Sectional Preview: 28
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 28.
Beech Grove (18-7) – Lost Sectional Final
Beech Grove wasn’t supposed to be good last year, but then they went on an extended run and made it all the way to the Sectional Final where they fell. They lose their top two contributors to college, but return a host of upperclassmen this year mixed with underclassmen. They will be a little worse than they were last year but they’ll still possibly be able to pull off an upset in the tournament.
Danville (19-9) – Lost 1st Rd. Regional
Danville was a super young team last year only losing one senior who saw significant minutes. It will be a tough guy to lose as he was the second leading scorer, but Danville has two sophomores that can step up and score in bunches this year. They also are super long and fast which makes them the team in this sectional to beat.
Indian Creek (15-9) – Lost 1st Rd. Sectional
Indian Creek lost a ton of scoring with the graduation of Tim Abel and Bryce Hogue and they do return a lot of guys who played significant minutes. They just couldn’t get over the hump last year and I’m not sure they will be able to do so this year against the talent they have to go up against.
Indianapolis Herron (0-22) – Lost 1st Rd. Sectional
Herron struggled last year going 0-22 but they are only a few years removed from sustained double-digit win seasons. This year, they won’t get there but they will win a few games. They return their best player and some guys who showed flashes of being good are back.
Indianapolis Manual (18-7) – Lost 2nd Rd. Sectional
Manual loses a ton of scoring this year, they lose 49.9 PPG of the 71.1 points a game they scored last year. This will be a down year for Manual after losing pretty everyone that played for them. They need to hope that some guys step up this year if they want to be competitive.
Tri-West (23-4) – Lost Regional Final
Tri-West loses one of the toughest guys in high school basketball as Peyton Hendershot is now at Indiana University catching footballs which leaves the post a little bare. Tyler Watson can take over games, so Tri-West will be just fine. A lot of the scoring this year will lean on Watson and how he can run the offense. They will still contend with him at the helm.
Contenders For 2017-18: Beech Grove, Danville, Tri-West
Prediction: Danville
Player to Watch: Alec Burton (Danville)