensive success.
While this seems like its consistently a Homestead and now Wayne Sectional, the NE8 is going to have some things to say about it.
SCHEDULE
HOMESTEAD SECTIONAL
Tuesday
Wayne vs. South Side, 6 p.m.
Huntington North vs. Homestead, 7:30 p.m.
Friday
New Haven vs. Wayne/South Side winner, 6 p.m.
Columbia City vs. Huntington North/Homestead winner, 7:30 p.m.
Saturday
Championship, 7 p.m.
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