The Allen County Athletic Conference boys basketball tournament will tip off on Tuesday with seven teams vying for a title.
Woodlan is the defending champions, while Bluffton and Adams Central sit atop the current ACAC regular season standings. Southern Wells has the bye straight into the semi finals and with recent area news coming out, it looks like this could be the Raiders’ final ever ACAC Tournament.
THE FAVORITE
Bluffton started 0-2. And then they won 8 straight and are now right in the position to run with the lead in the ACAC regular season but also to lead this tournament. The Tigers have been through a little bit of it all so far this season. They have dominated, they have won close ones, they’ve got a nice overtime victory to their names. It leads you to believe, at least on the surface, that Bluffton is going to be the most well prepared team in this tournament to take on any kind of team in any kind of game.
Declan Grieser has again been among the best scorers in Northeast Indiana. He is a brut at the rim, hard to defend and hard to contain. He doesn’t do big, flashy things but if you aren’t careful you are going to glance up at the scoreboard and he’s got 20 and you are losing the game. His sophomore brother Gavin Grieser has done the same, often on the other block. The two of them working in stereo in the post has given Bluffton a brute edge that few can match. Freshman Maddox White has come around very quickly too and his strong shooting has helped spread out the floor for Bluffton dominant post play.
THE CONTENDER
Heritage very well could have been in the drivers seat not only in this tournament but a most recent loss being a surprising one mean we need to see how Heritage bounces back and a win over Southern Wells maybe doesn’t answer that for us yet. What we will say about Heritage is that while they have only played one conference game thus far, it was a 20-point win over South Adams, a team that OTH’s tournament favorite Bluffton only beat by five. Do those two things matter? Rarely in the ACAC Tournament, but it is still worth noting.
The speed and IQ of Heritage can be a tough pair of things to overcome. We knew that Heritage would have the ability to be an athletic bunch, capable of turning defense into instant offense. That said, the Patriots have been able to outwit and play intelligent basketball just as well this season. Sophomore Kingston Galentine had some real hype coming into the season but jumping from JV as a freshman to a starting varsity role isn’t always easy; Galentine has handled it more than well as he leads the Patriots at 16 points per game. Taurean Brown has, to little surprise, been a pest on both sides of the ball; he has a co-team high 1.7 steals per game and is second on the team in scoring. Lantae Cassel has been a consistent presence, as has Lucas Taylor.
THE LEAD FOR MVP
There is nobody else in this tournament who has the high level potential right now at Declan Grieser. He sets the tempo in nearly every game that he is in. His post moves, his slips and the way he plays off his guards are a lot of fun to watch. Grieser and lead guard Marshall Gerber play so well in tune when it comes to Grieser’s post touches in the half court and, when needed, in transition. His strength, his finishing ability, his rebounding angles, all of those things point to Grieser being the favorite to capture this honor.
BREAKOUT POTENTIAL
Camden Brooks and Keaton Delagrange of Woodlan both fall into this category. The Warriors have had an up and down season as they replace a lot of parts from last season’s ACAC Tournament champion team. Delagrange leads the Warriors in every statistical skill category other than steals, where he is second. His length and underrated ability to shoot the ball have made him a tough matchup. Freshman Camden Brooks has taken on the task of being a varsity starter well, averaging 8.4 points per game and had a game winning moment on December 27 in a final second victory over Garrett.
Lawson Deathe is a senior for Adams Central so perhaps “breakout” isn’t the right word, but it is a completely different world for the Flying Jets this season with a new coach for the first time around two decades. Deathe has been able to have some stellar games this season that may not get noticed in the general Northeast Indiana basketball world but if he does it on this stage, especially opposite Heritage, Deathe is on more radars for sure. He has a a solid shooting season, including making seven three pointers in a loss to Parkway (OH). He has helped the Flying Jets to a 2-0 start in the ACAC.
South Adams’ Owen Roe doesn’t get enough attention for what he does for the Starfires. The sophomore averages 9.1 points and a team second best 2.9 steals per contest. He is coming off a recent career best 22 points against Northfield. He has also had two or more steals in every game since the opening loss to Bluffton, including six in a recent win over Central Noble.
BOUNCE PREDICTING THE WINNERS
Jay County dominated Woodlan the first time around and while Woodlan has changed in some positive ways since that game, it is likely that the tournament game goes the same way at the top of the bracket. The Patriots have had a strong start to the season with Jayden Comer leading the way at 14 points per game. While the Adams County schools have some significant strengths, Bounce expects Bluffton and Heritage to come out of the first round with wins.
Southern Wells has only scored 40 or more points twice this season and their top scoring game (47) is their only win. At 13.4 points and 9.3 rebounds per game, Joshua Aulbach has been tough for the Raiders but they will likely struggle with Jay County’s top end depth in a semi final. In the other semi final, it would be Bounce’s pick to be a title game but the random draw says we get Bluffton/Heritage in the semi finals. They are going to meet on February 7 potentially with the ACAC title on the line but Bounce feels confident to say whoever wins this one wins the the tournament.
Which brings Bounce to my predicted finals: Jay County versus Bluffton. They will go again at the end of this month, but for this game I look at how much Bluffton has had to play in a short time before this season. Having that experience is a big perk in needing to win 3 games in 5 days. Between December 13-20, Bluffton played four times and won all four including an overtime affair. Bounce predicts Bluffton boys win the ACAC Tournament.
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