Sectional Preview: 35
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 35.
Bremen (8-17) – Lost Sectional Semifinal
For Bremen, they will be without good chunk of their offense in the second year under a new head coach. This will be a new start of sorts as they have yet to get their footing since the 2008-09 season where they won 14 games. They do bring back guys like Jacob Stroller and Zach Burkholder who are two of their top five scorers from last season giving them a base point with a strong senior core. This is a very top-heavy Sectional though so it will be a tough season regardless.
Central Noble (14-13) – Lost Regional Semifinals
Central Noble had a big year last season as they won their first Sectional Championship since 2002-03. They did it winning all three Sectional games by a combined 11 points. Now, they lose their two big seniors in Reeve Zolman and Mason Smith. A repeat of last year will be difficult without those two along with Westview and Whitko continuing to build their programs at the top of the Sectional.
LaVille (17-7) – Lost Sectional Finals
Last year, LaVille challenged all season long and made it to the Sectional Finals before slipping up against Central Noble. Now they will be put in a built of a rebuild after outgoing senior Adam Steinke is gone as well as Isaac Ross, two of their top three scorers. They had a trio of underclassmen last year that were able to provide some meaningful minutes and will look to senior Jacob Good, their 6’4 post player. Expect a slight dip but they should still be middle or higher in this Sectional at the end of the season.
Prairie Heights (2-21) – Lost 1st Rd. Sectional
This past season was a rough one for Prairie Heights as they only managed two wins on the season. They struggled to score points, only averaging 42.7 per game. Now, they lose a large senior class but no one on the roster from last year averaged more than 10.0 points per game. They return five players, mostly underclassmen, that will become the core group. Expectations are higher than two wins but it still might take a couple seasons to build this back up.
Westview (17-7) – Lost Sectional Semifinals
Going into last season, Westview was viewed as a potential deep run team with a talented young core. However, Central Noble played upset to everyone and was able to make it through. Now, Westview comes back as an even more dominant and setup team to go deep as they only lose one outgoing senior. They bring back Elijah Hales who already has 385 career points as just a sophomore last year. This team could easily take a big run and make a State run with their amount of talent.
Whitko (14-9) – Lost 1st Rd. Sectional
Last season was Whitko’s best chance to take this Sectional for the first time since 2008-09. Instead they were ousted early and now will try and regroup with a solid core. They had a solid trio led by Nate Walpole last year averaging 55.1 points as a group. Now, if they can get some more contributions from guys like River West, Spencer Sroufe, and some others, that could be enough to give them an outside shot. Just need a little more offense outside of the main guys to balance the team out.
Contenders For 2017-18: Westview, Whitko, LaVille
Prediction: Westview
Player to Watch: Elijah Hales (Westview)