Sectional 1: Previewing The Upcoming Season
The coming high school season is almost upon us. With that, we are taking a look at each Sectional in the state. Starting with 64 and ending with 1. Today, we are previewing Sectional 1 at East Chicago Central. Teams: East Chicago…
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Continue ReadingThe coming high school season is almost upon us. With that, we are taking a look at each Sectional in the state. Starting with 64 and ending with 1. Today, we are previewing Sectional 1 at East Chicago Central.
Teams: East Chicago Central, Gary West, Hammond Morton, Highland, Lake Central, Lowell, Munster
Last Season: This past season was really interesting in the first Sectional in the state. East Chicago Central did what they though they would do by being the best team in this grouping. However, Lowell was the surprise team accumulating an even better record at 20-6. In the end, Lowell had an easy road but fell short in the Sectional Championship to East Chicago Central, 71-53.
Contenders For 2016-17: This season will bring upon some changes. You saw very few teams have good seasons last year outside of East Chicago and Lowell. Munster was down but they could easily rebound this year to become a top team in this Sectional. They didn’t lose a lot from last year and a lot of their best talent is in the sophomore and freshman classes. Lake Central will be down even worse this season with their core of Gage Ray, Skyler Smith, and Frank Dijak all gone. Gary West shouldn’t be good and neither will Highland. The game changer is that East Chicago took a big hit after Damien Jefferson left. They have a trio of Jermaine Couisnard, Keyshawn Lewis, and Johnnie Jones but how good they can be will be the question of the year. Lowell, however, looks like they are set up to be really good and the likely favorite heading into the season. Only Brandon Cory leaves this talented group. Nick Mantis returns his 18.6 points per game.
Players to Watch: Jermaine Cousinard is the player to watch. As we said, the storyline in this Sectional is how good East Chicago’s trio of seniors can be. They need to be led by Cousinard, the guy with the best scoring threat from everyone on the court. He has to be the leader. If he can be their heart and bring with him that dynamic scoring at the same time, then East Chicago has a chance to repeat. Otherwise, you could see a Lowell get their first Sectional Championship since 1993.