Sectional 9: 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 9 at New Castle. Teams: Connersville, Greenfield-Central, Mt.…
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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 9 at New Castle.
Teams: Connersville, Greenfield-Central, Mt. Vernon (Fortville), New Castle, Pendleton Heights, Richmond
Last Season: If Sectional 10 was the best Sectional in the state, Sectional 9 was maybe the best surprise. The competition level of the teams in this Sectional, as a whole, were very good. Connersville and Greenfield-Central both had over 20 wins and Mt. Vernon and New Castle had 17 and 18, respectively. Connersville won the Sectional over New Castle but fell to Southport in the Regional Semifinal. This was a good year for this group of teams and it looks like that could be repeated again this season.
Contenders For 2016-17: Last year was a surprise to see so many teams have that good of seasons, this year it won’t be. Look for a lot of these teams to repeat with Connersville, Mt. Vernon, and New Castle all keeping their rosters pretty muc in tact. Greenfield-Central lost Chandler Bean, Tate Hall, Blake Robertson, and Kirill Schoellman. They have some talented young players but it will be tough to get back in one season. Richmond struggled last year as they went in with a new head coach. Now, a year removed, you should expect them to be quite a bit better. Christian Harvey is the guy people are going to discover this season. New Castle is built around it’s youth and getting 17 wins last year might have been the biggest surprise. They can shoot the ball and will be a tough matchup for teams. They should be right back at the top of this Sectional. Pendleton Heights was a little disappointing last year going 13-11. They had a really solid starting lineup and even now, after losing Kenton Dunham and Max Grbic, you expect them to be a competitive team. More than enough talent to compete in 2016-17. Overall, look at Connersville and Mt. Vernon to be two of the best teams in the state and clearly the front-runners in this Sectional. However, New Castle and Pendleton Heights should have a pretty good shot as winning it as well.
Players to Watch: This is a Sectional where one player can make the difference on how your season can turn out. For this year, the player you should focus on is Grant Smith of Connersville. They got through to Regionals last year and that is the obvious goal once again. They big reason was because of Smith who averaged 11.8 points, 4.6 rebound, and 3.0 assists in a low scoring offense. However, he had big games when he was needed. He had 33 points against New Castle and 23 points against Shelbyville. Expect those averages to go up even with him being the focus of defenses. He’s the guy that can carry a team and he might have to do that late in the year.